Clare Hall has formally withdrawn its objections to a planned busway running next to the College after spending at least £66,000 defending its claims.

The graduate College withdrew its objection to the Cambourne to Cambridge (C2C) busway route on 29th October.

This marks the end of Clare Hall’s multi-year campaign for the C2C busway to go along Adams Road – one of the busiest cycle routes in Cambridge – instead of Rifle Range Road on the College’s southern boundary.

Adams Road is now becoming England’s “first official cycle street” rather than forming part of the busway. It is unclear whether the College withdrawing its objections is associated with this development.

According to an email sent to the Department for Transport on behalf of the College, Clare Hall withdrew its objection on the condition that there is a “restriction on bus movements during the night time (00:00 to 06:00) and shoulder periods (23:00 to 00:00 and 06:00 to 07:00)”.

The original objection pointed to Clare Hall’s “iconically quiet surroundings” and plans to develop college facilities. According to the objection, Clare Hall intends to build a 364-400 seater amphitheatre and additional student accommodation. The College argues that delivering these facilities would require access along Rifle Range Road, which the busway would interrupt.

Clare Hall also said some land proposed for the busway belongs to the College but “has not been accurately reflected in the Land Registry’s records as being within its ownership”.

On Thursday (6/11), Clare Hall revealed it had spent £66,114.54 on formally objecting to the busway up until March 2025. It is unclear how much money has been spent on the campaign since.

The College initially refused to respond to the freedom of information request demanding this information, claiming firstly that “the fees charged by service providers for the services that they supply is commercially confidential information” and then that the information was due for later publication.

Following correspondence with the Information Commissioner’s Office, the College decided that this reasoning no longer applied since it had withdrawn its objections to the busway.

In its initial refusal email, Clare Hall noted: “The College is not opposing the busway as a whole or in principle. The proposed route has a direct impact on the land interests and operation of the college.

“The money […] has been deployed by the College to better understand the impact that the proposed scheme will have on the College.”

The College has used several providers, including Dentons, a multinational law firm, and Pulsar, a transport consultant. In 2023, the College responded to a different FOI request that it had collectively spent £21,586.98 on advice from these two companies alone.

Both Dentons and Pulsar submitted formal objections to Cambridgeshire County Council about the scheme on behalf of Clare Hall. The College also used Dentons to withdraw its objection last week.

Clare Hall is one of Cambridge’s poorest colleges. It had net assets of £41,069,076 in the financial year ending June 2024.

Clare Hall was not the only stakeholder to oppose the proposed route, which would pass Highfields Caldecote, Hardwick, and Coton before entering Cambridge from the west. Around 300 individuals, organisations, and environmental groups – including Cambridge and South Cambridge Green Party, and the Woodland Trust – also contested the plans.

Objections raised included the financial cost of the busway, as well as the potential destruction of green belt land and orchards. Some parties also expressed concerns that the need for onward journeys after the busway ends on Grange Road would generate further traffic.

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough’s Mayor, Paul Bristow, has called the busway “the wrong scheme” and advocated for “cheaper alternatives”.