Blog & News

Wealthy colleges, businesses and residents must help to fund repair of the Baits Bite and Jesus Green Locks

As widely publicised both locally and nationally, both Jesus and Bait’s Bite locks are affected by major structural degradation.  The locks have been closed to navigation since May 2024.  Temporary stabilisation works are due to start at Bait’s Bite, and further surveys of Jesus Lock are necessary to assess the cost of repair.  But, as Sunday’s protest, organised by the FUND BRITAIN’S WATERWAYS national campaign which is helping to secure the future of Britain’s inland rivers and canals, made abundantly clear, the situation is urgent. 

Stephen Tomkins of the Cam Valley Forum (CVF) – an organisation dedicated since 2001 to the protection of the Cam and its environment – says:

“With the current emphasis on restoration of chalk streams, many of us would probably prefer a free-flowing river, with a gravel bottom and lush aquatic plant growth, as in the cathedral city of Salisbury.  But we are faced with reality. It is often forgotten that Cambridge was once a key inland port, providing access to the North Sea and the Continent via the Cam, Ouse and Wash, and allowing the transport of goods inland, including to the largest medieval fair in Europe on Stourbridge Common”.  

The drainage of the fens and the construction of Denver Sluice on the River Great Ouse changed this, reducing river levels as tidal waters were excluded from the Ouse. By the end of the 17^th century, both the university and the Corporation of Cambridge were complaining loudly about this.  One result was that in 1702, the Conservators of the River Cam were set up under an Act of Parliament to regulate and maintain the river for navigation, which led to the introduction of locks and other infrastructure to help navigation.

With the arrival of the railway, and the development of the road network, the role of the Cam for transporting goods declined.  But the economic importance of the Cam to city life has remained.  If the Jesus and Baits Bite locks were to fail, the water levels would fall dramatically and fluctuate, in periods of low flow probably providing only a muddy, and at worst, fetid trickle.  Punting and rowing would be impossible, the foundations of college walls would be exposed, and the once iconic views would no longer attract selfie-taking tourists.

The root of the problem is that the Conservators, who remain responsible for maintenance of the river, including the stretch between the two locks, has for many years not had the resources it needs.  It has no financial support from the City Council, colleges, or University.  It depends on its own capital savings and the annual fees paid to it by the owners of river craft, in particular commercial punting. As Clive Brown, a former Conservator states: “The Conservators have suffered for many years from underfunding. The cost of maintaining the river for navigation has to a major extent fallen on those who register their boats, particularly the punting industry.  It is high time that the University, and the wider population who benefit from the river, start to bear some of the costs, either directly or through Council subsidies”.

The City Council is offering ‘support’ of various kinds, but CVF feels that much more immediate action is needed.  Anne Miller, co-chair of CVF says: “We are deeply disappointed that a city like Cambridge, with some vastly wealthy colleges, global technology companies that generate over £50bn of turnover per year, and millionaire residents, cannot provide the funding needed.  The £1.5 million needed for the temporary stabilisation work for each lock island, and the estimated £10-15 million needed for the ultimate replacement of each lock can surely be found.”

As CVF’s River Manifesto[1] puts it: “Are we too busy lecturing other people around the world about ‘saving rain forests’ when our own river is not what it could be?  The River Cam, in this University City of world standing, should surely be an example to the world of achieving sustainable development”. 

Those who benefit from the Cam, whether directly or indirectly, must dig into their pockets and contribute to its protection.

[1] https://camvalleyforum.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/The-River-Cam-Manifesto-final2.pdf

Do join us calling for an end to Sewage Pollution and the transformation of our water industy, in our “Punt and Paddle out” protest on the College backs, Saturday 17 May 10:30-11:30am.

Details and booking here

We will meet at the Mill Pond, CB3 9EU, then punt and paddle along the backs to Kings College Cambridge.  This is part of a national day of protests organised by Surfers Against Sewage. 

Do come with placards, art works and water craft or book your place on one of 4 free punts provided by Scudamores. They are also offering a discounted rate for participants to hire additional punts.  Well behaved children welcome, if accompanied by a responsible adult.

BOOK HERE

By booking you’ll get a reminder a few days before, notification if we need to cancel because of bad weather and a ticket that allows you to get the discount from Scudamores and/or loan of a buoyancy aid (if required)

Do pass the word to anyone interested.

Cam Valley Forum features strongly in parliamentary debate about the proposed bathing water reforms

On Friday 28 Feb, we contacted our local MPs Daniel Zeichner MP (Cambridge, Labour) and Pippa Heylings MP (South Cambs, Lib Dem), saying:

We (Cam Valley Forum) have just been notified that Gideon Amos MP (Liberal Democrat MP for Taunton and Wellington) is leading a Westminster Hall debate on Bathing Water Regulations. The debate is on Tuesday 4 March at 4:30pm.   I do hope you will be able to attend, and to speak on behalf of your Cambridge constituents and the protection of rivers such as the Cam.

Many of the proposed changes are to be welcomed, for example the suggestion that “a wider range of water users should be considered beyond just swimmers….. such as rowing, surfing, kayaking and paddleboarding amongst others”   This is welcome. We hope you can make sure this includes any recreational users that are likely to be immersed in the river water at times (including punters!)

However we are concerned about the section of the proposal that would add in a precondition that a site has to have the potential to be improved to “sufficient” in order to be able to apply.  This would have made it impossible for us to have applied for designation for the River Cam at Sheep’s Green.  Please suggest that this criterion is removed, and that the “de-designation” route is used instead to avoid disproportionate expenditure.

The wording says:

“OEP Recommendation 5 (include a pre-identification step in designating new bathing waters) is in line with government’s Core Reform 2.  In the consultation, we sought views on the proposed reform to the Regulations so that the feasibility of being able to improve a site to at least ‘sufficient’ standard (on cost and deliverability grounds) would become a criterion. Where necessary, this will be considered before a decision is made whether to designate the site as a new bathing water.” 

We disagreed with this requirement for the following reasons:

• This negates the purpose of Bathing Water Designation as a way to force the improvement of water quality in places with lots of recreational use
• How could this ever be demonstrated by an applicant such as Cam Valley Forum? One doesn’t know if it’s feasible, and at what cost, until the completion of the apportionment study (for which Anglian Water budgeted £500K), but without designation and a “poor” rating, there’s no apportionment study.
• And what costs would be deemed to make it “feasible” to improve water quality to “sufficient” level?.… It just adds another layer of uncertainty.
• The de-designation route offers a better way to avoid disproportionate expenditure. After 5 years there will be much better understanding of the local causes of poor water quality, and “quick win” improvements will have been done, so it will then be possible to make an informed judgment about the feasibility of achieving “sufficient” status

We had prompt responses from both MPs

Daniel Zeichner MP said “I’m afraid ministers don’t get to speak in Westminster Hall debates unless replying, but will pass comments on to my colleague“

Pippa Heylings MP’s researcher contacted us to clarify a few details, and she then spoke well at the debate (see the Hansard transcript here, at about 4:45) You can watch the debate here…  

Concerns about this “catch 22” precondition (referred to as “core reform 2) got a lot of support from other MPs, and Gideon Amos summed it up well in his closing speech. He said “I urge the Minister to think carefully about introducing this very different criterion and moving away from places where people actually swim towards places where the industry think that they can afford to make the water quality better. That is the wrong criterion. The right criterion is where people are already using the river”

David Attenborough Building (Seminar Room), New Museums Site, Downing Street. CB2 3QZ

• AGM 7pm
• Refreshments at 7.30pm
• Annual Lecture 8.00pm

Annual Lecture: Earth, water, air and fire: how fixing and restoring our rivers is about so much more than water.

In this lecture, Craig Bennett,Chief Executive of The Wildlife Trusts, will explore how a focus on rivers can provide the foundation for sorting out many environmental challenges not normally directly associated with rivers, or water quality. What might this mean across the UK, but particularly in Cambridgeshire?”

Craig Bennet, Chief Executive, The Wildlife Trusts

Among many other accomplishments, Craig is Chief Executive of The Wildlife Trusts, Honorary Professor of Sustainability and Innovation at Alliance Manchester Business School, and an Associate Fellow of Homerton College (Cambridge). He is also a Commissioner on the UK Government’s Clean Power 2030 Advisory Commission. He has been described as “one of the country’s top environmental campaigners”, by The Guardian as “the very model of a modern ecogeneral” and was recently included in The Sunday Times Green Power List of the UK’s top 20 environmentalists.

Craig was formerly CEO of Friends of the Earth where he led the organisation to numerous campaign victories including on bees, fracking and against airport expansion.

Cam Conservators have just informed us (21/5/24) that due to safety concerns regarding the structural integrity of the lock islands at Baits Bite and Jesus Green, the decision has been taken to temporarily close the locks until further notice. More detailed structural investigations will be undertaken and a plan for remedial works developed urgently. The Conservators are engaging with the Environment Agency and Local Authorities to seek a coordinated approach.

This applies to all boats, and the footways are closed to pedestrians and cycles. Any boats currently between Jesus Lock and Baits Bite Lock that want to travel elsewhere cannot do so by water…..

More information here

On 19 May, we gathered to celebrate achieving Bathing Water Designation for the River Cam at Sheep’s Green, together with cake and an optional swim.

As you can see in the short video below, for some swimmers, the water temperature was quite a challenge!

The Environment Agency will now be testing the water quality weekly during the bathing water season, and you can see their results here

The initial water quality is very likely to be classified as “Poor”, which should in turn result in around £5M of investment to clean up Haslingfield Sewage works upstream. By 2028, we should have cleaner water in the River Cam.

More information about Bathing Water Designation, and the benefits we expect here.

Now that the River Cam at Sheep’s Green has become “Designated Bathing Water” the Environment Agency will start by monitoring the water quality every week during the bathing season to decide its official initial classification.

The bathing water season starts on 15 May, and on 14 May, the first “pre-season” test result for Sheeps Green was available on the Swiminfo website page for Sheep’s Green.

Both the E.Coli and the IE result would indicate “poor” water quality. This webpage explains how the Environment Agency interprets the results, but at simple level, an E.Coli reading of above 1000 is “considered elevated” and if continued would be likely to indicate a possible overall “poor” rating for the season.

When the City Council’s official bathing water signage is available it will include a QR code to the Sheep’s Green page of the swiminfo website so that swimmers can judge if they wish to swim. In the meantime we’ve provided a simple poster with the QR code at Sheep’s Green and other key spots, giving a link to these official test results as they’re released.

In future years, the City Council will put up an official signboard at Sheep’s Green informing people about the Bathing Water Quality, based on the test results from the previous year(s).   

We know from our own monitoring work over the last few years that the level of faecal indicator bacteria in the River Cam means that this initial classification will almost certainly be “Poor”, with “Bathing not advised” (although of course it’s still permitted)

Importantly, when there is Designated Bathing Water with a “Poor” water quality classification, this then acts as a statutory “Driver” requiring the water company to investigate the source of pollution and remedy it.

Anglian Water have confirmed to us that if the River Cam becomes “Designated Bathing Water” they will start by doing a “Source Apportionment” study to understand and uncover the causes of the problem. This will include looking at both their various assets (pipes, pumping stations and sewage works) and other 3^rd party sources.

As Cam Valley Forum we will be very interested in the results of this Source Apportionment study.

We all expect that a big source of the problem will be the ageing and overloaded sewage infrastructure at Haslingfield.

Subject to the findings of the Source Apportionment study and approval of Anglian Water’s Business Plan by Ofwat they’re expecting to spend around £5M on improvements at Haslingfield, with work completed by 2027. The details of what needs to be done, will of course depend on what the source apportionment study discovers, but the overall aim is to improve the water quality in the River Cam at Sheep’s Green from Poor to Good

Without the statutory “Driver” of Bathing Water Designation, the improvements would have been likely to take much longer…. probably decades.

It’s going to take a while, but now we have got Bathing Water Designation, a cleaner Cam is within our grasp.