A long and winding road
It is now ten years since the Coton Busway Action Group swung into action. Here is a brief outline of events so far.
2014 The C2C proposal was formulated by the City Deal in 2014 in response to the SCDC draft Local Plan. This included a significant development along the A428 corridor, west of Cambridge. The SCDC Local Plan (adopted 2018) stated that there should be improvements to public transport, to include: “provision of high quality bus priority measures or busway on or parallel to the A1303” (p.74) The local plan did not specify that the transport infrastructure had to be off-road. 2015 The government-funded Greater Cambridge City Deal launched the Cambourne to Cambridge (C2C) Better Bus Journeys Project, putting out five on-road and off-road proposals out for consultation. The Coton Busway Action Group was began campaigning. The public strongly opposed Option 3, an off-road route through Coton and the West Fields. But the City Deal decided that this was their preferred option. 2017 City Deal changed their name to the Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP). Residents proposed an optimised on-road 'Option 6', endorsed by the Local Liaison Forum, but this was repeatedly misrepresented by the GCP in scheme reports. 2017–18 A second consultation invited responses to two sub-optimal on-road schemes ('Options 1 and 2') and an off-road scheme ('Option 3'). The public still preferred an on-road option – by a 2:1 margin – but the GCP went ahead with Option 3, with the off-road section. 2022 The GCP launched an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) consultation on the off-road scheme. The public were asked to comment, via a questionnaire, on measures to 'manage and mitigate impacts of the scheme on landscape and environment'. You can read the full, formal response from CBAG, and from Cambridge Past, Present and Future and other groups here. March 2023 Cambridge County Councillors voted to approve a the Greater Cambridge Partnership’s draft application for a Transport and Works Act Order (TWAO) for the C2C Busway scheme. November 2024 Cambridgeshire County Council submitted their Transport and Works Act Order (TWAO) application to the Secretary of State for Transport. The TWAO grants planning permission and gives powers to compulsorily purchase land owned by those who oppose the scheme. Formal objections were submitted by several stakeholder organisations and numerous individuals. February 2025 The Department of Transport sent notification that there is to be a Public Local Inquiry into the application. The date for the Inquiry will be announced in due course. |
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COTON BUSWAY ACTION GROUP
Click to download the minutes from the 2023 CBAG AGM and Constitution. |
Where we are now
Coton Busway Action Group plan to give oral evidence at the Inquiry, so we are now preparing our Statement of Case, to be submitted by 19th March. Other organisations and individuals, including lawyers jointly representing Cambridge Past Present and Future and Coton Parish Council, will be doing the same.
Over recent weeks we have been encouraged by a massive surge in media interest, an increase in donations, and expressions of support from the general public. But we know that there is still much to do. We are now stepping up our campaign – to raise public awareness, keep up pressure on the decision makers, and ensure a strong, fully supported case is made at the Inquiry. Here's how you can lend support.
Over recent weeks we have been encouraged by a massive surge in media interest, an increase in donations, and expressions of support from the general public. But we know that there is still much to do. We are now stepping up our campaign – to raise public awareness, keep up pressure on the decision makers, and ensure a strong, fully supported case is made at the Inquiry. Here's how you can lend support.
