Government steps in over redevelopment plans for Beehive Centre in Cambridge

Plans to redevelop the Beehive Centre in Cambridge have been called in by the government, taking the decision away from councillors.

Cambridge City Council’s planning committee had been due to decide the application on Wednesday (12 February). However, shortly before the meeting started, the authority learned that deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, had called the decision in.

The committee went ahead with the meeting and unanimously voted in favour of being ‘minded to’ refuse the application, but the decision on whether to approve the outline planning application will be taken by the government.

Council planners had recommended councillors refuse the proposals on the basis that they would block light for the centre’s residential neighbours.

Officers said the degree of harm would be “wide-ranging, significantly adverse and acutely felt” by residents on a number of streets.

Developer Railpen, the pension manager, plans to revamp the retail park into a more modern mixture of retail, leisure and community spaces, with laboratories, offices and green public space.

The proposals also include the creation of a public park and a civic square, along with the planting of 290 new trees, a varied mix of shops, restaurants, and cafés, and areas for leisure and community activities.

The application was subject to revision in September following concerns raised by officers, consultees and the public, which resulted in several changes.

A Railpen spokesperson said: “We welcome the secretary of state’s decision to call-in our planning application to redevelop Beehive to create a high quality, highly sustainable campus that will support UK innovation and growth. The decision acknowledges the significant economic, social, and environmental benefits of the project, factors recognised by the council and supported by several local organisations in Cambridge.

“We are committed to the development and our wider ambitions to help stimulate local growth, aligned with the national agenda, and will work with the secretary of state, the council and other stakeholders to move forward with the application.”

The Better Beehive group, which is a community group that believes in a sustainable redevelopment of the centre, submitted objections to the plans around overdevelopment, unacceptable harm to the city’s skyline, inadequate infrastructure capacity and air pollution.

Emma Smith from the group, said following the decision to call the application in: “We were very disappointed that Railpen refused to create a Residential Visual Amenity Assessment, promising that they would create a 3D model at the planning committee meeting which was not provided. It’s a clear avoidance of residential amenity issues and we’re concerned, as everyone should be, that this conduct sets a standard for other developments in the Cambridge area.”