Residents claim that fewer than 10 students currently live at the property. On the first floor, there are a further four bedrooms with a bathroom.

Under current plans set out by the College, modifications would be made to the building on Barton Road, which is two storeys in height, and contains a shared kitchen to ground floor along with three study bedrooms. Others who commented on the planning application noted that the area already contains 'a number' of nurseries. There were also concerns that most users of the nursery would not be within walking distance, and are 'highly likely to drive rather than using public transport', one user said: 'The public transport to the proposed nursery is very limited and therefore the College's 'assurances' in this regard are empty and highly likely to leave local residents with an increase in disruptive traffic and an increase in car parking in the area, with no effective means of enforcement.'Īnother resident commented: 'Barton Road is very busy and the constant heavy traffic could be dangerous to young children and their parents getting out of or into cars on the main road beside the proposed nursery, or trying to cross the road in heavy traffic to deliver or collect the children at nursery opening and closing times.' 'We consider this proposal to be an outrageous violation of a very long-established, quiet residential area purely for the commercial benefit of Pembroke College.' Map showing the proposed site of the new nursery (Image: Cambridge City Council) The width of 26 Barton Road is very narrow and the design of the buildings means that the outdoor areas are extremely close to the boundary with 2 Grange Road. Read more: New Pembroke College student accommodation plans in Cambridge spark petitionĬriticising the plans a local resident said: 'It is a controversial proposal which would result in considerable loss of quiet living and of privacy and a detrimental change of character of this quiet and peaceful part of the neighbourhood. However, the Highway Authority has now accepted the site layout. The Highway Authority initially requested that the application be refused due to both 'the lack of detail' on how carers will be prevented from using cars to get to the site, and the proposed introduction of bollards along Barton Road it deemed 'unacceptable'. There have been concerns, however, from residents about the impact that a nursery could have on levels of traffic and noise in the area. However, this has now been pushed back to June 13, after a spokesperson from the council said the planning application wasn't ready for the Planning Committee. Pembroke's planning application was due to go before Cambridge City Council's Planning Committee on April 26. Pembroke College has asked to turn postgraduate student accommodation in 26 Barton Road into a children's nursery. A college's plans for a new nursery in Newnham, Cambridge, have been met with strong opposition by local residents.

Change Baby by June Spence