Grantchester cycleway moving forward despite objections

Grantchester Meadows - which surround the village - are popular with residents and visitors

A planned cycle and walking route through a picturesque village looks to be a step closer despite objections.

The Haslingfield Greenway is a proposed off-road link between the village and Cambridge, and would pass through Grantchester.

In a public consultation 73% of people in Grantchester said they opposed the route going through their village.

However, the Greater Cambridge Partnership, spearheading the project, said it planned to move it forward.

Grantchester and its meadows were famously beloved by writers Rupert Brooke and Virginia Woolf, and the village, near Cambridge, is the setting for the ITV detective drama Grantchester.

The Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP) - a body that includes local councils, businesses and the University of Cambridge - said its decision to push on with the recommended Grantchester section of the new route was based on the overall feedback from the consultation, which saw a majority of people - 64% - support it.

At a GCP executive board meeting on Thursday, Lesley Sherratt, who chairs Grantchester Parish Council, asked the board not to move ahead with the Grantchester section of the greenway, saying it would have a "detrimental aesthetic impact" on the village.

She proposed an alternative route, but members of the board said they believed people would still cycle or walk through Grantchester whether the greenway went ahead as planned or not.

Mike Davey, the Labour leader of Cambridge City Council, suggested Grantchester could be the "victim of its own beauty", agreeing people would go through the village regardless of whether the GCP put a cycle route in place.

Peter Blake, transport director at the GCP, said: "Cyclists, like most people, do want to take the short and faster route. The proposal tries to make that as safe as possible for all road users."

He added that the majority of people who responded to the overall consultation were supportive of the proposals.

The board unanimously agreed to progress the Haslingfield Greenway scheme.

Work on the detailed designs for the scheme is now expected to take place, including requesting the required agreements and permissions.