Author: paradisenaturereserve

Top Cambridge cover band Sugarbeat turns 300 – with their combined birthdays – and are generously giving of their time to come together for this special fundraiser for Friends of Paradise. The poster is below. UPDATE: Sugarbeat is now being joined by great local indy band Karalinga for a top night of music on the last day of the Owlstone Development Public Inquiry. Get your tickets SOON, as there will be high demand. Here is a quick link: https://tinyurl.com/2y4hd246

Dear Friends,

You will probably know that the Cam Valley Forum (CVF) are proposing a Designated Bathing Area (DBA) along the Cam, from Sheep’s Green and the Rush to Hodson’s Folly.

They are now holding an online consultation which will go to DEFRA (Dept for the Environment, Farming and Agriculture), which will decide on the suitability of the proposal, taking into consideration the views of the community.

The proposed DBA would run alongside the nature reserves of Sheep’s Green and Coe Fen, and adjacent to Paradise.

Sheep’s’ Green was the ‘town bathing place’ fifty years ago, but it is now the site of the Canoe Club, with 600 members. The bathing place was discontinued by the Council for safety reasons, and the river is now even less safe and much busier with canoes, punts and paddle boards.

In an earlier consultation, the Friends of Paradise, the South Newnham Neighbourhood Forum, the RA and other Friends groups all objected to a DBA for reasons of environmental capacity, safety and harm to ecology.

A DBA requires monitoring of the water, which we know would show that it is of poor quality. There is now considerable pressure on Anglian Water to stop illegal sewage dumping, and it is doubtful whether a DBA would add much to this.

The Friends of Paradise remain concerned that this small green area could not sustain many more visitors, and making Sheep’s Green a honeypot ‘Visitor Destination’ would mean inevitable harm to wildlife and biodiversity.

Please let us have your views, and please also respond to the consultation on the CVF website, which is here: http://bitly.ws/RMwc

Dear Friends,

On August 9th and 10th we are holding a mini Bioblitz in Paradise, looking at wildlife and biodiversity in the reserve.

As part of this, you are invited to join a

                 BATWALK  

with Kit Stoner, Chair of Cambridge Bat Conservation, on August 9th at 8.30 pm. 

Kit gave an excellent talk to the Friends about Bats in Cambridge last year. The walk will begin from the Lammas Land car park and will continue through Paradise.

The walk is free but numbers are limited, so please email: 

pamelagatrell@gmail.com to book your place. 

Children are welcome with an accompanying adult. 

           *******************

         OTHER ACTIVITIES ON THOSE DAYS: 

August 9th 10.30 am. 

BUGS  

and PLANTS 

Come to join Paul Rule and Olwen Williams and the Cambs Nat Hist group in identifying bugs and plants in the reserve. 

Meet at 10.30am in Lammas Land car park. All welcome, including children. 

August 9 th 8 pm 

MOTH AND AMPHIBIANS survey: 

Join moth expert Ben Grieg and our reserve officer Vic Smith in setting up moth traps on the meadow, and Mark Goodman setting up an amphibian survey near the pond. All welcome. 

(The great moth reveal will be next morning on the 10 th at 9am. ) 

August 10 th 9 am. 

MOTH IDENTIFICATION:

Join Ben Grieg and Vic Smith on the meadow, to identify and release moths in the moth traps. All welcome. 

We look forward to seeing you. With best wishes, Pam Gatrell

Chair, Friends of Paradise Nature Reserve

Dear supporters,

Thanks to all of your generous donations to our campaign to defend Paradise, both on Just Giving and directly into our Metro bank account, in a very short time we have raised over £20,000 to help fight the Appeal.  The members of the Friends Committee really appreciate your generosity and are very grateful to all of you who have donated money and also used social media and personal contacts to tell people about the challenge we are facing. We have now closed the Just Giving page.

Some of the money raised has already been spent and some will be invoiced soon: a combination of Barrister’s fees, surveys and reports on lighting impacts, bats, and drainage, as well as expert-witness fees and reports. 

The Public Inquiry has now finished and we await the Planning Inspector’s decision. We will update this website as soon as we hear anything but don’t expect any news for several months.

Thank you very much again for your generous support.

Pam Gatrell, Chair, Friends of Paradise

Thank you.

Pam

Thank you to everyone who came along for a most enjoyable evening of convivial company and wonderful music.