Issue - meetings

East West Rail Bedford to Cambridge route alignments and station locations consultation response

Meeting: 02/06/2021 - Weekly Bulletin (Item 9.)

East West Rail Bedford to Cambridge route alignments and station locations consultation response

Cabinet:

 

a)    Approved the Council’s response to the East West Rail consultation as set out in Appendix A of the report.

b)    Delegated authority to the Joint Director of Planning and Economic Development to make further technical comments in consultation with the Lead Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning of South Cambridgeshire District Council.

 

This decision was first published on 26 May 2021, so the deadline for call-in is 5pm on Thursday 3 June, a day later than usual due to the Spring Bank Holiday.


Meeting: 24/05/2021 - Cabinet (Item 8)

8 East West Rail Bedford to Cambridge route alignments and station locations consultation response pdf icon PDF 344 KB

Decision:

Cabinet:

 

a)    Approved the Council’s response to the East West Rail consultation as set out in Appendix A of the report.

b)    Delegated authority to the Joint Director of Planning and Economic Development to make further technical comments in consultation with the Lead Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning of South Cambridgeshire District Council.

Minutes:

Cabinet received the East West Rail Bedford to Cambridge route alignment and station location consultation response. Councillor Neil Gough, Deputy Leader, introduced the report, highlighting the Council’s response to the public consultation on the East West Rail project, proposing a railway line between Oxford, Milton Keynes, Bedford and Cambridge.

 

Councillor John Williams, Lead Cabinet Member for Finance, was pleased with the Council’s response, but noted the impact on the upgraded railway line in Fulbourn.

 

Councillor Brian Milnes, Lead Cabinet Member for Environmental Services and Licencing, mentioned the change the project would bring to the villages to the district, bur was pleased with the response.

 

Councillor Anna Bradnam, Chair of the Council referred to Section 2 of response refers to southern access and requested the following amendments to the consultation document ‘any deviation from the preferred route might impact other Heritage and Landscape sites and we request that if variations are considered, EWR evaluate the potential for other important sites to be impacted’.

 

Councillor Dr. Aidan Van de Weyer mentioned the impact the preferred route would have on the district, and lack of information that the Council had received from East West Rail. There was also concerns of the high embankments that would be required with the current route. The Director of the Shared Planning Service agreed there would be impacts for the District, and this had been reflected in the published response.

 

Councillor Dr. Richard Williams, referred to the tone of the response, and was against the potential severance of local communities through the proposed route. The Director of the Shared Planning Service noted this recommendation and mentioned minor amendments to the tone would be discussed with the deputy leader.

 

Councillor Nick Wright raised concerns of the route allocation, the station proposed in the north of Cambourne and the development impact of the project, including the potential increase of houses. The Deputy Leader responded that the Council was listening to the residents’ concerns and this was reflected within the response and mentioned the increase in houses was part of a previous consultation of the route.

 

Councillor Heather Williams expressed concern for the wider Oxford-Cambridge Arc, requesting further information from the administration regarding this project, and requested the Leader to commit to a route from the previously discussed options. The Leader of the Council responded that she would not be committing to a preferred route, but further information from the Oxford-Cambridge Arc would be shared when required.

 

Councillor Dr. Tumi Hawkins, Lead Cabinet Member for Planning Policy and Delivery, was pleased with the Council’s response, but also noted the effects the preferred route would have on Highfields Caldecote, the Bourn Airfield development, impacting mixed-use properties, and severing Highfields from Caldecote, and was disappointed with the lack of communications with East West Rail, including the announcement of the station in Cambourne.

 

Councillor Bridget Smith, noted she was pleased with the current response, and ensured the Members that their comments would be reflected in the response.

 

The debate was closed, and Cabinet:  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8