I have just spoken at the Cabinet meeting of Cambridge City Council in the Guidhall, where I presented a report on CSET or the Cambridge South East Transport Scheme, a proposal for a busway and active travel route between Cambridge Biomedical Campus and a new Travel Hub on the A11 at the junction with Babraham Road (A1307), with bus stops at Great Shelford, Stapleford and Sawston.
It was agreed that the City Council would move to prepare its own submission on the scheme, so that we can contribute to the planned public enquiry.
The report is on the City Council website: Transport Order and Draft Response. and this is what I said:
This item concerns the Cambridge South East Transport scheme, or CSET, which is a proposal for a busway and active travel route between Cambridge Biomedical Campus and a new Travel Hub on the A11 at the junction with Babraham Road (A1307), with bus stops at Great Shelford, Stapleford and Sawston.
Cambridgeshire County Council has made an application to government for what is called a Transport Order under the Transport and Works Act. There will be a public enquiry as part of the approval process, and this Council will submit a formal response, called a Statement of Case, in preparation for that enquiry. We will then work with County to prepare another document, called a Statement of Common Ground, in advance of the enquiry which will start in January 2026 at the earliest.
For the moment we are providing information on progress to date and asking that this council delegates authority to prepare the statement of case to me and the Joint Director of Planning so that it can be completed before the deadline of August 8th
The reason why we are responding has nothing to do with being part of Greater Cambridge Shared Planning but because we are a local authority in the area of the order and have advised the Examination that we wish to comment on the project. The end section of the scheme is in the City, with an on- road route, cycle way and associated landscaping along Francis Crick Avenue and the roundabout with Addenbrooke’s Road. East of this section is within South Cambridgeshire District Council.
The report today provides an update on progress that officers have made working with the GCP to resolve issues raised in the Council’s consultation response after the initial Greater Cambridge Shared Planning (GCSP) representation was sent to the Department of Transport in March 2025. In the representation points for further work were raised which we are in the process of working through with the applicant with a view to resolving them ahead of the inquiry.
Members will have read in the report and accompanying appendix that the assessment is broadly supportive of the scheme, as the need case sets how the scheme aligns with the local Transport Strategy 2014 and the Local Transport and Connectivity Plan 2023, and is necessary for the planned and future growth of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Granta Park and other science and innovation-based enterprises and housing growth locations to the South of Cambridge, and I would remind Members of the strategic importance of the project to the transport objectives of Greater Cambridge.
The report identifies a number of areas that officers are continuing to engage with the GCP on to ensure the scheme achieves appropriate environmental mitigation, and officers are confident these can be overcome and will be addressed in Statement of Common Ground to be submitted as part of the public inquiry process.One that will no doubt have attracted your attention arethe concerns over the biodiversity net gain which we areworking to optimise, and the important matter ofensuring that construction works do not have a negativeimpact on our vitally important chalk streams, as bothNine Wells and Hobson’s Brook are close to the busway.
I can assure you that we will not give our approval to anyplan which does not satisfy us that these importantareas are fully protected.
On this basis as Lead Cabinet Member would like to askthat you agree with the recommendation as set out inthe report to allow the Statement of Case to proceed tosubmission.