Latest Updates

November 2007 - The A10 Proposals Have Changed to be worse for everyone - 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!

In a nutshell - the changes mean that the widening of the A10 to increase capacity and safety (as they advertised it) will now only go as far as Denny End - where the road will be constricted to reduce traffic flow. A dedicated bus lane will be added at Denny Lane to by-pass the queues that will now form here, and also at Milton to by-pass queues there.

Several other changes have been made at junctions - adding traffic signals and bus priority - plus preventing right turns at a couple of junctions. The council have modeled these changes, and have shown there to be an increased delay along the A10, with additional congestion. They also show a massive increase in traffic along Twenty Pence Road - which the developers again brush asside - stating that they are prepared to pay for traffic management to prevent this huge increase in traffic using Twenty Pence. This can only mean it will be a lot worse for the people that already use this road.

There appears to be little mention of routes through Soham - either from Ely or from the A10 - but if Twenty Pence and the A10 are both "less attractive" then this is the only other option.

There are many other aspects of the new modeling that fall short of a full investigation into the real situation. They are removed the objection by the Highways Agency by making the A10 "worse" not better as they have claimed previously. Once again David Tucker Associates have shown themselves to be less than professional in attempting to get a plan passed by whatever means necessary - rather than provide a safe and suitable solution to a problem they appear to ignore or do not understand. Alas they also advised on the Cambridge Guided Bus - says it all really...

To see some of the documents relating to the change of plans for the A10 see the Persona website:
Click Here for the Agreed Statement (on modeling) between Council and Appellants - although David Tucker doesn't appear to agree with the agreed statement, using the word "pessimistic" a lot - we suggest he changes that to "optimistic" or "realistic".

Click Here for the Appellants Documents - see David Tucker Supplementary Proof - although expect it to change again and again, as he doesn't appear to know what he's on about.

We have just received the Public Notice giving information on who to see and respond to these changes. The wording is:

PUBLIC NOTICE

Town And Country Planning Act 1990
Appeal by Stannifer Developments Ltd
Proposed highway improvements to A10 between A14 Milton Junction and River Great Ouse, in the parishes of Milton, Landbeach and Waterbeach
Further drawings are to be considered as part of this appeal. These include the introduction of bus lanes and bus priority measures on the A10; a right turn ban from the A10 southbound to Green End, Landbeach; and other cycleway/footway improvements.

Members of the public may inspect copies of the drawings at Development Services, South Cambridgeshire District Council, Cambourne Business Park, Cambourne, Cambridge, CB23 6EA, at the Planning Department, East Cambrdigeshire District Council, The Grange, Nutholt Lane, Ely, Cambridge, CB7 4PL and the Haddenham Library, Station Road, Haddenham, Cambridge CB6 3XD during normal library hours.

Anyone who wishes to make representations about the proposals should do so in writing within 14 days of the date of this notice. Please quote the reference APP/W0530/A/06/2014216 and send to the following address:

Persona Associates Ltd, West Point, Springfield Road, Horsham, West Sussex, RH12 2PD.

Dated 22 November 2007

Some more information, together with a suggested letter of response for those affected - is available in this PDF (click here).

26 Oct 2007 With Northstowe now not being one of Mr Brown's eco-town, despite his highly publicised announcements before becoming PM, it means that the planning application and subsequent development at Northstowe can now happen much quicker than anticipated. This will not help the developers behind Mereham - as seemingly their only argument for Mereham is that it can happen quickly (if you ignore such things as it isn't in the regional plans, they don't own rights to all the land, the transport proposal is a joke, there is no infrastructure provision and so on). So they really don't have much going for them now - Northstowe will be up and running whilst the Mereham developers are still trying to work out if they can actually afford to build the development and provide the required 40% of affordable housing. We think they should cut their loses and go, leaving the land as high quality farm land to help the sustainability of the local area for future generations. And from the look of some of them at the public inquiry, it's about time the retired - too many lies have seriously aged them!

26 Oct 2007 After a busy few weeks, the inquiry has a week off. Members of the public have had their chance to speak (although a little short on time in some cases), and where possible the presentations they gave will appear on the Haddenham Website - look for the Mereham link on the right hand side. From the presentations we have seen, they have been of fantastic quality, providing some very well thought out arguments for the developers to deal with. Many aspects of their documents have been highlighted as being inaccurate, or just completely wrong. There are obvious shortcomings in transport, flooding and drainage, employment, and issues such as health, safety, ecology, and landscape.

With Northstowe now not being one of Mr Brown's eco-towns (a politician changing their mind - whatever next?) - it will be coming on line a lot quicker as well - so the developers stance on being able to provide housing more quickly is undermined. It doesn't really leave a lot for them to present as a true and accurate representation to the inspector.

05 Oct 2007 This site will go quiet during the first week of the inquiry - but we're still after your views and comments as part of our on going "local consultation". We try our best to respond to everyones questions and comments even if it is "eventually" rather than "instantly"! We wish Good Luck to all those appearing against Mereham, and hope that common sense with prevail.

05 Oct 2007 The traffic video clips section has been updated so we can add additional days - due to it's popularity! Thanks for the comments, and if anyone can get video and photos that we can use let us know. We've been out on the 4th October along Twenty Pence, and again today (although not on the website yet). And we'll be out in a week or so after the first week of the inquiry.

05 Oct 2007 A new questionnaire has been added - Family Life and Mereham - to allow people with young families to express their views of the proposal, and how construction work lasting over 20 years and the Mereham development may affect their family. If you are part of a family, or know someone how is, please encourage them to take a few minutes and fill in a questionnaire.

03 Oct 2007 The third East Cambs newsletter about Mereham is now available.
Click here to see the Mereham Newsletter

03 Oct 2007 For those of you who have lots of spare time, the documents for the public inquiry are availables to download from http://www.persona.uk.com/mereham/index.htm.

02 Oct 2007 We have added some traffic video clips of the slow moving morning traffic in Wilburton and Haddenham - we'll be adding more video and images before the inquiry starts to show what the situation is really like to people who don't know - such as the developers...

01 Oct 2007 Based on their 2002 proposals, we've include a new section - Fact and Fiction. If you have any facts that you would like to include, let us know!

01 Oct 2007 An overview of the Wilburton public meeting held on the 28th Sept is now available - click here to see it.

01 Oct 2007 A new links page has been added so you can find related links easily.

29 Sep 2007 A big thank you to all those who attended the public meeting in Wilburton on the 28th Sept - we'll be including a summary of the evening on the website soon, including the questions asked. It was clearly obvious that the developers claims of public consultation of the local community just haven't happened - as no one in the large audience had been consulted. If you feel that you would like to be consulted, then please see We Want Consultation for contact details.

26 Sep 2007 A story about Mereham appeared on Anglia Tonight West 26/09/07 (11:40 starting time in the news clip) - stating that "locally no one wants it" and that the Council say "it's not needed". They showed that there were "posters everywhere" and highlighted that the "A10 was the only transport link". They also highlighted that 4000 cars already use Twenty Pence Road as a short cut. The junction is already clogged up - so Mereham would make matters a lot worse for that and the already crowded A10.

The developers were not available for interview - a great piece of PR there! They just don't give a damn - they claimed it was "all about homes" - but not appearing suggests it's "all about profit". As Cambs County Council pointed out (they appeared for interview, so did East Cambs) - "This development is not needed. Provision has been made elsewhere in the county for homes and this particular development is just in the wrong place.".

Just how the developers propose to build a "Twenty First Century sustainable village" which contains over 5000 houses and is completely reliant on road transport for those wishing to visit a town or city is a mystery. For starter, someone ought to tell them that that isn't a village. But then again, calling it a village means they don't have to provide the infrastructure of a town - it's all about the profit.

25 Sep 2007 We are collecting journey times for trips between Stretham and the A14 along the A10 and Wilburton and the A14 along the B1049 (Twenty Pence Road). If you travel either of these routes then please download a form and fill in it!

24 Sep 2007 The latest Press Release from Haddenham is available here.

22 Sep 2007 Time is running short to write to the Secretary of State opposing the Mereham proposals - if you're not sure where to start then download the Word Document from the link below to use as a template.
Click Here To Download

22 Sep 2007 At the Pre-Inquiry Planning Meeting held in Ely last week, the Planning Inspector made it very clear that he wants to try and stick to the outline timetable as far as he can. There are obviously uncertainties and one of them is knowing how many members of the public - that's us - want to speak.

He did however make the very clear statement, that if time becomes restricted, he will "give preference to those who have pre-registered their intention to speak with Lynette Duncan of Persona Associates". Therefore please do this and please encourage anyone you know who is considering speaking to do so also.

14 Sep 2007 The online petition now has over 300 signatures - separate to those collected locally (including over 1000 at the Haddenham Steam Rally). If you haven't signed a petition yet (either online or in one of the local shops) then please do so to show your support for the Say No To Mereham campaign.

14 Sep 2007 The 2nd ECDC Mereham Newsletter has been released, it can be downloaded here:
Issue 2 - Mereham Newsletter

14 Sep 2007 The Haddenham "Say No To Mereham" group are keeping people up to date with press releases - we've included them under an imaginatively named Press Releases section!

10 Sep 2007 Planning applications appeared in the Ely Standard on Thursday, 6th September 2007 - written representations need to be sent by the 28th September 2007 - so you don't have long. See Planning Application for more details.

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 residents have formed a Say No To Mereham campaign group - see Haddenham Online for more details.

Older information:
For the older updates, see the Archived Latest Updates page.