Cambourne to Cambridge (C2C) busway public inquiry opened

Those in support said the busway is needed to help “unleash Cambridge’s economic potential”, as well as enabling further housing and jobs growth in the area.

However, others questioned the justification for the project and argued an alternative off-road scheme would meet overarching objectives and be less harmful to the environment.

The project to build the new busway has been put together by the Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP).

The scheme proposes to build a dedicated guided busway, with a pathway alongside it for pedestrians and cyclists to use, with a travel hub also proposed at Scotland Farm.

The busway route is proposed to be built from Cambourne to Cambridge via the new Bourn Airfield development, Hardwick, Coton, and the West Cambridge site.

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Cambridgeshire County Council submitted a Transport and Works Act Order (TWAO) to the Department for Transport to ask for permission to build the new busway.

While the project is being led by the GCP, the organisation is not able to submit the TWAO itself, which is why the county council as the highways authority has made the formal application.

The public inquiry into the project opened this week (September 16), which is due to continue into November.

Richard Clegg, the lead inspector at the inquiry, told the hearing that around 300 objections had been submitted against the busway, with 13 representations of support, and 12 other representations made.

In his opening statement, Neil Cameron KC, representing the county council, said there was “universal agreement” that a reliable public transport service between Cambourne and Cambridge is needed.

He said this agreement was “striking” but “not surprising” due to the need for transport infrastructure to support the national and local plans for growth in the Greater Cambridge area.

Mr Cameron said congestion was already “severe” and was a “feature of daily life” for people, creating delays and “health consequences from poor air quality.

He added that there is also a “critical economic consequence” of this lack of needed infrastructure, as he said poor connectivity constrained the local economy while “wasting” people’s time.

Mr Cameron said the busway would reduce bus journey times by 50 per cent in the morning peak, and would increase the number of people opting to use the bus.

He said the new homes that would be “unlocked” would offer “social and economic benefits”, highlighting the affordable homes planned at the new developments in Cambourne and Bourn Airfield.

He also said the busway would offer more opportunities for active travel, which he said would particularly benefit people without access to a car.

Mr Cameron added that there were also a range of environmental benefits, such as a net reduction in carbon emissions and biodiversity net gain.

Mr Cameron recognised that an alternative on-road proposal had been put forward by some of those opposing the project.

He told the inquiry that “adequate” assessments of alternatives had been conducted and that the “best option has been chosen”.

Mr Cameron said: “There is very strong national and local support for the delivery of the busway.

“This reflects the demonstrable need for improved infrastructure to help unleash Cambridge’s economic potential.

“The busway meets that need and delivers a package of very substantial benefits.

“There are no viable or preferable alternatives. Whilst there are, inevitably, some adverse impacts, principally from the construction of the busway, those adverse impacts are clearly outweighed by the benefits secured.”

Esther Drabkin-Reiter, counsel representing Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council, said the two authorities supported the project, reiterating the need for a “high quality transport access corridor between Cambourne to Cambridge”.

She said this is a “central part of the adopted local plans”, but also said it is “integral” to growth proposed beyond the local plan period.

Ms Drabkin-Reiter said the councils recognised there would be some “unavoidable impacts” from the development, but said they could be “mitigated to a certain degree”.

‘Alternative scheme would be viable, safe, and cheaper’

The inquiry also heard from Jack Parker, counsel representing the charity Cambridge Past Present and Future (CPPF) and Coton Parish Council (CPC).

He said while the two organisations acknowledged and agreed there was a need to meet the overarching objectives of the C2C scheme, they questioned the justification of the current plans and argued an alternative project would offer the same benefits without impacting the environment as much.

Mr Parker said CPPF and CPC believed the proposed dedicated busway would cause “significant harm to the green belt” as well as ecological harm and wider environmental harms.

He said they were also “firmly of the view” that the justification of the scheme was “lacking”.

He highlighted that the county council claimed the new busway would offer a faster and more reliable service and that more people would opt to travel by bus.

However, he questioned this claim and said the evidence put forward by the applicant noted an improvement in inbound journeys from Cambourne to Cambridge compared to current situation, but said not for outbound journeys.

Mr Parker also said it had been claimed there would likely be a worsening in congestion without the project, which would justify the creation of the outbound busway, but argued there is “no actual evidence” congestion would worsen further.

He also told the inquiry that data used for the modelling on bus passengers was from 2019, which he highlighted was before the Covid 19 pandemic, which he said it was recognised had a “significant impact” on how people travelled.

Mr Parker said as reducing journey times and increasing bus patronage were so “fundamental” to the justification for the project, more up to date data should have been used.

Mr Parker went on to tell the hearing that CPPF had put forward an alternative scheme that would avoid the need for an off-road busway to be built.

He said subject to reasonable detailed design work being undertaken, the alternative scheme would be ‘feasible, safe, and cause less harm to the environment’.

He also said it would be “significantly less costly” and argued it would be possible to create it “far more quickly than the order scheme”.

The inquiry continues with witnesses due to be called before the inspectors from people on both sides of the debate.