Update 8th Mar 2019
Dear All,
Update 8 March, 2019
FeCRA Event– Friday 5 April: “Making The Inclusive City” – Robin Hambleton with a Panel of Leading Experts
6.30 – 8.30 The Perse School – Hills Road – wine, drinks, nibbles
This should be interesting and fun and the panel Q & A topical . You can book here at Eventbrite https://bit.ly/2ICG5GS and on http://fecra.org.uk/
Spread the word. Friends welcome.
East West Rail – Cambridge to Oxford Route Options – deadline Monday 11 March
The Cambridge consultation event was well attended. Route options are controversial. Barbara Young, Chair of the Woodland Trust is on the panel for the FeCRA Event. See links below for Woodland Trust concerns. Etymologist Brian Eversham, Chair of the Bedford, Cambs, Northants Wildlife Trust is also on the panel.The Wildlife Trusts, (Oxfordshire, Bucks and Berks) are challenging the OxCam Expressway. For the report on East West Rail, Cambridge routes and views, see below.
Some of you have drawn our attention to this interesting OxCam Arc report written by Smart GrowthUK http://www.smartgrowthuk.org/. Worth a read.
http://www.smartgrowthuk.org/resources/downloads/Arc_Report_1.pdf
For Woodland Trust concerns. See below:
Cambridgeshire County Council’s proposed preferred Cambridge to Oxford option is Route A, via Bedford South, Sandy and Bassingbourn. Cllr Ian Bates, Cambridgeshire County Council’s Chairman of the Economy and Environment Committee, Vice Chair of the Greater Cambridge Partnership says this is because Route A does not duplicate existing plans – ie for the CAM (bus) route through Coton. See link below.
https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/news/east-west-railway-consultation-response-set-to-be-discussed/
For other views and responses:
Coton Campaigners
https://cambridgecredibletransport.com/2019/02/28/how-dishonest-is-planning-in-cambridge/
St Neots – Campaigners petition for East West Rail route
https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/local-news/st-neots-cambridge-oxford-rail-15939729
Smarter Cambridge Transport
https://www.smartertransport.uk/east-west-rail-nail-in-the-coffin-for-the-cambourne-busway/
Trumpington Residents Association have submitted a response.
http://www.trumpingtonresidentsassociation.org/news.html
Cambourne to Cambridge Consultation –deadline Sunday 31st March
Please make time to respond to both the East West Rail and the Cambourne–Cambridge consultation
“Up to 18,000 people on our doorstep”- The North East Cambridge Area Action Plan – deadline Monday 25 March
You may know of a plan to relocate the sewage works at Milton and redevelop the whole area south of the A14 – see map in booklet link below. This had been called the Northern Fringe Project but it is now the North East Cambridge Area Action Plan. The idea is to have a dense urban development. This would use a new approach to have residences, workplaces and facilities mixed at a small scale of granularity all within walking/cycling distance. The authorities have produced an 8-page summary to explain the development which can be viewed here:
https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/media/7029/print-a5-nec-southcambs-booklet.pdf
We urge you to view these issues options and leave your comments at www.cambridge.gov.uk/necaap as like the BioMedical Campus on the south side of Cambridge, this is a very significant development, one likely to have a big impact on people’s lives.
FeCRA Committee members along with others have attended meetings. There are a lot of complex issues, but here are some key ones to consider, helpfully outlined by HPERA committee member Andrew Milbourn who has attended the meetings with the planners.
It Will be Very Big – The population will be similar to that of Ely so it is a lot bigger than, say, Orchard Park. It is also planned to include high rise development and no limit has yet been put on how high this will be.
Traffic Congestion – The top of Milton Road sometimes hits gridlock as it is, so the extra traffic does not bear thinking about. The planners have many worthy ideas to minimise car use on the development, but these are unproven.
No Mention of CAM Metro – One year ago the mayor’s consultants published indicative maps showing their proposed underground metro linking with Cambridge North/Science Park. Where is it in these plans?
Facilities – If insufficient facilities are developed there will be an impact locally. It has already been decided not to build a secondary school and to absorb the new pupils into existing schools.
The Edges of the Development – The development borders on to disadvantaged parts of the city and it is not clear that these areas will be upgraded to deal with the new demands.
Developers and Implementation – Developers in Cambridge have been consistent only in always failing to deliver all of the promised facilities. Where they have been provided it has often been too late and too incoherent. It is difficult to see why things will be any different this time as it will take place under the same legislation and even with some of the same developers. These include Brookgate whose CB1 development has been so controversial. If the developers fail to mitigate potential problems then the issues mentioned above could have considerable impacts. See this link for a new example locally:
https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/cambridge-darwingreen-huntingdon-histon-barratt-15861830
With thanks to HPERA for sharing the information
Cambridge public spaces
With all the fast growth we are hearing concerns about public spaces and about the loss of democratically available space. This, from Dr Valerie Neale of Friends of Cambridge Market- ‘Privatisation of land is the key issue – the part that really matters, long term – About the loss of the Howard Mallett Centre/St Matthew’s Piece. We ended up losing not just the building but fully HALF of the only public park in St Matthew’s – Petersfield is the most densely populated ward in the city’ and her link.
The Friends of Cambridge Market have asked us to share the list of questions they submitted to officers. See http://fecra.org.uk/city-centre-plans/
Petition to keep Shire Hall & site in Council ownership, publicly accessible
Others have asked us to share this petition with you. See link below.
‘We are working to keep this site in Council ownership and publicly accessible free of charge in perpetuity. Every signature strengthens the case’
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/public-ownership-of-castle-landmark-site
Best wishes,
Wendy
Wendy Blythe
Chair, FeCRA
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