Dear Resident,
As many of you will have noticed an illegal encampment was recently set up on Arbury Park. This follows on from many similar encampments over the summer months last year which I know caused residents significant concern and briefly threatened to cancel last year’s Arbury Carnival.
I am absolutely clear that the current situation is unacceptable. While illegal encampments are on the park residents lose access to this green space and extensive and costly clean-up is generally needed to restore the park afterwards. Many residents have also contacted me with concerns about anti-social behaviour linked to these encampments. It is wrong that local residents feel unsafe in their community.
I have been outspoken about this issue over the last year as your councillor. I have challenged the council repeatedly about why Arbury Park and King’s Hedge’s parks more generally are amongst the very few in Cambridge that do not have barriers to prevent illegal incursions. Residents should not be expected to put up with these issues because the council is unwilling to take action to find an effective, long term solution.
I have called for some kind of barrier in-keeping with the look of the area to be put in place to prevent vehicles getting onto the park. I have also been clear that the council needs to invest in a designated Traveller site to offer proper facilities to the community. The council had promised me work on some kind of barrier would take place this summer and I am pushing for an update.
In the meantime I would be very grateful if you could let me know what you think needs to be done to address this issue. You can let me know by filling in the survey below.
Kind Regards,
Councillor Delowar Hossain.