It appears that the vigorous Lib Dem campaign against * the Conservatives’ winter gritting cuts could be about to pay off.

A motion from Lib Dem Lucy Nethsingha to today’s meeting of the County Council (item 9a on the agenda) says:

This Council notes:

• the changes to gritting routes in Cambridgeshire, published on 14 October 2016.
• the prediction of freezing weather this winter resulting from movement of the polar vortex.

This Council believes the extent of gritting proposed is inadequate for the safety of Cambridgeshire residents and will leave a considerable number of villages completely isolated in the event of ice or severe snowfall.

This Council also believes that ensuring the roads remain open during periods of bad weather, is crucial to ensuring the economic prosperity of the County.

This Council therefore asks that the Chief Executive reinstate as many of the gritting routes from last year’s gritting plan as possible, particularly roads to local secondary schools and roads that keep villages connected to the highway network, using money from the Council’s reserves to fund any shortfall above the budgeted cost, up to an additional £650k.

It now appears that the Conservatives, who voted the gritting cuts through in the first place, will now be backing the reversal of their bad decision – but amending it to try to claim the credit and ‘asking opposition parties support’!  In a staggering display of hypocrisy and blame-shifting, their leader Steve Count is trying to claim it was their idea to reverse the cuts, and to blame his officers for the Conservatives’ decision.

The Conservatives are the largest group on the council, though without an overall majority.  This is further evidence, if any were needed, why they are not fit to run the county council.

*[And yes, each of those is a separate link to a separate part of the Lib Dem campaign].