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Fears potential estate work could 'trap' residents

Eoin McCaulLocal Democracy reporter
LDRS Peter Hamblin has short grey hair and beard. He is wearing a brown T-shirt and is standing in a garden outside a house. There is a black wicker chair behind him on the right and a bush on the left.LDRS
Peter Hamblin said he feared his wife could become "trapped" if his road was closed

One of the last residents on a Cambridge housing estate due for redevelopment said potential road closures could leave his disabled wife "trapped".

Cambridge City Council approved the demolition of the Ekin Road estate in 2024. Now planning documents suggest remaining residents could lose access to their driveways while work takes place for 57 weeks.

A temporary car park is proposed off Wadloes Road, but Peter Hamblin, 70, fears his wife, who has multiple sclerosis, will be left "trapped in the house".

Gerri Bird, Labour councillor and cabinet member for housing, said the time-scale was an "initial estimate" not a "confirmed road closure", and the road would only be closed when essential.

However, Hamblin said the estimated time was "ludicrous," adding that his wife is going blind and cannot move for more than a few paces.

He said: "How are you going to get a fire engine down the street? They say they have got it sorted, but won't give us any details."

Aimee Dexter/BBC A block of flats painted white. Most of the windows on the ground floor of the three-storey building are boarded up. There is a low fence made of vertical wooden slats next to the pavement around one end of the block. Aimee Dexter/BBC
The estate had a mixture of 91 council and 17 private homes

The estate is being redeveloped by the Cambridge Investment Partnership, a joint venture between the council and The Hill Group. Plans for 134 new homes were submitted earlier this year.

Bird said: "We will only close the road when essential and not for any longer than is necessary to complete the works.

"We will of course ensure emergency vehicles and our waste colleagues have access throughout.

"Access on foot to homes will also be available at all times, meaning postal deliveries will be able to access homes too."

Head and shoulders image of Maurice Chiodo on Ekin Road in Cambridge. He is wearing a flat cap, thin-framed oval glasses and has a goatee. He is wearing a brown jacket and red shirt.
Maurice Chiodo is living in one of 14 homes not due for demolition

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Dr Maurice Chiodo, who runs the Save Ekin Road Campaign Group said it was an insane amount of time to close the road.

The 42-year-old said: "We appreciate at some point the road needs to be closed in some bits, we just want a reasonable level of disruption."

"It's not necessary to shut the road for a year; we have been through enough."

The council's planning committee will discuss the proposal on Wednesday.

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