East West Rail accused of being ‘frugal with the truth’

Councillor Dr Tumi Hawkins sitting at a able in the council chamber.
-Credit:South Cambridgeshire District Council


Councillors have hit out at East West Rail for being ‘frugal and economical with the truth’. The company was accused of ‘not being very transparent’ and leaving communities feeling ignored. East West Rail said it “always strives to be open and honest” about its plans, adding that it “truly values” the feedback it receives.

The comments were made by councillors at a South Cambridgeshire District Council cabinet meeting this week (January 14) where councillors were discussing a draft response to the current East West Rail consultation. The report highlights some concerns and feedback officers at the authority have made at this stage and expect to be addressed through further discussions with East West Rail.

The East West Rail project aims to build a new railway line between Bedford and Cambridge, which if built will enable people to travel by train between Oxford and Cambridge. New stations are also proposed to be built in Tempsford and Cambourne. The company is currently holding a consultation on the plans, which runs until January 24.

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Councillor Brian Milnes (Liberal Democrat), deputy leader, said they had tried to include "as many of the diverse opinions” from the area in the district council’s response to the consultation. He recognised there was ‘hostility’ from some in the area, particularly in the villages, such as Harston, which he said would be most impacted by the building of the new railway line “without any gain”.

However, concerns about how well East West Rail is communicating with people in the area were shared by some cabinet members. Councillor Dr Tumi Hawkins (Liberal Democrat) said the district council needed to be sure that issues people in the area had raised were being addressed.

She said: “Unfortunately East West Rail, in my view, have been frugal with the truth, their dealings with local communities leaves a lot to be desired. A lot of the time I have attended meetings and they say a lot of words, but there is hardly any real information in it. Communities feel they are being ignored.”

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Cllr Hawkins said there was “big concern” that the northern route into Cambridge had not been “properly considered”. She claimed some people had been told by East West Rail staff at meetings that this route would be ‘better and cheaper’, but could not be considered due to the work that had now gone into developing the southern route.

She also said she had “asked several times” for how the harm to villages in South Cambridgeshire would be mitigated, but said she was only told the company was “working on it”. Cllr Hawkins said: “I’m afraid that this just can’t carry on as it is, they need to be upfront with us, they need to talk properly and do the things we are asking them to do rather than ignoring our communities who are being affected.”

Councillor John Williams (Liberal Democrat) also raised concerns about the communication between East West Rail and the communities in the area. He said the company had been “very economical with the truth” and that they had needed to “drag out of East West Rail the facts”.

Councillor John Williams sitting at a desk in the council chamber.
Councillor John Williams said he was "frustrated by the secrecy and the lack of transparency by East West Rail as to exactly what it is they are proposing to do". -Credit:South Cambridgeshire District Council

Cllr Williams claimed it was not clear from the consultation documents that some places, such as Fulbourn, would be impacted by the project. He said: “I am rather frustrated by the secrecy and the lack of transparency by East West Rail as to exactly what it is they are proposing to do.

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“They are very economical with the truth and they are not very transparent. Ok this is informal consultation, I hope they greatly improve their performance when they get around to the formal consultation, because at the moment it is just not acceptable what they are doing.”

Cllr Milnes said he believed there was a case for asking David Hughes the CEO of East West Rail to review the company’s performance around communication. Councillor Dr Richard Williams (Conservative) called on the district council's leadership to “show leadership” by putting the concerns shared at the meeting in the proposed consultation response. He said the draft response currently was a “very technical submission”. He said: “Can I urge the leadership of the council to show leadership and to say no, this is not an acceptable proposal.”

Cllr Milnes said it was “incorrect” to accuse them of not showing leadership. He said they had taken “very strong positions with East West Rail” on various aspects of the project, including calling for the line to be electrified. Councillor Bridget Smith (Liberal Democrat), leader of the district council, said they had held some “really uncomfortable meetings with East West Rail”, adding that there had been “considerable gains made on what was originally proposed” through discussions with the company.

Responding to the comments made at the meeting, a spokesperson for East West Rail said: "We remain committed to working hand-in-hand with the local communities that East West Rail will serve. Constructive and frequent dialogue with the council and other stakeholders is central to this process, and we truly value any feedback that we will receive.

“We always strive to be open and honest about our plans and we have had some very positive feedback about our engagement from key stakeholders and members of the public who have visited the 16 events and webinars we have held so far. We will continue to maintain open channels of communication with the council and other stakeholders and we invite people to take part in the current consultation by attending the remaining events so that their feedback can be used to help shape our plans.”