Lib Dems propose to reopen the Bramley Line

2.02.40pm BST (GMT +0100) Sun 26th Jul 2009

Cambridgeshire County Council Liberal Democrats this week urged the County Council to seek funding which would result in the railway line from March to Wisbech, the Bramley Line, being re-opened.

At the recent meeting of full council Lib Dem group leader David Jenkins proposed a motion which urged the Council to pursue Tax Increment Financing as a way to fund the reopening of the Bramley Line. With such project financing the Council would be able to repay this funding from the increase in business taxes which would result from the project. The motion received 100% support.

Cllr Jenkins said: 'railway connections are a proven generator of business activity. They improve accessibility and by so doing encourage people to commute to and from towns with stations.'

'They also encourage inward investment and we propose that land owned by County Farms adjacent to the line be made available for development as 'green' industrial zones'.

Cllr Geoff Heathcock supported the motion: 'we've spent too much time talking about the prosperity of the south of Cambridgeshire and the imbalance with the north but we've not spent enough time trying to connect them. This railway line is a must and should be a first step to making it easy for people to connect within the county. As it is today it's easier to travel to Paris from Cambridge than to Wisbech and that must be wrong'.

Cllr Weisenbijk who is also a transport specialist, added: 'we must use the resources which we have as effectively as possible. Bringing this line back into use would not be expensive and would respond to the public mood. Fact is that people like and prefer trains and would use them if they were available. They take less kindly to buses, unfortunately, and most people are aware that the car is an expensive pollutant and incompatible with reducing carbon emissions'.