Controversial £180m busway given go ahead

A controversial new £180m busway planned to run through an historic orchard has been given the green light by the government.

The busway project known as C2C, linking 8.6 miles between Cambridge and Cambourne, is hoped to provide 10,000 daily passenger trips .

There were more than 300 objections to the move, with the proposed route running through a century-old orchard in Coton which contains about 1,000 trees, growing 26 varieties of apples as well as pears and plums.

The project will also see the building of bridges over the M11 and a brook, as well as a park-and-ride for 2,000 vehicles.

The idea was first proposed in 2014, and a two-month public inquiry finished in November last year.

Inspectors heard concerns including about safety. On another busway in the county three people were killed between 2015 and 2021, after which Cambridgeshire County Council was fined £6m for health and safety breaches.

The Conservative mayor for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Paul Bristow, whose office would oversee the bus services, objected to the plans and said it would be built at "considerable expense to the taxpayer when there are cheaper alternatives".

But inspectors concluded the scheme was "crucial to securing sustainable development on the west side of Cambridge" and noted a lack of "practical alternatives".

They said there was "widespread recognition, including by objectors... of the need to improve public transport on this corridor" and the busway would complement East West Rail, with a new railway station planned to be built at Cambourne.

The planned busway route is via the Bourn Airfield development, Hardwick, Coton and the West Cambridge Site.

Thousands of homes are planned at the former World War Two RAF site in Bourn, but a planning condition would restrict the development to just 500 if a busway or similar was not built.

Do you have a story suggestion for Cambridgeshire? Contact us below.

Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.