Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayor to look underground for answers

Mayor's 100-day manifesto includes light rail and underground studies

The region’s new mayor is to launch a feasibility study into an underground system for Cambridge.

The plan was one of a string of new transport and infrastructure proposals unveiled by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayor James Palmer.

They were among his 100-day manifesto which included his intention to announce the first wave of new affordable housing across the county.

The new combined authority already has £40million in the kitty and much of that will be spent on planning and feasibility studies.

Launching his proposals in Cambridge, Mr Palmer said: “I have got a clear plan of what I think is right for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and it is a whole county vision. That includes a light rail and underground system for Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire. I have campaigned for an underground and light rail but in order to build this infrastructure you have to have feasibility studies.

“This is what we can achieve in 100 days. I am confident we can achieve what we need to achieve. I am confident we have got the right plan and business plans.

“We have to go through a certain amount of process. I say to people judge me at the end of my four year period. The plan is a clear declaration of what we are looking to achieve across the county. I would not have put this document out if I wasn’t happy that we could achieve these things in 100 days.”

Other plans in the document include the launch of a Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Investment fund and the development of a strategy to accelerate the delivery of 100,000 new homes across the region.

Mr Palmer added: “The aim is to get as much affordable housing as we possibly can. That doesn’t mean to say that we can get the same across the whole area.

“It is about trying to get the best possible deal out of the money we have to provide the most affordable houses, particularly in Cambridge, where the money was for social housing in particular.

“It is working with the city council and developers to get the best possible deal we can.

“I know the city council has got areas earmarked in Cambridge in the same way all of our districts and Peterborough have as well.

“It is not my job to tell the city council where to put houses, it is my job to try to make sure we build as many as possible. We are not planning for the next year or year after, we are planning for the next 30-50 years.

“This is a long term project and unless you put in the right infrastructure in this part of the world, what we have here will die.”

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