Campaign Update

​Following the February hearings on the independent examination of South Cambridgeshire's Local Plan there is now a short break while the planning inspector, Laura Graham, digests the material and information gathered to date. At the February sessions the coalition of 14 local parish councils, led by Bourn Parish Council, submitted a statement on transport issues (see here for the statement). In the statement the coalition argued that:

• most of the employment growth over the next 20 years is expected to occur south of Cambridge at the biomedical medical park and other research parks. Some growth is also forecast north of the city, but there will be almost no new jobs created in the A428 corridor, west of Cambridge  Why build over 6,000 new houses at Bourn Airfield and West Cambourne, where people will have to commute 25-30 miles a day, to and from work?  Homes should be build close to jobs so that people can walk or cycle to work or use public transport.

• Currently it is only possible to drive from Cambourne/Bourn Airfield to the employment centres south of the city by driving through the villages. This is because there is no right turn from the A428 onto the M11 and – as anyone who has tried knows – Madingley Hill (the A1303) is gridlocked in the morning rush hours. Over 2,500 cars leave Cambourne on weekdays between 7am and 9 am. If the Bourn Airfield and West Cambourne schemes go ahead this will jump to approximately 6,500 cars. Add to this the large increase in traffic from St Neots and villages like Bourn will have intolerable increases in through traffic.

The site-specific hearings begin after Easter and both the coalition and StopBAD will be attending these sessions when the attention turns specifically to the proposed developments on Bourn Airfield and West Cambourne.