East West Rail will damage wildlife says Comberton farmer

Farmer Tim Scott said he believed East-West Rail would undo the biodiversity work on his farm

A farmer said a £5bn railway between Oxford and Cambridge due to run "right through the middle" of his land would have a "maximum impact on wildlife".

Last month, the East West Rail (EWR) project confirmed the route of the section between Bedford and Cambridge.

Tim Scott said he had spent years increasing wildlife and insects on his land and his hard work would be undone.

A spokesman for the railway line said the chosen route would offer an "environmentally sustainable solution".

The new railway is due to include stations at Tempsford and Cambourne, with the line entering Cambridge via the south.

Construction is under way at the new £200m Cambridge South station, next to the city's biomedical campus, which will be on the line.

Tim Scott said the work to bring wildlife to his farm had been a 23-year project

Mr Scott has been at his site in Comberton, owned by the Countryside Regeneration Trust, for 23 years.

He said he had used many techniques to boost biodiversity and the farm had species that were "unique to arable farmland", such as grey partridges, yellowhammer birds, lapwings and brown hares.

He added the work he had put in was "going to be totally and utterly undone, destroyed by a railway line".

The proposed section between Bedford and Cambridge shows three new railway stations to be built, or rebuilt in the case of Bedford St Johns

An East West Railway Company spokesman said the firm was focused on "finding solutions that avoid or reduce negative impacts to the environment".

"We recognise the important role agriculture, the environment and biodiversity play in the local community and that's why we are committed to delivering 10% Biodiversity Net Gain along the East West Rail route," he said.

"The route we are taking forward offers an environmentally sustainable solution that also has the benefits of fast, reliable services to the Cambridge Biomedical Campus."