Logan runs, and so do dogs. (A Logan’s Meadow update)

I am looking south-west across a grassy flood plain towards the tall ash trees in the distance. It is mid-June and everything is taking on a verdant hue. The noises that surround me in this close, and already somewhat damp, early evening air are dominated by constantly-babbling (and oft-amplified) rowing boat cockswains (and the loudhailing coaches that follow alongside on bicycles), but the bridge I am standing on, despite its young age, also sways, creaks and groans to the pressure put on it by the numerous cyclists and joggers that use it on a daily basis. Indeed, it is so noisy and wobbly that to a reasonably hefty person like myself, it makes one react as if it were some sort of World War II temporary munitions Bailey bridge. Secure enough, but by no means re-assuring under foot!

But there is also another sound that can be heard: the swifts are finally back in the vicinity and taking an interest in the swift tower again, complete with new, starling-proof caps on the 100 or so entrance holes (http://lnr.cambridge.gov.uk/keep-eye-swift-tower/).

Alongside it, the new extension to the Logan’s Meadow LNR seems to be blooming, with ever-growing reeds with their roots in water, and already-tall, meadow grasses on the drier ground alongside. So, all is good, right?

Well, not quite.

I’ve been keeping a regular eye on this place as late Spring has slowly progressed into early Summer. It is at about halfway along my preferred route for the daily walk home from work and a perfect place to stop and take a breather if you've been walking hard. This preference is much swayed not by the general views, but more by the specific presence of a ditch that provides some of the best close views of water voles you could ever hope for... I cannot help but to keep coming back to see how they are doing!

...But all is not well.

Whilst I sometimes question if my almost concrete-set view (of the place) is sensible, or indeed even partially correct, all I ever conclude after deep thought is that the points I made in my blog entry of June 2015 still hold. And then I, again, lament that this place could be so much better!

What is wrong?

I don’t need to go into that here (please read this instead), but I do feel the need to update you so I can start some kind of timeline with respect to looking at this place more regularly from now on. Despite my untrained eyes, I intend to blog again (and again) about his place, and tell you what I see. Who knows, maybe the Council will one-day up their game and do something more radical and fully wildlife-oriented!

What do you see, John?

I see dogs. Lots of dogs.

And, even though we are entering the summer season, I see empty football pitches. I so very rarely see the football pitches being used – for either football or other sport. And no surprises why perhaps… the soil was nigh-on saturated during the, admittedly unseasonably wet, Spring and early Summer and, in places, the grass was too long and unmaintained. Don't forget: this is a flood plain, and whilst many town park football pitches are hardly Wembley-like in quality, it doesn't help when there's seemingly no groundsman (or woman) regularly at work helping to at least keep the grass height down. Again I ponder, why would you play football here when you can go just around the corner to the semi-decent pitch at St. Andrew’s Wreck?

I do see the new sports outdoor gym-style equipment being used though. At least, in the last few weeks when the temperatures (or, more likely, available sunlight) have been condusive for evening fitness activity. It is only a small paved 'nooky' corner of the overall space, but I concede: it seems to be well used so far. 

I also see rubbish. Not so much out of water, but enough to distract me. Indeed, AND ONCE MORE, one of the most conspicuous pieces of litter is the black plastic of a dog poo bag. Sometimes, brazenly left at the side of a hedge or tree, but often just in the water, half floating like some soiled mini-black iceberg… presumably thrown there so it then can’t be easily seen. Out of sight, out of mind, eh?

Okay, okay... tell me some new things!

So, an admission: I don't really understand the nuances of crop rotation on flower meadows, but I must say, when I was looking at the slow growth of the plants in the “E: Marginal meadow planting” area in early Spring, I was worried. The soil looked almost bare, and I wondered if mowing the space before Winter's end had had any genuinely positive purpose for resident wildlife. Remember, this section effectively comprises the majority of the fully dedicated-for-nature 2014 "Phase 2" extension of Logan's Meadow reserve... but at that point, the football pitches themselves actually contained (or rather, retained) more wildlife.

But, conversely, when things finally kicked off and the plants grew and the flowers bloomed, it was all really quite pleasant and, again, forced me to engage in said 'deep thought' and question my convictions.

Fast forward to August.

Visually, not much has changed. The football pitches are much the same, albeit a lot drier at long last, and the view west from the bridge shows even taller grasses on the borders, and reasonably mature green reeds interspersed by subtly violet-flowered willow-herbs along the cut-off channel. There is more colour, and less green, but it certainly does look different when the sun's out!

The football pitches. Welcoming enough on a warm evening... but empty.

Decent colours and native perennials. I wonder if there are any rodents in there?

But on the eastern side of the bridge (where the water voles usually are), things are quite different...

Whilst the open space there is for the communal use of the adjoining private residences (and therefore not technically within the bounds of the Council LNR), the site is publicly accessible, and flood plain/field is now like a jungle! And, at the same time, the ditch there has dried out. Again!

I can't quite work this 'drying' out as it is in an older and more established water course than the permanently-wet Logan's cut-off channel... but I guess the simple fact is that there is (a) too much plant material clogging things up at the river-feeding ends (that even the water voles, which consume approximately 80% of their body weight every day, can't get through) and/or (b) the ditch's bottom is just that little bit higher than the (presumably quite low) average Summer depth of the adjoining (and heavily controlled) River Cam. If the rain cannot keep it filled in Summer, the river certainly cannot either. In its middle section, it is never more than 20cms or so deep anyway.

Dried-up ditch (August 12th, 2016). Two dumped bikes just off camera!

So... for the second year running, no more voles will likely be seen as Summer turns into Autumn. Whilst I can confirm breeding took place in there this year, my guess is that this (still man-made) stream/ditch/channel (sorry, I know I am not being consistent!) is more ephemeral in nature and will simply never remain wet all-year-round. It just goes to prove how dry Cambridge is I guess. We had a lot of a rain this summer, but it wasn't enough to stall the same drying-out process by more than a few weeks.

Juvenile Water Vole, June 26th, 2016

Where are you going with this, John?

Well... the grassy field that is not in the LNR has an amazing structure of wild plants. Plants you do find in the LNR's verges, but on a larger, untidier scale! Tall nettles, (land-rooted) reeds, meadowsweets, bramble, thistles. It's great!

To date, I don't know when it is going to be cut, but I hope it is not soon as I have found something there this year that I was only ever half-hoping I would... and that is: a Wasp Spider colony! 

Wasp spider (Argiope bruennichi), Cambridge, August 12th, 2016.

Why is this significant? 

Other than being (arguably!) very pretty and still quite hard to find in the UK, these spiders aren't protected, but... they are a great indicator species: and that means, quite simply, we have good habitat here! And with good habitat, other interesting species abound. For example, after a quick survey with a friend where we found 8 Wasp spiders in total, we also found other species of meadow and grass-loving spiders, plus numerous grasshopper and cricket species that they would (then) feed on, including the once-hard-to-find Roesel's Bush-cricket. 

A quick summary

So, I see the water voles just off-site. And now I see the wasp spiders just off-site, too. And whilst the older part of Logan's Meadow still returns some exciting sightings from time-to-time (I found a great cluster of Common Newts the very same day that both a Kingfisher flew right over my head and fledgling Sparrowhawks called for food in the tree above for example), I still see standards slipping in the extended part next door.

Yes, these kinds of projects can take time to come good. And yes, there is still some enjoyment to be had from in the extended part. 

But... I believe you can fast-track a place into success if you put both hard work in and go full-in with your hand on the rules and aim big! For example, I would ban dogs from Logan's Meadow tomorrow if I had a chance! Or at least restrict them to being on leads.

I know dogs are walked on both sides of the bridge, regularly disturbing the water voles especially... but it seems to me that Logan's Meadow is the preferred target location for the dog walkers, rather than elsewhere.

Dogs ruin the Phase 2 cut-off channel's water clarity by swimming and paddling through it at all times during a regular day... and, along with bored teenagers and even the homeless, they upset what other wildlife might want to settle in the wilder parts simply by continual (off-lead) disturbance. Reduced dog impact would show results pretty quickly I think. And even if not, there'd be no little black bags of poo cluttering up the place...

But, don't get me wrong, dogs aren't to blame here really... owners are. And if people can't give an urban nature reserve enough respect (either through ignorance or design), then I don't think the wildlife will either. 

Good luck enticing (the now on the increase) otter to come back to the old 'hidden' holt there for example!

Anyway, that's all for now then. I'll try and add some more photos to this asap to pad it out a bit further! 

Cheers,

ZeeOx

***

Talking of the Phase 2 extension, I can’t find a recognition of the enlarged LNR space on the Cambridge City Council's dedicated LNR website. After a website update, it just shows the old LNR map, pre-extension:   

http://lnr.cambridge.gov.uk/nature_reserve/logans-meadow/ (Info Panel PDF is out of date: http://lnr.cambridge.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/LogansMeadow-LNR-Panel.pdf )

Compared to:-

https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/logans-meadow-local-nature-reserve

https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/Logans-meadow-project-poster.pdf

'Piloti' Part III - The Bad AND Ugly (with a cameo by the Good)

Despite my previous post saying there are few brownfield sites in Cambridge offering large-scale development opportunity, there are still many significant (extensive) areas currently being developed in and around the city.

Indeed, Cambridge has arguably just entered a time with the most building activity since Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries and recycled some of the stonework to help build new University colleges.

How? Well, because the Green Belt* has finally been broken into and the city has been allowed to expand onto surrounding farmland. Somehow, City Planners managed to get around the old Local Plan and have allowed thousands of new homes to be built both inside and beyond the old city limits.

Why? Because, according to the Government, the UK needs hundreds of thousands of new homes... and quickly!

***

The first area to take note of, therefore, is the work taking place in the environs of the world famous Addenbrooke's Hospital in the south. AKA: "The Cambridge Southern Fringe" development. This work, once finished, should culminate in nearly 4,500 new homes.

The second is to the north-west of the city, aka: "The Cambridge Northern Fringe" (original!). Again, land that was long part of the Green Belt has been sacrificed for nearly 6,000 planned homes.

The third is to the east of the city, aka: "Cambridge East" (1,700 homes).**

The fourth is Orchard Park, an area in between the city's northern A14 bypass and the original city limits on King's Hedges Road. Unlike it's siblings, it is now nearly complete, and already has many inhabitants living there, plus a school, a community centre and a hotel. It was, to me, the first clear sign of the impending attack on the Cambridge Green Belt.

Because I want to move on in this post, unfortunately, I am not going to discuss these places now, either as a whole, or in the minutiae. I am not even going to discuss the merits of keeping, or removing, this protected area (effectively since 1992) either. I simply list them for interest as we must crack on. With an estimated 30 to 40,000 homes needed to be built in the area in total, I will no doubt return to them for another post on another day!

The final one (and therefore main focus for this blog entry) is the CB1 development.

Unlike the above, this development is not on ex-arable land once set-aside as a buffer for natural city expansion. CB1 is indeed a pure brownfield site, set in and around the city's (currently only) mainline railway station.

(The fun, cartoony, overall plan on the advertising hoardings. ...note the blue roads!)

So, is CB1 actually okay? And is it too early to dismiss those fringe developments as ugly***?

Well, to answer these questions I think we need to first step back a touch and think about Cambridge's unique position in the country...

Cambridge is a place people want to visit and, indeed, live in. It has a world-leading University, with world-leading research and associated businesses. It is also rather beautiful in places, with historic buildings and attractive open spaces.

The beauty fuels the reputation, and the reputation maintains the beauty... at least, in theory!

Regardless of where you are, when building massive, out of proportion buildings or developments, you have to think about what negative affects they may bring to the arena. The positives are clear; new places to live and work, and new, efficient facilities, but anything new might undermine what brings people to a place like Cambridge in the first place; either to visit for a day, or for a holiday, or for a degree... or for life.

This means, I believe, that you cannot just build dull, faceless architecture in a city renowned for beautiful buildings. You have to up your game in Cambridge. Whilst I might prefer those designs that compliment the past (because, simply, it's harder to go wrong), I guess you could find a home for new radical architecture, at least in the pavilion-style sense. But what is actually happening is that the new buildings going up are neither 'old' or 'innovative'.

Look at this building for example: the 'Microsoft Research HQ'.

Yes, it is modern. And it is no doubt a very nice place to work in: light, fresh and airy!

But does it speak: "Cambridge"? Or even: "Special"?

I would argue that this building is an all-round disappointment! What is radical about it that justifies its place better than, say, a building employing, say, a more classical design?

This is generic 'downtown' architecture and, being opposite the main railway station, one of the first buildings you see on entering the city by train. Welcome to Cambridge!

(Read Bill Bryson's 'Notes from a Small Island' if you want to ponder further on the old 'sense of place' chestnut.)

The Microsoft Research HQ will eventually be obscured by 'One Station Square' (going up in the foreground of the above shot)... but apparently this has "been designed as a modern interpretation of classic design proportions to compliment the Grade-2 listed train station façade." (sic). As it's not ready yet, I will leave it up to you to decide whether it might be worthy of such a claim judging by the artist's impressions... (coughs)

Talking of the railway station, I believe the rest of the CB1 development is shaping up to be of the same, dull affair. In places it looks alright I guess, but at the edges especially, where it has to overlap with older buildings, this dullness is accentuated as buildings have to sit side-by-side with older, and arguably better, buildings.

Look how the recently finished apartments to the (back) left have no continuity with the existing station buildings beside it. N.B. The building on the right in the foreground pre-dates CB1 and is also pretty awful in my opinion... but at least it presents a beveled arcade of window arches that (I suppose) are an attempt to compliment the station's.

I could go on then. But I won't! You're either going to be with me by now or: completely... lost!

What about materials?

There is a cosmetic building material that seems to be well-loved by both architect and developer alike right now, and that is natural (aka: untreated) wood. It is everywhere!

I have no doubt it will feature heavily in CB1, so let's look at an example on another (finished) development not too far away in the city centre...

Not too bad a view I suppose (although I would argue that the vista's 'greenery' has little wildlife merit (the tree in the foreground is pre-existing))... but just look at the wood. It has only been in place for less than a year and it is already rotting away!

I suppose there is a thought that people like to see exposed wood in design as it has connotations of nature (and thus, beauty). But let's not forget that, just like the employment of flat roofs, combining untreated wood with water is not very sensible! Would you want your home's windows surrounded by, ever-increasingly, damp wood?

I wish these people had my love of pitched roofs as they do untreated wood!

***

So, where are we going with all these wavering paragraphs and random thoughts about development design, advertising and execution?

The (overall) point I guess I am trying to make is that, whilst I am happy that Cambridge is addressing its need for new housing (and it is good, to an extent, that things are happening fast and progress is being made with regards to getting things built), things are happening without genuine thought to the future, and without any respect to what makes Cambridge a great place to be in.

No one wants pontification and debate to prevent things from actually happening on the ground, so you could say that less red tape and delay results in action. But rash action is potentially disastrous when you are talking about developments using a finite space. The planning shouldn't be about what you can't do, it should be about what you need to do.

Cambridge is still a small place. Despite the peripheral developments, there are few (and fewer) opportunities inside the city to get things right. And what has already happened all seems a bit dry and without excitement, despite the endless sexy adverts, hoardings, artist's impressions and photo mock-ups. If only modern Cambridge could live up to what you see written on the glossy hoardings!

And that's a shame considering the role Cambridge plays in the minds of many... the many who know Cambridge well, and the many who have never been there. Those who know it well see standards slipping (and that's not just me). And those that arrive in the city for the first time cannot fathom why certain, generic, buildings were allowed to be built.

Rather than just stumbling by, shouldn't Cambridge be showing the nation, nay the world, how it's to be done right?

Where is 'The Good' in all this, then?

There is a chance for salvation, or rather, redemption.

Whilst we cannot (arguably) knock down these new buildings and start again, we can perhaps improve them. And I deem The Good here as being an old softie who can help!

For I am calling The Good in this blog entry: vegetation. And by that I mean: plants, trees, flowers, and grass... all that, in planning terms, softens the hard landscape around it.

By softening the landscape around buildings, or indeed, by adding plants to the very buildings themselves, you can cure a lot of ills.

Sometimes new (and relatively old) buildings have been saved by the addition of new plants and trees that have grown up to compliment, or even hide, them. And sometimes, existing mature trees and greenery can be integrated into the development from the off.

The former can be quite expensive, and (depressingly) takes time to come fully into effect, and looking after greenery during building work can be very difficult too... but it is proven that such integration and effort helps add value to a place - both financially for the developers and subsequent owners, and also for those simply in the vicinity.

There are a good deal of examples of this, but not too many in Cambridge unfortunately. Trees (and their roots) can take up a lot of space, and can even undermine the foundations of the very buildings they adjoin.

An alternative, and very trendy, option is to employ green walls. These walls can, at the least, enhance the look of a dull building's façade. But at their best they can also improve air quality, wildlife... and even produce food for consumption. And they do all this whilst not even taking up any space on the ground!

That said, I will close this entry by showing you a photograph of a simple roadside path that I know of in the Cambridge suburbs. The houses there are insignificant, small, and terraced, but the road is secluded and attractive because many of its verges have been planted up with herbaceous borders. Simple, cheap and effective.

There are also mature trees along the road, which, apart from producing shade and damp, really boost the scene too. It looks best in summer of course, but even in winter it adds a little, and is far better than muddy grass or hard concrete. Imagine if all residential suburban paths looked like this?

What do you think?


 ZeeOx.


* Cambridgeshire CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England) chairman Michael Monk said: "In recent years substantial areas on the edge of Cambridge city have been taken out of the original green belt to allow major developments to take place - to the north, north-west, east and south" (sic).

** There are other large sites far beyond Cambridge too, including long-planned-for developments that are so large they are effectively new towns. Maybe I'll write about those another day!

*** I am aware this post doesn't show any photographs of them, sorry!

'Piloti' Part II - Cambridge's recent 'Nouveau' Architecture

So, before this second part gets added to the ever-lengthening list of unwritten, and 'planned' blog posts, here is the quick (as possible) follow-on to my earlier commentary on the poor presentation regarding some of the new building developments in Cambridge.

***

You could argue that there are three different approaches to the employment of architectural 'styles' in modern building work...

1. is copying from the past, either by the poaching of mixed, vernacular styles or by using more precise period forms.

2. is employing modern styles, and by that I mean all the accepted (or new!) forms... modern, post modern, brutalist or whatever.

3. is by creating compromise forms, which are often attempts to merge between the (potentially various) styles encountered in a development's surroundings, resulting in bespoke designs that are (allegedly) preferable to 'planners' (a new vernacular if you like), but often are just design standard fudges, or contradictory in a stand-alone context.

In my opinion, therefore, those buildings employing the more modern styles (No.2) tend to end up as 'failures' in Cambridge. Perhaps not for those who buy them, or indeed live/work in them, but more for the city as a whole.

Of course, depending on the planned building's function or usage, you also have various restrictions or requirements that force your hand. For example, the general convention that modern shop fronts should need/use quite a lot of glass and look 'open fronted', means that ground floors will always lean towards a certain appearance. This eye-level appearance, therefore, is more functional (or rather, marketing controlled) than aesthetical, and prevents certain architectural styles from being employed across the whole structure... at least convincingly.

In Cambridge, as with many historical towns for that matter, we have rather a few local restrictions in place that prevent private developers from completely 'going to town' (as it were) on new developments, although these laws and guidelines tend to be more related to restrictions in scale, content, height, etc., rather than the actual design and the material used. Apart from in specific conservation areas and the denser historical areas though, it is still surprising how much leeway you can find with the actual styles themselves.

For example, perhaps the most well-known local, albeit loosely interpreted, 'rule' for many years in Cambridge has been that no new development must exceed in height that of King's College Chapel.* This therefore, theoretically, severely restricts the amount of office and/or residential space available in an already cramped city's central business district (CPD).

***

So, what's happening out there?

Cambridge, perhaps due to having a past that lacked significant (first or second tier) industry, does not have many brownfield sites**. This means that (a) new development opportunities within the 'regular' built-up space don't tend to be very large in area. And (b) pressure has (until recently) been put on the maintenance of a containing Green Belt so that many economic and residential developments (that would otherwise occur naturally in a linear spread) tend to appear in a band of commuter-dominated villages that exist just beyond the belt itself.

In these smaller developments, therefore, the majority of construction has been in one-off, in-filling or densification, residential projects. And because properties closer to the city centre can be very expensive indeed, a lot of these projects are to create further expensive homes or flats that maximise profit to the developer and help maintain a high average property price that is often beyond the finances of the majority of people who work in the city.

For example, on Arbury Road, quite a way outside the city centre core, an old garage and M.O.T. testing centre was recently sold and demolished. The space now appears to be being densified for at least six new properties.

(Source: Google Maps.) 

Despite the small space, my guess is that they will still be marketed as 'family homes' and that 'private' parking and 'gardens' will somehow still be provided, despite the fact the overall footprint is little more than that of one of the surrounding properties (which aren't particularly luxurious at that).

So then, with that background in mind, and to limit this blog entry's length, I am now going to show single examples for each of the three architectural styles mentioned above. This will not quite support my argument that things are going badly in the city, as I have chosen two examples out of the three that I actually deem quite successful. The problem is, I guess, that there are so few of these small new developments, and that it is the larger-scale developments (that you could probably count on one hand) that skew and change the playing field. But more on that later***...

1. Copying from the past

There is a stretch of relatively new housing in Chesterton (north Cambridge) that employs a kind of mock-Georgian style. Whilst it might not be completely 'classically pure' in an academic sense, I still deem the development cohesive, and not a compromise form (see No.3).

Indeed, this 'acceptable' classical/Georgian pastiche could work anywhere in my opinion. And yes, I do like the work of Quinlan Terry, if you must ask! FYI: I remember one of my old lecturers at University always referred to him as 'poor old Quinlan Terry'. But my guess is that his banker has never called him that.

So, why is this development particularly good? Well, again, I must introduce my bias here: I like pitched rooves (sorry, roofs!) on UK residential buildings, as I find them both aesthetically pleasing and most useful in a country where a lot of rain falls, and often. It amazes me how many developers are happy to put up new buildings with flat roofs in this country... I often return to them after they are built too see drainage stains and overflowing drains on rainy days.

I also find that any style of building that has its design 'root' in classical (Greek) architecture, put simply, pretty much always works. And as we can look back into 3000-odd years of history to back that claim up, I am not going to defend that point any further.

Finally, I see that it works well in its immediate environment. It is not fully surrounded by Georgian housing, but it still works well alongside and opposite what is there, both old and new(er)... albeit significantly helped by a generous dollop of greenery, especially mature trees (more on that later too***).

2. Employing modern styles

In another example of densification nearby, there is a case where one, post-war, detached home has been (presumably) purchased simply for the creation of four expensive new homes.

(The original home...Source: Google Earth.)

This, again, could be seen as a good thing for a city starving for more homes. However, let's not get ahead of ourselves...

Park View, in Church Street, Chesterton, is now nearly complete. The above photos come from advertisement hoardings from directly outside the development when it was in the early stages of construction, and it now looks like this... at eye level.

(Note how the brick is much darker than in the artist's impression. 

This is certainly not standard Cambridge Gault Clay brick!)

So, why all the fuss? Just because I think it looks like a secondary school, it doesn't mean it isn't well regarded by others!

Well, I guess there are two reasons...

One is that the design is not sympathetic to the surrounding housing - in any way. And, whilst that might be okay when compared to the (ugly to most) 1970s' flats directly opposite, it is perhaps not so good for the Grade I listed medieval church nearby (as you can see in the photo) and the Grade II listed Chesterton House next door (to the north). (Compare that to how the mock-Georgian example used above sits alongside its neighbours, and how, for (albeit borderline) townhouses, they are set back behind very high (private) walls. Is it not a common sacrifice for living in posh townhouses that your front door still tends to be close to the street that it is on?)

I would also argue that the modern design is hardly radical, and therefore not something for true fans of contemporary design to make a massive song and dance about, at least from the street level (inside, and its rear aspect, might well be better... but the public never see this, rightly, of course).

The second reason is the price...

Each of these properties are/were on sale for a cool 1.5 million of your British pounds.

And as they all have five bedrooms each, they will not likely appeal to newly employed singles or couples, even if they could afford to buy them. Why would a young, trendy, well-paid professional want a five bedroom house?

So... "in-your-face" design coupled with "laugh-in-your-face" prices.

Just imagine if this site had incorporated a development with a slightly more dense capacity, with one and two bedroom flat units being presented inside a more traditional townhouse-style design. There, I guess, would still be a case for innovation/modernisation to be incorporated in the architecture if necessary, but with a slightly more conservative approach, appreciating its position in a relatively attractive and desirable area, the result needn't be so abrasive.

Oh, and as before, if you are not quite convinced by my argument here... just imagine being the new owner of the first property (nearest the church)...

I'm not sure I'd want to shell out £1.5 million on a house with windows directly (and literally just a few metres) above and beside a public toilet block, but maybe I am just a (wannabe) snob! I mean, there clearly is someone who's okay with it as it has been already bought, along with all its three neighbours!

3. By creating compromise forms

Here, on Godestone Road, is an example of what I mean by 'compromise style'.

Whilst the design is rather dull on its own, it sits well amongst its immediate neighbours. Neighbours being: mainly (rather basic) Victorian and Edwardian terracing... houses that were once the homes of the city's poorer inhabitants.

The design elements are simple, with basic lintels, wooden door porches and (rather radical and 'artistic') projecting half-beams. I admit it has a touch of the Brookside Close about it, but it somehow works.

The houses are no doubt cheap in the materials used, such as the use of a rather crude local brick, but the extra effort in design, slightly set-back presentation, plus off-centre and detached unit and tidy hedging, make them most pleasing to the eye in my opinion... at least, given the limited possibilities of the location. I'm not sure of the need for the incorporated off-street garages, but that is perhaps the proof that these homes' prices may still be out of reach for many of Cambridge's workers.

N.B. The building in the background on the second picture. This is the new Travelodge hotel on Newmarket Road that sits alongside the 'prestigious' development discussed in the previous (Part I) blog entry. See how its flat roof doesn't particularly compliment those properties in the foreground view!

***

Now, I know I said there would be one example of each type... but perhaps there is room for one more interesting, and arguably well received, 'compromise' form...

On Elizabeth Way, a strange series of events led to a pub being demolished and, as is typical of many pubs today, the site being developed for housing. Nothing odd, or happy, there perhaps, but what is odd is that the pub's facade, after demolition, was maintained for a good many months whilst debate (and no doubt planning permission disputes) took place.

Again, why is this not bad news? (You may ask.) Well, it may be, but what has now replaced the pub is a fine development, nay award winning. Whilst it does not help the city's blue or white collar housing problem, the building is for student accommodation, which is always helpful for a city with two universities and numerous adult colleges and language schools. Indeed, there are 23 one-bed and studio self-contained apartments.  And, it is very well presented, being both stylish and complimentary/sympathetic to the surrounding terracing's style(s).

What is needed, I believe, are more such developments... except this time, for said blue and white collar workers, not students. Where a small area becomes available for a potential redevelopment into a few houses, the decision should be made (at council level) to build one and two bed starter homes for young professionals.

Anyway, this is perhaps straying too far from the original point of the blog entry.

I will therefore close for now... and perhaps add one final entry next into this series regarding some of the larger developments being undertaken in Cambridge. And the ugliness that then ensues...

Cheers,
Zeeox 
    

* Of course, many buildings do so, both old and new (The University Library tower on West Road or the Botanic House Building at the junction of Hills Road and Station Road)

**Saying that, there have been a good few developments on sites once used by 'industry'. These include: the former Phillps/PYE works in Chesterton, the CB1 development around the railway station, and the former cattle market on Cherry Hinton Road.

*** Please see Part III!

Am I Cambridge's Piloti? No. But...

I readily admit that a blog should be updated regularly to justify its space on the Internet, and that the length of each post shouldn't be over-long. Otherwise, it's drifting more into essay and book territory, rather than a diary-style format. And I am not that pretentious. At least, my 9-5 work doesn't allow it.

But I can't help the infrequency of the posts here. The nature (as it were) of this blog is (supposedly!) limited to Environmentalism, Planning and the like, so I shouldn't just be posting short entries about any sort of thing that's crossing my mind. At least, that is the restriction I have forced upon myself here. And besides, (of late) I have tried to open up my less-developed thoughts into Twitter territory, rather than (perhaps more wisely) keeping them to myself - like most people do!

So, if you want to see more regular rants from me, and on a wider scale of topics (albeit not all my interests - I am a jack of all trades after all, and certainly master of none), then check out: https://twitter.com/akazeeox

***

Anyway, back to the subject of this post...

Cambridge, my home city, is the forefront battlefield in the overall 'war' that I fight in, and it significantly influences, tempers and nurtures the regular thoughts and considerations that fuel this blog overall. And the current pressure on housing nationally - both in terms of quality and quantity - is very much in the top 10 of these regular thoughts... a major concern that is omnipresent and likely to forever remain so.

And lo!, with the major issues around housing shortages (which I promise to return to for a later blog), I thought for this blog entry I would separate out one facet of it, and thus at the same time try and address the sin I confessed in the first paragraph above... by posting something shorter!

So, what's the particular problem here?

Well, it's architecture, or rather: "Architecture" and the way both the city council (seemingly) and developers continue to produce sloppy work and, to compound things, make it worse by - basically - lying about their presentations.

By presentations, I mean both the final 'look' of the buildings (whether residential or otherwise) and, before completion, the various publicly presented artists' impressions and (semantics around) the words used on the construction site billboards.

Put simply, the architecture is dull, unimaginative and, sometimes, intrusive. And the promotion of them is borderline lying, basically!

Of the latter, for example, check this billboard text for some housing currently being built:

"Beautifully landscaped grounds and surroundings" it says! Well, "rubbish" I says! [sic]

You might counter immediately by saying that it isn't even finished yet so I shouldn't even be commenting on that aspect ahead of time. But let me tell you:

(a) the "surroundings" are arguably Cambridge's most ugly road, Newmarket Road, which may or may not be gentrified by the help of this development, but otherwise consists of two, dull and new, hotels nearby, a (now closed) car retailer showroom, a furniture shop, some allotments (which are 'green' at least, but not what many would consider attractive landscaping) and other various retail and mixed-use developments. Yes, there is an old mediaeval church opposite the development, but it is a major highlight on an otherwise ugly dual-carriageway.

(b) the use of "beautifully landscaped grounds" is such a throw-away term that it is arguably undermined as soon as you (mis)use it. For it to be genuinely beautiful, we must assume something special is going on (don't you think?): either in terms of mature trees and special plants, or even unique or noteworthy hard landscaping or outdoor 'art'. And I will make a bet right now that none of this shall come to pass. It will have some medium height saplings, hedging and raised flowerbeds with brick surrounds at best. There may be a few modern art elements, such as reflective metal balls, or night-time lighting that provides both 'art' and (to a degree) security. And if there are any lawns or 'wild corners', they will be so insignificant and small-scale that their beauty will be skin deep at best.

So, if you can't lie on these billboard advertisements, should you say anything? Yes, by all means. Just don't use wishy-washy adjectives that are an insult to intelligence.

Not convinced?

How about the adjoining boards?

This board shows some plain, but informative, text (which is good!)... but we also see an artist's impression revealing the (proposed) rear view of the development.

Knowing the site (which is here by the way) I can already tell that it's going to be hard work for the aforementioned beautifully landscaped grounds and surroundings to tuck themselves in, or around the site. But the artificial render itself reveals the truth anyway! There is simply no space on the site for anything, but the building (and its basement) itself. 

And this final board takes the (overpriced) biscuit in my opinion.

The new developments that are springing up all over Cambridge at the moment nearly all claim to be 'prestigious'. Now, I have no doubt their finishing (internally at least) might be quite tidy and expensive... but how many prestigious developments can you have before they then (all) become common? Or perhaps the right antonym is: modest?

And as for 'cultural' - do not make me laugh! It occupies the site of a long-closed (and mainly empty) Greene King Brewery (later owned by 'Eastern Gate Property Ltd'),  and the featureless, window-less facade was long neglected and ignored. Indeed, it was only during a short-lived period where 'high brow' graffiti was sprayed on it where it genuinely entered into everyday public conversation.

But don't be fooled that this is the culture Aspen Build (the developers) are referring to. They are likely laying claim to the wider area, where some remnants of the former, dissolved Barnwell Priory still exist, and some nice period (residential) houses hide away in nearby back roads.

But that would be wrong as, like over-using the word 'prestigious', peppering 'culture' onto anything and everything undermines its power as a useful, applicable word.

Cambridge is a rich, old and famous place no matter where you compare it to (and is therefore considered a very lucky place to live in by many), but let's not lie that the site this particular building occupies is 'cultural'! (And 'PRIME cultural' at that!) If it's simply about History and 'Age' we're talking about, then it's all about context... to some Americans (for example) a house over 100 years old is ancient. But to most Europeans it is not. And in Cambridge, with an established history spanning back beyond even the formation of the University in the 13th century, some (arguably tatty) industrial sheds dating from the 1960s are not worthy of recognition. And if they were, they would probably not have been allowed to be demolished in the first place!

A quick Google search reveals that 'cultural' means 1: relating to the ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a society. and also 2: relating to the arts and to intellectual achievements.

Now, just about anything, or practice, or place, etc. can justify formatting within the first category, so we must surely interpret the promoters here as meaning the latter, more exclusive (prestigious!), definition (otherwise, it's even more a throwaway word!). 

Or maybe I'm wrong and one of the developers really does like Banksy?

***

  

Darn it, even this post has gone on too long! 

In Part II of this post, therefore, I will explore some examples of Cambridge's recent (dull as ditchwater) 'nouveau' architecture, and the fact that, despite all the 'exclusivity' and 'prestigious' vocabulary, there's very little reason for the future Pevsners of the world to be getting their pens out to make notes. 

As usual: thanks for reading... and feel free to disagree!

Pil--  Sorry, ZeeOx

Multi-purpose nature reserves? What are they? Aren't they country parks?

Cambridge's Coldham's Common is a designated local nature reserve...

http://lnr.cambridge.gov.uk/nature_reserve/coldhams-common/ 

However, that definition, grandiose and official as it sounds, is actually a bit loose in my opinion... Coldham's Common is more a collection of sports fields, general, grassed open spaces and (genuine) wild borders and corridors... some following field edges, others, the small stream (Coldham's Brook), which forms both the space's northern and eastern boundaries.  It is also bisected by the Cambridge to Ipswich branchline!

The reason I say all that is because, unlike most of Cambridge's other public open spaces and commons, it is heavily used by sports teams, and so (presumably) has a management plan oriented around both the needs of the pitches' maintenance as well as any wildlife in the vicinity.

It is in the news (http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/New-10-year-vision-management-loved-Cambridge/story-28884179-detail/story.html) because a new "ten year Operational Management Plan" has been mooted by the City Council... a plan that accepts the Common as a "multifunctional, natural green space".

I would therefore like to counter that any "multifunctional space", regardless of how green, is not a nature reserve! Otherwise, we could start pretending that some of the better back gardens out there are also full-on nature reserves, even if the trees are used for goalposts, and the lawn for swingball!

As I type this, I have not yet digested all the material available or made a definitive opinion on any of the proposals... so I am therefore just making a quick blog post here as a holder for further comment...

and...

...to point out AGAIN that, if a place like Coldham's Common is a multifunctional, natural green space (and, maybe that's fair enough!)... what a shame the Phase 2 (2014) extension (http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/New-habitats-created-Logans-Meadow-nature-reserve-Cambridge/story-22497281-detail/story.html) to Logan's Meadow (see my blog entry 'Missed Opportunity?' from last year: http://streetnveg.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/missed-opportunity.html) could not have been more radical in scope and pushed forward towards being a 100% guaranteed, fairdinkum, showcase nature reserve!

https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/logans-meadow-local-nature-reserve

Angela Briggs, Planning Officer, apparently said "the nature reserve was a “green lung” between Riverside and the Vie development". I (still) fully agree with that... but I would also add that, if we are going to athropomorphise things correctly, lungs tend to come in pairs... and the other lung in this case has collapsed, and is covered in dog poo.

ZeeOx

It Ain't Rocket Science.

A Happy New Year to you.

Rather than catch up on the (now four!) outstanding blog entries I need to write, I am going to write a quick entry regarding flooding and housing... even if there are numerous blogs and articles out there that cover it better than I ever could!

***

After one of the UK's worst periods of flooding since...well, the last time!... and the mildest December on record, a lot of fuss is being made (again) about the Environment Agency's response (or lack of) to the floods and what could have potentially been done - both before and after.

Yet again, people talk of inadequate defences, un-dredged rivers, saving water voles and subsequent insurance nightmares.

Also, the now standard post-flood debate rages on about how much money the (allegedly once cash-strapped) Majority Conservative Government should be dredging out (as it were) to help versus how much they have done (and then say they are truly doing all they can to help).

Well... I am not going to jump right down the EA's or Conservative's throats this time (or at least for this blog!) and say it is entirely their fault and that they could have done much better all round.

That may well be true (and I note that EA's Chairman, Sir Philip Dilley, has just resigned from his £100,000 a year 3-days-a-week post), but regardless, what I am going to briefly comment on here is just what we should be doing now... in general - for the the future - and why it shouldn't need to be a divisive, political 'thing'.

Before that though, let's establish some facts first. Here are three indisputable (albeit flippantly put) truths...

No. 1 - lots of rain falling in a short period makes rivers and streams rise in height.

No. 2 - if water levels rise higher than flood defences, houses previously protected behind the defences are then in danger.

No. 3 - if you make it easy for water to disperse quickly down hills, water flows more quickly and rises higher if there's plenty of water behind it.

I hope we're agreed? Good. So...

Can we stop the rain falling?

Well, possibly... if we can make it rain, we can likely stop it too... especially if there was a genuine and full #COP21 response to Global Warming. But... for the sake of argument (and to appease the H.A.R.M. conspiracy theorists and right-wing climate change deniers), let's say that we can't really avoid rain falling and a potential flooding scenario being repeated. At least in the short term.

Can we build flood defences higher?

Yes. Just like a Trump Wall, it could be done. But do we want towns and villages protected by walls that are considerably higher than the ground floors of the houses behind them? And how much would that truly cost to do it everywhere? And remember, many of the walls that were engulfed this time around were not old. They were new flood defences. Many weren't even breached or damaged, they were simply topped by waters exceeding the planned/expected (e.g. 100-year) flood prediction levels. I mean, how high should you build a defensive wall before it gets silly?

Can we intercept the water?

Yes we can. A lot of effort (and for relatively low cost) can be made to intercept water before it reaches places of habitation. In other words, from land higher up where the bulk of rain falls and thus flows from.

Indeed, new policy is already being implemented here... where farmland will now be deliberately flooded when waters rise so as to slow up the movement of flood water before it reaches towns and cities. Some farmers may already be kicking up a fuss about it, but they know that the masses (of voters) that live in towns and cities will get priority over protecting crops and sheep... in much the same way that, historically speaking, farms and the needs of farms tend to get prioritised over the needs of wildlife and the habitats they live in. And besides, the farmers have been told that they will be paid subsidies for doing this 'service'.

***

But this is a response to flooding as it is happens of course,. Surely a wiser, cleverer course (as it were) would be to prevent the floods from happening at all? (Or, at least, reduce the floods to manageable levels?)

We've already agreed that we really can't stop the rain from falling and the conditions being 'right' for flooding... so to stop rain from turning urban areas into lakes, we must employ some basic land management techniques upriver... such as blocking up water courses so that water is slowed. Or reforesting land so that soils retain water more efficiently. Or bringing back old peatlands so that they become natural water reserves. Or reducing the numbers of sheep overgrazing on the hills in the first place. And so on and so forth!

Yes, yes, a lot of these things will have a negative impact on the people that work the land (i,e. farmers)... but if we can compensate them for having floodwater on their land when the floods occur, surely we can compensate them for reducing the sheep, reforesting the land and plugging up their once-drying-out bogs to help stop the floods from occurring in the first place? As with most "natural" disasters, I'd happily pay extra taxes to help prevent rather than simply cure.

Just Google some of these concepts... you'll get lots of returns, and lots of critique and balanced opinion too. I therefore do not need not explain any of them (badly) myself here. It's not just George Monbiot's idea you know... numerous people have been telling us about these solutions for decades!

***

So, like most things in Environmental Management, the potential solutions have already been found and though they are nearly always relatively simple in design, the solutions on the ground are rarely straight forward to implement. They often involve multi-tiered strategy and a lot of hard work bringing conflicted parties and interests together.

However, just a few basic changes in approach can still reap an instant award... and, as I said at the beginning of this blog entry, it is not rocket science and I don't want to make this a party political thing.

Slowing and absorbing the water higher up reduces the floods lower down... and building houses away from flood plains on higher ground reduces the pressure and has a bonus in allowing excess water to go where it should, rather than into overland flow.

Although I note the current Prime Minister, David Cameron, is potentially a bit confused about what is a flood plain, if people feel that avoiding genuine flood plains is a pie in the sky luxury we can't afford considering just how many houses we undoubtedly need to build in the future, then I say take a leaf out of The Netherlands' book.

The Dutch have rather a good track record with knowing how to deal with floods(!). So if we don't mind borrowing their heavy duty pumps when we have water to shift, then surely we shouldn't also mind borrowing their ideas and techniques when it comes to innovative ways of building in 'watery' places and anticipating what's needed when the water levels get too high?

Let's not just agree that these are all good ideas though... let's actually start implementing them! If we can't stop building next to rivers... let's at least stop building sub-standard buildings that not only occasionally flood themselves but also help pass on the problem downstream because the water has no other place to go.

Best,
ZeeOx

Reminder 2!

Yet another note to self.

Not only do I have to start writing the outstanding post on dull urban architecture, and then finish the post on Fracking, but I also have two more ideas for post to write...

One on 'invasive' British spiders, and how the Media, in all its forms, seems to be embroiled in a conspiracy of disseminating lies and half-truths along with self-interested pest control firms.

And one on the ever-increasing sterile 'gardens' and open spaces in CBDs, and how a lack of interest, care, or finances is affecting our urban invertebrate populations.

All these are most likely best left to the new year as I am so disorganised right now that I doubt I'll manage one, let all four!

We'll shall see though I guess.

Best,
ZeeOx