Your Response
8. Your Comments: why do/don’t you
support the Policy or paragraph? If you’d
3. Policy or Paragraph No:
Policy 15: South of Coldhams Lane Area
of Major Change
necessary – see detailed comments at end
4. Do you support this policy or
paragraph? (i.e. do you think it is
sound and/or legally compliant)
Yes
 No
5. If no, in summary, why do you not
support the policy/paragraph?
Tick which options apply
It won’t work i.e. not effective

It is too negative
It isn’t justified i.e. there is no
evidence to justify the policy
like to amend or add something new, what
would it say? Please limit your response
below to 100 words. Detailed comments
may be provided on separate sheets if

Any development of the lakes needs to ensure
local nature conservation (15g), ensure peace and
safety of local residents and staff and students at
the Spinney School, address the major on-going
problems of noise, nuisance and anti-social
behaviour and safety issues associated with
swimming and the setting of fires. “primarily”
should be deleted from para 15b. Noisy
recreational activities are not consistent with
nature conservation (15 g). Swimming or any
other potentially noisy activities must be sited
well away from residential buildings and the
Spinney Primary School.
Development of land directly on top of the landfill
sites is not appropriate.
It isn’t consistent with
national policy
It doesn’t comply with the law
6. What would you like to happen?
Delete policy or paragraph?
Amend policy or paragraph?
Add a new policy or paragraph?

(Please give further details in box 8)
7. Would you like to verbally express
your views to an independent
inspector?
 Yes
No
Note: If you wish to comment on more
than policy or paragraph please use
another form
DETAILED COMMENTS
The Lakes
Any development of the lakes needs to ensure local nature conservation (15g), and address the needs
of local residents and the Spinney School, the major on-going problems of noise, nuisance and antisocial behaviour and major public safety issues associated with swimming and the setting of fires. The
peace and safety of students and staff at the Spinney School and of residents in the north of Cherry
Hinton and the St Bedes area must be ensured. The word “primarily” should be deleted from para 15b.
Noisy recreational activities are not consistent with nature conservation (15 g). Swimming or any other
potentially noisy activities must be sited well away from residential buildings and the Spinney Primary
School.
Noise, nuisance and anti-social behaviour
For many years there has been noise, nuisance and anti-social behaviour with people trespassing onto
the strip of land forming the perimeter of the southernmost lake. These problems became particularly
acute in July 2009, seriously disrupting the education of students at the Spinney Primary School and
disrupting (day and night) the lives of householders in the neighbourhood of the school. Subsequent to
a meeting at the Spinney School of senior members of City and County Councils, the Police Force, the
Local Education Authority, County Council Property Management and the Fire Department, the
Spinney School actioned an expensive series of measures aimed at minimising access to the lake
perimeter including
 The erection of tall steel gates and fences topped with anti-climb paint on the boundary of the
school grounds and Harcombe Road, and the erection of other new fences.
 The conversion of the school to a ‘locked gate’ site with access to the school grounds only via
combination locks
However many people continue to access to the lake perimeter via, for example, the Snakey Path and
subsequent trespass through a security fence onto the lake perimeter. There remains each year a
significant level of disturbance (especially during the summer) during day and night with the playing of
loud music, noisy and profane behaviour, trespass onto householders’ land and the setting of fires, etc
which is detrimental to the education of the students at the Spinney School and highly disruptive to
the lives of the households in the north of Cherry Hinton and in the St Bedes area.
Major problems recurred this summer (2013) and were reported in the Cambridge News (18 July 2013)
and also on the Cambridge News’ website (17 July 2013) (http://www.cambridgenews.co.uk/Cambridge/Youths-in-danger-and-making-residents-lives-a-misery-breaking-into-waterfilled-quarries-20130717060000.htm ) Major public nuisance and breach of peace occurred, including
the playing of extremely loud base-heavy music for 8 hours continuously into the early hours of the
morning. Many complaints were made to the police. Local councillors, the police and the fire
department have again been involved in assessing and attempting to mitigate the problems.
Safety
The southernmost lake is has steep sides. The lake is very deep and can be very cold and there is a real
possibility of a serious accident occurring (and the issue of liability would then arise). The depth of the
lake and the proximity of the lake to the landfill sites mean that there is a risk of contaminants leaching
at some level from the landfill sites to the lake. A detailed quantitative audit would be necessary to
assess this risk as well as all other risks associated with the use of the lakes.
The setting of fires also causes a major fire risk to the Spinney School and nearby properties. If a fire
did spread then the lack of access to the lake shore by the fire department might well exacerbate
matters and a major fire could occur which would be difficult to control. This needs a thorough risk
assessment.
The risk of serious accident or death to swimmers in lakes like these has been made abundantly clear
with the news of the tragic deaths at Bawsey Pits in July 2013 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/ukengland-norfolk-23338340 ).
Former landfill sites
The 2006 Cambridge Local Plan Inspector’s Report states (with respect to a proposed housing
development on this site) “…there are possible scenarios which would lead to the danger of explosion
and the risk of fatalities. The management of the development may not always be effective, and
enclosed spaces might be introduced into undercrofts, or the barrier might be penetrated even if
garden areas are intended to be communal. No barrier is completely safe…..The owner has not carried
out a quantitative audit, which is in my opinion necessary at this stage because of the high
concentrations of gas and the imperfect knowledge of other site characteristics. Without a full risk
assessment there is insufficient evidence to show that there would be no residual risk…..Although I
conclude that the site does not have appreciable value as open space, other than its biodiversity value,
and that its contribution to biodiversity could be recreated on land further west, I also conclude that it
should not be allocated for housing. This is because of the over-riding risk arising from the
contaminated land.”
Given the Inspector’s comments above it is not appropriate to disturb and develop land directly over
the top of the landfill sites (whether for housing or not) because of the over-riding risk arising from the
contaminated land.
Data Protection
The information collected will be processed in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998. Information from the forms will be stored on a
computer database used solely in connection with the Local Plan Review. Representations will be available to view on City Council’s website,
although address and contact details will not be included. However, as copies of representations must be made available for public
inspection, they cannot be treated as confidential and will be available for inspection in full.