The Mereham Proposal

Welcome to the Mereham section of the Wilburton website. Our aim is to represent the views of local residents concerning the proposed Mereham development, which will potentially affect the lives of people living in the Wilburton-Stretham region, and beyond to anyone who uses the A10 north of Cambridge, the B1049 Twenty Pence Road through Cottenham and Histon, and other surrounding roads.

This map shows the size of the proposed Mereham site compared to Ely - it's going to nearly the size of Ely, with almost as many houses, but without the facilities, infrastructure, or railway line. The only people who will benefit are the developers, who will see huge profits from this, it's a pity they didn't spend a little more money in getting some of their facts right...it would make the proposal appear less of a joke to people who know the real facts locally. Mereham vs. Ely size

November 2007 - The A10 Proposals Have Changed - The developers have completely changed their transport proposals - claiming to have been done on the first day of the inquiry (although daetd at the 8th October). This means that evidence given against the previous proposals, and against the planning application, is less relevent now. This is not the first time David Tucker Associates have puuled this trick during a Public Inquiry - and presumably it is an admission from them that they did not do the job properly in the first place. The aim of these changes is simple - to remove the opposition by the Highways Agency to the proposals as they would affect the A14.

But what it means for local people using the roads is more delays on the A10, massive increases in traffic on Twenty Pence Road, and no consideration for people locally. We are disgusted that this has been allowed to happen - the original proposals for the A10 were part of a detailed planning application - these should not be allowed to change without proper consultation. We have learned that people will only have a 2 week window with which to object to the new proposals - so people will need to get writing quickly!

See the Latest Updates and Planning Application for more information and where to find the changed documents. And please write to the inspector to object to such late changes that have not been through the appropriate channels for a planning application. We wouldn't be able to get away with it - but then again we would have done the job right in the first instance - not changed our mind to just reduce the objectors to a poor proposal.

Say No To Mereham - Public Meeting - Friday 28th Sept, 2007 There will be a public meeting to discuss the Mereham proposals on Friday 28th Sept at St. Peter's Church Hall, Wilburton - 7:30pm.

05 Oct 2007 This site will be 'quiet' for the first week or two of the inquiry, but we're still interested in your comments and questions. We'll try to respond to them as soon as possible. In the mean time let us hope that common sense will prevail over financial greed - and remind all those proposing the Mereham development that their reputations will be put on the line - if they are seen to be giving misguiding evidence we will highlight that on the web, which is a very powerful medium for ending otherwise successful careers. If they stand by their evidence 100% and it contains no misrepresentations, they have nothing to worry about. We assume they are have visited this area and seen what it is really like, as no one can provide true professional responses without true local knowledge. It would appear that the Multiplex documents lack local knowledge though, despite claims to the contrary from their so called experts. The Haddenham website will be reporting on the inquiry.

14 Sep 2007 See Latest Updates for the most recent additions to this websites and other Mereham related information.

04 Sep 2007 A petition has been set up on the Downing Street Petition website - go to http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/SAYNO2MEREHAM/ and sign it if you want to Say No To Mereham! Thanks to those at Haddenham who set this up.

04 Sep 2007 To register to have your say about Mereham, see the details on the East Cambs Website - Click Here. You can register before the inquiry, or in person on the 9th October.

04 Sep 2007 A Facebook group "Say No To Mereham" has been set up.

16 Aug 2007: East Cambridgeshire County Council have produced there first Mereham Newsletter (click here). You can even print off you own "Say No To Mereham" poster! Important information given includes how the size of Mereham compares to Ely - something many people don't seem to grasp. See the map below showing the size of the proposed Mereham development (in grey) compared to Ely - it's pretty easy to see it's on a par with Ely, so just imagine what that will do to the local area in terms of transport and environmental damage.

06 Aug 2007: Haddenham Parish Council have formed a campaign group - see Haddenham Online for more details.

02 Aug 2007: If you wish to speak at the inquiry at the Arkenstall Centre in Haddenham then you need to attend on the first day - 9th October 2007 - and inform the Planning Inspector and you will be giving a slot of time during the inquiry. We want to get as many people as possible to turn up and register - to help show the total lack of support for this plan locally, and also to help highlight the many failings of these proposals.

If you can't make it in person then contact us via this website and we'll see if we can register for you, or at least make sure your objections are known.

Do you live in a prominent location in one of the villages that will be affected by this proposal? If so, would you like a "Say No to Mereham" poster? Yes - great - contact us and we'll try to sort one out for you!

The next stage of this ludicrous proposal is for it to go to appeal on the 9th October 2007. Despite all the local councils - namely East Cambs, South Cambs, Cambridge City and Cambridgeshire County - being opposed to the development, the appeal is still going ahead. It seems unbelievable that despite all local and regional planning being against this proposal that Multiplex are still wishing to waste our money (via Council Tax) on pursuing such a poorly thought out and investigated proposal. If you attended the public meetings back in November 2005 you would have witnessed for yourself that they were unable (or unwilling) to answer even basic questions about the proposal - and lacked any knowledge of what the current situation is with the A10 (the David Tucker representatives being particularly lacking in local knowledge, or even knowledge of the content of their own transport proposals!). Yet they were apparently able to tell us that they could improve it, although when challenged to demonstrate this they weren't able to.

So once again we are in a position of having to defend our wish to live in quiet villages, some distance away from Cambridge (over 11 miles, which is around 18km), from a proposal which will create chaos for anyone living north of Cambridge along the A10. The updated proposal doesn't appear to be ready on the developers website - but will no doubt include lots of mention of affordable housing, a current favourite for MPs (as long as it's not where they live, of course). But who is this to benefit? Certainly not people working in Cambridge - for example Addenbrooke's Hospital is some 15 miles (yes, miles, not km) from the site - and often taking upwards of an hour to get there. Building affordable houses that far away from centres of employment just does not make sense however you look at it.

Widening the A10 as in the existing Mereham proposal will just create a more dangerous road - that was obvious to everyone who attended the public exhibition (they being the people who use the road every day). If managers of the railways can be held responsible for the deaths caused on the railways - can we not hold Multiplex managers responsible for the inevitable increase in fatalities that their proposals would create? We do hope so, as then they might actually consider what they are proposing.

The reasons for Mereham are purely financial - Multiplex have options on some of the land to buy it cheaply (and rip off the land owners), and sell it on at huge profit. They have been helped along the way by a local estate agent - we won't name them here yet, but if they continue their underhand tactics then we shall, as we feel no one locally should give them business. The development will provide no benefit to those already living in the area, or those using the A10 for their daily commute. Lets work together to stop this - send us your comments so we can include them here. Unlike Multiplex, we will listen to you! We are going to be updating this website over the coming weeks, so why not drop us an email to let us know what you think.

A Few Comments

New Government Guidelines include 'Sustainable Development in Rural Areas' which states that "New building development in the open countryside away from existing settlements, or outside areas allocated for development in development plans, should be strictly controlled; the Government's overall aim is to protect the countryside for the sake of its intrinsic character and beauty, the diversity of its landscapes, heritage and wildlife, the wealth of its natural resources and so it may be enjoyed by all."

Previous Structure Plans concluded that the site "performed poorly in comparison to most other locations" and that "the overwhelming disadvantage of Wilburton ...is its relative remoteness from Cambridge and its poor performance against the RPG6 requirement of promoting a better balance between housing and employment close to Cambridge."

East Cambs Council (and common sense) say that the appeal site is poorly related to areas of employment, major health provision, schools and shops and would encourage high levels of car based commuting in order to access these facilities contrary to the principle of developing sustainable communities. We say that the proposal includes development of some shops and businesses - but it won't be enough to stop people going to Ely, Cambridge or Peterborough for shopping - and the empty business units in Ely show that even with a railway station and multiple road accesses, businesses do not want to locate to the more remote business parks.

And surely part of the argument FOR Mereham is to provide affordable housing for Cambridge - so including employment on site is AGAINST their own proposal!