Rewilding in New Housing Developments: Exploring the Opportunities at Brook Leys, Cambridge

The latest suburban development in Cambridge is affecting the small Brook Leys picnic spaces. We take a look at how it might introduce more structured rewilding for the wider benefit.

As our towns and cities continue to grow, we face coming to terms with the fact that they will gobble up an increasing amount of the green spaces around them. Recently we were invited to visit Eddington, a growing suburb of the nation’s famous university town, and a space where urban landscapes are beginning to take over the once pleasant green surroundings. The long time picnic garden at Brook Leys is now the centre of an urban redevelopment just outside Girton College. We explore that space, and most importantly, note the ways we can protect certain habitats, animals, and adopt a more structured rewilding approach to expanding our cities.