The East West Rail project poses a serious risk to our homes and our village and time is running out. Shelford residents: it is time to join forces and get involved, before it is too late. We are in serious danger of having a major new railway line built right through our village. The Secretary of State for Transport announced in January 2020 the Preferred Route Option E (pictured below) for a new railway line connecting Bedford and Cambridge. East West Railway Co (EWR) is currently conducting work to identify a series of specific routes within the Preferred Route Option – what the Company calls the ‘Route Alignment Options’. EWR expects to conduct a non-statutory public consultation exercise on the proposed route Alignment Options around January/ February 2021. One of the options will be selected as its ‘Preferred Route Alignment’. There will then be a statutory public consultation exercise on that preferred alignment. Following that consultation, EWR will finalise its route proposal and seek the necessary planning consents. Construction is planned to start in 2025. You can find more details here: https://eastwestrail.co.uk/the-project/central-section Any chosen Route Alignment is likely to have a significant adverse impact on our local area as the railway seems destined to merge with existing rail lines in or near the Shelfords.
What’s the alternative? A Northern Route. Alternative route proposals have been developed and advocated for several years by the CamBedRailRoad (CBRR) group: http://www.cambedrailroad.org who have invested a considerable amount of time, effort and expertise in developing an alternative route proposal for EWR’s rail line to approach Cambridge from the north, rather than the south. CBRR present a very powerful case for the adoption of a northern Cambridge approach that would serve the needs of the region and local communities better than Option E. EWR have only consulted on southern routes. They have never consulted on the relative merits of northern and southern approaches. This is unacceptable. It is vital that we lobby immediately, urgently and widely for the postponement of EWR’s impending non-statutory consultation on route alignments within the route option E area, in order to allow for a proper consideration of CBRR’s proposal for a northern approach, and for a public consultation on the relative merits of northern and southern approaches. The non-statutory consultation on the current route option E should not take place, unless and until it has been demonstrated by EWR that there are compelling reasons against CBRR’s proposals and in favour of EWR’s current plans. Those reasons have not yet been provided. What can you do? To obtain the best solution for our local community, there are things that we can each do. 1. You can join our Great Shelford EWR Action Group 2. Sign CamBedRailRoad’s petition for a fair
evaluation of a northern approach to Cambridge 3. Write to your MP, District and County Councillors
and Mayor 4.
You
can also write to East West Railway to express your opinion East West Rail (EWR) is considering a route option that may run through Great Shelford. The next stage of the consultation on the East West rail website will be made public in February. |
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