£250m redevelopment of Melbourn Science Park approved, with new labs, pub, hotel and village green
A £250million redevelopment of Melbourn Science Park has been given the go ahead by councillors.
Bruntwood SciTech plans to create six new laboratory and office buildings, refurbish three others, create a new village green for the local community, build a gastropub and boutique hotel and improve transport provision.
The company said the new workspace would support up to 75 life science and technology businesses and pledged the buildings will be net zero in construction and operation in their shared spaces.
South Cambridgeshire district councillors approved the plans at a planning committee last Wednesday (13 March), despite some misgivings over the height of the six-storey, 822-space car park, including from the conservation group Cambridge Past, Present and Future.
Following the decision, Daron Williams, building consultancy director for Bruntwood SciTech, said: “Approval of our transformational plans for Melbourn Science Park means we can progress forwards with providing much needed, world-class lab and office space for high-growth science and tech businesses who want to be at the heart of Cambridgeshire’s innovation ecosystem.
“It is also a sign of our continued commitment to supporting the growth of the life science sector right across the UK, helping businesses to innovate, collaborate, grow, and compete globally.
“The park has a long history as a centre for scientific innovation and we are proud to be able to continue and build on this legacy, and also connect start-ups, scale-ups and global businesses who locate here to our UK-wide community of more than 1,100 companies.”
The masterplan, drawn up following three public consultations, will create 390,000 sq ft of specialist lab and office space over a number of years.
The tallest of the new lab buildings will be 17 metres high, while the ‘mobility hub’, featuring a car park with EV charging points, cycle store with repair and maintenance stations, and cycle hire, will be 21.2 metres tall.
Objectors argued the buildings would be “overbearing” and feared the impact on road safety from more people travelling to the park.
Cambridge Past, Present and Future argued the car park would have a “dominating impact” on the countryside, while ward councillors for Melbourn also raised concerns, with Cllr Jose Hales (Lib Dem, Melbourn) said the design of the redevelopment was “metropolitan” and was not a “village development”.
But a representative for Bruntwood SciTech - which took a long lease on the Melbourn premises from TTP for £46.2m in March 2022 - told the planning committee: “The current park is ageing and, whilst well maintained, most of the building stock is no longer fit for purpose in terms of current and future needs for life science occupiers.
“Now that TTP has vacated the park there is unlikely to be the demand from high quality occupiers, given the relative age and inflexibility of the accommodation.
“It is likely that unless there is significant investment and renewal of the built infrastructure the park will fall into managed decline.
“A decision to refuse this application will not therefore maintain the status quo, rather it would signal the future decline of the site.
“The proposals involve a significant element of replacement buildings and a more efficient use of the site through the rationalisation of the car parking, which allows the enhancement of the existing parkland setting and the introduction of new village green, larger and high quality beautiful buildings.
“Overall, this allows an increase in the quantum of floor space on the site, whilst retaining and reinforcing the attractiveness of the currently mature landscape.
“Crucially it allows for the development to become more environmentally efficient, addressing biodiversity, energy, and water scarcity targets, whilst also respecting the character of the location at the edge of the village.”
Cllr Heather Williams (Con, The Mordens) said: “We know there is need for the expansion of science and given where we are, we can’t say no to every science-based application.
“I think there is support and acceptance of where the science park is and it is a source of employment from people locally, and that is a positive thing.
“The car park - it is not a mobility hub - is too high in my view.
“It needs to be lower, I appreciate there are commercial reasons why developers will want to not go into the ground and have basement car parking, but I think to make this an acceptable development it needs to be lower down.”
Cllr Bill Handley (Lib Dem, Over and Willingham) wanted the developer to come back to the committee with more mitigation for the height of the building.
But Cllr Peter Fane (Lib Dem, Shelford) said: “I think to be fair to the developers we have to recognise the reasons they are not able to further reduce, or do not feel able to further reduce, the height of the car park, are not commercial. They have done all they can to reduce the number of cars being accommodated, those reasons are to do with groundwater and sustainability.”
Cllr Dr Tumi Hawkins (Lib Dem, Caldecote) said the expansion of research space at the park would go towards meeting a shortfall identified in the emerging Local Plan.
She said: “We might not like it but I think the applicants have done what they can do to make this proposal work.”
Seven councillors voted in favour, with three voting against, meaning the plans were approved.
Bruntwood SciTech has promised a “biophilic, sustainable and wellbeing-oriented design”, with the six new buildings offering co-working, leased and managed lab and office space.
It said a new shuttle bus service would be considered between the science park and Meldreth station, while it hoped to open up the park to communities in Melbourn, Meldreth and Royston through the new village green, gastropub and boutique hotel.
Its proposals also include new walking routes through the landscaped park and wetlands, while it has pledge to increase biodiversity by up to 30 per cent with an additional 275 trees planted, bird and bat boxes and large planting areas to benefit pollinators.
The retained buildings will be upgraded to maximise energy efficiency and as much of their existing fabric will be kept where possible, while carbon emissions are to be reduced through an energy efficient heating network that links heating and cooling between buildings and is connected to all-electric air source heat pumps.
It means the park will become 100 per cent electric, with EPC A ratings targeted in all buildings. There will be 600 sq m of solar panels and blue-green roofs on five of the new buildings for sustainable water drainage.
Bruntwood SciTech is a joint venture partnership between Bruntwood, Legal & General and Greater Manchester Pension Fund. It announced in October 2023 that it would be investing £500m to support the UK’s innovation economy and aims to create a £5billion UK-wide portfolio that can support 2,600 high-growth businesses by 2032.
Its design team for Melbourn Science Park includes Sheppard Robson (architect), Planit-IE (landscape architects), Savills (planning consultants), AKT II (structural and civil engineers), Ramboll UK (MEP and sustainability consultants), Gleeds (quantity surveyors) and Vectos (transport consultants).
Additional reporting: Hannah Brown, Local Democracy Reporter
