A meeting at Harston Village Hall on Sunday 14 January was attended by over 100 residents from Harston and Hauxton who came along to hear an update on how East West Rail’s proposed southern route would impact our villages. William Harrold of campaigning organisation Cambridge Approaches addressed the meeting via video link followed by presentations by parliamentary candidates Chris Carter Chapman (Cons) and Pippa Heyling (Lib Dem).
There was unanimous agreement that the proposals, which carry a £8 billion price tag, will have a deeply detrimental effect on life in our villages. No stations are planned on the route between Camborne and Cambridge so it is hard to see any benefit to anyone living along the route.
Discussions highlighted the following points.
- The planned passenger route is from Oxford to Cambridge, calling at Cambridge South and terminating at Cambridge Station. The freight route continues from Cambridge to Felixtowe: at least 2 freight trains a day in each direction but EWR’s remit stops at Cambridge.
- EWR’s preferred southern route from Cambourne passes the southern and eastern edges of Harston through Hauxton and Shelford to the biomedical campus and on to Cambridge.
- Road connections between Harston, Hauxton, Shelford and Newton will be severely affected by closure of the 2 level crossings at Station Road, Harston and Shelford Road, Hauxton causing lengthy detours, especially for families attending Harston & Newton Primary School and residents wishing to access Shelford’s surgery and Sawston Village College as well as shops and businesses.
- Two new link roads built to compensate for the proposed closure of the level crossing at Harston will further erode our green space and lengthen journey times.
- The line, which will not be electrified, will use diesel trains, run on approximately 12 metre high embankments in places with the addition of bridges and flyovers. This is expected to have a serious impact on air and noise pollution.
- The chosen route is both the most expensive and the one with the most detrimental effect on the environment running as it does through villages and rural countryside from Bedford to Cambridge. Farmland will be destroyed and footpaths and bridleways severed.
- Furthermore the business case for East West rail has not been made public or open to scrutiny and criticism has now been levelled by the National Audit Office
Have your say: Questionnaire for all residents
Please reply to a few questions on line on the following link via the Harston Parish Council website
