Friends of Ditton Meadows

For me, Ditton Meadows are one of the last un-tamed spaces in Cambridge. They are managed very naturally by grazing and with an absolute minimum of human intervention. They are not mown, they’re not sprayed, they are not peppered with litter bins, park benches or any of the paraphenalia of urban life. They are a little piece of countryside adjacent to our vibrant city. Unfortunately this bridge won't just cross the river - it will come with ramps, lighting and connecting paths. The area proposed for use as a "storage compound" while building the bridge takes up a significant portion of this precious grassland. And the effect on the floodplain seems to be unconsidered. It's a very special place, and the justification for the expenditure of public money (I believe in excess of £4m) is far from water-tight. Let's preserve this ancient "green lung" for future generations and let's continue to use the Green Dragon bridge for crossing the river - the extra bit of exercise is good for us!

As Cambridge grows, peaceful, undeveloped green space - which is essential to our well-being, becomes ever more important. We need to value and treasure what we've got as more and more people will need to use this space. Any development fundamentally changes the character of the space - it is no longer reposeful, but is a throughway for commuters and traffic. It will bring lights, litter, concrete to a place that has been a tranquil refuge for hundreds of years. Ditton Meadows is a resource for all of Cambridge - walking on either side of the river, people from all over the City (and beyond) enjoy the meadow itself or the vista that it frames. There are scores of other cycling projects in the City that could make use of the £4.5 million that it will cost to build this vanity project. At a practical level, no one has thought out how this bridge connects from the Haling Way (towpath) on to the rail station (let alone the Science Park) even though it is supposed to be about 'connectivity' to the new station. Connection on the other side is not clear either.

Lewis Herbert. Leader of Cambridge City Council has recently said in Cam River Matters that "Cambridge started as a simple crossing over the river and the Cam has always been the life blood of our town and city. The more Cambridge grows, the more essential is our green corridor to our quality of life and this is recognised in the new Local Plan. The community and the many organisations with responsibilities for the Cam need to work together to protect and enhance its habitat and green spaces, and tackle water quality. City Council staff and Councillors are determined to play a full part in this, as we have in initiatives over the past year. " This is a very positive view on the need to keep this green corridor and to prevent development on areas such as Ditton Meadows which would jeopardise the habitat and green spaces. Let us work with Cllr. Herbert and the council staff to protect the meadows.

The proposed bridge will occupy a tiny proportion of the common, and will only ever be visible with the backdrop of a not particularly picturesque railway bridge. I’m struggling to see how anyone can seriously oppose this on the grounds of its impacts to the commons as these are negligible. However, not building the new bridge will be really BAD NEWS for lots of reasons. It will stop lots of residents of Abbey Ward and Fen Ditton from easily accessing the new station by foot and cycle (or at all!) – losing them much of the economic benefits, writes http://iitm.be/Ditton

Information on protected species has been collected. Inferring that the foot and cycle bridge would adversely affect the habitat of these creatures is unsubstantiated. E.G. water voles, in particular, are doing well in Cambridgeshire at the moment. Ditton Meadows is good habitat for them but building the bridge won't destroy it.

The foot/cycle bridge is a welcome addition to Cambridge. it is a complete red herring to say that it will open the way for the guided busway to be extended to Newmarket Rd. That will NEVER happen as it would require the building of a large flyover across both the river and the railway - costing £50,000,000 +. The new bridge can be build close to the existing (ugly) railway bridge. The ramp on the Ditton meadows side could be constructed parallel to the railway embankment to minimise the visual impact. It is also misleading to suggest in the flyer distributed by 'Friends of Ditton Meadows' that it will land on the 'wrong side of the railway line'. The railway line can be passed underneath along Haling way with access to Fen Rd via the existing cut through. Both the cut through and the Haling Way will need to be resurfaced to take the additional wear - a minor expense. The new bridge will alleviate the problem of overuse of Green Dragon bridge by cyclists (which by the way, is a FOOTBRIDGE, not a cycle bridge - cyclists are required to dismount!). I regret that the FoDM are not at all friends of Fen Ditton or the Abbey ward. Not to build the bridge will stop those residents from access the new station. I would like to see the bridge in place BEFORE the station opens so that the infrastructure is ready for the station!

Don’t think this is just a bridge across the river. Firstly, the proposal is for a very big bridge around 5 metres wide. Then that will be no use without equivalent size ramps and access paths. Don’t think paths, think about something the size of Ditton Lane or Howard Road across the meadow. Then something to stop motorised traffic, lighting and so on. There would be inevitable development and no more tranquil meadow. People in developed areas need some open space and we need to keep our natural meadow intact. A bridge here would not be in the right place.

Benjamin I'm a big supporter of better cycle routes in our city, but I think it is a valid concern that this development may make it easier to run the busway across the meadows as well. It used to take me 15 minutes to cycle to the location of the new rail station from Fen Ditton. It's not such a significant journey that it would limit economic benefits for Abbey and Fen Ditton.

There is already a lot of litter on the meadows. I usually collect and remove a carrier bag full of bottles and food wrapping every couple of days in the summer. Not to mention disposable BBQs. It would be good if people could take their rubbish with them.