The very significant development of communities, from proposals in the Plan, around Cambridge over the coming years will significantly affect not only the immediate area of the settlements, but the travel links to the City. It is the position of the Cambridge Green Party that the scale of this development puts insupportable
pressure on both the ecology and the infrastructure of the Cambridge area. What we are discussing below is damage limitation.
As a mitigating axiom there must be a ‘Green Line’ standard by which these developments are evaluated,
that is they should be net reducers of greenhouse gases by dint of their design delivering both very low emissions within the development but facilitating emission reduction in neighbouring
villages/settlements. Inclusion of such a ‘Green Line’ for planning consent is consistent with best practice, as set out in the strategy document of Taunton and Somerset council. Such criteria should be formally evaluated as part of the planning consent process.[1]
This ‘Green Line’ sets a higher and more appropriate travel standard for developers. Developers must therefore show that they will not provide simply convenient routes to ‘Park ’n’ Rides’ for getting people to the City centre or to their places of work. The significant increase in population must be accommodated so that it does not turn outlying villages into car parks, and/or overwhelm an already stretched transport infrastructure.
It must therefore take responsibility for both the consumer demand and the ecological impact of end-to-end change in travel load of anticipated journeys.
This would include the council ensuring, as part of the consent process, undertaking of an ongoing responsibility for underwriting of bus or other transport methods for completing habitual journeys [2].Examples of this exist and should be expanded as a matter of urgency.
An essential criterion against which all developments and their respective transport plans should be evaluated must be whether they reduce the total number of car movements into the city. This is to say they must have a net positive impact on congestion and pollution. Without a net reduction in car movements any hope of achieving a net zero city by 2030 will be lost.
Policy discussion of larger scale infrastructure projects must recognise that they will be subject to long delay
before delivery and will therefore have no immediate effect on the impact of either traffic or pollution.
Infrastructure initiatives should be swift to implement and implicit in planning permissions.
We broadly welcome initiatives to reduce movements within settlements, and to enhance the use of either
active or electric transport.
We specifically support attributes that can be incorporated into the design of the settlements themselves such as:
I. Cycle greenways
II. A parking permit cost that is a deterrent, with exemptions for special needs. Significant costs for second car permits .
III. Ensure ‘advance green phases’ for bicycles at lights
IV. European style provision for cycles and pedestrians and disabled
Bus transport should be enabled such that regular services reach travel hubs, or their nearest equivalent,
serving the main demanded destinations. Convenient and economical end-to-end journeys will be essential.
It must be recognised that public transport is a lifeline for many people. A lack of adequate provision
disproportionately affects people in lower income brackets who cannot afford to either own a car or live close to centres of employment.
Arrangements where possible for simplified and good value single ticketing would be an advantage and should be explored as is currently the case in the Mega-rider pilot in Cambridge.[3].
Travel hubs have been much spoken however they have been increasingly and incorrectly equated to Park and Rides. Unlike Park and Rides, they embody a fundamental infrastructure strategy to reduce the
incentive to own and use a car, and to provide safe and efficient transport for everybody. As references to Travel Hubs are common to many proposals, we strongly suggest that that pilots of the Smarter Cambridge Travel specification[4] be set up in at least two suitable areas, perhaps serving existing new developments.
As Travel Hubs are not as simple as park and rides they will need work to refine the integration of the various modes of transport involved, and the stakeholders.
[1] Somerset West and Taunton Local Planning Authority, ‘Climate Positive Planning Draft Interim Policy
Statement on Planning for the Climate Emergency’.
[2] https://www.stagecoachbus.com/promos-and-offers/east/single-bus-tickets-cambridge,
https://www.environment.admin.cam.ac.uk/travel/travel-bus
[3] https://www.stagecoachbus.com/promos-and-offers/east/new-flexible-bus-tickets
[4] https://www.smartertransport.uk/travelhubs/?
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