Cambridge South station design agreed by councillors

Once open, the station is expected to serve 1.8 million passengers a year

Councillors have agreed proposals for the design of Cambridge South Station and its cycle parking.

Initial work on the site began in spring, with the £200m station due to be built off Francis Crick Avenue in the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.

Overall plans were approved by the government in December.

At a meeting of the two local planning authorities, councillors heard the station would have a biodiverse roof, with rainwater collected and reused.

The plans also include 1,000 cycle parking spaces, split evenly across each side of the station.

Elliot Stamp, from Network Rail, told councillors the proposals offered "high quality cycle parking", which he said was a "key part of the project".

Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council are required to sign off certain conditions, including its design and cycle parking.

Concerns over park 'tranquillity'

Emma Smith, also from Network Rail, said approval of the conditions was "integral" in order to meet the "ambitious planning and construction programme".

"This will support us achieving successful delivery of the station and provide significant social and environmental benefits to the local area, and far and wide beyond the Cambridgeshire region," she added.

The Trumpington Residents Association questioned the need for 500 cycle spaces on the Hobson's Park side of the station.

The group argued the plans also "threaten" the park's "tranquillity" by potentially causing "hundreds" of cyclists to travel through the park.

Officers highlighted a smaller amount of land was proposed to be taken from the park for the cycle parking than had been allowed by the application.

The conditions were only partially signed off due to more information needed around the station's signs and how the secure cycle parking area will be managed.