Today's Hunts Post ( 31 October, page 21) says that building of the new town at Northstowe begins in 2013. 'Northstowe' will be on the old airfield and barracks adjacent to the guided busway between Oakington and Longstanton.
Concerns are expressed about the transport needs of creating the new town, and there is a 'call for more transport facilities to complement the guided busway'. But no specifics are mentioned except that improvements will be made to the A14/B1050 junction at Bar Hill. Those of us who are local to the Cambridge/Bar Hill/St Ives area know what a nightmare the A14 is, and the prosepect of extra traffic from Northstowe adding to the A14's congestion problems is not a pleasing one.
It seems that the next 12 months will be spent in drawing up plans for the development.
The Cambridge News gives more details. Planning permission has been granted for the 1500 houses. The golf course will be built over. There will be a school, shops, sports facility, and community centre. Good news for cyclists is that there will be a cycle way to Bar Hill.
Two local councillors express concerns about the development. Councillor Alex Riley (Longstanton) talks about the local road network is heading for total meltdown. Councillor David Reeves (Oakington) predicted that traffic could make Northstowe a "laughing stock nationally and a disaster locally".
I'm now beginning to feel old. My Dad was stationed at RAF Oakington and I remember catching rabbits, picking mushrooms and watching my dad practice his golf swing on the fringes of the airfield in the Sixties... There used to be a wreck of an aircraft the firemen would regularly burn and practice on. Now it's all going to be a town. Sad day
ReplyDeleteNorman
P.S. your links to Hunts Post don't work in this and other posts - 'scuse the pun!
Thanks for your comment, Norman. It is sad that they are building houses on what is currently open green space. One less farm to feed the nation, a golf course grubbed up, and some patches of wild scrubland no longer available for wildlife.
ReplyDeleteI've checked the Hunts Post link and it took me to the Hunts Post login page. So maybe you need to register as a Hunts Post user. It doesn't cost anything and you get an email every week when the online version of the paper is published. I checked an older Hunts Post link, and once logged in, it took me to the correct archived edition.
Have you found that Cambridge News links are OK? They have the advantage of providing links for specific articles rather than taking you to the issue of the paper.