Silicon Fen 'needs £2bn' to stop business exodus

By Clayton Hirst

Hermann Hauser, the father of the "Silicon Fen" technology belt around Cambridge, has warned that unless the Government invests £2bn in the region's infrastructure, companies will leave.

In an interview with The Independent on Sunday, the founder of Acorn Computers said there was an urgent need for the Government to throw money at the road network and resolveplanning disputes. "Companies will go elsewhere," said Mr Hauser. "There are lots of other regions competing with us – for example Munich, where the Bavarian government has spent €3.6bn... We need a similar sum of about £2bn to sort out our infrastructure. Where will this come from? It ought to be paid for by taxpayers."

Mr Hauser, who now runs Cambridge-based technology venture capitalist Amadeus Capital, added: "Cambridge's infrastructure is creaking We have a real traffic problem, especially during rush hour. You can sit in traffic for up to three-quarters of an hour, which for a city of Cambridge's size is absolutely ridiculous. And we have constraints in terms of where we can build."

Silicon Fen has withstood the downturn in the technology market relatively well and there is still a demand for new office and laboratory space. The area is home to more than 1,600 technology companies and organisations, including silicon chip maker ARM Holdings, biotechnology company Cambridge Antibody Technology and the research charity Wellcome Trust.

However, the city and county councils have been at loggerheads over how the region should expand, leading to planning disputes such as Wellcome Trust's battle to expand at Hinxton Hall. But many companies hope proposals developed by Chancellor Gordon Brown and Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott – to streamline planning procedures in so-called "business-planning zones" – could be applied to Cambridge.

Before that, businesses are hoping the new Cambridgeshire Structure Plan – which proposes a review of the Green Belt as well as an extension to the city in the east – will resolve some of the problems. A public examination of the plan will begin in November.