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16 East West Rail Bedford to Cambridge Routes Consultation. PDF 185 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Director for Planning and Economic Development informed
the Committee the deadline to the consultation response had given a very
limited time span; the deadline for a response had been closed the week before
the meeting.
There had been some dialogue with Cambridge and Bedford
Councillors to determine whether there had been a preference to the options
given. There had been an inclination for the route leaving Bedford from the
North to Cambourne, then approaching the City from
the South. However it was reiterated in the response that the information
concerning each route option had been very limited.
In response to Members’ questions the Director for Planning
and Economic Development said the following:
i.
There would be limited stops between Bedford and
Cambridge.
ii.
Alongside the railway was the Oxford to
Cambridge Express Way; an announcement of the preferred alignment was via Caxton
Gibbet. This would provide infrastructure capacity.
iii.
There had to be an opportunity for economic
growth along the railway line to justify the investment from East West Rail;
150,000 additional homes between Bedford and Cambridge.
iv.
Looking at established towns which could support
further expansion.
v.
Long way to go to understand expectations and
have to take into account local transport projects.
vi.
This was just the beginning of the project.
The Executive Councillor advised the Committee this was a concept
plan which lacked detail and was only the beginning of the planning process.
The response from Cambridge City Council had not ruled out any options.