The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority has proposed allocating £500,000 toward restoring the Bates Bite Lock, following concerns about a lack of funding for “urgent” lock repairs.

This comes as part of a wider funding reallocation proposed at a funding committee meeting last Monday (01/09), with approximately £1.42 million being moved from a separate project to a Heritage and Tourism Portfolio.

Out of this figure, the Authority would allocate £800,000 towards both restoring the Bates Bite Lock (£500,000) and Peterborough Cathedral (£299, 432).

A meeting report stated: “This revised approach reflects the importance of safeguarding and promoting the region’s iconic and internationally significant heritage assets, which are key to driving economic growth and visitor engagement across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.”

The aim of the Lock funding package, it continued, was to “restore operational functionality of the lock gates”.

However, the meeting concluded that more substantial repairs were still needed to secure the long-term security of the lock. 

The Conservators of the Cam, the group historically responsible for the maintenance of the River Cam, suggested in the longer term a “full structural rebuild” of both locks would be required.

At the meeting, Conservative Councillor Steve Count suggested there was space now for the City Council to also contribute toward the repairs.

He stated he would not “expect more requests from the Conservators of the River Cam” toward the combined Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Authority – he suggested that instead the Conservators would likely direct further funding requests toward the council.

However, Labour Councillor Simon Smith stated that the council would need to raise council tax if it were to provide money for repairs, which they are unable to do due to central government taxation limits.

This comes in the context of concerns raised by local conservation group Cambridge Valley Forum earlier in August about the need for Cambridge City Council, the University, and its residents to fund the lock repairs.

Without the repairs, the group warned that both punting and rowing would be under threat.

Lib Dem Leader Ed Davey also added to the calls for immediate lock repairs in his mid-August (16/08) visit to Cambridge.

Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Paul Bristow, shared that he aimed to “persuade” the council to make a “modest contribution” to the repairs.

He also stated his belief that other Cambridge organisations that “enjoy and benefit from a healthy river” should also contribute to the repairs.