Agenda item

Briefing note attached.

Councillor Mason thanked Rowland Potter for providing members in advance with the progress update report on this item

Members made comments, asked questions and received responses as follows:

1.    Councillor Booth said he wanted to explore the point in the update regarding feasibility, i.e. aspirations on services per hour to Cambridge. He said that Greater Anglia had recently announced they were going to cut services until there was an intervention, so what safeguards or guarantees can be put in place to ensure that once funding is received and the rail line is delivered there are no cuts to services later on, particularly in respect of protecting the public purse. Rowland Potter said unfortunately he cannot give any guarantees, however he is a passionate defender of maximising capacity through the Ely Junction and will continue to argue for that case. He is also passionate about the Wisbech to March rail link and is arguing strongly for that maximum service, also he will continue to fight for the Wisbech rail line to be developed and built. It is a complex process, but he will continue to engage positively with the various bodies involved.

2.    Councillor Mason said there are two strong business cases, one for trains from Wisbech to Cambridge and the other a shuttle service between Wisbech and March, and he asked for more detail on the benefits of both. Rowland Potter advised the most commercially viable is the two trains per     hour direct to Cambridge however there is a medium business case value for the shuttle service for at least ten years pending that availability. Network Rail creates the capacity and the Department of Transport approves the timetabling for the train operating companies. Unfortunately, services have been cut lately due to the pandemic and we have been arguing the need for those services to at least be reinstated and for additional services to be provided. Our strongest case is for the two trains to Cambridge however there is a case for an interim solution. Post COVID-19 we do not know what the timetable will look like, but he argues for a railway line between Wisbech and March going onto Cambridge and will continue to do so.

3.    Councillor Topgood said the Ely North Junction is one of the biggest projects that will help capacity on the line but there is also the plan to replace the signalling of the whole line which will also increase capacity. We must remember that this project is far wider, it is a major infrastructure improvement to Growing Fenland. Fenland has been starved of investment for many years and we are now beginning to see major investment coming in. The shuttle service is going to be the first phase, and future extensions could see trains from Wisbech to further north, and he thinks this is a great idea for the future growth of Fenland.

4.    Councillor Skoulding asked Rowland Potter if he knew the numbers of people travelling by bus from Wisbech to March onto Peterborough or Cambridge for work on a full price ticket. Rowland Potter advised that he did not have that level of detail to hand but would be able to provide that information from the business case post meeting.

5.    Councillor Miscandlon said that it is incumbent on everyone at this meeting to promote the use of the rail service once it is completed. It is a case of use it or lose it, and if we can encourage people to use rail services then the train operating companies will see the financial benefits to them to keep the capacity.

6.    Councillor Booth mentioned the access to the Restoring Your Railway Fund. Given the extortionate cost of reinstating a railway line he asked if we have missed out on access to central Government funding as they have received so many bids, but this project is not listed on their website. Rowland Potter responded that the restoring railways fund is complex and is in several phases. The current phase announced today is for innovation fund applications but the Wisbech to March proposal would come under accelerated projects, which has not yet been announced or promoted. However, we applied early once we had heard of it but the list that Councillor Booth refers to is for those applications that come under the category of innovation. Councillor Booth asked if any money is allocated to the phase this project would come under or would it all be used up on the earlier applications. Rowland Potter said unfortunately this has not been clarified by the Department of Transport but irrespective of the allocation of funding, we have submitted a passionate application and have had several discussions with Network Rail to put a strong argument for this case and for funding. Other potential means of funding have yet to be announced or decided. Councillor Booth thanked Rowland Potter for the clarification.

7.    Russell Beal added that from an Anglian Water point of view they have been working with Rowland Potter and the Combined Authority on a number of things in the Fenland area, and as part of the Wisbech 2020 work he is doing, particularly in relation to the Wisbech Garden town project, he has seen nervousness by the Government in terms of investment in the Fens. This is due to the flood risk issue and finding a long-term solution. We know the sea level is rising and the potential of enormous impact from climate change in the Fens. He is currently leading on the Future Fenland project, which is an ambitious project that looks to link together climate change resilience for the Fens and integrate that with the work Rowland Potter has been doing in terms of road and rail connectivity. A budget of £200m has been announced by the Government towards a flood and coast resilience programme and there is an opportunity to get the Fens identified as one of 25 locations to benefit from that funding. He is working on that now and it is important to link the work that we are all doing to make that bid more powerful. 

8.    Councillor Booth asked what is happening with the Wisbech Garden Town as it had been some 18 months since the bid had been submitted. Russell Beal said we are doing everything possible, as is Rowland Potter and his team, but it is important to find the long-term resilience to climate change. The Fens is at or below sea level which is rising so the risk is increasing. The garden town was not refused, but it was but more a question of what the long-term solution is. Anglian Water has an ambitious plan to construct a new reservoir in the Spalding area, with potential for a second reservoir south of Kings Lynn. Traditionally these would have been looked at in isolation by Anglian Water, but the way forward is to combine these proposals with the future flood risk resilience strategy. New reservoirs will not only be good for public water supply but will aide land irrigation and there is a concept on the drawing board that looks to combine future water supply strategy with a climate change resilience strategy, and put together with the CPCA's green transport strategy we can unlock potential growth. There is a window over the next 12 months to make a strong case to Government which will hopefully give them confidence to accept the Wisbech Garden Town. It also builds confidence particularly with new businesses potentially looking to come to the Fenland area which will provide further economic and sustainable growth.

9.    Councillor Booth referred to Russell Beal's point around flood risk and said that in respect of the Garden Town, work was commissioned to do some modelling with funding from the Dutch government and he asked if the Government had not accepted the new modelling provided or were they questioning its robustness. Russell Beal said the modelling went a long way to outline a way forward in the immediate future, but it is the long-term solution they are looking for, particularly when looking at the long-term projections on climate change. The Government does not want to approve mass house building only to see it all underwater in 50 years’ time.  A high-level meeting is proposed for next spring and they are already speaking to Government about the longer-term proposals such as enhanced sea defences to look at the benefits of an integrated approach and the cost savings.

10.Councillor Seaton said, to follow up on Russell Beal's points, the proposals of the reservoir south of Kings Lynn would be of immense assistance to furthering the duelling of the A47 and the associated developments that would entail. 

11.Councillor Yeulett agreed with councillor Topgood's comments, saying this is a long-term project with difficult negotiations going forward. If it goes ahead it will benefit the whole district and we should all get behind it. He was particularly interested in what Russell Beal had said but did not think the Government would want to sacrifice all the valuable arable farming land in the area and they must think this through.

12.Councillor Topgood referred to Councillor Skoulding's earlier query about footfall to catch trains. He said that not many people go to March to catch trains, they either go to Peterborough or Kings Lynn. He mentioned the sparseness of the bus services, if getting to March after 5pm you cannot get back to Wisbech anyway so the figures will not be of any help. Referring to the Restoring Your Railways Fund, it clearly states that the first round was to get projects to where they have already been, with the second phase to get the funding for railways. He is pleased that Rowland Potter has said that the Combined Authority has applied for the second tranche of money already. Clearly, we need to look at bus services and the upgrade of roads in one go and that is why we need major infrastructure improvements because one will bring the other.

13.Councillor Skoulding said he believed there had been a speed limit on the old Wisbech to March line due to silt and asked how this will be overcome on the new line. Rowland Potter said we know there are topographical and geotechnical challenges. Within the design, we have put in a design that is of greater speed than warranted but we wanted to put forward a business case that is of higher grade rather than a lower one that may need to be changed later. There are challenges with ground conditions for road and rail in Fenland, but we will use experts to ensure suitable solutions in place when required. However, he does not see the Wisbech to March line being of a high speed because of the short distance involved.

14.Councillor Miscandlon mentioned the correlation between bus, taxi and train fares. The prices will need to be competitive and affordable to ensure the services are used. Rowland Potter agreed and said the local transport plan produced by the Combined Authority has a vision of an integrated transport solution that looks at all these. There is a bus reform task force looking at current and future bus provision and a rail enhancement strategy and we want to give public transport solutions that gives people real alternatives to the car. Details still need to be established, but the individual services cannot work in isolation and as Russell Beal said earlier, all these activities need to be linked.

15.Councillor Topgood referred to the condition of the railway line between March and Wisbech as mentioned by Councillor Skoulding and said it is no different to the line between Peterborough and Ely. The reason for the lower speeds is because there is a big difference between the maintenance on a passenger line and a lightly used goods line. The line It will be re-laid in modern materials and will be maintained as a passenger line.

Councillor Mason thanked Rowland Potter and Russell Beal for their attendance at today’s meeting and for the information provided.

(Rowland Potter and Russell Beal left the meeting).