As plans to move Waterbeach rail station from one part of the village to another progress, what do people currently living there think about it?

While the station’s relocation from the south of the village is being driven to allow new development in the north, the move will impact those already living in Waterbeach.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service spoke to villagers who had a mix of views.

Who is leading the station project?

The £37 million project to relocate the station to around 1.5 miles away is being led by the Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP).

It is hoping to deliver the new station by 2025.

The new station is a requirement of planning permission to build 4,500 new homes as part of the wider Waterbeach development.

The scheme was initially proposed to be developer-led, but the developer RLW Estates failed to get a commercial funding agreement to meet all the costs.

The GCP agreed to take responsibility for the project, investing £20m, and putting forward the remaining £17m, which would later be repaid by the developer.

A report presented to the Executive Board said relocating the existing station was the “most commercially and cost-effective solution” to delivering a new station.

GCP officers explained at the time that the funding for the project was needed to “unlock” the homes, and that it was within the agreed role of the authority to help facilitate housing growth in the Greater Cambridge area.

‘Why not have two stations?’

One woman, who did not wish to be named, lives near the current station.

She did not want the station to be moved, explaining the proximity to the station was one of the reasons she bought her home.

“It’s really frustrating,” she said.

“I have lived here 14 years now and there have always been plans, but they have just redone all the platforms here to take eight carriages.

“I would like them to explore options for keeping our station, so then you have two stops. When you go to other countries, they have lots of stops.”

She added that she also wanted more information about how the new station would be made accessible to the people in the existing village.

“I would like them to make sure that traffic going through the village will not go past the school and will not be detrimental to the village,” said the woman.

“I have a teenage daughter who will be going to college soon, she could walk from here, but if it is down a dark alley then I am not happy about that.”

One man, who did not wish to be named, said he was not aware of the plans to move the station, but said he would ‘rather it not move’.

He said: “I don’t see the point in moving it; a lot of people will lose access.

“We didn’t know the station was here when we moved, but we have found it to be a big benefit and it would be a shame if it did move.”

‘Ordinary people need to reap the benefits’

Miss Tariq said the current location of the station was “handy” for her, and said she did “not see the point” in moving it unless the new station would offer more capacity.

She also recognised the reasons behind the decision, saying the village was “expanding at an exponential rate”.

“As long as ordinary people reap the benefits of whatever is going on, then I really don’t mind,” said Miss Tariq.

Another woman, who did not wish to be named, explained that she commutes from Waterbeach Station to London.

But she said if the new station was not too far away, she would not have a problem with it.

She said: “I think because it is not moving very far, as I use the station, I would like to know what sort of disruption we can expect to the service.

“At the moment in the development of Waterbeach, the station seems to be part of quite a broad package, but it is difficult to spend the time to find out the specifics of [the station move].”