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I don't know how NY is in comparison, but housing in Cambridge is almost as expensive as in London. A detached 3br starts at £700k. NIMBYs keep killing any expa

by _dain_ 2y ago

I don't know how NY is in comparison, but housing in Cambridge is almost as expensive as in London. A detached 3br starts at £700k. NIMBYs keep killing any expansion of supply.

sgt101 2y ago
Some say NIMBY's other say water supply. "Water supply issues are already holding back housing development around the city. In its previous draft water resources management plan, Cambridge Water failed to demonstrate that there was enough to supply all of the new properties in the emerging local plan without risk of deterioration. The Environment Agency recently confirmed that it had formally objected to five large housing developments in the south of the county because of fears they could not sustainably supply water. It has warned that planning permission for more than 10,000 homes in the Greater Cambridge area and 300,000 square metres of research space at Cambridge University are in jeopardy if solutions cannot be found. A document published alongside the Case for Cambridge outlines the government’s plan for a two-pronged approach to solving the water scarcity issue, to be led by Dr Paul Leinster, former chief of the Environment Agency, who will chair the Water Scarcity Group. In the long term, supply will be increased, initially through two new pieces of infrastructure: a new reservoir in the Fens will delivery 43.5 megalitres per day, while a new pipeline will transfer 26 megalitres per day from Grafham Water, currently used by Affinity Water. But, according to Kelly, a new reservoir would only solve supply requirements for the existing local plan and is “not sufficient if you start to go beyond that” – a point that is conceded in the water scarcity document. " https://www.building.co.uk/focus/a-vision-for-150000-homes-but-no-water-to-supply-them-does-goves-cambridge-plan-stand-a-chance/5128479.article https://www.building.co.uk/focus/a-vision-for-150000-homes-b...
- _dain_ 2y ago
  The NIMBYs are the ones trying to stop the reservoir from being built. They created the problem they're complaining about. A big hole in the ground with water in it is not a complicated piece of infrastructure, but the planning system is so dysfunctional and veto-friendly that the construction timeline has been pushed out into the 2030s, in the best case. Previous generations got them done in two years flat. It is an artificial problem. Same thing with transport. "We can't build new houses because it would increase car traffic", meanwhile putting up every barrier they can think of to stop East-West Rail.
  - _dain_ 2y ago
    Just adding onto this because I can't edit: it beggars belief that water supply would ever be a limiting factor for urban growth in England. It's preposterous that this is even an issue. Yes, Cambridgeshire is the driest region in the country, but that's only a relative thing! It still gets quite a lot of rain! Other countries have far less rainfall in absolute terms and they grow their cities just fine, because they build reservoirs and dams and water desalination plants. Nature has not forced this situation on us, we are simply choosing not to build things.

by _dain_ 2y ago

I don't know how NY is in comparison, but housing in Cambridge is almost as expensive as in London. A detached 3br starts at £700k. NIMBYs keep killing any expansion of supply.

sgt101 2y ago

Some say NIMBY's other say water supply. "Water supply issues are already holding back housing development around the city. In its previous draft water resources management plan, Cambridge Water failed to demonstrate that there was enough to supply all of the new properties in the emerging local plan without risk of deterioration. The Environment Agency recently confirmed that it had formally objected to five large housing developments in the south of the county because of fears they could not sustainably supply water. It has warned that planning permission for more than 10,000 homes in the Greater Cambridge area and 300,000 square metres of research space at Cambridge University are in jeopardy if solutions cannot be found. A document published alongside the Case for Cambridge outlines the government’s plan for a two-pronged approach to solving the water scarcity issue, to be led by Dr Paul Leinster, former chief of the Environment Agency, who will chair the Water Scarcity Group. In the long term, supply will be increased, initially through two new pieces of infrastructure: a new reservoir in the Fens will delivery 43.5 megalitres per day, while a new pipeline will transfer 26 megalitres per day from Grafham Water, currently used by Affinity Water. But, according to Kelly, a new reservoir would only solve supply requirements for the existing local plan and is “not sufficient if you start to go beyond that” – a point that is conceded in the water scarcity document. " https://www.building.co.uk/focus/a-vision-for-150000-homes-but-no-water-to-supply-them-does-goves-cambridge-plan-stand-a-chance/5128479.article https://www.building.co.uk/focus/a-vision-for-150000-homes-b...

_dain_ 2y ago
The NIMBYs are the ones trying to stop the reservoir from being built. They created the problem they're complaining about. A big hole in the ground with water in it is not a complicated piece of infrastructure, but the planning system is so dysfunctional and veto-friendly that the construction timeline has been pushed out into the 2030s, in the best case. Previous generations got them done in two years flat. It is an artificial problem. Same thing with transport. "We can't build new houses because it would increase car traffic", meanwhile putting up every barrier they can think of to stop East-West Rail.
- _dain_ 2y ago
  Just adding onto this because I can't edit: it beggars belief that water supply would ever be a limiting factor for urban growth in England. It's preposterous that this is even an issue. Yes, Cambridgeshire is the driest region in the country, but that's only a relative thing! It still gets quite a lot of rain! Other countries have far less rainfall in absolute terms and they grow their cities just fine, because they build reservoirs and dams and water desalination plants. Nature has not forced this situation on us, we are simply choosing not to build things.