Cambridge residents resisting demolition of homes and loss of green space at Montreal Square

by Stephen Hewitt | Published 4 August 2018

28 July 2018: Cambridge residents standing on Mill Road to collect signatures and distribute leaflets to save their homes in Montreal Square
28 July 2018: Cambridge residents standing on Mill Road to collect signatures and distribute leaflets to save their homes and public green space in Montreal Square

In the afternoon of Saturday 28 July 2018 residents of Montreal Square Cambridge were standing in nearby Mill Road collecting signatures for a petition against the demolition of their homes, in which they have lived for up to forty years.

Together with other sympathetic Cambridge residents, three households from Montreal Square were represented, who told me they have lived there for 16 years, nearly 19 years and 40 years respectively.

Andy Smith, interim chair of Montreal Square Residents Association, wearing a T shirt with a picture of the square and the caption “save Montreal Square” , said that they had campaigned in Mill Road every Saturday for the last eight weeks, collecting around 80 signatures each time. So far they had around 800 in total. A separate, online petition had around 1,300.

Montreal Square, Cambridge, July 2018
Montreal Square, Cambridge, CB1 3NR, July 2018. It consists of 18 semi-detached houses built on three sides of a public space of grass and trees

Cambridge Housing Society Limited, a community benefit society under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014, proposed the demolitions. According to a letter signed by its chief executive Nigel Howlett the advantages of redevelopment would be “mainly extra affordable housing”.

“We love our wildlife” said Andy's wife Cheryl and described seeing hedgehogs, blue tits, greater spotted woodpeckers, squirrels and at night, bats flying over.

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