Aims

• to provide residents and stakeholders with regular updates regarding strategic development sites
• to provide an opportunity for residents and stakeholders to share their interests/concerns with relevant council officers, including those from the Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service (‘Planning’) and Sustainable Communities and Wellbeing (‘Communities’) teams, Elected Members, developers and other key stakeholders such as Cambridgeshire County Council and Anglian Water

Scope and purpose

• The developments covered by this forum those comprising the wider North East Cambridge Area Action Plan site
• To provide regular, accurate and timely information to residents regarding the above developments
• To offer an opportunity for residents to raise issues of interest or concern for existing and new communities with a view to enhancing the quality of community life and the environment in the wider North East Cambridge area
• For council officers to share issues raised by residents with relevant parties and report back responses and/or that appropriate action has been taken
• To provide information and signposting on planning and growth matters
• To provide an opportunity for developer/s, residents, community groups, elected members and council officers to engage with each other
• From time to time, to provide opportunities for residents to be consulted and involved in the planning, co-design and management of associated facilities and services
• The forum does not have decision-making powers and cannot be held accountable for growth and related issues
• Minor developments may be covered by this forum from time to time, but the developments listed above will take priority

Structure, management and format

• The forum will have alternating facilitators representing South Cambridge District Council and Cambridge City Council
• There will be a maximum of 4 ‘open to all’ formal meetings a year, where appropriate, and other forms of engagement where necessary
• Venues, where appropriate, will be spread around the different catchment area/s for the new development(s) to ensure all residents have an opportunity to attend
• The frequency and format of individual meetings will be determined by senior Planning and Communities officers in consultation with the Chair based on the progress of each specific development
• Meeting dates will be set, wherever possible, on a rolling basis a year in advance
• Where development sites straddle Local Authority boundaries, the tasks of organising and chairing the events will be shared between South Cambridgeshire District Council and Cambridge City Council (‘shared forums’)
• A range of methods will be used to deliver the forum. The most appropriate format will be chosen for the meeting in consultation with attendees and in accordance with the circumstances and government guidance available at the time, that is to say in person forums (which will include drop-ins), virtual meetings or a hybrid of these. For virtual meetings Zoom Webinar will be used

Communication and publicity

• A range of measures will be used to communicate to residents about the forums, including local advertising via flyers, web page, existing parish publications, email and social media
• For shared forums, online content will be available on both South Cambridgeshire District Council and Cambridge City Council’s websites
• Where possible and practicable, officers at each Council will upload content within 10 days
• A rolling agenda will be posted online so residents are aware of proposed future topics for discussion
• Questions will be posted online so that attendees can see the issues that have been raised and addressed at past meetings
• Presentations, notes and recordings of the meetings will be published online
• A distribution list will be developed and maintained based on registered forum attendees and any others wishing to be kept informed
• A registration form will be available on the relevant forum’s web page/s
• Surveys and feedback mechanisms will be employed from time to time to ensure forums are meeting residents’ needs and to facilitate continuous improvement
• Agendas will be published no later than 7 days prior to the meeting

Lead Officers

Ryan Coetsee - Development Officer (North), South Cambridgeshire District Council
Julian Adams - Growth Project Officer, Cambridge City Council

Valuing diversity

All delegates attending Forum events must undertake to:

• Treat all people with respect and act in a way which does not discriminate against or exclude anyone
• Act in a fair and responsible way to all

Collective responsibility 

All people coming to Forum events agree by their presence that they will:

• Observe the authority of the Chair or facilitator at all times
• Listen quietly to and respect the views and experiences of other people contributing
• Agree to and follow the standard of behaviour expected at each event, according to what is happening at that event (e.g. no interrupting or shouting)
• Allow others to have equal opportunity and time to share their opinions
• Not use inflammatory language or behaviour of any kind

If the above values are not met during a meeting or event, the Chair, facilitator or nominated officer may take one or more of the following steps with the objective of restoring order.

Any person making offensive, insulting, threatening, provocative, slanderous or obscene remarks, or who becomes boisterous, or who threatens or harasses any person or property while at a Forum event, will cause the event to be suspended for the shortest period needed to allow order to be restored.

Any person or people causing an event to be interrupted by reason of behaviours identified above, who does so more than once, can be asked to leave the event by the Chair or staff at the event. This can be for a specific length of time to allow the person or people to cool off or for the rest of the meeting or event, depending on the judgement of the Chair or staff present.

Where the Chair believes that:

• The event has become unmanageable, unnecessarily interrupted, harassed or hindered more than once by the same person or people
• There has been behaviour which threatens the safety of him or herself or others present, the Chair may opt to suspend the meeting or event until order is restored or to end the meeting, or event, if they feel that it is appropriate
• Any person or persons causing through their behaviour, any other individual or individuals present at a Forum event to fear for their personal safety may be subject to immediate removal from the event and/or the event premises

The community forum that was due to take place in July 2025 was cancelled, and a written update was provided instead.

The update, which is on planning applications around the area, are as follows: 

Brookgate application (reference 22/02771/OUT)
Land to the north of Cambridge North Station. This is a hybrid planning application for 425 residential dwellings and 3 commercial buildings. It was allowed by the Secretary of State in April 2024 following a public inquiry in Summer 2023.

Merlin Place/Taylor Vinters Building, 460 Milton Road (reference 23/00835/FUL)
The planning application for the replacement of this building was taken to the Councils’ Joint Development Control Committee on 24 January 2024 and was approved subject to the completion of a Section 106 Agreement. The decision was issued in July 2024. Redevelopment of the site is now well underway following discharge of required pre-commencement conditions.

Vitrum Building, on the Innovation Park (reference 23/01487/FUL and 23/01509/FUL).
Redevelopment proposal to demolish and replace the building. This application was approved, subject to planning conditions and a Section 106 agreement relating to transport mitigation, at the November 2023 meeting of the Joint Development Control Committee. The decision was issued in February 2024. Applications for the discharge of planning conditions have been submitted, and redevelopment of the site is well underway.

Cambridge Waste Water Treatment Relocation
The Development Consent Order (DCO) was granted by the Secretary of State on 8 April 2025. The Order grants consent for a new wastewater treatment plant, including associated infrastructure, and decommissioning works to the existing Cambridge Waste Water Treatment Plant. The proposed wastewater treatment plant is to be sited approximately 2 kilometres to the east of the existing site.

The Core Site (Hartree) scheme
The emerging master plan and outline planning application proposals for land owned by Anglian Water and Cambridge City Council was presented to the members of the Joint Development Control Committee on the 26 March and 16 October 2024. Public consultations by the developers took place in March 2024. A further pre-application developer briefing to the Joint Development Control Committee took place in January 2025.  Pre-application discussions have been ongoing with developers.

Cambridge Science Park (Plot 440) (reference 24/01079/FUL)

Development of Plot 440 for a research and development office building was approved at the Council’s Joint Development Control Committee on the 21 August 2024, subject to the completion of a Section 106 Agreement. The decision was issued on 7 April 2025.

Cambridge City Council – Operational Hub (reference 23/01878/FUL)
Cambridge City Council is building a new Operational Hub to support all Council staff, specifically front-line service providers. This new Hub is replacing the current Cowley Road Depot and 130 Cowley Road on City Council owned land, on the site previously known as Cowley Road Enterprise Units.  Work is due to be completed by late Summer 2025. Stakeholders can reach out to the Ops Hub team via email at operationshub@cambridge.gov.uk

Cambridge Science Park (Plot 210 – 240) (reference 24/04575/FUL)
A scheme was presented to members of the Joint Development Control Committee as a pre-application developer briefing on 20 March 2024. A planning application for demolition and redevelopment of the site, comprising flexible lab office buildings and supporting infrastructure was submitted in December 2024.

Cambridge Science Park (191 Cambridge Science Park – NAPP) (reference 25/00113/FUL)

A scheme was presented to members of the Joint Development Control Committee as a pre-application developer briefing on the 16 October 2024. A planning application for a proposed two storey extension to the Bard Building for a new Packaging Hall with first floor specialist building services plant, and enclosed link to the existing warehouse at ground level was submitted in January 2025. The application was approved at the Joint Development Management Committee on 18 June 2025. The decision was issued 3 July 2025.

Trinity Hall Farm (reference 25/00016/FUL)
A scheme was presented to members of the Joint Development Control Committee as a pre-application developer briefing on 19 June 2024. A planning application was submitted in January 2025 for the demolition of existing buildings and new offices, research and development buildings with associated retail, café and public garden.

Click the image to view the full map [JPG, 1.5MB]

[JPG, 1.5MB]

Where: Virtual meeting - Microsoft Teams

Attendance: 23 people

Watch the North East Cambridge Community Forum

When will the amount of car parking for the station be increased by making the car park multi storey? And how will you accommodate station parking while the new car park is being built?

Car parking numbers for Cambridge North Station will be delivered in line with the requirements of the Outline application 22/0771/OUT.  For information, the existing surface level car park contains 428 spaces, and they have permission to build a new mobility hub accommodating 725 spaces in total with 622 of these proposed for rail users. That’s an increase of 194 spaces on the existing provision. The remaining 103 spaces would be provided within the basement level of the mobility hub, 20 of which would be re-providing the existing hotel spaces with the remaining 83 for the use of the commercial development.

In terms of the delivery of the car parking, there will need to be a detailed phasing strategy worked out to support future Reserved Matters applications.  This will need to provide certainty about the provision of car parking to meet the operational needs of the station during the construction of the multistorey car park.  This may involve temporary surface level provision being made.

Current planning applications

Brookgate application (reference 22/02771/OUT)
Land to the north of Cambridge North Station. This is a hybrid planning application for 425 residential dwellings and 3 commercial buildings. It was allowed on appeal in April 2024.

Merlin Place/Taylor Vinters Building, 460 Milton Road (reference 23/00835/FUL)
The planning application for the replacement of this building was taken to the Councils’ Joint Development Control Committee on 24 January 2024 and was approved subject to the completion of a Section 106 Agreement. The decision was issued in July 2024. Redevelopment of the site is now underway following discharge of required pre-commencement conditions.

Vitrum Building, on the Innovation Park (reference 23/01487/FUL and 23/01509/FUL).
Redevelopment proposal to demolish and replace the building. This application was approved, subject to planning conditions and a Section 106 agreement relating to transport mitigation, at the November 2023 meeting of the Joint Development Control Committee. The decision was issued in February 2024. Applications for the discharge of planning conditions have been submitted and redevelopment of the site has commenced.

Cambridge Waste Water Treatment Relocation
The Development Consent Order (DCO) has been through examination stage with the Planning Inspectorate which began in October 2023 and closed on 17 April 2024. The report has been sent to the Secretary of State in mid July 2024. A decision was expected in October 2024 but this has been delayed until January 2025 to allow further time for additional clarifications to be sought regarding assessment of cumulative impact and the weight to be attached to emerging Central Government policy.

Cambridge Science Park (Plot 440) (reference 24/01079/FUL)

Development of Plot 440 was approved at the Council’s Joint Development Control Committee on the 21 August 2024, subject to the completion of the a Section 106 Agreement.

Cambridge City Council – Operational Hub
Cambridge City Council is building a new Operational Hub to support all Council staff, specifically front-line service providers. This new Hub will replace the current Cowley Road Depot and 130 Cowley Road. The new Hub will be built on City Council owned land, on the site previously known as Cowley Road Enterprise Units.  Work is due to be completed by early Summer 2025. Stakeholders can reach out to the Ops Hub team via email at operationshub@cambridge.gov.uk

Other development proposals which officers are working on through the pre-application process:

Cambridge Science Park (Plot 210 – 240)
A scheme was presented to members of the Joint Development Control Committee as a developer briefing on 20 March 2024 for Plot 210-240. The proposals are for demolition and redevelopment of the site, comprising flexible lab office buildings and supporting infrastructure. A planning application is expected to be submitted to the local planning authority before the end of the year.

Cambridge Science Park (191 Cambridge Science Park – NAPP)

Proposed two storey extension to the southwest Bard Building for a new Packaging Hall with first floor specialist building services plant, and enclosed link to the existing warehouse at ground level. Scheme was presented to members of the Joint Development Control Committee on the 16 October 2024.

The Core Site (Hartree) scheme
The emerging master plan for land owned by Anglian Water and Cambridge City Council was presented to the members of the Joint Development Control Committee on the 16 October 2024. Public consultations by the developers took place in March 2024. Pre-application discussions are ongoing with developers. The application is likely to be submitted in March 2025.  

Trinity Hall Farm
A scheme was presented to members of the Joint Development Control Committee as a developer briefing on 19 June 2024. Pre-application discussions are underway for this site with proposals seeking to provide a mixture of lab and office space.

Current planning applications

Brookgate application (reference 22/02771/OUT)
Land to the north of Cambridge North Station. This is a hybrid planning application for 425 residential dwellings and 3 commercial buildings. It was allowed on appeal in April 2024.

Merlin Place/Taylor Vinters Building, 460 Milton Road (reference 23/00835/FUL)
The planning application for the replacement of this building was taken to the Councils’ Joint Development Control Committee on 24 January 2024 and was approved subject to the completion of a Section 106 Agreement. The decision was issued in July 2024.

Vitrum Building, on the Innovation Park (reference 23/01487/FUL and 23/01509/FUL).
Redevelopment proposal to demolish and replace the building. This application was approved, subject to planning conditions and a Section 106 agreement relating to transport mitigation, at the November 2023 meeting of the Joint Development Control Committee. The decision was issued in February 2024. Applications for the discharge of planning conditions have been submitted.

Cambridge Waste Water Treatment Relocation
The Development Consent Order (DCO) has been through examination stage with the Planning Inspectorate which began in October 2023 and closed on 17 of April 2024. The report has been sent to the Secretary of State in mid July 2024. A decision is expected within the next 3 months.

Other development proposals which officers are working on through the pre-application process

Cambridge Science Park (including Plot 210 – 240)
A scheme was presented to members of the Joint Development Control Committee as a developer briefing on 20 March 2024 for Plot 210-240. The proposals are for demolition and redevelopment of the site, comprising flexible lab office buildings and supporting infrastructure.

The Core Site (Hartree) scheme
The emerging masterplan for land owned by Anglian Water and Cambridge City Council was presented to the members of the Joint Development Control Committee in February 2024. Public consultations by the developers took place in March 2024. Pre-application discussions are ongoing with developers.  

Trinity Hall Farm
A scheme was presented to members of the Joint Development Control Committee as a developer briefing on 19 June 2024. Pre-application discussions are underway for this site with proposals seeking to provide a mixture of lab and office space.

Cambridge City Council – Operational Hub
Cambridge City Council is building a new Operational Hub to support all Council staff, specifically frontline service providers. This new Hub will replace the current Cowley Road Depot and 130 Cowley Road. The new Hub will be built on City Council owned land, on the site previously known as Cowley Road Enterprise Units.

The Street Cleansing, Grounds Maintenance and Estates and Facilities teams will operate from here creating an operational center of gravity. The site will provide meeting rooms and drop in desk spaces to support mobile and hybrid working options which will aid it in becoming a prime location as an emergency planning centre.

The site will be a sustainable development, retrofitting the old car showroom building, modernising and adapting the garage as well as providing charging for electric vehicles for the roll out of the new City Council fleet.  The site offers a biodiversity net gain of more than 1800%.

The development of the new Ops Hub will provide a facility that will be fit for purpose for the next 25+ years.

We are excited to announce that Volker Fitzpatrick was awarded contract for the development of the Operational Hub and are now in possession of the site where they have started site set up.

The scheme was shortlisted for Eastern Echo Awards’ ‘Future Project of the Year’ award in June this year.

Work is due to complete early Summer 2025.

Stakeholders can reach out to the Ops Hub team via email at operationshub@cambridge.gov.uk 

Upcoming consultations 

• None at present

Current planning applications

Brookgate application (reference 22/02771/OUT)
Land to the north of Cambridge North Station. This is a hybrid planning application for 425 residential dwellings and three commercial buildings. It is subject of a non-determination appeal and a public inquiry was held in June 2023. The Inspector closed the inquiry in September 2023. The appeal has been called in by the Secretary of State, and the Planning Inspectorate has confirmed that a decision will be issued by 25 April 2024.  

Merlin Place/Taylor Vinters Building, 460 Milton Road (reference 23/00835/FUL)
The planning application for the replacement of this building was taken to the Councils’ Joint Development Control Committee on 24 January 2024 and was approved subject to the completion of a Section 106 Agreement.  

Vitrum Building, on the Innovation Park (reference 23/01487/FUL and 23/01509/FUL).
Redevelopment proposal to demolish and replace the building. This application was approved, subject to planning conditions and a Section 106 agreement relating to transport mitigation, at the November 2023 meeting of the Joint Development Control Committee. The decision was issued in February 2024.  

Cambridge Waste Water Treatment Relocation
The Development Consent Order (DCO) is currently at examination stage with the Planning Inspectorate which began in October 2023 and is due to close on the 17^th of April 2024. Following the close of examination, a recommendation is made to Secretary of State within 3 months of the end of examination. A decision is then made within 3 months of receiving a recommendation which is estimated to be by mid-October 2024.  

Other development proposals which officers are working on through the pre-application process

Cambridge Science Park (including Plot 210 – 240)
Scheme to be presented to members of the Joint Development Control Committee as a developer briefing in the near future. 

The Core Site (Hartree) scheme
The emerging masterplan for land owned by Anglian Water and Cambridge City Council was presented to the members of the Joint Development Control Committee in February 2024. Discussions are ongoing with developers.  

Trinity Hall Farm
Pre-application discussions are underway for this site with proposals seeking to provide a mixture of lab and office space.

Upcoming consultations 

• Hartree consultation dates [PDF, 1.5MB].

If you have any questions on the above information, please email north@scambs.gov.uk.

Where: Virtual meeting - Zoom

Attendance: Approximately 20 people

Watch the North East Cambridge Community Forum