£10m fund will help 'seize opportunity' to grow Cambridge, says county's mayor
The move has been announced in the first Labour Budget in 14 years
The mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough is hopeful plans to grow Cambridge will come off.
In its first Budget in 14 years, Labour confirmed the Cambridge Growth Company would benefit from £10 million of funding to develop a plan for housing, transport, water and wider infrastructure in the city.
The funding would also help with the expansion of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.
Labour mayor Dr Nik Johnson is hopeful for the scheme to work, but thinks £10m won't be enough.
Funding is reason to 'seize the opportunity'
"Any investment in Cambridge is an investment for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and as a mayor, I'd like to seize the opportunity," he said.
"The number of houses required to tackle the issues of inequality and lack of affordability, that is a real challenge that won't be dealt with by £10m, but £10m will be the seed which will work with the people who've been put in place in terms of the Cambridge development group."
In March, the previous Conservative Government released its “Case for Cambridge”, including confirming plans to build a “major new urban quarter”.
In that report, Michael Gove, the former Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, said Cambridge was the “most unequal city in the UK” and faced “significant challenges” that prevented it from reaching its “full economic potential”.
Mr Johnson said it's unclear how much the latest growth plans will cost.
"Whatever's going to happen to drive the economy has to be a working relationship between public and private finance, but the costs (for Cambridge growth plans) are still to be put forward," he said.
Bus fare cap 'a relief'
Labour also confirmed the single bus fare cap will increase from £2 to £3, with the new cap running until the end of 2025.
Mr Johnson has been pursuing bus franchising for the county, as well as helping introduce a Tiger bus pass to improve bus usage.
But a Combined Authority meeting in July heard that if all goes to plan, the first publicly owned services could be running by September 2027.
"The money has to go up and there will be challenges," Mr Johnson added.
"We will work with operators, look at how the finances stack up but overall, I'm relieved the Government recognises the importance of buses and maintaining a cap, even if it has had to go up.
"The fact we've got more buses running at competitive prices, that's a good thing in the long-term because that helps by sustainably connecting people to help drive the economy."