Since our campaign was launched in January 2013, we have come a long way toward creating a safe cycle link between Cambridge and Royston.  However we are in mid-stream and won’t achieve a complete link unless we push together in a determined way.  Please see below on where you can help in easy ways – thank you.  Some of the actions requested of you are conventional (writing letters of support) and others less so (scattering wildflower seed and cycling in a Santa hat).   But it is all genuinely helpful and your individual help is genuinely needed.

NON-FUNDED WORKS & WHAT YOU CAN DO: MELBOURN-ROYSTON PATH & BRIDGE

Detailed plans were created for the Melbourn-Royston link in 2014, when it was anticipated that Greater Cambridge City Deal funding would be allocated. Plans include a path linking the A10 at Royston Road Melbourn to the east side of the A505 roundabout, so entirely off-road on the east side of the A10 with an adjoining bridge over the A505.

Bridge Feasibility Study: Bridge plans have been further enhanced by Hertfordshire County Council’s Feasibility Study and will shortly be ready for your inspection. Please come to TAP Biosystems (Sartorius Stedim Biotech) opposite the Royal Mail depot on the Royston Industrial Estate on January 13^th, 6:45 for 7:00PM (NOTE EARLY START) 

Funding strategies and Local Enterprise Partnerships: Approaches by councillors – Fiona Hill and Tony Hunter for Hertfordshire and Susan van de Ven and Aidan Van de Weyer for Cambridgeshire – have been made to the respective Local Enterprise Partnerships (Herts LEP and Cambs & Peterborough LEP) which are government-funded agencies helping to progress sustainable, strategic economic growth through infrastructure supporting employment.

Royston happens to sit within the boundaries of both LEPs, a fairly unique situation.  It is probably a more natural fit for the Cambs/Pet LEP but both must coordinate in a cooperative approach.  The A10 Corridor Cycle scheme is now regarded not as an aspiration, but a well-progressed project with a missing link between Melbourn-Royston – itself viewed as an important high-tech, biomedical employment sub-hub with a strong case for completing the Active Travel pedestrian/cycle links.

Sustrans: It is recognized that the Melbourn-Royston link would feed naturally into the existing Royston Sustrans network (including the Royston rail underpass which received a Sustrans award last month), and serve a growing cross-county border population that lives and works in the immediate area.

Readiness for Department for Transport (DfT) funding: It is not likely that the DfT will continue the Local Sustainable Transport Fund grants, however through new evidence pertaining to health savings arising from Active Travel, it is anticipated that new funding streams could arise, reflecting that wider remit. Please see DfT’s ‘Economic Case for Active Travel: Claiming the Health Dividend’: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/economic-case-for-active-travel-the-health-benefits

To take advantage of any new DfT funding opportunities, we would be best placed for success if we can demonstrate a shovel-ready scheme that includes public support, with an element of community fundraising.  We will therefore 1) approach local businesses for funding pledges and 2) launch community fundraising, under the heading of ‘A10 Missing Links.’  To this end:

Sponsored Santa Cycle Ride, 12:15, Saturday December 19^th, Royston Station, main cycle park on station entrance side. Please bring friends and family, dress up in as much Santa gear as you can muster, and meet for a cycle tour of the Royston Sustrans route.  (You can bring bikes on the train from Foxton, Shepreth or Meldreth Stations; trains arrive at Royston at 12:15.)  The event should take about 30 minutes at most.  This will be a sponsored cycle ride with proceeds going to the A10 Corridor Cycling Campaign ‘A10 Missing Link’ fund which will be held in the A10 Corridor Cycling Campaign Building Society account.

This event must be high profile, high impact: please mark the date in your diary and plan to be there – and bring half-a-dozen people with you! 

A sponsorship form for the Sponsored Santa can be downloaded and printed here

Other news:

FUNDED WORKS: CYCLING AMBITION GRANT, HARSTON – FOXTON

The new cycle route between Harston Mill and Foxton is proceeding ahead of schedule. Foxton Level Crossing itself remains fundamentally problematic until Network Rail finds the wherewithal to progress level crossing closure and redesign.  For now we have to do our best with what we’ve got.  A small victory: Balfour Beatty will relocate their street lamp columns before not after the new path is put down in the level crossing vicinity.

Harston Village Path: See attached plan from Cambridgeshire County Council for a continuous 3-metre wide off-road dual use path on the west side of the High Street.  The path would be adjacent to the road, and a one-metre wide verge would be created between the path and private driveways.  Plans can be viewed at a10corridor.com.

Please express your support and any suggestions for improvement by filling out the online survey here or attending the public consultation events at Harston Village Hall on November 10 or 30, 6-8PM.  If positive support is NOT expressed, this will damage the prospects for the plan going forward and funding could be spent on another scheme elsewhere.  If all goes well, work should start in March 2016 and take three months to complete.

Seeding the new verges:South Cambridgeshire District Council Ecology Officer can provide a wildflower seed mix to cover the entirety of the A10 verge between Harston Mill and Barrington Road.  Because the County Council’s grass cutting budget has been reduced, with only two cuts per year are now carried out, a wildflower mix would mean less obstructive verge growth in addition to introducing greater biodiversity.   A team of volunteers is needed to help hand-scatter the seed – no digging or raking required this time.  Please inform contacta10cycle@gmail.com if you can help for an hour at some point soon.  Demonstrating this kind of visible support is helpful to the overall cause.