Work to demolish 83 faulty new-build homes and plots on Darwin Green in Cambridge gets under way
A developer has started work to demolish 83 faulty new-build homes and plots on the Darwin Green development in Cambridge.
Barratt and David Wilson Homes Cambridgeshire was granted permission to knock down the fully and partially-constructed homes, which have faulty foundations, last month.
As the Cambridge Independent revealed in June last year, the developers identified the problems within the second phase of the development, referred to as BDW2.
At that time, the developers confirmed no-one had moved into them and said a “small number” of houses were affected - believed to be 36.
But it was subsequently confirmed that more homes with foundation issues had been identified.
The demolition process is expected to take 12 weeks - and is believed to be costing the developers millions of pounds.
Water cannons are being used on the site to reduce the amount of dust created by the demolition, and noise monitoring sensors have also been installed.
The demolition comes at the same time as a public inquiry is being held over South Cambridgeshire’s non-determination of plans for 1,000 more homes at Darwin Green.
[Update: Why demolition work on new-build homes at Darwin Green in Cambridge has been paused]
Adrian Jarman, operations director for BDW Cambridgeshire, who is responsible for Darwin Green, said: “Now we have the council’s approval we are working hard to demolish 36 homes and remediate another 47 plots that are in various stages of construction. The works will last for 14 weeks and the important thing now is to ensure this process has as little impact on the existing community and environment as possible.
“Monitoring stations have been set up throughout the site to record noise and vibrations and we have erected screening and will be using water to control dust. We also want to carry out the work sustainably so will be recycling as much material as possible including tiles, doors, windows, and kitchen equipment, plus also crushing and reusing the concrete and brick on site.”
