SCDC Response to the proposed EWR line Bedford to Cambridge South is contained in a detailed report that states the many challenges that the proposal faces due to the potential route alignments it proposes.
The East West Rail consultation has been very widely discussed and talked about especially in the villages that the proposed alignments are going through. Villages in Caldecote Ward affected are Highfields Caldecote, Bourn and Kingston.
South Cambs District Council cabinet at its meeting on 24th May 2021 discussed the formal response that the Council is sending to EWR.
Full SCDC Response
It is a comprehensive report that talks about challenges that include: Landscape impacts, Heritage impacts, Ecological impacts, Environmental impacts and Health impacts. It also stated concerns about its potential impacts on Cambourne and Bourn Airfield as well as other issues that can be found in the detailed report as presented to the Cabinet meeting.
Electrification is a big issue as EWR seem to be talking about diesel trains on the new line, which does not make sense. The report expresses the Council’s disappointment that EWR did not want to commit to electrification of the line from the outset. It will of course continue to push for electrification.
Minutes of the meeting can be found on the South Cambs website but summarised below. I spoke at the meeting to raise the specific concerns of villages in my ward, especially Highfields Caldecote being the most negatively affected.
You will also find my full response to the consultation here
EWR Business Case
There is no business case from EWR so we don’t have any idea of how its benefit is being assessed which may be important to how it gets funded. What we know from previous major projects like this is that the Government expects a housing development to be built where a new train station is built. The question or elephant in the room is how big a development the proposed station at Cambourne will be required.
Both SCDC and Cambridge City in the emerging Greater Cambridge Local Plan have acted proactively to identify a broad location at Cambourne from 2030 onwards. This should give time to get an answer from the Government and EWR as to which alignment and where the station will be. It also means the Councils have a say in what finally gets built there, rather than being done to by the Government through its proposed Development Corporations.
Conclusion
We now wait and see what EWR and the Government come up with after they’ve seen the responses from the consultation.
You can read the SCDC Response in full here.