A Chatteris councillor accepted the challenge to raise the issue of extending the proposed CAM metro out to the town at every future meeting of Fenland District Council.
Cllr Anne Hay had told councillors that Chatteris was the only town in Fenland not to have a rail station “or the prospect of one”.
She said it would bring better opportunities for skills, jobs, and housing.
“I am proud of my town and I want to see it grow,” she said.
Cllr Hay urged council leader Chris Boden, who sits on the board of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, to continue to lobby to extend the CAM to Chatteris.
She said the most recent meeting of the Combined Authority had suggested the CAM could come as far as Fenland and she was keen to stake a claim for Chatteris.
Cllr Boden said the Combined Authority had mentioned the Fens, and there was not a specific reference to Fenland.
He described Cllr Hay as “the champion of connectivity of the CAM network” who had lobbied intensively for it to come to Chatteris.
Cllr Boden said those in the north of the county were not always aware of the rapid transport, high volume delivery system that the CAM offered. It would enable people to use it to get into Cambridge and the south of the county for important education, leisure and employment opportunities.
“We need to be connected to that,” he said, pointing out that the CAM would provide driverless vehicles using a dedicated track intended to operate the core network 24/7.
“We are determined to get an announcement that Chatteris can be included and the mayor’s office is looking at ways this can be done,” he said.
Cllr Boden invited Cllr Hay to ask the same question at every single full meeting of Fenland Council.
That, he said, would force him to say something in response and report regularly on progress.
“I can’t agree with you more of the importance this (the CAM) would have for Fenland as a whole and particularly for Chatteris,” he said. “Please ask this question at every meeting –I’m happy to be obliged to coming back to you at every meeting.”
Cllr Hay said: “I am well known for being tenacious.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here