Unesco strips Liverpool waterfront of its world heritage status

The United Nations Heritage body have said that years of development have caused ‘irreversible loss’ to historic value of Liverpool’s Victorian docks. So Liverpool’s much valued world heritage status, which it gained in 2004, has now been stripped.

This an awful blow to such a lovely city. But it is a warning that Cambridge and similar historic and treasured cities should heed.

Cambridge is facing many massive development projects within and around the city. From large scale developments such as the train station development that has been rightly condemmed as “an embarrassment to the city”, to small quirky historic pubs like the much loved Flying Pig pub that is to be demolished for office blocks, to the upcoming NECAAP development on track to become the neighbourhood with the highest density of housing in Europe. It seems developers are free to profit from piling concrete block on concrete block and our city suffers.

Still at least Anglian Water will be building a Discovery Centre so that people can view the sewage works they are placing on greenbelt land.

Cambridge deserves better.

Why using Low Fen Drove for CWWTPR construction traffic access will not work….

IMG 3713

On the morning of the 4th May, just after the Bank Holiday, two fairly minor incidents caused major gridlock on Horningsea Road, just near Low Fen Drove where Anglian Water are suggesting their construction traffic of 140 HGV movements a day will access/exit Honey Hill –1

There was a water leak in Fen Ditton with the resulting roadworks, and then a collision between two vehicles. This caused traffic to be backed up to Horningsea. Journey times of 40 minutes from Horningsea to Fen Ditton were being reported. Parents on the school run were abandoning cars in order to walk to school.

Traffic was queueing on the A14 and the length of the slip road to exit the A14. This is the route that Anglian Water say their construction traffic will be using to access Honey Hill from the A14.

It shows just how unsuitable it is to use Low Fen Drove for construction traffic! Our local roads are already full and minor issues cause serious blocks. Any additional traffic will have a serious impact on the villages in our area.

IMG 3712

  1. Preliminary Transport Assessment, CWWTPR, Appdx K, Ch.2, ‘Construction Impacts’ p17, Table 2.1: Daily HGV movements during each construction stage []