Legal action warning over clean-up of toxic former landfill site in Cherry Hinton
A campaign group is preparing to take legal action over a council decision to allow a new science district on a former landfill site in Cambridge that is known to harbour toxic chemicals.
Campaigners are alarmed that conditions requiring the developer to set out funding plans for the long-term monitoring for the site off Coldhams Lane were removed – after councillors had already voted.
They argue the decision could leave the taxpayer with a huge bill and have called on Cambridge City Council to respond to their pre-action protocol letter to avoid legal action.
Rose Lee, local mother, school governor and a lawyer by profession, said: “The developer is no longer required to fund the long-term monitoring at this site, which could be in the realms of hundreds of thousands of pounds.”
An action group – CHARLIE (Cherry Hinton Against Reuse of Landfill In Spite of Evidence) – is formed of residents in Cherry Hinton, Romsey and Coleridge, the wards bordering the parcels of land and the lakes involved. They argue that, as yet, there is no proof the site is safe to build on.
They say it is also unclear how unexpected remediation costs in the event of a contamination incident and long-term environmental liabilities would be funded.
They argue the clean-up of PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ alone could cost between £7million and £9million.
The site is known to contain other dangerous substances too, including asbestos, chromium 6, cyanide, mercury and other toxic heavy metals.
Richard Buxton Solicitors, which specialises in environmental, planning and public law, has advised the group that the issue raises the potential for a judicial review.
Cambridge City Council confirmed it has received the letter and is seeking legal guidance before responding.
The council’s planning committee initially unanimously approved the application from Mission Street on 19 September last year, subject to the completion of the legal agreement, and despite concerns raised by the Environment Agency over contamination at the site.
The plans for a “world-class” 23-acre science district around Cherry Hinton Lakes include 1,000,000 sq ft of office and laboratory space across seven buildings, a community pavilion and the opening up of lakes at Burnside, which are closed to the public, to allow for the new country park to be created.
Planning permission was finally issued for the new innovation district last month, after the legal agreement process was completed, which the city council said ensures a range of environmental safeguards.
However, it has now been revealed that several changes were made to the application’s conditions during that legal process, which campaigners believe may have changed councillors’ view on the plans.
David McLean, a technical advisor to the group, said: “The conditions must lay out how funding would be made available for this important and common feature of a landfill ‘remedying’ proposal; this omission would have been grounds for members of the planning committee to vote against the application back in the September meeting.”
Emails show the Environment Agency told the council that the removal of one particular condition “significantly changes the level of regulatory control in relation to the undertaking of foundation works and ground improvement works”.
This condition related to the production of a site-wide phasing plan that would “ensure that infrastructure provision and environmental mitigation are provided in time to cater for the needs impacts arising out of the development”.
The council responded by arguing that these details are “inherent” to the meaning of the text in other conditions.
The authority also confirmed that the developer had sight of the conditions and some of their suggestions had “been incorporated”.
Legal advice was sought by the council which deemed the conditions “comprehensive and thorough” before it dismissed the Environment Agency concerns.
Both the Environment Agency and the council’s environmental health department had very serious concerns before the application was approved, as previously revealed by the Cambridge Independent.
In November, we reported that the environmental health team at the council was asked by the authority’s own planning department to take “a more lenient stance on the very serious contamination issues” surrounding the former landfill site.
Emails revealed under the Freedom of Information Act show the team felt in July that it was “inappropriate” and would “lead to both the pollution of controlled waters and pose serious risks to human health”.
Ian Ralls, long-term campaigner for Friends of the Earth and founding member of CHARLIE, said: “Though we don’t yet know all the possible contaminants in the site, we do know, thanks to testing of soil and water samples during previous development applications, some of them.
“They include chemicals such as hexavalent chromium – the chemical at the heart of the film Erin Brockovich and a known carcinogen, the use of which was banned in the UK in 2024, and zinc, nickel, and arsenic, cumulative potential toxins, high levels of which were found to have affected residents in Corby in the series Toxic Town.”
Since launching their fundraiser at the beginning of February, CHARLIE, whose members now number 90 people, has raised £9,305.
“We are not NIMBYS; however, we are clear that high-risk development on landfill and liabilities assumed by the developer all need to be properly scrutinised should something go wrong. Taxpayers must not be left to pick up the expensive pieces and local residents should be able to trust that their health and safety is considered above developer profit,” they said.
A Greater Cambridge Shared Planning spokesperson said: “We can confirm receipt of the pre-action protocol letter. The council has engaged legal representation to assist in responding. The letter is likely to be responded to by 12 March, but this is dependent on review of the application documents and internal consultation.”
Visit gofundme.com/f/n3erg-charlie to donate to the group.
