East West Railway Company’s preferred route through Cambridgeshire has been slammed as a “crime against the countryside” by a conservation and farming charity.
The Countryside Regeneration Trust (CRT) is calling for EWR to change its proposed route which cuts through regenerative arable farmland, known as Westfield and crosses the Bourn Brook – a river that is home to water voles and otters.
The trust, which owns 400-acre Lark Rise Farm near Barton and Comberton, says the land has been managed as an agricultural ‘nature reserve’ for specialist farmland birds and other endangered species for the past 24 years.
It argues that EWRCo’s attempt to identify the type and extent of nature on the farmland has been “entirely inadequate”.
Tim Scott, the tenant farmer at Lark Rise for 30 years, said: “We are in the 24th year of nature recovery at Lark Rise. We have numerous red list species, and we are in the top one per cent of our county for these species and most, if not all of these, will be lost because of the railway.
“I question whether this folly is needed at all, but all common sense would suggest the northern route is the more appropriate one.”
The CRT also says reports promised as part of an agreement to allow EWRCo to undertake ecological surveys on their land have not been received.
In an open letter to EWR, published opposite, Sue Everett, chair of the CRT board of trustees, writes: “We are extremely concerned about the quality of these surveys. The Kingfisher, Otter, and Water Voles survey failed to look at the major watercourse where these species predominantly are, and instead concentrated on a small, insignificant dried-up old river channel 100 metres away from the river.
“We want to know why you chose to ignore the main river when your plans clearly include the construction of a high rail bridge directly over it.”
EWRCo announced in May last year that it will take the southern route into Cambridge for the central section of the £7bn new line. That was a blow for campaigners who had called for the company to consider entering the city from the north.
EWRCo admitted that a southern approach would have “have less potential environmental impact, but it wouldn’t be an alternative to a southern approach in terms of economic growth”.
The CRT is calling on EWR to work with it to protect the specialist habitat at Lark Rise Farm and to rethink its proposal for the southern route.
CRT conservation officer Vince Lea said: “We have written an open letter to EWR calling for action.
“The route will be disastrous for the Cambridgeshire countryside. It is the most expensive of the options previously suggested. It has the greatest impact on biodiversity and on residents of south Cambridgeshire.
“EWR will take out a vast area of productive farmland, not just under the footprint of the railway line itself but all the surrounding land used during the construction or converted into ‘mitigation’ features.
“We would like to talk to them about the environmental impact and can share the results of our long-term monitoring of the site, with over 20 years of breeding bird surveys, winter bird counts, otter and water vole surveys, butterfly surveys and knowledge of rare arable plants.”
East West Rail, which will connect Oxford to Cambridge via new stations at Cambourne and Tempsford, near St Neots, is intended to form a crucial part of boosting the Oxford Cambridge Arc. It will be delivered in three stages: Oxford-Milton Keynes, Oxford-Bedford and Oxford-Cambridge.
EWR Co’s proposed route includes the creation of two additional East West Rail tracks on the existing West Anglia mainline between the Shepreth Branch Junction and Long Road bridge.
Between Long Road and Cambridge station approach, the existing three tracks would be increased to four. At Cambridge station, platforms would be extended, and a new island platform created.
An EWR Co spokesperson said: “We recognise the important role agriculture, the environment and biodiversity play in the local community and that’s why we are committed to delivering 10 per cent biodiversity net gain along the East West Rail route.
“At every stage, we’ve assessed the environmental impacts on important areas like farmland and countryside and we’re focused on finding solutions that avoid or reduce negative impacts to the environment.
“Whilst we acknowledge that the northern approach has slightly lower environmental impacts, the route we are taking forward offers an environmentally sustainable solution that also has the benefits of fast, reliable services to the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, with three times as many jobs within walking distance of the station, and where the railway could also help reduce pressure on the green belt.”
