Busway through orchard the wrong idea, says mayor

The busway would run through Coton Orchard, which is near Cambridge

A proposed £200m guided busway which runs through a historical orchard is the "wrong scheme", the county's mayor has said.

Planners hope that linking Cambourne and Cambridge, known as the C2C project, will ease congestion on local roads and that 10,000 trips will be made each day.

But Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayor Paul Bristow, whose office would oversee the bus services, has objected to the plans.

He told an ongoing public inquiry the busway would be at "considerable expense to the taxpayer when there are cheaper alternatives".

A guided busway takes a modified bus along a track, and this route would be 8.6 miles long (14km).

A new park and ride in Dry Drayton would be built and the route would include stops at the Bourn Airfield development, Hardwick and Coton.

Paul Bristow oversees the transport strategy for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough

The proposed route, developed by the Greater Cambridge Partnership on behalf of Cambridgeshire County Council, would run through Coton Orchard which is a century-old 60-acre site.

Campaigners believe a new bus lane could be created on the existing roads rather than building the busway, which would also pass through farmland currently designated as green belt.

Bristow, a Conservative, described himself as "pro-growth" but has raised concerns.

"I've walked the route. I've spoken to campaigners. I've stood in Coton Orchard. I find their objections convincing," he told the inquiry.

"I'm not the sort of person you would typically see against infrastructure… but I think this is the wrong scheme."

Inspectors have visited the sites affected by the plans, including Coton Orchard

Bristow is also sceptical about the estimated number of passengers the scheme has put forward, and what happens when East-West Rail (EWR) is built.

A new train station is proposed at Cambourne, and Bristow said in his statement to the inquiry that those behind the scheme had not modelled the impact of EWR.

"If passengers switch to EWR from the busway, which seems probable given the faster and more reliable journey times, then bus services using C2C would need to be subsidised from the [mayoral authority's] budgets under a franchising model.

"The busway could become an unacceptable drain on the authority's financial resources, requiring services to be withdrawn."

Neil Cameron KC, representing the council, has told the inquiry residents' concerns had not been ignored and "adverse impacts have been identified and mitigated".

He claimed the on-road alternative had been assessed as "unsafe" based "on a plethora of unacceptable departures from the relevant design standards".

Inspectors overseeing the inquiry are due to make recommendations to government about the scheme, including about whether to allow or refuse it.

The hearing is taking place at The Cambridge Belfry in Cambourne.