Following our talk from Feargal Sharkey in December which galvanised concern about the River Cam and its tributaries, Kim Wilkie, widely regarded as one of the UK’s top landscape architects, will lead a community debate on how to protect the Cam and keep its tributaries and supporting ecosystems healthy. Kim has worked with local communities to develop the Thames Landscape Strategy, that set out to celebrate and understand the exceptional character of the Thames and create a 100 year strategic vision for the river corridor that would stand the test of time. How can we do the same thing for the Cam?

His talk on ‘Making a Happy City’ hosted by the Federation of Cambridge Residents’ Associations (FeCRA) argued for the importance of respecting the Cam’s unique heritage and its green river corridor. The Friends of the Cam meeting on February 9th will also continue the discussion on the action we can collectively take to fight to restore the quality of our river system. We will be inviting groups to sign up to The Cam River Charter (see below). Please also take this opportunity, if you've not already done so, to sign the petition, here.

We look forward to seeing you on February 9th at 6pm.

All best wishes, Friends of the Cam

Cambridge Schools Eco-Council ; Cambridge Labour Party Environment Forum (CLEF); Federation of Cambridge Residents’ Associations (FeCRA); Cambridge and Peterborough Campaign for Protection of Rural England (CPRE Cams & Peterborough) ; Friends of the Earth, Cambridge (CAMFOE)

Photo: Cows at Sheep's Green, by the Cam by Tom Turner

The Cam River Charter

The River Cam and its tributaries are suffering badly from over-abstraction, agricultural run-off and sewage discharge leaving them in poor condition with very low flow levels and dirty water. We believe this vital chalk stream river system, so integral to the character and nature of the Cam landscape, must be helped to recover to a cleaner and more natural state. The climate emergency makes a bad situation worse. With this in mind we – the undersigned – pledge to:

1/ Declare the River Cam and its tributaries as endangered chalk streams which need to be restored as globally important centres of biodiversity.

2/ Resist all new growth projects in the wider Cambridge area which depend on further abstraction, both surface and groundwater, from an already-depleted river system.

3/ Ensure the Environment Agency publishes a strategy and timetable detailing how the Agency will oversee the restoration of these rivers so as to achieve ‘High’ ‘Surface Water Status”, as defined by the Water Framework Directive.

4/ Ensure the Environment Agency provides timely and regular updates as to its progress towards achieving that objective.

5/ Ensure Cambridge Water and Anglian Water publish monthly figures on water usage and raw sewage discharges and what actions they are taking to reduce both.