Darwin Green residents in Cambridge fear impact of dust, noise and vibration with demolition of new homes resuming

Work to demolish 83 fully and partially-built houses with faulty foundations is set to resume amid what has been described as a “construction disaster”.

Bulldozers moved onto the Darwin Green estate in Cambridge last week, reducing some of the new houses to rubble. But council building control officers visited last Thursday (18 January) and requested the contractor cease work until the fence screening off the site had been “correctly erected”.

People living on the new development are facing months of disruption – and say they are fed up with the noise, dust and vibrations already caused.

Developers Barratt and David Wilson Homes Cambridgeshire said demolition would take 14 weeks and they were working to minimise the “impact on the existing community and environment”.

Cllr Simon Smith, executive member for finance and resources at Cambridge City Council, told the Cambridge Independent: “I’ve been involved in planning and development for over 40 years and I’ve never seen anything like this.”

The council confirmed yesterday (Tuesday) that the screening is being erected on site – and it does not anticipate the demolition of any further structures to take place until Friday. Work to move demolished materials can and is continuing, the council said.

As the Cambridge Independent exclusively revealed in June last year, the developers identified the problems within the second phase of the development, referred to as BDW2.

One Darwin Green homeowner, who lives on the phase one site and asked to remain anonymous, said the months ahead will be “very difficult” for local residents.

“We were surprised to discover that the demolition work began without the agreed fencing being erected and the roof-level homes which were supposed to be demolished last and protect residents from noise and dust were instead demolished first,” the resident explained.

“The months ahead will undoubtedly be very difficult for us as local residents because we have already experienced a great deal of noise and disruption during the construction of phase two with our homes shaking on many occasions.

“Now we have to endure the noisy demolition and the entire rebuilding process again.”

Cllr Smith (Lab, Castle) said that the situation at Darwin Green had impacted a number of different groups of people. These include those who “couldn’t move into the home they set their hearts on” and those who are going “to go through not just one round of construction, but three rounds of building activity on the site”.

“This is incredibly noisy, it’s dusty, there are vibrations and the community is impaired,” he said, adding that residents were “simply fed up”.

Cllr Smith added: “We’ve got some of our most senior and most talented officers dealing with every aspect of the fallout that's come from this construction disaster and they are working to the highest professional standards, tirelessly.”

The developer says seven monitoring stations have been placed throughout the development to monitor and control levels of noise, dust and vibrations.

Adrian Jarman, operations director for BDW Cambridgeshire, who is responsible for Darwin Green, said: “Now we have the council’s approval we are working hard to demolish 36 homes and remediate another 47 plots that are in various stages of construction. The works will last for 14 weeks and the important thing now is to ensure this process has as little impact on the existing community and environment as possible.

“Monitoring stations have been set up throughout the site to record noise and vibrations and we have erected screening and will be using water to control dust. We also want to carry out the work sustainably so will be recycling as much material as possible including tiles, doors, windows, and kitchen equipment, plus also crushing and reusing the concrete and brick on site.”

A spokesperson for Greater Cambridge Shared Planning and 3C Building Control said on Friday: “Officers from Greater Cambridge Shared Planning and 3C Building Control undertook a joint site inspection on Thursday, and have been in discussion with BDW in respect to the demolition.

“This resulted in the council asking BDW’s demolition contractor to cease works on the phase two demolition until the screening is correctly erected.

“Once the screening has been approved by council officers, demolition works on phase two can recommence. Council officers will be undertaking site inspections every day (Monday to Friday) to ensure demolition works are compliant with the appropriate consents.”

A spokesperson for BDW added: “The demolition works at Darwin Green were temporarily paused whilst we installed the fencing needed to start phase two, as agreed in the Local Plan.”

A seven-metre fence was due to be erected between the houses that need to be demolished and the houses where people are already living.

The fence will visually screen the work, reduce noise and help to prevent dust from reaching the houses.

Water cannons are also being used to reduce the amount of dust created by the demolition, and noise monitoring sensors have been installed around the site.

The demolition process – which will destroy millions of pounds worth of homes – is due to take 14 weeks.