22nd Mar 2023 – Tree Weaver

Cambridgeshire council plan to chop down orchard of 500 mature trees – to make way for a ‘green bus lane’

The decision was voted in despite 2,300 opponents signing a petition
Coton Orchard, near Cambridge, is a designated habitat of principal importance

Coton Orchard, near Cambridge, has around 1,000 trees producing 26 varieties of apples, as well as plums and pears, and is a designated habitat of principal importance.

But county councillors voted 33 to 26 in favour of the new bus-only route which will link the university city with Cambourne, a growing new town eight miles away.

The decision came despite 2,300 opponents signing a petition and impassioned pleas during the full council meeting to reconsider the ‘utterly destructive’ proposal.

Anna Gazeley, whose family own the orchard which was planted in 1922 told councillors: ‘Traditional orchards are hotspots of biodiversity in the countryside, supporting a wide range of wildlife as well as an array of nationally rare and nationally scarce species.

Anna Gazeley’s father Albert bought the orchard in 1996 after returning to Cambridgeshire from Hong Kong. “My father bought this nearly 30 years ago as a way to stop development, to preserve the fruit-growing heritage of Cambridgeshire and to preserve his own memories of growing up here in Cambridge.”

“The fruit trees at Coton Orchard were first planted for the production of apples for the wholesale trade in Covent Garden and latterly for the production of apple juice and cider. One hundred years on and it is one of the last few traditional orchards left in the UK and the largest in the county. No longer economically viable as a fruit farm, development of a garden centre on the fringe has afforded the present owners the ability to preserve the original orchard, leaving it relatively untouched and a haven for wildlife.”

“The option in front of the council would bisect the orchard with a new road, destroying at least a third of the trees and replacing it with tarmac, leaving it unmanageable as an orchard. The disruption and noise from construction and any buses that would run along it in the future will drive out the remaining wildlife presently calling Coton Orchard home. In the midst of a biodiversity emergency, it is clear that we need to protect our habitats now more than ever. An off-road routing through the orchard, especially when a less costly (both environmentally and economically) option exists, is beyond foolhardy.”

They are designated habitats of primary importance and rightly accorded protections. ‘

Steve Oram, orchard biodiversity manager at the People’s Trust for Endangered Species, said the £160 million bus route was an ‘utterly destructive proposal’, adding the environmental loss ‘cannot be compensated for’.

Coton Parish Council has previously warned the guided busway would save just 1.5 to 3.5 minutes on a typical journey compared to using an on-road bus lane.

But Lib Dem council leader Lucy Nethsingha referred to a UN report this week which highlighted the need to decarbonise economies.

She said: ‘Quality public transport links are a key part of decarbonisation.. Moving to a net zero economy cannot be done without changing the way we travel.’

The council will seek approval from the government and a public enquiry will take place before a final decision is made.

The scheme was devised by the Greater Cambridge Partnership, which is already under fire for hugely unpopular proposals to introduce a £5-a-day charge for cars – more for vans and lorries – on weekday journeys to, from and within a zone that covers virtually the entire city.

THOSE AGAINST

James Littlewood, chief executive for Cambridge Past, Present and Future, had appealed to councillors to act in the interests of nature.

“Everyone wants to see better public transport to the west of Cambridge but we shouldn’t have to destroy our environment and heritage for future generations in order to achieve that,” he told the Cambridge Independent.

“There is a viable alternative scheme for a bus lane on the existing road which could achieve similar journey times, is less damaging to the environment, is far less expensive and can be delivered more quickly. All we are asking is that the two schemes are properly compared before a decision is made.”

The C2C busway will link Cambourne and Cambridge via the new Bourn Airfield development, a new travel hub at Scotland Farm, Hardwick, and the University of Cambridge’s West Cambridge campus.

The Friends of the River Cam, a voluntary organisation, described it as a “Trojan horse”, designed to open up new areas of greenfield land for housing and industrial development.

“Building concrete runways through ancient orchards and other green spaces at vast expense is a method of increasing land values and making them easier to build on – not solving Cambridge’s dreadful traffic congestion as the GCP claims,” said Susan Buckingham, a spokesperson for the river group.

She added: “There are far better ways of extending existing roads for more bus use than busways dreamed up by an unrepresentative GCP whose advisory group is packed full of those with commercial interests.”

Sharon Cairns, of Coton Loves Pollinators, said: “We are horrified by the proposal to run a 20-metre width of tarmac across the historic Coton Orchard. This traditional orchard is a designated Priority Habitat, the largest of its kind in Cambridgeshire and of recognised national significance. It is a simple fact that no mitigation scheme can compensate for the loss of this habitat, which includes an ancient hedgerow foraged by protected rare bat species.

“Moreover, it makes no sense for our local politicians to back wildlife recovery projects on one hand, whilst at the same time also backing projects which destroy irreplaceable habitat, especially when there is a viable alternative.”

Chris Pratten, of Save the West Fields, added: “We are horrified that the GCP is continuing with plans to build an unnecessary road across the West Fields. The proposed route requires a significant ‘flyover’ to be built over the Bin Brook at the eastern edge of the West Fields, despite the High Court having previously agreed that this area of Green Belt is important to the historic setting of Cambridge. There are other less damaging options.”

change.org Petition