Latest news with #MillRoadBridge
Daily Mail
22-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Shop owner forced to resort to using horse and cart for deliveries after council set up controversial bus gates
A shop owner has been forced to use a horse and cart for his deliveries due to council-enforced bus gate restrictions. John Ball, owner of Cut Price Carpets in Cambridge, has been using his two-year-old horse Sybil to transport his carpets to customers over the popular Mill Road Bridge. A controversial Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) - approved last October - was introduced on the bridge in March, banning nearly all motor vehicles from using the bridge and leading to the installment of a bus gate. Any owner of an unregistered vehicle found to be crossing the bridge is slapped with a £70 fine, enforced by ANPR cameras, with more than 4,600 fines issued in its first seven weeks. Mr Ball described the new restriction of the city-centre bridge, which has divided locals and caused furious debate, as 'devastating' for his business. Cambridgeshire County Council insists the restriction had been introduced to provide a 'more enjoyable, safer place to visit'. The shopkeeper, who discovered the loophole of using the horse and cart to transport deliveries to the other side of the bridge, remarked: 'they can't fine me'. He added: 'I've been here for 29 years for a reason, because we're good at what we do and we're reasonable - we look after people. 'We've been in the same shop, serving the local community. I'd just love for them to open the bridge back up because it's destroying us little independent businesses.' Mr Ball also revealed that the new restriction on what he described as a 'main arterial road' was having detrimental impacts on other small independent businesses. Adding that the now 'dying road' had simply become a 'rat run' for taxis, who are still permitted to cross the bridge, he said: 'It's just snowballing. The taxis are using it as a cut-through and they're flying up and down there. 'Mill Road is a main arterial road. It's the main high street of Cambridge. But it's just a dying road. 'It's just getting filled up with nothing but takeaways and food-orientated shops. Little independent businesses are very few and far between.' The controversial TRO was approved last year by county councillors, closing the bridge to traffic except buses, pedestrians, cyclists, emergency services, taxis and Blue Badge holders' registered vehicles. It was imposed following consultations that found majority support for the changes, which are designed to improve the road for pedestrians and cyclists, assist the reliability of public transport and aid air quality. Some living nearby believed it will transform the bustling area, which is packed with shops, pubs and restaurants and make it more pleasant to visit, as well as cutting pollution from engines. But opponents argued it increases pollution by creating more congestion in nearby streets, while business owners have warned of catastrophic consequences from collapsing footfall. Protesters also claim a public consultation – in which 52.9 per cent of people supported the Traffic Regulation Order – was not carried out properly. Anyone found to be driving illegally through the bus gate is at risk of being issued a Penalty Charge Notice of £70, discounted to £35 if paid within 21 days. Since the introduction of the restriction, more than 100 fines per day have been issued by the council, a Freedom of Information request submitted by the Local Democracy Reporting Service uncovered earlier this month. Last week, Mr Ball joined the Friends of the Mill Road Bridge 2 campaign group who took their case to the High Court, challenging the council's traffic restriction order which started in March. Their challenge of the TRO rested upon four grounds, including that the council had failed to 'provide legally adequate reasons'. However, the council's lawyers argued the TRO had gone through a proper democratic process and therefore the bus gate was something for council members, not the High Court, to determine. Cambridgeshire County Council spent around £300,000 on a first attempt to impose the bus gate, including £72,000 on a legal challenge that it lost in court. It then immediately relaunched the plan, which was passed by councillors in October last year – prompting the judicial review from Ms Rose on ground including a failure to take into account a petition conducted by Mill Road Traders' Association. But the council went ahead and installed the infrastructure for the bus gate without waiting for the outcome, with building costs coming to another £200,000. Around 60 protesters spent several nights there in November, trying to disrupt work from taking place. In March, vandals damaged the ANPR cameras with paint. Alex Beckett, chairman of the highways and transport committee at Cambridgeshire County Council, previously defended the restriction, stating: Mill Road is the centre of a community. We want it to be a more enjoyable, safer place to visit and to encourage more people to come into the area. 'Reducing motorised through traffic and installing the bus gate will help achieve this. 'What's important is that we now move forward with developing plans for public realm improvements supporting local businesses and allowing Mill Road to thrive.' The outcome of the High Court case is not expected for some weeks.
BBC News
21-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Cambridge trader uses horse and cart to avoid Mill Road fine
A trader has taken to using a horse and cart to avoid a longer journey and a fine after restrictions were introduced to a Ball, who runs a carpet shop in Cambridge, said a two-minute journey across the Mill Road bridge had become a longer 90-minute trip in the car after most vehicles were banned from using the crossing."The council is forcing us to revert back to the old ways from the 18th Century," he County Council said it wanted the area to be "a more enjoyable, safer place to visit" and the travel restrictions via the bus gate would help achieve this. "I can't take a delivery on a cycle, I will use my horse and cart to go over there because they can't fine my horse and cart," said Mr Ball."We've got to get our deliveries over the bridge and this is the only feasible way."As a member of the Friends of the Mill Road Bridge 2 campaign group, Mr Ball was at the High Court last week challenging the council's traffic restriction order on the bridge, which started in emergency services, taxis and blue badge holders' are among those who can still use the bridge."We need a solution. It's just devastating for businesses, on either side of the bridge," Mr Ball said."The solution is to open the bridge to all traffic, make the cyclists use the designated cycle bridge which is 100 meters down the track. Or make the cyclists dismount and walk over the bridge." Alex Beckett, chairman of the highways and transport committee at Cambridgeshire County Council previously said: "Mill Road is the centre of a community. We want it to be a more enjoyable, safer place to visit and to encourage more people to come into the area. "Reducing motorised through traffic and installing the bus gate will help achieve this."What's important is that we now move forward with developing plans for public realm improvements supporting local businesses and allowing Mill Road to thrive."Since introducing the bus gate the council has issued on average 100 fines a day to drivers illegally using the bridge. The High Court is expected to come back with its decision on the bridge appeal in a few weeks' time. Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
