CambridgePPF Consultation - Cycle and other routes

Cycle and other infrastructure routes through green spaces and local countryside

Over the recent months CambridgePPF has been looking at the impact on existing and proposed cycle routes and potential bus routes through our green spaces and countryside.

How can one keep tranquil spaces and adequate quality design of parks and informality of local green spaces and make such suitable for all users but still attain sustainable and balanced transport improvements?

What width of route is acceptable within parks and countryside situations and what features are missing or should be included along walking, cycling, horse tracks etc?

Equally there may be an impact on the historic environment - such as historic buildings and features but also Conservation Areas of the city and local villages. What has been your experience?

It is an issue we feel is currently not sufficiently addressed and needs further debating and clarification. CambridgePPF is preparing design guidelines to improve route designs.

Please let us have your views by the 24 September 2009 by completing the contact us form.

Current cycleway consultations by the Cambridgeshire County Council – please comment direct and let us also have your views.

Arise Abbey

The city is growing and a lot of development and improvement works are concentrated either in the inner city (such as the station re-development) and the outer edge with all the planned urban extension. The Cambridge Architects Association held a Charrette, or workshop, whereby over 60 local architects and various professionals brainstormed ideas for sites in between.

The Society took part in the lively and constructive event where different groups tackled different problem areas within the city. The Society's team looked at the junction Barnwell Road with Newmarket Road and associated community areas. Team Members were David Taylor, Joyce Baird, Catherine Hall, Terry Gilbert, Carolin Göhler. Here is a summary of the Society’s proposal:

Post-war, Abbey offered dream homes in a desirable location.

Today, increasingly heavy traffic flows have given rise to access problems, particularly for pedestrians. It is a poorly defined district with inadequate central community facilities and plenty of unattractive, uncared-for areas. It is, on the whole, appreciated by neither the old nor the young. The good supply of 'commons' for passive recreation both on its edges and in individual neighbourhoods is not well linked to central Abbey with its hidden and poorly-furnished low-cost recreation and sports facilities.

Linking this community together by tunnelling or bridging the main roads is awkward for pedestrians and cyclists, costly and land hungry. Sustainable design directly benefiting the community is essential – partly through reutilisation and partly through phased redevelopment.

Newmarket Road would be transformed into a Green Boulevard with a shared pedestrian and vehicle area – mitigating the impact of traffic by further restricting traffic speeds between the roundabout and traffic lights. Quality design of surfaces and landscape (trees, central recycling point, public art and so on) is essential – converting into a gateway to Abbey and the City but without creating a transport bottleneck.

A Business Area for employment and training would be linked across Newmarket Road to the restored 'heart' of the co-located community facilities: the Church Square and Green enclosed by the Holy Cross and spiritualist church and the 'Abbey Ark' with its shared community facilities (health centre, nursery/play/ education & office space). An upgraded shopping parade and library would enclose the Shop Square with its combined market / events space managed by local people. Here, at the centre of Abbey, new, well-connected and maintained public green spaces – a colourful linear park utilising the broad highway verges and tranquil, high amenity pocket parks – would be provided for all age groups.





For further information on the Charrette and ideas for the City visit: www.architecture.com/Files/RIBAProfessionalServices/Regions/East/CAMBSARC200958.pdf

CambridgePPF Transport Commission Submission

Our submission to the County Council's Transport Commission


Following our 6-page submission to the County Council's Transport Commission, the Society was invited to give oral evidence one evening in March. Peter Landshoff (Chair of the Planning Committee) and the Chief Executive made the following points:

Issues of transport, and particularly of traffic congestion, have a very profound effect on the life and environment of the City and the surrounding villages, and so cannot be ignored. Traffic conditions in Cambridge are already so bad that they demand urgent attention.

With the planned expansion of the population of greater Cambridge over the coming years, it is essential that provision must be put in place now for some kind of additional demand management if Cambridge is not to seize up and if carbon emissions in the City are to be reduced.

Whilst alleviating congestion is essential for the future prosperity of Cambridge, this must not be to the detriment of the city's historic character or the quality of life of its citizens. There is an unwelcome tendency to locate new transport routes (cycle tracks and bus routes etc) within the limited areas of open green space within the city, resulting in greater fragmentation and loss of a key public recreational amenity. Any major transport plan, including a congestion charge, must be assessed in terms of its impact on the historic character of the city as well as on the green open space, the Green Belt, and the natural environment, to ensure that the special character of Cambridge and its surroundings can continue to be enjoyed for many years to come.

Any package of measures must include a strong element of demand management. We accept the view that no realistic alternative to a congestion charge has yet been identified. With some reluctance, we recommend that a congestion charge scheme be adopted, but only if it is part of a package of other measures, including a significant improvement in public transport.

A grant from the Department for Transport of up to some £500m represents a unique opportunity to improve public transport throughout the whole Greater Cambridge region. However, the Country Council should not be beguiled by the size of this grant into proposing measures that have not been fully researched and in which it does not have full confidence for their long-term effectiveness.

Major improvements to public transport must be in place before any congestion charge is imposed, and all income from the charge must be applied to transport improvements. The nature of these improvements must be the subject of wide debate.

Enhancing the Park & Ride system to increase its take-up must be a major element in improving public transport. But careful consideration needs to be given as to how the existing road system can cope with additional buses, and generally how to make maximum use of its capacity, including more drastic solutions such as one-way systems, greater use of bollards, more bus lanes and bus-only roads. It is essential that the historic fabric of the city centre is fully protected from the detrimental effects of high levels of traffic it cannot accommodate.

It is important to understand the way in which the congestion charge will bear upon particular groups, such as those on low incomes, those living in the surrounding villages who are dependent on Cambridge for their employment, shopping and entertainment, or those for whom the use of their car is essential for their work. Consideration should be given to the ways in which the effect on particular groups might be mitigated.

We welcome the research the County Council is undertaking to gain a better understanding of the economic impact of its proposals. We would urge that such studies should involve a comprehensive economic analysis of all the options. A congestion charge would impose direct and indirect costs on Cambridge businesses, but it is important to balance these against the costs that would arise from the level of congestion that is likely to occur without a charge.

Adequate cycle routes from the edge of the city must be put in place but protecting our parks and green spaces from becoming fast transport corridors and being severely fragmented by transport routes.

Our welcome to the Transport Commission's report can, at best, be cautious. We recall that a survey commissioned last year by the County Council found that a majority were in favour of a congestion charge, provided that all the proceeds are ploughed back into improving public transport. We remain of the firm view that Cambridge cannot afford to do nothing!