Cambridge city councillors approved controversial new homes

Councillors in the southern city have given the greenlight to developers to construct 80 new properties despite some members objecting to the idea.

Yesterday, Cambridge City Council announced that the development company, This Land, could build 80 new homes as part of the Eddeva Park project off Babraham Road.

Initially, approval was granted by the local authority in 2021 for up to 230 homes to be built on the site and details of the main spine road were approved in 2022, on which work is supposed to start ‘immediately’.

Following this, at a council meeting on Wednesday representatives told councillors they had taken a ‘design-led approach’ to the new homes and had made adaptations after initial concerns were raised, one of which was around the amount of space offered in some gardens and space required for bin lorries to pass through.

Of the 80 new properties, which will be a mix of detached and terraced homes and flats, 40% will be affordable in a bid to help locals amidst the current cost-of-living crisis. In addition to houses, a central square and a wildflower are planned.

Cllr Katie Porrer (Lib Dem, Market) was ‘generally broadly happy’ with the plans, but was still concerned about whether the gardens offered enough space and questioned why only 45% of the flat roofs were ‘biodiverse’ when she said the authority ‘normally insist they all are’.

She asked for the community square to have an electricity supply installed, so that pop-up events and businesses would not need to use diesel generators.

Additionally, Cllr Martin Smart (Lab, King’s Hedges) also thought it was ‘a bit dodgy’ that not all the flat roofs were biodiverse, as council policy demands it unless there were accessibility reasons why they could not be.

However, despite objections and concerns raised, when a decision on the application was put to a vote, the committee councillors voted unanimously in favour of approving the plans.

Image: This Land