Meeting told park & ride will not replace other site

A planned new £54m park and ride is not a replacement for another one nearby, a meeting has heard.

The Hauxton Park and Ride on the outskirts of Cambridge - proposed because of the "challenges" of access into the city and the biomedical campus - is due to include 2,150 vehicle spaces and a new "active travel" bridge over the M11.

The Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP) joint assembly has been told the nearby Trumpington Park and Ride regularly reaches 90% capacity and above.

Thomas Fitzpatrick, GCP programme director of transport, said the new park and ride was "about supporting the existing network and, crucially, getting ahead of the growth that we know is coming".

He said the biomedical campus was forecast to "potentially double in size within the next 10 years".

“I want to confirm that this is not to replace Trumpington Park and Ride, this is a complementary scheme," he added.

The Hauxton proposal, just off junction 11 on the M11, had been called the Cambridge South West Travel Hub, but has since been renamed.

There are plans to have solar panels above one of the three car parks.

Trumpington Park and Ride's landowner is Cambridgeshire County Council.

Conservative councillor Heather Williams told Thursday's joint assembly meeting: "All of us can see what's on the cards - Trumpington will close.

"That will then become houses because it will be brownfield development and the county council will love that, and let's face it they've got a very difficult budget and books that they need to balance.

"I don't think that this is going to resolve the problem at all."

But GCP business representative Christopher Walkinshaw asked: "How, when we need to, can this be further expanded?

"This capacity is welcome but it's nowhere near going to be big enough over the next few years, particularly as the biomedical campus and that side of Cambridge grows."

Fitzpatrick said: "The actual car parks take up approximately one third of the overall site area.

"Clearly any expansion would be subject to planning... but there is space there."

He told the meeting the GCP was already meeting with bus operators to discuss future operations.

The assembly's comments will go forward to the GCP board, which will have the final approval on the full business case.

A Cambridgeshire County Council spokesperson said: "The council has no plans to sell the Trumpington Park and Ride site.

"Supporting and encouraging a well-connected Park and Ride transport network remains a key part of our commitment to reducing congestion and carbon emissions in Cambridge."

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