Friends of Paradise Nature Reserve

A sad day. Queens’ College has won its appeal to build student blocks next to Paradise. We thank all those who have been helping us campaign against this scheme, especially those 240 who contributed to the recent crowdfunder. More updates shortly. cambridgeindependent.co.uk/news/queen-s-c…

Please see below for our official response to the Queens’ College Planning Appeal being allowed by the Planning Inspector... And, once again, many thanks to the thousands of you who supported the campaign to oppose it. paradisenaturereserve.uk/2023/11/18/que…

@FriendsOfPNR Appalling that Queens hired the most heavyweight barrister they could find to lead their appeal and bulldoze a victory against nature and the local community. Money won out but it’s shameful victory.

@AnnEtte82016400 Cambridge style: the river, cows, swans, ducks, bats, cow parsley is seen as special. So it’s sad Paradise’s fate could be decided by an inspector worried about getting shoes dirty at site inspection! Meanwhile Colleges promote their rural credentials! twitter.com/greenarteries/…

Planning Inspector allows Queens' College Owlstone development impacting Cambridge's Paradise Nature Reserve and Newnham Croft State Primary School. The decision means the bat corridor trees can be felled. Details of the decision here. acp.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/ViewCase.aspx?…

BREAKING NEWS @QueensCam Appeal re refusal of Owlstone Croft develop impacting Cam Nature Reserve Paradise & bat corridor trees allowed by @PINSgov. @alexspencerCAM @TerryMac999 @cam_friends

The problem - not just for the university but also for developers and brands - is, you can't have a public-facing policy espousing green policies, AND an unrelenting growth agenda which requires the destruction of nature. People are gonna call you out. cambridgeindependent.co.uk/news/queen-s-c…

Just appalling. Nature can 'just move somewhere else', of course... @FriendsOfPNR

@mabhurley @dave4labour @Feargal_Sharkey did a really good thread on the problems with dbas generally and @WaterVole and @FriendsOfPNR and @cam_friends also raised concerns about this particular one.

Yesterday, it got picked up by the BBC; bbc.co.uk/news/uk-englan… Thanks goes to @cam_friends @FriendsOfPNR @Feargal_Sharkey and many others, for all their research on the subject, which was very informative!!

Last week, I put forward some of the reasons why I don’t believe a designated bathing area will do anything to clean up the Cam, but COULD lead to more swimmers getting sick, as the council has proven itself incapable of communicating the poor condition of the river to residents

@MonicaHone @cam_friends @FriendsOfPNR @Jane45665825 @patrick_barkham @markrwilliamson @QueensCam Note only removal of the trees has been agreed by pre app 3 & it’s clear there were a lot of concerns remaining.  There are no minutes of 4th pre app meeting later in March but the application was submitted shortly after & every single officer then said plans were acceptable.

@MonicaHone @cam_friends @FriendsOfPNR @Jane45665825 @patrick_barkham @markrwilliamson @QueensCam Here are the extracts from the minuted pre app meetings of @QueensCam with the Council relating to the trees. There was a meeting in early March with just the tree officer and ecology officer they said that is not minuted at which this decision was made.

@MonicaHone @cam_friends @FriendsOfPNR @Jane45665825 @patrick_barkham @markrwilliamson Whose choice to fell the trees? A biodiverse bat corridor? See closing submission of @QueensCam barrister from Landmark Chambers at the public inquiry into Queens’ appeal against the council’s refusal of Queens’ develop impacting Paradise Nature Reserve & a state primary school.

@DivRoadLTN @cam_friends @FriendsOfPNR @Jane45665825 @patrick_barkham @markrwilliamson There are rules. But not followed! “They should not need TPOs - they are protected open space in a Conservation Area. That means they should be protected anyway under the Councils policy 71”. Pre app minutes show the tree officer originally stated the trees were to be retained.

Queens' College #Cambridge want to fell mature trees, three poplars and two healthy ash trees, in a protected open space next to #Paradise Nature Reserve - biodiverse bat conduit. “It was the tree officer’s choice to fell them.”

@MonicaHone @RobertTPollock @FriendsOfPNR @QueensCam @camcitco @PINSgov @TonyJuniper Yesterday attendees at Camb Market Sq stakeholders meeting heard from Cambridge Bid’s CEO about the ‘Destination Management Plan’ for ‘Visit Cambridge’. She said “this is ‘the vision that ‘we' want to portray for the city”. Paradise LNR Inquiry is relevant to this city vision.

@CambsClimate Losing Paradise & what makes Cambridge special. Would think world famous ‘rus in urbe’ style & Cam green spaces with their bats, swans, ducks, water voles, kingfishers & fish, would be key element of visitor destination management plan & city story, going out to tender this week.

"Cambridge University ‘attacking’ city’s green belt." A recent (paywalled) article in The Times that highlights how a "slew" of planning proposals (such as that by Queens' at Paradise) risks destroying the city as a whole. thetimes.co.uk/article/cambri… #Cambridge

A (possibly juvenile) Garden Warbler @FriendsOfPNR's #ParadiseNatureReserve a week or so ago. #TwitterNaturePhotography #BirdsOfTwitter