Cambridge Cycle Town Compulsory Purchase Orders

To consider the proposals for the Cambridge Cycle Town schemes and the associated Compulsory Purchase Orders.

 

To resolve to make the Compulsory Purchase Orders for the Cambridge Cycle Town schemes.

 

The County Council, in partnership with Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council, has been successful in its bid to Government to become a Cycling Town, which has provided an additional £3.6m of funding over three years. The provisional programme of infrastructure schemes to be funded was approved by Cabinet on 4 November 2008. Public Consultation on seven of these schemes was carried out in August/September 2009 and reported to Cabinet on 29 September. Cabinet gave approval for the schemes to be developed further and implemented.  The schemes are: 
 1. Cottenham to Histon
 2. Histon to Cambridge
 3. Harston to Cambridge
 4. Babraham Road Park & Ride to Wandlebury
 5. Fen Ditton to Horningsea
 6. Milton to Impington
 7. Hills Road Bridge 

In addition to these schemes, funding has also been made available from the Housing Growth Fund (HGF) for cycleways around Northstowe to construct a shared use foot/cycleway between Swavesey and the Buckingway Business Park at the A14. These schemes were supported by the South Cambridgeshire Environment and Transport Area Joint Committee on 19 January 2009.

Following further design work on all of these schemes, it has been identified that, in order to fully implement them, four of them cannot be fully constructed  within the existing highway and will require the purchase of additional land. The schemes requiring land are:

1. Cottenham to Histon requires 9 plots of land (see Plan 1 on the agenda)
2. Horningsea to Fen Ditton requires 1 plot of land (see Plan 2 on the agenda)
3. Milton to Impington will require 8 plots of land (see Plan 3 on the agenda)
4. Swavesey to the A14 requires 3 plots of land (see Plan 4 on the agenda)  
 
Initial negotiations with landowners have been taking place and it is was clear that some of the landowners were not willing to sell by agreement. In order to make progress, it was therefore necessary to agree to Compulsory Purchase the land to allow delivery of the schemes within the tight timescales set. Cabinet agreed to approve the CP orders in respect of them being a last resort, where agreement could not be reached through negotiation. The Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPO) would be made under the 1980 Highways Act. The Orders could be published in early 2010 with an earliest start for construction in late 2010.