Mayor James Palmer is implicated in the predicted massive £13 million overspend on the Ely Southern Bypass – which will increase its cost by nearly a third.

At £10 million the biggest part of the overspend is the construction of the unique bridge a design that has not been tested in Fen soil conditions before.

When Leader of East Cambridgeshire District Council Mayor Palmer was involved with the Ely Bypass Project Board which failed to ensure the bespoke bridge design was fully tested before construction work started.

The unique engineering design of the bridge should have been assessed for the poor ground conditions found in the Fens and I am not aware of any risk assessment having been done.

The more expensive cost of the bespoke bridge would then have been known to the Economy and Environment Committee of Cambridgeshire County Council before construction started and alternative options could have been properly compared.

Mayor Palmer’s widely reported criticisms of the time taken to undertake the bypass project has cost us dear.

Cambridgeshire County Council now has to borrow £13 million which council tax payers will have to pay back with interest.  Money we could be spending on our deteriorating roads and footpaths.