Give green light to new Chesterton station now - Howarth (Cambridge Liberal Democrats)

Cambridge Liberal Democrats <camlibdems@gmail.com>

Give green light to new Chesterton station now - Howarth

February 4, 2009 11:13 AM

David Howarth A £19.8 million project for a new station at Chesterton has cleared another hurdle on the way to been built. It has scored highly on the Government's priority tick list for funding.

The scheme has been identified as a good "policy fit", meeting criteria for projects being considered for funding from a regional pot of money for new transport schemes in the East of England.

The scheme has been put before the East of England Regional Assembly Planning Panel for funding allocation.

Independent Consultants, commissioned by EERA, identified it as being a "better fit" to Government policy than other projects vying for the same money and said it met the criteria for improving access to key centres and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Now Cambridge MP David Howarth has called for the project to be given the go-ahead as a matter of urgency.

"This station must be built now." he said. "Cambridge can only grow in a sustainable way if we invest in our public transport facilities.

"We have seen large scale development in this area and it will be a real asset to residents and people travelling to work on the Science Park and Business Park. It will help to reduce the numbers of cars travelling into Cambridge and cut carbon emissions.

"I have written to The Transport Minister, Lord Adonis, and urged him to fast track this project is the same way the government have with some road schemes so that the station can be built as soon as possible.

"I have also written to Minster for the East of England, Barbara Follett MP asking her to join me in backing this plan. We need to get everyone round the table now and push ahead with this project."