Dear resident
I’m e-mailing with an up-date from the Dual Carriageway Working Group, which is tracking the proposal for a new dual carriageway between Haverhill and the A11.
The Working Group has met every 6-8 weeks to monitor developments and agree actions. We have written to local councils, environmental authorities and politicians to make our views known, and have been in touch with other interested groups such as Cambridge Connect, Smarter CambridgeTransport, and Campaign for Better Transport.
Recently – and after some chasing – the report that proposes the two routes for a new road (called the Pre-strategic Outline Business Case) was finally published; it is available here. It contains many weaknesses and flaws, not least that it completely ignores the improvements to the current A1307 that seem very likely to go ahead under the Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP) initiative. The Working Group is preparing a response highlighting the main weaknesses in the report, which will be sent to relevant organisations and individuals in the coming weeks.
Despite these weaknesses, the A1307 Strategy Board are (we believe) trying to move ahead with the next stage in developing the road, which is producing an Options Appraisal Report. Suffolk County Council has committed £10,000 to this next stage, but we do not know if any other sources of funding have been secured. We have received assurances from Cambridgeshire County Council and the GCP that neither of them will be putting any funds into it, which is encouraging.
Lack of transparency of the A1307 Strategy Board remains a problem. This has been raised with our MP Lucy Fraser, and she has given assurances in a letter to our Parish Council Chair, Patrick Charlton, that the Strategy Board members will make greater effort to engage with the affected Parish Councils. However, there has not yet been any contact from the Strategy Board.
Meanwhile, as you may be aware, the GCP has published the results of the consultation on the measures it is proposing for the A1307 (available here). Work to promote a rail link between Haverhill and Cambridge is also on-going; if there were a railway then the case for a new road would be substantially weakened. Rail Haverhill have a petition in support of a rail link, which you can sign on-line here.
The Working Group will continue to follow developments and challenge information as it is released, and to liaise with the Parish Council, who are also following this issue closely. The threat to our village from this dual carriageway proposal is still very real, and we need to do all we can to oppose it.
If you have any questions or suggestions, please do get in touch.
With best wishes
Georgina Magin
Dual Carriageway Working Group
E-mail: newroad@westwickham.org