St Matthew’s Piece Trees – “Why don’t the planners…?”

Prompted by our recent blogpost St Matthew’s Piece Trees – STILL under threat! and by the urging of Friends of St Matthew’s Piece, many local residents emailed our local City Council ward councillors for Petersfield, ward councillors for the neighbouring Abbey ward and members of the Planning Committee.

The three trees under threat on St Matthew’s Piece Trees

The response from councillors has been heartening, but some local residents have puzzled why it is not possible for members of the Planning Committee to give their unqualified support to refuse the application.

Members of the Planning Committee can, and should, consider all of the evidence and every representation made by the public about any planning application.

However, a Planning Committee meeting has a legal (judicial) function and, just as neither judge nor jury may decide the outcome of any case before the court assembles, neither may members of the Planning Committee make a decision on any application before it is considered, in full, at the Planning Committee meeting.

But let Councillor Sam Carling, Cambridge City Councillor for West Chesterton,
Executive Councillor for Open Spaces and City Services and a member of the Planning Committee, explain.

We are pleased to have received permission to publish Councillor Carling’s recent email, in full (below).

Dear resident,

I’m writing to you in response to your email regarding the planning application 23/0119/TTPO – Felling of St Matthew’s Piece Trees, which you sent to me as a member of the Planning Committee. I read your email and considered it in full after receiving it, but I cannot respond to the points you raise regarding the application, and I wanted to explain why.

Committee members are not able to respond to the detail of emails regarding planning applications, as you may have been told, and the very high volume of emails that came in meant I could not reply to each to explain why that is the case. Instead, I thought it best to wait until the emails stopped and then write a response to everyone together. There are also some misconceptions evident in some of the emails I received, so I also wanted to take the opportunity to answer some of those.

Essentially, Planning Committee members must at all times avoid “fettering our discretion”. What this means is, it is critical that members of the committee do not take any action or speak in a way that could be interpreted as biasing our view on the application, or which suggests we have already made our decision (predetermination). If a committee member were to express views on an application prior to the meeting at which it is considered, they would have to withdraw from discussion on the item and not vote on it, though they may speak as a ward councillor if they wish. If a Committee member was found to have been predetermined and had voted on an application, it would leave the decision open to a high risk of challenge.

You are probably aware by now that the application was deferred to be considered at a future Planning Committee meeting. I do not yet have the date on which the application will return – if it comes to the September meeting then the date is the 6th September, but it may be heard at another month’s meeting. In respect of the meeting last week, the committee did engage in a brief discussion about some of the issues prior to the deferral, which you can find on the livestream of the meeting here between 28:23 and 40:35.

As I said, I would like to correct a couple of misunderstandings included in some of the emails I received:

“Why does the council want to fell these trees?” / “Why have you allowed this application to be submitted?” / words to that effect

The City Council did not submit this application. An application has been received from a third party, which is being dealt with through the standard planning processes. It is due to be determined by the Planning Committee in line with the committee’s duty to determine applications when officers cannot do so under delegated powers or when other procedural matters apply.  The Planning Committee has no powers to prevent anyone from making a planning application; all applications must be determined through the statutory process. 

“Councillors should reconsider their decision” / “Please overturn this decision” / other suggestions that a decision has been made

No decision has been made. An application has been submitted and as yet, no determination/decision has been taken on it.

“Please reassure me that these trees will not be felled” / “Please promise to vote against the felling of these trees”

No Planning Committee member can promise to vote a particular way on a planning application, because that would constitute predetermination as I outlined earlier in this email, and therefore mean that member wouldn’t be able to vote on the application. 

“The Planning Committee should instead order a root barrier to be installed”

The Planning Committee is not able to make such an order. We must determine the application put before us by either allowing it or refusing it; we cannot change the nature of it (though we can add reasonable conditions). Part of the discussion we had at the meeting last week (which I included a link to earlier in this email) was around this issue, and I would encourage you to listen to that if you are interested. Further work on alternatives is ongoing in other parts of the Council.

It is absolutely your right to contact us about things like this – as elected representatives, we are here to serve as your voice in Cambridge. I will of course read any replies to this email, however I am unlikely to be able to respond again in turn due to the need to avoid any perception of bias. I realise that, despite this email being very lengthy, I have not addressed the points raised in your emails about the application itself. I’m sorry about that, I know it is unfortunate and stressful for all members of the community that want to hear some news on this application. Again, please be reassured that I have read and considered your email in full.

If you would like to watch the committee’s discussion on this application when it is next heard, you can watch the livestream of the meeting on the City Council’s YouTube channel, or you can come in person as well if you would like to be present. However, please be warned that we often run quite far behind the guide times listed on the agenda as we tend to be very thorough in our discussions!

Best wishes,

Sam

Email from Councillor Sam Carling, on 11 Aug 2023, at 16:04

EARLIER POSTS


THE ESSENTIAL BACKGROUND


Local residents have been fighting to protect and conserve local amenity and environmental assets via Friends of St Matthew’s Piece since 30thApril 2020 – and, before that, via Petersfield Area Community Trust, since 1998). Friends of St Matthew’s Piece stand on the shoulders of the giants who, 100 years earlier, in 1898 had established St Matthew’s Piece. This included planting the magnificent London Plane trees that provide all of us with such wonderful benefits today. Read more on the history of St Matthew’s Piece, on the St Matthew’s Piece Timeline 1890–2020.

If you would like to join Friends of St Matthew’s Piece or assist in any of the issues raised in this blogpost, kindly hosted by Mill Road Bridges, please email Friends of St Matthew’s Piece.

Cambridge Gateway from India – Grand Opening

Friday 1st September 2023 10:30am

Image is Cambridge Gateway From India logo
Click the logo to visit the site
Invitation reads...
THE PLEASURE OF YOUR PRESENCE IS REQUESTED AT
GRAND OPENING
CAMBRIDGE GATEWAY FROM INDIA
SEPTEMBER 1ST 2023 10:30 AM
DITCHBURN PLACE, MILL ROAD, CAMBRIDGE CB1 2DR
SVP: INFO@CAMBRIDGEGATEWAYFROMINDIA.CO.UK
WEBSITE: WWW.CAMBRIDGEGATEWAYFROMINDIA.CO.UK
Click the invitation to visit the site

Piero d’Angelico and the team would love to know who’ll be attending.

Here’s the RSVP email link.

This grand occasion is dedicated to celebrating the cross-cultural vibrancy of the Mill Road community.
The Gateway is set to be a fusion of diverse traditions and the unity that our great community has.
The priceless cultural piece was originally commissioned and carved in Rajasthan for the Indian community centre on Mill Road.
When the building became untenable, the Traders Association saved the unique artwork, with support from County and City Councillors, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge University and many others.
This will now become the first Gateway from India in the UK.

Photo updates of construction


Day/night visualisation

Drag the slider

A brief history of these carvings

The original setting of the carvings – the former Bharat Bhavan Temple, in the old Mill Road Library

St Matthew’s Piece Trees – Safe?

THE REPEATED THREAT

An insurance claim at 193 Sturton Street (a new-build approx 25 year old property) blaming clay shrinkage subsidence on three, rare, mature, 125-year old trees, subject of Tree Protection Orders, resulted in a planning application for the felling of these trees.

Aerial image of St Matthew’s Piece showing, on the western edge, the three trees, subject of this planning application.
The three trees under threat

See earlier posts:

THE REPRIEVE (FOR NOW)

Hours ahead of the Cambridge City Council Planning Committee meeting scheduled for Wednesday 2nd August 2023 at 10 am the item was removed from the agenda.

On Tuesday 1st Aug 2023, at 21:21 campaigners received an email in the name of the three city councillors for the Petersfield ward.

Thank you for your email expressing concern and objecting to the felling of these trees. The three of us, the city ward councillors for Petersfield, are very pleased to be able to tell you that the planning application seeking to have the trees felled is being taken off the agenda for the meeting of the Planning Committee tomorrow.

Working together with the Friends of St Matthew’s Pieces we were able to raise more and more technical and legal issues that had not been considered, at least not sufficiently. It became clear that the Committee would not have enough information to assess properly the application and it would have to be deferred pending consideration of the whole matter and especially the new information and questions being raised.

It should not be assumed that this is the end of the matter though. Unless the applicant withdraws the application it will come back to a further meeting of the Planning Committee. We will continue to work hard to get full recognition of the importance of the 3 trees and the importance of not setting a precedent which might endanger further trees.

Apologies that this is not an individual response to your email but there have been so many objectors and we want to give you the news as soon as possible. Thanks again for your contribution to the issue.

Cllr Katie Thornburrow, Cllr Richard Robertson and Cllr Mike Davey

An excellent report  By Alex Spencer, Cambridge Independent, updates us on the threat to the trees…

Cambridge protesters hope to stop felling of 125-year old trees at St Matthew’s Piece


THE ESSENTIAL BACKGROUND


Local residents have been fighting to protect and conserve local amenity and environmental assets via Friends of St Matthew’s Piece since 30thApril 2020 – and, before that, via Petersfield Area Community Trust, since 1998). Friends of St Matthew’s Piece stand on the shoulders of the giants who, 100 years earlier, in 1898 had established St Matthew’s Piece. This included planting the magnificent London Plane trees that provide all of us with such wonderful benefits today. Read more on the history of St Matthew’s Piece, on the St Matthew’s Piece Timeline 1890–2020.

If you would like to join Friends of St Matthew’s Piece or assist in any of the issues raised in this blogpost, kindly hosted by Mill Road Bridges, please email Friends of St Matthew’s Piece.

St Matthew’s Piece Trees – STILL under threat!

PLEASE HELP FIGHT THIS  

Three magnificent trees on St Matthews’ Piece, along Sturton Street, are now at severe risk of being felled.

Alarmingly planning officers have recommended approval for the felling of these three trees.

This is wrong for so many reasons:

  • the Plane Trees are not the cause of “tree-related clay shrinkage subsidence”  at 193 Sturton Street
  • the consequences of felling these 3 trees are widespread and disastrous
  • the monetary value to Cambridge of the trees (based on the Council’s own CAVAT analysis) is more than double the financial cost of saving the trees by installing a root barrier 
  • no tree anywhere in Cambridge will now be safe if 125-year old, with Tree Protection Orders, rare mature trees, in a Conservation Area can be felled when a new-build property’s insurer demands it
  • it is seeming almost impossible to stop the inexorable march toward this loss.

URGENT ACTION NEEDED

The planning committee meets on Wednesday 2nd August 2023 at 10 am.

The time for formal objections is long past, so please email your views now to Planning Committee Members and other Councillors.

Scroll down for a pre-formatted email to all of the relevant councillors.


THE REPEATED THREAT

An insurance claim at 193 Sturton Street (a new-build approx 25 year old property) blames clay shrinkage subsidence on three 125-year-old trees. A planning application has been submitted for the felling of these three trees.

Last summer, Cambridge City Council’s Planning Committee refused permission for these three precious trees to be severely cut back in both height and spread. The harm to the trees was judged not to be justified by the evidence. More information was required. (More here in this earlier post: St Matthew’s Piece Trees – Under Threat. Especially useful are the soil moisture deficit graphs.)

Instead: the applicant has submitted an application (23/0119/TTPO) to fell the three trees (or to install a ‘root barrier’ along part of Sturton Street). Their scanty documents fail to address even the reasons for refusal last summer. Fuller details can be found in our earlier post here: St Matthew’s Piece Trees (Again).

See pp. 10-11 of the applicant’s Addendum Report On A Subsidence Claim Arboricultural Recommendations under the ‘Documents’ tab for 23/0119/TTPO on the Planning Portal.

Aerial image of St Matthew’s Piece showing, on the western edge, the three trees, subject of this planning application.
The three trees under threat

SUGGESTED OBJECTIONS

Everybody will have good reasons of their own, to object. Please explain the importance of these trees to you. Here are some suggestions to which the Friends of St Matthew’s Piece have contributed.

  1. Felling of these three, rare, mature, 125-year old trees, subject to Tree Protection Orders will set a dangerous precedent; no tree anywhere in Cambridge will now be safe from a new-build property’s insurer’s demands.
  2. Councillors may wish to reflect upon the potential damage to the city’s reputation, were these three trees to be felled, when local, regional and national news media report upon the decision and the inevitable public protests. (News links below.)
  3. Compared to the 56 official parks in Cambridge’s other 13 wards, Petersfield ward has no other park than St Matthew’s Piece.
  4. Petersfield has a poor tree canopy, with very few mature trees.
  5. Every tree matters in Petersfield, which already suffers from the ‘Urban Heat Island Effect’.
  6. These three Plane Trees all have Tree Preservation Orders, and are in Petersfield’s Conservation Area.
  7. Changes to a Conservation Area require public benefit to outweigh public harm.
  8. There will be no public benefit from felling any of these three trees – only massive public harm.
  9. These these trees are vital to every person who lives, works or studies in our community.
  10. The City Council’s tree experts stressed in 2006 the importance of preserving all the trees on St Matthew’s Piece, individually and as a group – trees that have only grown in importance since. 
  11. Data provided to show a ‘seasonal subsidence pattern’ instead contradict tree-related clay shrinkage.
  12. The data showing a doubling of ‘foundation movement’ in December 2022 appears to be highly selective.
  13. Leafless in winter, these deciduous trees take up almost no water so could not double the subsidence shown in December 2022. (Temperature chart, below.)
  14. The recommendations don’t consider the severe risk of ‘heave’ (soil swelling) on the basement level of the adjacent old Howard Mallett building – if these three trees are felled. (Map extract below.)
Reference notes on the above points.

Let’s hope that Cambridge will avoid being the next scandal-riven city in this sequence:

image as caption
Temperature chart for December 2022 graphing the bitterly cold weather and persistent snow. (13)
Source: Digital Technology Group – Cambridge Monthly Weather Graphs
image as caption
Howard Mallett building, showing proximity to the three trees (14)

EMAIL OUR CITY COUNCILLORS

Use the link below to generate an email

  • To: all members of the Planning Committee
  • Cc: Petersfield and Abbey Councillors plus ‘reserve’ members of the Planning Committee

Email our councillors here.


THE ESSENTIAL BACKGROUND


Local residents have been fighting to protect and conserve local amenity and environmental assets via Friends of St Matthew’s Piece since 30thApril 2020 – and, before that, via Petersfield Area Community Trust, since 1998). Friends of St Matthew’s Piece stand on the shoulders of the giants who, 100 years earlier, in 1898 had established St Matthew’s Piece. This included planting the magnificent London Plane trees that provide all of us with such wonderful benefits today. Read more on the history of St Matthew’s Piece, on the St Matthew’s Piece Timeline 1890–2020.

If you would like to join Friends of St Matthew’s Piece or assist in any of the issues raised in this blogpost, kindly hosted by Mill Road Bridges, please email Friends of St Matthew’s Piece.

Beehive Centre – Redevelopment (Update)

Drop-In events and webinars

Your invitation to a public exhibition and digital consultation
Railpen would like to invite you to view updated plans to transform the Beehive Centre into an exciting new destination that will provide more than 5,000 job opportunities. We
are proposing a mix of new retail, leisure, and community spaces, as well as laboratory and office space for companies in the science and technology industry – all surrounded by new green public spaces, a public community square and wetlands.
Click the poster to read/download a more detailed PDF

Your invitation to a public exhibition and digital consultation

Railpen would like to invite you to view updated plans to transform the Beehive Centre into an exciting new destination that will provide more than 5,000 job opportunities. We
are proposing a mix of new retail, leisure, and community spaces, as well as laboratory and office space for companies in the science and technology industry – all surrounded by new green public spaces, a public community square and wetlands. 

Railpen, from latest publicity.

The Beehive Centre is adjacent to Sturton Town to the north of Mill Road on the Petersfield (city) side of the railway.

Find out more about Victorian Cambridge & the Building of Sturton Town.
Find out more about the old Beehive Pub, on the corner of Ainsworth Street.


Public Drop-in Events:

No prior booking required.

Friday 14 July, 4pm – 7.30pm
The Old School Hall, St Barnabas Centre, Mill Road, CB1 2BD

Saturday 15 July, 10am – 2pm
East Barnwell Community Centre, Newmarket Road, CB5 8RS


Webinars:

Register here.

  • Monday 17 July at 6pm
  •  Thursday 20 July at 12.30pm

About Railpen

Railpen are trusted with the safekeeping, investment, and administration of several pension schemes supporting over half a million people connected to the railway industry. 

As a pension fund, we focus on delivering long-term social value and, unlike many developers, we do not face the same pressure to generate short-term profits for shareholders or outside investors. 

Railpen, from latest publicity.

Get in touch

If you have any questions about the consultation or the proposals, Railpen want to hear from you.

0800 689 5209
Email: info@beehivecentreconsultation.co.uk
Web: beehivecentreconsultation.co.uk


This post is for the purposes of informing the Mill Road community. Mill Road Bridges as a group, neither supports nor opposes Railpen’s proposals.

Whilst the post is open for comments, there is no guarantee that these will be seen by people from Railpen.

Mill Road Fringe – Summer Shindig

Poster of this event. The linked PDF is (mostly) machine readable.
Click the poster to read/download a printable PDF version

Mill Road Fringe is hosting a Summer Shindig on Sunday 9th July 2023 on Romsey Rec, in the from 4-8pm with fabulous live music led by Colonel Spanky’s Love Ensemble.

Come and browse the charity stalls, explore volunteering opportunities, try some yoga stretches with James from Cambridge Yoga Project, discover the natural world with Bushcraft, and have a go at juggling and circus skills with tuition from Cambridge Community Circus.

There will also be pebble painting, outdoor games and plenty of space to set up your chairs and picnic rugs.

Please note: Barbecues are prohibited and there is also now a ban on single-use plastics in all Cambridge parks. Please aim to leave Romsey Rec cleaner than you found it, so please take your litter home.

More information here on the Summer Shindig page.

Talking Together – February/March 2023

Yes. Talking, with other older adults, about shared interests. On your telephone. Not Zoom. Not Microsoft Teams. Not FaceTime. Not WhatsApp. Not Skype.

Just your telephone. Landline or mobile.
And it’s free!
But registration is required.

Image is of info from page 1 of the linked PDF.
Click the image to view/download a 2-page PDF of the latest programme of talks.
The PDF has selectable text, so should be compatible with a screen-reader.
Click the image to view/download a 2-page PDF of the latest programme of talks

COPE (Cambridgeshire Older People’s Enterprise) is delighted to announce the latest series of TALKING TOGETHER, a new initiative that brings older adults together for engaging and stimulating conversations about topics of shared interest. This free programme offers weekly telephone-based discussion groups which are joined from the comfort of your home. No special technology is needed, just your own telephone. Each group, scheduled for 45 minutes, is facilitated by skilled leaders with whom participants can share their ideas, opinions and experiences.

Image is of info from page 2 of the linked PDF.
Click the image to view/download a 2-page PDF of the latest programme of talks.
The PDF has selectable text, so should be compatible with a screen-reader.
Click the image to view/download a 2-page PDF of the latest programme of talks

Do you know an older adult who doesn’t have internet access who would enjoy these phone chats? Or someone (perhaps yourself) who just prefers a chat?

Take a look at the full leaflet by clicking either of the images above.


You and/or your friend can register by filling in the form, and posting it to:
COPE, St Luke’s Community Centre, Victoria Road, Cambridge CB4 3DZ
(If you don’t have access to a printer, just write your details on a sheet of plain paper.)


Or you can put your details in an email to cambridgecope@hotmail.co.uk or by phoning COPE on 01223 364303. (You can leave a message on the answering machine if there is no volunteer manning the COPE telephone (10.00 a.m. – 1.00 p.m.)


PS: Do you know someone who COPE might approach to lead a set of conversations on a subject about which they have some knowledge? If so, why not email COPE with your suggestion using this link?


COPE is a registered Charity run by volunteers. Registered Charity No. 1110887

St Matthew’s Piece Trees (Again)

Under threat… Again!

Another guest post from Valerie Neal, a Friend of St Matthew’s Piece
Aerial image of St Matthew’s Piece showing, on the western edge, the three trees, subject of this planning application.
The three trees under threat

THE THREAT

An insurance claim at 193 Sturton Street (a new-build approx 25 year old property) blames clay shrinkage subsidence on three 125-year-old trees. A planning application has been submitted for the felling of these three trees.


PLEASE HELP FIGHT THIS  

Objections from members of the public are urgently needed. Objections must be submitted as ‘Comments’ via Planning Application 23/0119/TTPO on the Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Portal. (Requires registration.)

Objections would be most helpful by Monday 20th February, but will be accepted after that date.

Scroll down for possible grounds to use in your objection.


THE ESSENTIAL BACKGROUND

Last summer, Cambridge City Council’s Planning Committee refused permission for these three precious trees to be severely cut back in both height and spread. The harm to the trees was judged not to be justified by the evidence. More information was required. (More here in this earlier post: St Matthew’s Piece Trees – Under Threat. Especially useful are the soil moisture deficit graphs.)

Instead: the applicant has now submitted a new application (23/0119/TTPO) to fell the three trees (or to install a ‘root barrier’ along part of Sturton Street). Their scanty documents fail to address even the reasons for refusal last summer. 

However, this time, the applicant has also given a bit of information on an alternative to felling or pruning, namely a ‘root barrier’. They have shown one aerial photo for the possible location of a root barrier and obtained one quote for the cost of delivering this. See pp. 10-11 of the applicant’s Addendum Report On A Subsidence Claim Arboricultural Recommendations under the ‘Documents’ tab for 23/0119/TTPO on the Planning Portal.


SUGGESTED GROUNDS FOR OBJECTION

Everybody will have good reasons of their own, but here are some suggestions from the Friends of St Matthew’s Piece:

  1. The only official park in the Petersfield ward is St Matthew’s Piece, compared to 56 official parks in Cambridge’s 13 other wards.
  2. Petersfield has a particularly poor tree canopy, with very few mature trees.
  3. All trees matter in Petersfield, which suffers badly from the ‘Urban Heat Island Effect’.
  4. Each of these 125-year-old Plane Trees has a Tree Preservation Order (TPO), and is in our Conservation Area.
  5. Changes to a Conservation Area require public benefit to outweigh public harm – but there would be zero public benefit from felling these three trees, only massive public harm.
  6. These trees are vital to the wellbeing of every person who lives, works or studies in our community.
  7. The applicant has not shown what harm now exists at the property… and completely failed to demonstrate how the “slight” cracks previously reported are due to the trees – rather than poor foundations, shoddy construction or “thermal movement” in the modern brickwork.
  8. If the applicant is convinced that the trees are harming the property, then the Planning Committee could permit them to install a good-quality root barrier, if done without significantly harming the trees.
  9. The applicant (or owner of the property) must pay for the root barrier. Due diligence required them to take into account trees that had been present for 100 years before this property was constructed.
  10. BS5837:1991 (applicable at the time of construction of 193 Sturton Street) described the then British Standards on trees and construction.
  11. The relevant National House Building Council standards document (section 4.2 Building near trees 4.2.7 Foundations in shrinkable soils) is illustrated below.
    Note the NHBC advice: Root barriers are not an acceptable alternative to the guidance given.
  12. The majority of the ‘Standard References’  listed on p.12 of the applicant’s Addendum Report On A Subsidence Claim Arboricultural Recommendations were already published before the construction of 193 Sturton Street, so should have been taken into account.
  13. Felling these trees would breach Cambridge Local Plan (2018) Policies 14, 23, 55, 56, 61, 67 & 71 as well as National Planning Policy Framework ¶91abc, ¶92abc and ¶96, as outlined in greater detail in the parallel Objection prepared by Friends of St Matthew’s Piece.
  14. In 2006, 2007 & 2008, the City Council’s own tree expert repeatedly stressed (in connection with Planning Application 06/0567/FUL Erection of a community innovation centre (refused) the importance of preserving all the trees of St Matthew’s Piece, both individually and as a group – and these trees have only grown in importance since then.
Extract from National House Building Council standards document
4.2 Building near trees
4.2.7 Foundations in shrinkable soils
The sentence: "Root barriers are not an acceptable alternative to the guidance given." is highlighted by the present author.
Click the image to read the National House Building Council standards document section
4.2 Building near trees
4.2.7 Foundations in shrinkable soils

FURTHER BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Objection to 22/0271/TTPO – from Friends of St Matthew’s Piece
22 March 2022
(Report against the planning application stopped in July 2022)

Trees of St Matthew’s Piece and Appendix II Input from Heritage Advisors (Both from the report against a planning application stopped in March 2021.)

2.5 minute video on what that threat had been 

FOR THE FUTURE

To be kept up to date, please email Friends of St Matthew’s Piece, and ask to be added to the Friends of St Matthew’s Piece Supporter’s List. You will be led through a data-collection-compliant sign-up process. This will make sure you receive very occasional email updates on issues like this one.


Local residents have been fighting to protect and conserve local amenity and environmental assets via Friends of St Matthew’s Piece since 30thApril 2020 – and, before that, via Petersfield Area Community Trust, since 1998). We stand on the shoulders of the giants who, 100 years earlier, in 1898 had established St Matthew’s Piece. This included planting the magnificent London Plane trees that provide all of us with such wonderful benefits today. Read more on the history of St Matthew’s Piece, on the St Matthew’s Piece Timeline 1890–2020.

If you would like to join Friends of St Matthew’s Piece or assist in any of the issues raised in this blogpost, kindly hosted by Mill Road Bridges, please email Friends of St Matthew’s Piece.

City Council community grants

Could you, or your group, help to improve people’s lives, locally?
If only you had a little bit of funding…

Logo: CAMBRIDGE CITY COUNCIL COMMUNITY GRANTS
Text: Have an idea for a community, arts or sport activity that will help to reduce inequality?
Voluntary or community organisations, or groups of local residents, could be eligible for an Area Committee Grant of up to £5,000.
North: Apply by Wednesday 25 January 2023 (Arbury, East Chesterton,
King's Hedges & West Chesterton) South: Apply by Wednesday 1 February 2023
(Cherry Hinton, Queen Edith's & Trumpington)
East: Apply by Wednesday 1 February 2023
(Abbey, Coleridge, Petersfield & Romsey)
West Central: Apply by Friday 10 February 2023
(Castle, Market & Newnham)
Click the image to visit the Cambridge City Council Area Committee funding webpage

Fuller details, application forms and a webinar presentation explaining how to apply can be found on the Cambridge City Council Area Committee funding webpage. You can also contact grants@cambridge.gov.uk for further information or phone the team on 01223 457875.

Beehive Centre – Redevelopment

Public exhibition and digital consultation

Image of leaflet, headed:
THE BEEHIVE CENTRE PUBLIC EXHIBITION & DIGITAL CONSULTATION
With aerial view of location
More text:
Railpen would like to invite you to a public exhibition and digital consultation on our updated proposals for the redevelopment of The Beehive Centre.
Click the image above to view/download a 2-page PDF with full details.

The Beehive Centre is adjacent to Sturton Town to the north of Mill Road on the Petersfield (city) side of the railway.


Find out more about Victorian Cambridge & the Building of Sturton Town.
Find out more about the old Beehive Pub, on the corner of Ainsworth Street.


In June 2022 we held our first stage consultation on our proposals for The Beehive Centre at which we outlined our principles for development and asked for the local communities input to create a scheme that brings social value and tangible benefits to the local area and Cambridge.

The consultation was well attended and we heard and captured a wealth of insights and ideas from local people about what you value about The Beehive Centre today, and what you would like to see in the future. This feedback has informed our updated proposals which we are ready to show you at our upcoming consultation.

We strive to work with the people of Cambridge to reimagine a key strategic site, embracing sustainable and inclusive design through a vision to the creation of a new local centre with accessible, green and useable spaces to strengthen Cambridge’s status at the forefront of the science, technology and innovation sector.

four communications on behalf of Railpen

Public exhibition

Thursday 24th November – 2:30pm to 6:30pm
Friday 25th November – 2:30pm to 7:30pm
St Barnabas Centre, (Old Schoolroom) St Barnabas Church, Mill Road, Cambridge CB1 2BD
No prior booking required.

Digital consultation

The digital consultation webinar will take place on Wednesday 23rd November – 6:00pm to 7:00pm

To register your interest for the digital consultation, the QR code on the PDF can be captured with your smartphone/tablet. Otherwise it resolves to: https://qrcodes.pro/nPGeLI.

If you are unable to attend either consultation nor the public exhibition but want to learn more you can email thebeehivecentre@fourcommunications.com or phone 01223 960001.


Many of you will be aware that Railpen, who invest the Railways Pension Schemes’ assets, will be redeveloping the Travis Perkins site adjacent to Devonshire Road for long-term tenanted residential accommodation, and that, whilst this has been broadly welcomed by the community, some of the details of Rail Pen’s initial plans were felt to be in need of improvement. Of course, this is an entirely different project to the Beehive Centre, but we’ve referenced it to give context on Rail Pen.


Whilst this post is open for comments, and readers are welcome to debate the issues around the proposed development, this does not guarantee that four communications or Railpen will be able to engage with them on this platform.