…so said Matt Johnson – Head of Development for North West Cambridge for the University of Cambridge to councillors on the Joint Development Control Committee of Cambridge City & South Cambridgeshire District Councillors
Hopefully this will translate into…
***getting the long-delayed West Cambridge Swimming Pool built***
You can listen to Mr Johnson here at The Guildhall on 12 Nov 2024
“You’re such a snitch.”
I know. Furthermore, the proposed densification of the next phase of Eddington makes the case for the West Cambridge Swimming Pool even more of a priority.
“On sports it was remarkable green space sports and activity came out as one of the big things that people really wanted to see more of – we’ve had that in our conversations with community over the last few years. One of the big things on sports is having an intelligent look at intensification and listening to people in the city about what their needs are. Eg running – Eddington has emerged as a great haven for running. If we were to assess the design interventions on running you don’t get many acres but they are very valued by the community who use them. On pitches, we have heard we don’t need another generation of full-size grass pitches, but more 3G for smaller groups”
Above – Matt Johnson at Cambridge Guildhall
Other issues raised by councillors
Things that stood out included:
- Cllr Katie Porrer (Lib Dems – Market)
- You’re an all male team – diversify otherwise you risk making really basic errors that are seen with other developments and other policy areas – eg in Downing Street.
- Green infrastructure first – start planting the trees before you start building so they have time to establish themselves
- Cllr Peter Fane (Lib Dems – Sawston)
- This [development] should be beautiful – something we should be proud of, not just on the height articulation but also the roofscapes
- This development will be visible from sensitive locations
- Cllr Anna Bradnam (LibDems – Milton)
- There’s a wish from residents that [the finish] doesn’t look so repetitive
- Cllr Martin Smart (Labour – King’s Hedges)
- Why a 66% increase in the number of units?
- Where is the water coming from?
- Why is there no pub?
- Isn’t there a risk this turns into a ‘student ghetto’?
“I understand you owe us a swimming pool”
Cllr Martin Smart to the University of Cambridge – to which Mr Johnson gave the same response that he did at the meet mentioned recently.
Noting the swimming pool issue came up at a previous meeting
Here’s Mr Johnson giving an update on the status of the University of Cambridge Swimming Pool as proposed on the Madingley Road site a month or so ago on 17 October 2024 to the North West and West Cambridge Community Forum (at which I submitted said swimming pool question).
There seems to have been some ***really poor communication*** about what and was not communicated to the public and the media. For a start it should not require someone with a degree in town planning to be able to make sense of who has committed to what. Making things easy to understand for the general public is in the public interest – it enables the public to hold decision-makers to account for decisions they take that affect the lives of the people who live there.
I picked up on the swimming pool issues back in 2021 – when looking through the documents related to the emerging Greater Cambridge Local Plan 2031-40. I was surprised to see the statement from the University’s consultants regarding the Swimming Pool.
I guess it’s the phrases used in the 2016 West Cambridge Amenities Delivery Strategy document that gave them the wiggle/wriggle-room to get out of firm commitments.
Above – West Cambridge Amenities Delivery Strategy (2016) p10
‘Envisaging’ that the University ‘could’ provide new things and ‘would’ do something is not the same as confirming something will be done by a specific date.
Mind you, enough of a storm was created by the media to persuade the philanthropic arm of the University of Cambridge to list the swimming pool as a priority. The length of time it has taken has not been lost on the students either.
“Our aim for 2022 is to put a business case, plans and design options for indoor and Padel tennis, additional indoor multi-purpose sport space and a 25 metre eight lane pool into the University’s internal planning process.”
Above – Cambridge University Swimming & Water Polo Club – I wonder how far the students got in their negotiations with the University
The society picked up on the issue again back in January 2024
“Ellie Mason, the Cambridge University Swimming and Water Polo Club (CUSWPC) Junior President, told Varsity that a “university swimming pool would be invaluable to CUSWPC” as “the lack of a university pool limits our financial accessibility along with our training hours”.”
“The swimming pool was not a planning requirement of the Eddington Development… Eddington was required to make a financial contribution towards swimming pools… …that payment that was covered within press reports was that payment being paid on time”
Matt Johnson, 17 Oct 2024 to Cambridge City Council
The press reports included this one from BBC Cambridgeshire on 20 June 2024
Mr Johnson clarified that because there were plans for a swimming pool in West Cambridge, the clause was that if the pool was built within the timeframe of the funding agreement, the £600,000 contribution would go towards the costs of that pool and not towards the city council for new pool provision elsewhere.
“So…it depends which way you spin it?”
Exactly. From my perspective, the University bosses should have prioritised the swimming pool – not only for their students but for the whole of West Cambridge. Which makes me question again the diversity of their decision-making boards and committees. What would a younger, more diverse set of panels with different life experiences in/around our city (and more generally) make given similar choices?
“We have received the planning consent for the West Cambridge Masterplan that includes an outline for a swimming pool adjacent to the sports centre.”
“What is the West Cambridge Masterplan?”
It looks like it has had a refresh, because there are a host of documents from 2016 talking about it, but if you look at the landing page at https://www.westcambridge.co.uk/ and the update from 26 June 2024 (just before the General Election 2024) it said they were reviewing all of the materials.
“The site could do with an update – their latest news item dates from 2022“
As I mentioned back in October 2024, the University of Cambridge has got huge institutional management issues – ones reflected in the announced deficits which they cannot identify the sources of.
Above – BBC News 29 Oct 2024. How are they meant to pay for a new swimming pool if they are running up such huge deficits?
The concern being that the deficit appeared to be structural rather than caused by a one-off bad investment/project
The submitted documents for West Cambridge are listed here, but given the four years that have since passed, I’d like to think that there are a stack-load more sitting within the Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service Portal that is going through maintenance work for the next few days.
Above – from the Design and Access Statement A – the Sports Centre is designated as a destination of city-wide importance. Which is nice. Shame they didn’t negotiate an agreement with Stagecoach and Whippet for a shared ticketing system that would enable the majority of town residents to access the site without having to buy an extra pair of tickets. That thing about diversity on your decision-making boards?
“A celebration of skyline!”
I hate being gaslit by property and corporate types.
Above – p16 of part b of the Design and Access Statement
Not sure which skyline it’s meant to be celebrating but it can’t be the one that draws millions of tourists to the city. (Although those blue things look kinda quirky in the right light…)
Above – I’m not the target audience for this stuff.
“So…£600,000 for a new swimming pool then? Can that be added to what North East Cambridge and the Crown Estate could contribute to build a new one on Milton Road?“
See what I wrote about the Crown Estate’s proposals here
The site is opposite the site I said should be turned into a swimming pool as part of the response to the climate emergency.
Above – from G-Maps – note the car dealership at the bottom right. With the phasing out of fossil-fuelled cars over the next decade, there won’t be much need for nearly as many motor dealerships as we currently have.
Which leaves (amongst other things) a huge volume of stranded assets in towns and cities across the country. Nearly two years ago I suggested turning the site above into a swimming pool. Furthermore, the water could be heated using the excess heat coming from all of the electricity-chomping activities on the Cambridge Science Park. (At which point their employees would also benefit from having a swimming pool next door). And that’s on top of the social benefits of having the pool’s location on the edge of one of Cambridge’s most economically-deprived wards – King’s Hedges. Also, two busway stops from Cambridge Regional College – the city & district’s main vocational training centre, it would be a huge bonus for the teenagers there – not just the sports studies ones.
Food for thought?
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