Edwardian Cambridge home saved from flats development

Unpopular plans to demolish an historic Cambridge home to build flats have been rejected after a huge backlash from the community and claims the added traffic could “jam up” the whole of the south of the city.

More than 170 objections were received to plans to demolish an Edwardian house at 291 Hills Road to make way for 15 flats at the junction with Long Road.

Cambridge City Council’s planning committee was today (April 25) recommended to approve the plans, despite fears for the impact the additional cars that would come with the development would have on the busy interchange, which councillors said, is “the major junction” for accessing the city, and a “major pinch point”. There were also worries that the proposals made no provision for affordable housing.

The plans were rejected, with several members of the committee expressing serious misgivings over the impact the development might have on the surrounding area.

Housing activist Clare King said the committee had to reject the plans because of the lack of provision for affordable housing.

Cllr Kevin Price, executive councillor for housing at Cambridge City Council said, with the housing situation in Cambridge being so precarious, new developments that could sustain affordable housing ought to be providing it.

“It is of utmost importance that sites that can deliver affordable housing should do,” he said.

Cllr Price noted that, under the current guidelines, developments of 15 or more units needed to provide affordable options. While the threshold was set to be lowered, he noted that the current local plan and supplementary planning document (SPD) were the correct current guidelines.

Cllrs Damien Tunnacliffe and Jennifer Page-Croft also expressed misgivings over the lack of affordable housing, with Cllr Page-Croft asking whether the proposals were simply about “making money”.

Queen Edith’s Cllr Tim Moore warned that the additional traffic could cause gridlock at this major city junction. Even one more car journey, he said, could clog up the “entire south of the city”.

“This is the major junction that allows people in and out of the city,” said Cllr Moore. “It has been recognised for decades as being a major pinch point. Even one additional vehicle coming out of that could jam up the whole of the south of the city.

“If you try to exceed the maximum carrying capacity of the network, that is where gridlock occurs.”

Cllr Moore warned that Cambridge’s clogged up roads were already causing economic problems, draining productivity with people not arriving on time, and putting people off setting up in the city. He also warned of the potential impact of increased traffic on nearby Addenbrooke’s hospital.

Cllr Amanda Taylor said 5,000 new jobs would soon be coming to the biomedical campus with AstraZeneca and the new Papworth hospital set to open their doors this year.

She warned that adding further to the number of vehicles on the road in the area risked adding to problems in the area which, she said was a “recognised accident cluster”.