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Solum apud Graffiti daubed on new

million-pound homes...
in LATIN Full story: Page 11

Cantabrigienses ... *That’s ‘Only in Cambridge’ for the non-scholars


CRIME
A classic protest against
cost of homes – in Latin!
RACHAEL MCMENEMY
@rach_mc94CN
GRAFFITI daubed across luxury, mil-
lion pound homes has caused a stir
– partly because it was in Latin.
A daring artist scrawled huge let-
ters across the new homes in Water
Street in Chesterton – but not every-
one took offence.
Paula Champion, who lives on Fen
Road, said: “Everyone passing thinks
it’s great! Everyone thinks the po-
lice didn’t really understand what it
meant.
“I think people think what’s writ-
ten is funny because it’s on million-
aires’ houses – basically it’s a come-
uppance.”
Dr David Butterfield and Dr
Charles Weiss translated the slogan
to mean ‘local homes for local peo-
ple’.
But Dr Weiss said the culprit’s
grammar could use some work.
Dr Butterfield said: “It is an auto-
mated – and therefore incorrect –
translation of ‘local homes for local
people’. The Latin graffiti matches
what Google Translate turns up for
this phrase (even if the Latin literally
means ‘a place into homes, the peo-
ple of the place’ . . .).”
Three of the five homes, which are
on the market from £1,250,000 each,
are currently under offer despite still
being under construction.
A spokesman for developers HC
Moss (Builders) said: “We have been
made aware of an incident of crimi-
nal damage at our Water Street de-
velopment and are taking steps to
remove the graffiti.
“This appears to be an isolated
incident and it has been reported to
the police who are investigating. We
will be reviewing our current secu-
rity measures at the location.”
Ms Champion, who has lived in
the street for 10 years, said: “The
graffiti reflects a mood in the area
about that particular development.
PROTEST: The Latin graffiti daubed across one of the new homes in Chesterton
“They are just massive houses and
no-one locally would be able to af-
ford them.”
The homes were built on the site
of the Penny Ferry pub, formerly
the Pike and Eel, despite opposition
from residents against the develop-
ment.
Across social media debate over
the graffiti was heated.
Some used the joke from the Mon-
ty Python film Life of Brian about
Latin lessons to make fun of the graf-
fiti with Lensman joking on the News
website: “He’s NOT an artist, he’s a
very naughty boy!!!”
Others felt the sentiment was
misplaced. Camcitizen responded
Cambridge News | cambridge-news.co.uk | April 5, 2017 | 11
on our website: “This is vandal-
ism – hopefully the culprit will be
caught and lawfully dealt with,” add-
ing in Latin: “Culpam poena premit
comes,” which translates to ‘punish-
ment swiftly follows crime’.
PCSO Dan Eaton summed it up
with the comment: “Only in Cam-
bridge will you find graffiti in Latin.”
HOUSING
New builds
a fifth of
properties
THE housing landscape
of Cambridge is one of
the most modern in the
country, with one in five
homes having been built
since the year 2000.
Analysis of the latest
official figures has revealed
18 per cent of all properties
in the city were built
between 2000 and 2016 –
19,140 homes in total.
It’s one of the highest
proportions of modern
builds seen in the whole
of England – across the
country, only one in every
10 homes were built in the
new millennium.
It also means the last 17
years have been the most
prolific period for home
building seen in Cambridge
over the last century.
Only the mid 1950s to
60s came anywhere close,
with 11 per cent of all
homes in the city being
built during the decade, or
12,080 properties.
Meanwhile, the 1920s
was the most stagnant
period when it came
to house building in
Cambridge – just 4,350
were built between 1919-
29, which is only 4 per cent
of all homes in the city.
Across Cambridgeshire,
the housing landscape is
quite varied when it comes
to which period has seen
more homes being built.
While the rest of the
region is also very modern
– in East Cambridgeshire
20 per cent of homes
have been built since the
year 2000 – some places
have seen greater boosts
to housing in previous
decades.
The figures, compiled
by the Trinity Mirror Data
Unit, also show one in six
homes in Huntingdonshire
were built in the 1960s.