Our people
CBRR is a voluntary community interest group comprising four founder members and some close supporters. Brian Bell and Barry Johnson are distinguished transport infrastructure engineers with extensive UK and international experience. The CBRR Route Proposal is their work. Our Chairman is County Councillor Sebastian Kindersley who has wide knowledge of local government and representing community needs. Philip and James Paxman are local residents and businessmen. Deborah Marriage adds her very welcome local knowledge and Town Planning skills to the group. Simon Saggers has a deep commitment to conservation and the environment and is Green Party Candidate for the South Cambs constituency. Support and involvement is warmly welcome from all who share our goal to secure a transport system that optimizes the sustainability of our communities.
Brian Bell (Civil Engineer, Co-founder of CamBedRailRoad)
Brian has lived near Shingay for over 40 years and is now enjoying his retirement from being an active Fellow of both the Civil and Structural Engineering Institutions, having worked on major infrastructure projects in UK, Europe and the Far East. He obtained his degree at Oxford, and his ‘Masters’ at Imperial College where he has since been lecturing. He has been appointed internationally as an Expert Witness. Brian plays an active part in local functions and, having had to retire from running with the Royston Runners, now enjoys the pleasure that cycling in South Cambridgeshire can bring. Click here for full CV.
Barry Johnson (Civil Engineer, Advisor to CamBedRailRoad)
Barry has lived over 40 years in Cambridge, following his graduation there, and is also enjoying his retirement, having co-founded Bell Johnson Consulting Engineers after retiring from Kier as their Chief Engineer. His experience has also been in major infrastructure projects in UK, Europe and the Far East, which he has now applied to CamBedRailRoad. A keen bell-ringer and specialist in bell frame design and construction, he hopes to start a bell-ringing school in St Clements Church, Cambridge; when time allows, he sails his Cornish Crabber off the east coast. Click here for full CV.
Sebastian Kindersley (County Councillor, Chairman of CamBedRailRoad)
Sebastian comes from a business background having set up and run successful companies based in the market intelligence sector in the UK, USA and Australia; initially while he was completing a Law degree at Anglia Ruskin University. Based at East Hatley, he has been active in the South Cambridgeshire area in a wide range of roles as an elected member of Cambridgeshire County Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council and as a Parliamentary candidate. He is a Member of the Cam Academy Trust and is currently a Trustee of a local Almshouse charity.
Philip Paxman (Company Director, Co-founder of CamBedRailRoad)
Philip read Natural Sciences and qualified as a Veterinary Surgeon at St Johns College, Cambridge. Lectured in Animal Husbandry at London University before co-founding and managing Volac International Ltd, then Animal Biotechnology Cambridge Ltd. He is Chairman of a business in Shingay which he co-founded with his son, James, and has now lived in the area for 44 years. His fund-raising experience as Founder Trustee of CAMVET has been put to good use in negotiating a Mitigation and Compensation Agreement with the developer of a solar farm, to the benefit of the whole parish, becoming a Director of the resulting of Shingay-cum-Wendy Parish Benefits Company.
James Paxman (Company Director, Co-founder of CamBedRailRoad)
Raised in Shingay, James now lives nearby in Bassingbourn. He read Biological Sciences at Edinburgh University, with Honours in Zoology, followed by taking a ‘Masters’ there in Resource Management. With his father, Philip, he co-founded a business in Shingay, where he is now the Managing Director, employing around 80 people. With Philip, he co-negotiated the Mitigation and Compensation Agreement in Shingay-cum-Wendy, to the parish’s benefit (value approx. £3m). James is an enthusiastic bee-keeper, and cares for a variety of livestock in the smallholding he has created from a ploughed field.
Deborah Marriage (Chartered Town Planner, Advisor to CamBedRailRoad)
Deborah was born and raised in Bassingbourn, where her family has lived for over 60 years. A Chartered Town Planning Consultant and member of the Royal Town Planning Institute, Deborah provides CBRR with professional advice on town planning matters, with indefatigable enthusiasm and occasional humour. Having become aware of threats to the environment and wildlife at a young age, Deborah now combines her knowledge of planning law and policy with a principled belief in the importance of long-term, sustainable land use and transport planning. Although now based in East Sussex, where she can be found doing Crossfit in her spare time, Deborah still thinks of Bassingbourn as home, and as such is involved with CBRR at both a professional and personal level.
Simon Saggers (Conservationist, Supporter of CamBedRailRoad)
Simon runs the award-winning Guilden Gate six-acre organic smallholding, which he established from scratch. Since 1999 he has created a rich mosaic of native woodlands, wildflower meadows, vegetable and herb fields, a vineyard and a ‘glamping’ site. He runs a local ‘veggie box’ scheme, courses in vegetable husbandry and rural skills, and offers smallholding tours. Simon won the Queen Elizabeth scholarship for woodland management and has worked extensively in the charity sector, including Directorship of The Countryside Restoration Trust. He is a Governor at Bassingbourn Village College, and is a Bassingbourn Parish Councillor, Partner of South Cambs Conservation Consultants, Green Party Parliamentary candidate for South Cambs Constituency for the last four elections, and co-ordinates the South Cambs Green Party.