Miranda Fyfe has taken over from Oliver Fisher as the new Parliamentary candidate for the Green Party in South Cambridgeshire - and she began her campaign by visiting Coton Orchard and criticising plans for a busway running through it.
Ms Fyfe was joined by former Green Party leader Baroness Bennett - and instead of arriving on a ‘battle bus’ chose the more modest transport option of a Stagecoach No 4 bus, which runs from Cambourne to Cambridge.
Armed with their Flexi10 ticket and walking boots, they chose Coton Orchard to kick off the Green campaign in South Cambridgeshire as the Greater Cambridge Partnership’s proposed Cambourne to Cambridge busway would head right through it, at the cost of hundreds of mature trees.
Baroness Bennett was critical of the busway plan, which has won support from the county council, run by a coalition of Liberal Democrats, Labour and independents.
She called it “fundamentally flawed” and echoed comments from the former MD of Stagecoach East, Andy Campaign, in arguing that the busway - terminating at Grange Road - would fail to provide convenient access to any key city destinations.
“We’ve seen many projects labelled as 'green,' but merely using the term doesn’t make them so,” said Baroness Bennett. “The right transport solutions need to be in the right place, at the right price. Both HS2 [the High Speed 2 railway from London to Staffordshire] and this busway fail on these fronts. Effective transport must cater to actual travel needs and be affordable. This busway doesn’t meet those criteria.”
Ms Fyfe is advocating improved existing transport infrastructure rather than constructing new routes, arguing both the Cambourne to Cambridge (C2C) and Cambridge South East Transport (CSET) busway plans from the GCP should be replaced with solutions on existing roads.
“To move Cambridge closer to carbon net zero, we should utilise current roads for buses, enhancing services along Madingley Road, for C2C, the A1307 and A1301 corridors, for CSET,” she said. “More frequent buses, marketed effectively, would reduce traffic and emissions much more swiftly and cost-effectively than building new roads.”
And while South Cambridgeshire is seen as a two-party race between Conservatives, who have held the seat since its inception, and the Liberal Democrats, who control the district council, Ms Fyfe argued it was important that voters challenged them.
“South Cambs should vote Green to send a message to their Lib Dem-controlled county and district councils that they are not impressed with the Lib Dems supposed environmentalism,” she said.
Immediate improvements in bus services could be implemented, she argued, while new infrastructure projects would require lengthy timelines and lead to environmental damage.
Baroness Bennett also urged voters not to be swayed by arguments for tactical voting.
“The idea of tactical voting is largely a fiction. Real change comes from voting for what you believe in. Every Green vote counts, contributing to the party’s ability to support future MPs and their work in Parliament,” she said.
One of the biggest environmental challenges facing the region is its water scarcity.
Baroness Bennett stressed that sustainable development is key.
“We need the right houses in the right places at the right prices, with sustainable urban drainage systems,” she said.
“Cambridge’s resources are stretched thin, and we must construct resilient communities. Climate and natural systems don’t conform to our plans - they follow their own rules. We must build a society that can adapt to these realities.”
The pair then headed to Cambridge city centre to continue their campaign and stopped at Heffers book shop to discuss Baroness Bennett’s new book, Change Everything: How We Can Rethink, Repair and Rebuild Society, and talk to local Green Party members.
Asked about whether those who want an environmentally-conscious MP should vote for Lib Dem candidate Pippa Heylings in South Cambridgeshire, Ms Fyfe said: “I've read the same leaflets that Pippa Heylings sent out to all us South Cambridgeshire residents. I've been a resident in South Cambridgeshire myself for 13 years, seeing my son through state school in South Cambridgeshire. What she actually says in her leaflet is that she would be the greenest MP the constituency has ever had. And my instant reaction is, well, that's a pretty low bar. And she's not the greenest MP they could have. If they want green, vote Green.”
Standing for the Conservatives in South Cambridgeshire is Chris Carter-Chapman, who has also voiced his strong opposition to the busways, along with the move of Anglian Water’s waste water plant to green belt land at Honey Hill.
He says: “Proposals by the Lib Dems and Labour, who run our councils, for mass housing developments without adequate water supplies and huge construction schemes, risk the devastation of our countryside and communities. I oppose the East West Rail plans that will devastate so many villages and the unnecessary Honey Hill redevelopment on green belt land. I want the viable alternatives to the C2C and CSET busways to be properly considered and Coton Orchard and the Gog Magogs to be saved.”
Anthony Browne, who was elected to the constituency for the Tories at the last election, has switched to fighting for the new St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire seat.
Ms Heylings, meanwhile, told a recent hustings event that there was an “urgent need” for a transport link from Cambourne to Cambridge, but called for a public inquiry into the C2C plans as she argued there was “not enough information on the table”.
Labour candidate Luke Viner told the same event that he would support the dedicated busway if it could later become a light rail link, which he advocates.
Harrison Edwards is due to stand for Reform in South Cambridgeshire, while Adam Augustyn is standing for the SDP.
