Access to Cambourne Village College & Primary School-Vital Planning Application

1st February 2023

Access to Cambourne Village College and Hardwick & Cambourne Primary School

Vital Planning Application Closes 3 February 2023.

In March last year, we alerted our parents to the development of an additional housing estate next to Cambourne Business Park by the South Cambridgeshire Investment Partnership - an equal partnership between South Cambridgeshire District Council and Hill property developers. The SCIP proposal includes a bus and cycle link to our schools and West Cambourne from the Business Park Road but misses the opportunity to make this a direct and simple route for all vehicles – and in particular, for school traffic.

Building a short stretch of all-vehicle road from the Council offices onto Sheepfold Lane would solve all the problems created by the current plans to divert the existing school access through the residential roads of West Cambourne. We anticipate the new route will cause long delays and serious congestion at peak times.

The planning application for the SCIP housing estate puts great emphasis on its environmental credentials and ‘connectivity’. However, it misses a very simple opportunity to improve traffic flow and reduce CO₂ emissions on the schools’ access route. To demonstrate this: our in-house traffic survey recorded 1215 vehicles visiting the schools’ campus on a mainly dry Wednesday in February 22. From the Business Park roundabout, these journeys are estimated to have produced 430,402 grams-per-mile total of CO₂.  This is 25% higher than would have been produced if the Business Park link had been open. When our current access is changed to the longer route through West Cambourne, it’s estimated that the CO₂ emissions for journeys to our schools will be 66% higher than via the Business Park link route. This figure will be even greater if a one-way system through the school site is introduced to manage the traffic flow, and it takes no account of the expected rise in school numbers as the secondary school expands.  

To upgrade the current Business Park Road for heavier traffic use would clearly be expensive. However, for the clear environmental and efficiency reasons stated here, we would suggest that this is an appropriate and important investment in all of our futures and in the community of Cambourne. Residents of South Cambs are able to comment on the link below, by 3 February.

 https://applications.greatercambridgeplanning.org/online-applications/PLAN/23/00123/FUL

Comments should quote Reference: 23/00123/FUL. 

After this date, readers may wish to send their views to the Director of Planning and Economic Development for SCDC, Mr Stephen Kelly:   Stephen.Kelly@greatercambridgeplanning.org and to the Chief Executive of South Cambs District Council, Ms Liz Watts: liz.watts@scambs.gov.uk. Those who live outside South Cambs but who are affected by this development might wish to do likewise.

Diagrams of the proposed routes and relative CO₂ emissions can be found below.

Cate Thompson (Headteacher, Hardwick and Cambourne Primary School)    

Claire Coates (Principal, Cambourne Village College)

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