Protecting chalk streams in Cambridge
Open for comments from Friday 3 to Friday 17 October 2025.
Cherry Hinton Brook and Coldham’s Common are two of Cambridge’s hidden chalk stream treasures, rare habitats at the heart of the city.
Together they support specialist wildlife and provide a peaceful escape for people. But these streams are fragile: banks are eroding, gravels are smothered with silt, and pollution pressures are increasing.
We want to protect and restore these special places. By stabilising banks, cleansing gravels, enhancing flows, and creating habitats, we can give sensitive chalk stream species a future while keeping paths safe for people. These works are only a first step. Each site is a case study demonstration project, designed to test practical solutions and gather robust evidence on how urban chalk streams can be made more resilient.
Both sites form part of the Greater Cambridge Chalk Stream Project’s network of case studies. Each will be monitored before, during, and after restoration to study water quality, biological communities, and sediment processes. This evidence will guide future restoration across the city and beyond. Local people and volunteers will play an active role, through citizen science monitoring and hands-on restoration activities.
Have your say
Tell us your priorities for these stretches: where you see erosion, silt, or habitat change, and how you use the brook and the Common. Your input will help refine designs and guide monitoring.
Select the 'Take the survey' button to have your say.
A hard copy version of this survey can be downloaded here:
If you are completing a hard copy survey, please return it to our Customer Service Centre in person or via post at the following address:
Communications and Engagement Team, Customer Service Centre, Mandela House, 4 Regent Street, Cambridge, CB2 1BY
The survey closes on Friday 17 October 2025. Any responses received after this date will not be considered.
If you are in need of any further assistance, please email us at communications@cambridge.gov.uk.
Next steps
We will review all comments, publish a summary of what we heard, refine designs, and share monitoring results openly.
Phases
Survey open
- Share your views on habitat, erosion, litter, dog access, pinch points on the path, and how you use these watercourses.
- Draft designs are available now, showing proposed feature locations and methods.
- Select the 'Take the survey' button to have your say.