The Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP) want to build an off-road busway from Cambourne to Cambridge (C2C), at an estimated cost of at least £200 million.

We fully support the development of much-needed infrastructure and better transport links from the west of Cambridge into the city and other key destinations. But it is clear that, for many reasons, the GCP's off-road scheme is not a good solution. 

The proposed route will cut through Green Belt land and the county's largest traditional orchard. It will irreversibly damage landscape, views and habitats. It does not provide direct journeys to most key destinations. It is extremely poor value for money.

But there is a viable, cost-effective alternative route, which:
  • is far less expensive
  • is much less damaging to the environment
  • offers more direct journeys to most key destinations.

Public Inquiry underway

The application for this scheme is now the subject of a Public Inquiry. The Inquiry opened on 15th September and will finish on 21st November 2025.

The case against the scheme is being led by Cambridge Past Present and Future with Coton Parish Council. Their barrister and legal team are supported by an ecologist, two transport professionals, an engineer and an academic with an interest in carbon emissions.

Coton Busway Action Group will be giving evidence on Friday 26th September, according to the current schedule. Other organisations and individuals will also be speaking. The inquiry takes place at the Cambridge Belfry Hotel in Cambourne, and members of the public are welcome to attend.  It can also be watched livestreamed on YouTube via a link on the Inquiry website.

The current schedule and all official documents relating to the Inquiry, are here. You can view the CBAG Proof of Evidence and the Summary (the short version which will be read out at the Public Inquiry) here. The Proofs of Evidence and Summaries for Cambridge Past Present and Future and Coton Parish Council are here.
It is hard to overstate what is at stake in this contest. As well as having massive implications for the environment and the use of public money, the eventual decision comes at a crucial moment for the city of Cambridge. As the scale, direction and approach to future development is determined, the outcome of the Inquiry will set a precedent. It will determine whether the city will expand by riding roughshod over its natural resources, its cultural heritage, and the views of local people – or whether it will work with intelligence and sensitivity to develop in ways that protect and promote the natural environment and the good relationships on which we all depend.

This is not a done deal. With Cambridge Past, Present & Future and an alliance of other organisations, CBAG has raised significant funds to pay for representation at the Inquiry. We have reached our target –  but we do need more.

You can support the campaign by

The on-road alternative will:
• save over £200 million of public money
• cause minimal environmental damage
• provide more direct journeys to key destinations

You can help!
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In a nutshell …
The GCP's C2C busway scheme would be a disaster:

For the environment
  • desecrates Coton Orchard, a county wildlife site – where no amount of new planting can mitigate the loss
  • carves up Green Belt land with restrictive covenants in favour of the National Trust
  • causes significant destruction of scrub, meadow and woodland habitats
  • produces significant and unjustifiable carbon emissions from the construction of the roadway, the bridge over the M11 and a new Park & Ride
  • bisects priority green corridors – vital to ecological recovery

For local heritage and landscape
  • ruins some of loveliest, most unspoiled views anywhere around Cambridge
  • encroaches on paths used by walkers, including many from the city
  • imposes unjustified urbanisation on the rural, historic village of Coton

For people in and around Cambridge
  • does not make journey times to Cambridge significantly faster – a difference of only 1.5–3.5 minutes between on-road and off-road routes for a 30-minute journey
  • does not provide faster journeys to most key destinations
  • does not take into account current road usage data or evolving working patterns
  • has a minimum price tag of £200 million and a benefit–cost ratio of only 0.43 – so is poor value and a waste of money that could be spent on other projects

Moreover, the GCP and the County Council have failed to take into account:

  • the new government's commitment to East West Rail (EWR), which substantively alters the transport rationale and the business case for C2C
 
  • the proposed new service reservoir at Madingley, a vital component in the plan to ensure water supply meets growing demand – which lies on the proposed C2C route, introducing further complexity, risk and extra costs
 
  • the full implications of: rising construction costs, several £M for annual maintenance, and competing major infrastructure schemes – all making this project a serious financial and political risk
 
  • the fact that building a busway does not guarantee buses: no bus companies have ever indicated that they will want or be able to run these services, so the new road and motorway bridge could easily become a hugely expensive ‘white elephant’.
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For background information, more of the detail behind the argument, and links to key documents, see our longer briefing document
The on-road alternative will save millions of pounds, cause minimal environmental damage,
and provide more direct journeys to most key destinations.  

What our supporters are saying

"You can put a bus route anywhere you like, but you can’t mitigate for cutting down hundreds of trees like this."
Chris Packham on ITV News

“The threat to the historic orchard at Coton is a sign that the urge among planners in the country to override environmental concerns in order to promote GDP growth remains undiminished.”
Sir Partha Dasgupta GBE FRS FBA Frank Ramsey Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of Cambridge

“The National Trust continues to object to the proposal for an off-road busway between Madingley Mulch and Cambridge city centre because of its impact on a valued landscape which has intrinsic visual, historic and cultural significance, and which is fundamental to preserving the setting and special character of the historic city of Cambridge in accordance with its Green Belt purpose.”
The National Trust

"The open green spaces of Cambridge need protection."
Sir David Attenborough

"These ecosystems are developed over many many decades, and you can’t replant your way out of this kind of destruction."
Joel Ashton, wildlife gardnening expert and TV presenter

"Leave Coton Orchard alone!"
Iolo Williams, wildlife expert and TV presenter
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"“The climate crisis requires careful analysis  before any investment into future-proofing our country is made.  Where we need better public transport, care must always be taken that existing facilities are adapted before adding additional infrastructure across greenbelt land. In this case there is a far less destructive alternative, making better use of the nearby existing N-S highway.   I join those who have stated very clearly that the proposed investment would prove to be a costly environmental tragedy.”
Sir David King, Founder & Chair, Centre for Climate Repair, University of Cambridge

"Coton Orchard has such enormous riches. I can’t think of anywhere else quite like it. And it’s big enough to be significant, and its connected to the surrounding countryside – and that connectivity is absolutely vital."
Brian Evesham, CEO Wildlife Trust BCN

“These veteran trees in Coton Orchard are protected through the National Planning Policy Framework, and are a vital and treasured part of the UK’s natural and cultural landscape.”
Jack Taylor, Lead Campaigner at the Woodland Trust

"The proposed C2C busway might, in the fullness of time, make a small contribution to combating the global climate crisis, but it would be a great shame if this could only be achieved at the cost of worsening the biodiversity crisis. It is not in our long-term interests to remove the trees of Coton Orchard, and the irreplaceable habitats in and around them, which, once lost, are lost forever."
Clive Anderson, TV and radio presenter, former barrister, President of The Woodland Trust
@CotonBusway
© Coton Busway Action Group 2023