A Cambridgeshire walk, feared to be 'under threat' by plans for a new busway, is to take place on New Year’s Day

The Great West Walks, launched by conservation charity Cambridge Past Present and Future and Coton Parish Council is a guided walk that explores the fields and views around Coton.

Starting at 11am from The Plough in Coton, the aim of the walk is to make the Coton Countryside Reserve and the surrounding landscape better known.

This could be a ‘see it or miss it’ moment, as Cambridge Past Present and Future says it is “really disappointed” that the Greater Cambridge Partnership is pressing ahead with plans for a busway across Madingley Hill.

The National Trust has also opposed the plans and Coton Parish Council is inviting councillors who are on the Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP) to join them for the walk.

Leading the walk on behalf of Cambridge Past Present and Future will be Roger Tomlinson, who is also a Coton parish councillor.

He said: “The communities west of Cambridge have been opposed to this route from the beginning, for largely environmental and heritage reasons.

“They’re not nimbys because they’ve always believed – and argued – that there are better routes, particularly running along the A428 to the Girton interchange, which if it was made an all-ways junction with the A14 and the M11, would solve many of the traffic problems on Madingley Road.”

He says the busway is in the final stages of design development, with a view to construction approval in October 2019.

“The GCP approved it going ahead to that final stage at their meeting this December,” he said, adding the possible completion date is “a good five years off.”