Fjord focus on transport and planning in Cambridgeshire

30 April 2010

A delegation from Norway visited Cambridgeshire yesterday (Thursday 29th April 2010) to learn more about how councils and partner organisations plan for the thousands of new homes due to be built.

The 30 strong group, from the Municipality of Sandnes, includes planners, transport planners, surveyors and cartographers. They learnt about the challenges facing Cambridgeshire planners as well as visiting development sites.

They also visited Trumpington Park and Ride to see how transport provision is planned for.

Representatives from Cambridgeshire County Council and Cambridgeshire Horizons covered a range of issues with the group as well as listening to the advice of the delegates themselves.

Joseph Whelan, Cambridgeshire County Council's Head of Service for New Communities, said: "Cambridgeshire is often visited by international delegations to learn about the measures we have in areas such as planning or managing transport facilities to deal with current and future housing. We look forward to explaining the challenges and what has gone well and offering examples of learning from our experiences - good and bad. During their visit the group will look at the Cambridge southern fringe area which has been earmarked for development as well as the award winning Trumpington Park and Ride which, together with the other sites, carries around four million journeys."

Alex Plant, Chief Executive, Cambridgeshire Horizons, said: "It is always good to share experiences as to how we can best deliver the sustainable new communities that we need to put in place. I hope that the insight we can provide the Norwegian team with will help them to develop their own plans for growth further, as well as providing us with some challenge and insights as to what has worked well in Norway."