The Cambridgeshire countryside and charity Peterborough Campaign to Protect Rural England VOICEWinter 2021 A Very Challenging Year the Chairman reports It is very difficult to know exactly where to start when looking Contents back over the past year which has certainly been a very Peterborough Update...............................4 challenging one for all of us. As I looked out at grey skies and a The Guided Busway ..................................5 snow-dressed landscape with the temperature at -2°C, with the New Trustee...................................................5 news dominated by the Covid-19 lockdown, I decided we all Swavesey Community needed cheering up. So let’s start with some good news. Orchard ............................................................6 Spring bulbs are coming up, our snowdrops are Press & Publicity in Lockdown ..........6 out and swaying in the wind, daffodil shoots are Championing a Greener Future...........7 poking through and this week in a sheltered spot in Office Administration Changeover....8 Wilburton, I noticed a row of daffodils in full bloom. The other evening there was a vixen calling across local residents’ group, Wisbech Without Incineration, the local fields, trying to attract a mate. Buds are WisWIN (https://wiswin.org.uk/ and swelling on local birch trees and some roses have (https://www.facebook.com/groups/wiswin/). They been flowering into January. So Spring is on its way have received support from the local MP, Stephen and with that scheduled to arrive with our doses of Barclay, Wisbech Town Council and Fenland District vaccine, we will soon have a lot more to Council. We continue to provide advice be thankful for. and assistance where we can. A petition During the past year we have had requesting Parliament to tax incinerators some notable planning successes too. can be found at The Hinxton ‘Agritech Park,’ rejected by https://www.change.org/p/uk-parliament- South Cambs District Council, went to tax-incineration-like-landfill. appeal and we presented our case. The In mid-2019 we were faced with two appeal was soundly rejected by the related planning applications to create a Secretary of State in a comprehensive major extension to the development at Decision Letter issued in early April 2020. This just Alconbury Weald, which would be well beyond the missed our last Spring Newsletter. Interestingly, the boundaries of the old airfield onto farm land at Decision Letter presents many arguments which Grange Farm and which would halve the size of the apply equally to other South Cambs issues such as Country Park which Urban & Civic had previously the proposed South East guided busway. undertaken to provide at Alconbury. We objected Our next major success came in June 2020. The strongly because these applications undermine proposed waste incinerator at Waterbeach, which completely the reasons why the branch had had been refused by the County Council, went to previously supported development at Alconbury. appeal. We had strongly opposed this and we These applications remain undetermined and provided the Inspector with significant evidence whatever the difficulties they have run into, we hope supporting our objections during the Inquiry. This that the right decision will be made. was also rejected by the Secretary of State. Refusal Nationally, we submitted a CPRE Cambridgeshire came as a great relief to the residents of Waterbeach & Peterborough response to the Planning White and was in no small way due to the ceaseless Paper and its zoning approach to planning which campaigning efforts of the local CBWIN group, would completely undermine any proper local https://www.cbwin.co.uk/ who drew on our consideration of detailed planning issues. If you assistance and that of Cambridge Friends of the would like a copy of that response, please contact Earth. our office. Meanwhile, Wisbech residents continue to resist The national Working Group on the Oxford- the plans by MVV Environment Ltd (MVV) to build a Cambridge Arc has continued to meet regularly and waste incinerator on land on the Algores Way continued on next page Industrial Estate. Residents have established the CAMBRIDGESHIREVOICE to seek ways of Brexit-related issues encouraging opposition to The Web Site leaving them without the transition of the arc, Although we have yet to make any changes to its sufficient resources to which actually extends underlying format, we have been working hard to process the application from Felixstowe to publish more current news and useful information for AONB designation of Southampton, into a single during the pandemic. One success, with the help the valley. Meanwhile, the urban space, criss-crossed of research and text from our sterling volunteer GOVT has been by roads, including a dual Lizzie Bannister, has been to update and publish concentrating on carriageway A10, and other a lot more information about local food and refurbishment of the Ouse infrastructure. It would be beverage suppliers Valley Way - one of the transformed from fully https://www.cprecambs.org.uk/campaigns/farming best long distance walks productive farm land, in a in the county. -and-food/local-foods/item/2110-local-foods. If variety of beautiful In the north-west of you have any details of local suppliers who would landscapes, into “housing the county we have be assisted by our publicity, do let us know. and employment space” become aware of the for an initial 1 million homes. work of Langdyke I say ‘initial’ deliberately because as we all know, Countryside Trust who take their inspiration for once started, ‘development’ never ceases. The protecting and enhancing the countryside from the Working Group has now established its own website work of the inspirational 19th Century poet of the to promote its challenge to the concept of the Arc natural world, John Clare. See our website for more (https://www.challengethearc.co.uk/.) information https://www.cprecambs.org.uk/news. Meanwhile the publication of Route ‘E’ as the Many of the threats to our countryside continue preferred route of East-West Railway across the to appear driven by the pressures arising from the unspoiled countryside of South Cambridgeshire and Ox-Cam Arc. However, they are not limited to the North-East Bedfordshire has caused howls of Arc. A proposal by London Luton Airport to protest in both counties. We are working with our implement a holding stack above north-west colleagues in CPRE Bedfordshire to champion the Huntingdonshire, with a route south into the airport, case for a route which follows the A428/A421 corridor will severely affect the tranquillity of this part of the and provides local metro services as well as long county. distance ones. Meanwhile, the Cambridge Green Belt, designed A campaign group, Cambridge Approaches, is to enhance the setting of the City, continues to be championing re-consideration of the route. attacked and nibbled away. We have objected to (https://cambridgeapproaches.org/) and is petitioning two proposed developments at Worts Causeway the DoT (https://www.change.org/p/secretary-of- promoted by Greater Cambridge Planning. We have state-for-transport-northern-rail-route-should-be- strongly objected to proposals for excessive evaluated-equally-alongside-ewr-s-current- development of 7,600 houses in North East proposals-d7bd2f1f-7675-41de-b072-161074cfdeef). Cambridge. These in turn have led to proposals to The extensive visual scar across the countryside move the existing Cambridge Waste Water Treatment which is the re-routed A14 with its 12 parallel lanes of plant into the Green Belt north of the A14. traffic between Brampton and the junction to the A proposal to build a busway from Cambridge to north of Buckden has been completed. However, Waterbeach, which parallels the existing railway, the proposal to turn the A14 between Cambridge and appears to require the demolition of several village Brampton into a “smart” motorway has been homes. The south-east busway, from Cambridge to abandoned. Meanwhile, the embankments built Babraham, would open up plots of land all across across the Great Ouse Valley have already been that part of the Green Belt to development and would subject to partial collapse resulting in prolonged be in direct contravention of reasons given for the closures for remediation work. Secretary of State’s refusal of the development of We have continued to support the Great Ouse Valley the Hinxton Agritech Park. We have pointed out, that Trust (GOVT), originally formed to establish an Area of if East-West Railway followed the A428/A421 corridor Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in the valley and approached Cambridge from the north, trains between St Neots and Earith would be perfectly aligned to continue south from https://www.greatousevalleytrust.org.uk/ and Cambridge along a re-opened Colne Valley line to https://www.facebook.com/GreatOuseValleyTrust/. Haverhill, Sudbury and on to Colchester. Natural England’s resources remain decimated due to cuts and assignment of staff to work on continued on next page 2 CAMBRIDGESHIREVOICE Although the South Cambs Local Plan recently much of the UK food supply as the Fens become passed examination, preparation of a new Greater frequently and, eventually, permanently flooded. Cambridge Local Plan started almost immediately. More frequent flooding will affect all low-lying areas Examinations of Local Plans for Peterborough and for in the Cam and Great Ouse catchments, including Huntingdon were completed. Cambridge. Following the East Cambs Local Plan Climate change is an Further development around being found ‘unsound’, partly due to issue which seems to Cambridge will necessarily take East Cambs’ use of Community Land scarce grade 2 and 3a land out of Trust branding to facilitate large have escaped the notice production. This land is already market-led developments on rural of the ‘development’ needed for food production in a exception sites and partly due to the bandwagon that country which imports around 60% of Peterborough Inspector refusing to continues to threaten its food supply.