By Hannah Brown

Copyright cambridge-news

Not allowing the Cambourne to Cambridge (C2C) Busway to go ahead would be ‘shooting the city and the government in the foot’ the chair of the Cambridge Growth Company has said. Peter Freeman made the comments this week (September 18) at the public inquiry into the controversial C2C Busway project.

He was called by Cambridgeshire County Council as a witness to highlight the need for the project to support growth in the Greater Cambridge area. The public inquiry into the project opened earlier in the week. The plans to build the new busway have 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 2,000 space travel hub also proposed at Scotland Farm, in Dry Drayton. 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.

The 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 project has proved controversial, with around 300 objections being submitted to the inquiry. Many of those in objection have opposed the plans to build the busway through Coton Orchard, and have argued that an alternative route along Madingley Road could be pursued instead.

On the third day of the inquiry Mr Freeman explained to inspectors that the government set up the Cambridge Growth Company to help deliver on its ambitions to see more jobs and homes created in the area.

He said the government wants to attract global investors to the city, and that while Cambridge is of interest to these investors, he said it is also competing with other cities around the world.

Mr Freeman said: “If Cambridge has problems in transport, which it does, if it has problems in affordable housing, which it does, [investors] may pass over Cambridge in favour of another European location. For the most part Cambridge is trying to attract people in competition with other countries.”

Mr Freeman said the C2C Busway is “clearly not a one stop shop solution” for the transport problems faced in the area, but said it is one of a number of proposed projects that would help.

He said: “Particularly because of the cost of housing in the centre of Cambridge, it is very important to have housing coming on system places like Cambourne, which are more affordable, and not everyone wants to live in the centre of Cambridge even if they could.

“One of the biggest growth areas for employment in science and technology is the university western campus. For corporations thinking about locating in the university western campus, this guided bus route is particularly a godsend.”

Mr Freeman said the C2C Busway project had been in the works for around 11 years and claimed it would undermine investors’ confidence in whether the government is “behind Cambridge and is capable of getting its act together and driving the city forward”. He said it would send a “very poor signal” to potential investors if the project did not end up going ahead.

Mr Freeman was asked what his message would be to the Secretary of State for Transport, when they are asked to make a decision on whether the busway can go ahead. He said: “My advice, or request, is please make the order, because you are shooting Cambridge and the government in the foot if you do not.”

Mr Freeman was also asked whether he would support an alternative scheme to the one proposed, if it was found to deliver similar benefits, was viable, feasible, deliverable, and could potentially save £100million. Mr Freeman said there were “a lot of ifs” in that question and said he did not want to see the project put “10 years back on the drawing board” if changes were made.

He said: “I am not a transport consultant, I have not spent years looking at transport solutions, but I think Peter Blake’s team are extremely professional and I suspect arrived at the best balanced solution.”

The inquiry continues and is not expected to close until November.

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