Landowners and charities have begun to build a legal case against the proposed Cambridge-Cambourne busway plans. The charity Cambridge Past, Present & Future is leading the petition against the busway plans, which has over 7,000 signatories.

The proposed 8.6 mile dedicated busway will link Cambridge and Cambourne with Hardwick, Coton, and a new development at Bourne Airfield on route. However, the plans involve the route for an off-road busway which would cut through a historical orchard and greenbelt land.

Otherwise known as the C2C, the route also links the city to the new Cambridge South station, the Biomedical Campus, Babraham Research Campus, and Granta Park.

Alongside this, the Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP) aims to construct a travel hub at Scotland Farm off the A428 in hopes of helping “car drivers switch to a bus before they hit congestion travelling into the city”.

Cambridge Past, Present & Future is now bringing legal action against the Great Cambridge Partnership’s (GCP) proposed busway, contending it should instead adopt a route along existing roads.

The GCP responded that it has not received any legal objections to its proposed busway, but that “should we receive any relevant documents, we will study and discuss them with our legal representatives and respond in due course.”

They have already conducted four public consultations and are expected to carry out a public inquiry in 2025. Before construction could commence, a formal Transport and Work Act Order was submitted to the government’s Department for Transport in November.

Chief Executive of Cambridge Past, Present & Future, James Littlewood, maintains that “it is possible to improve bus services without building a road through four wildlife sites and our charity’s land.”

He added: “Over 22,200 people signed a petition asking local politicians to build bus lanes, not roads, to avoid unnecessary environmental damage.”

However, “they have pushed ahead with their plans, and we are submitting our objection to the government, which will trigger a public inquiry.”

The legal action is backed by other charities and landowners such as the Woodland Trust and Coton Orchard, which could lose approximately 500 historic trees.

The deadline for submitting any objections to the proposed busway is 8 January.