Update on planning application

Many of you took the time to submit comments on the planning application for 73 Newmarket Road (the old Navadhanya site), and we wanted to update you on the outcome.

At its meeting in June, Cambridge City Council's Planning Committee voted to approve the application for a mixed-use development comprising a ground-floor commercial unit and a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) above. The approved scheme is for 23 en-suite bedsits, together with shared kitchens and other communal facilities.

Although we are naturally disappointed that planning permission has been granted, we do believe that the concerns raised by residents, together with the work undertaken by the Board, resulted in a significantly improved outcome compared with the original proposal.

Over many months, the Board scrutinised the application, submitted detailed written representations and, on behalf of our residents, I spoke at the Planning Committee meeting to present our concerns.

The Committee accepted several measures that will help protect neighbouring residents.

Most significantly, the development has been capped at 23 residents, with a planning condition preventing any higher level of occupancy without a further planning application.

The developer must also prepare a detailed management plan, to be approved by the Council before the building can be occupied. That plan must cover how the property will be managed, arrangements for deliveries, refuse, cycle storage, tenant behaviour, contact details for on-site management and, importantly, it must be prepared in consultation with local residents' groups, i.e., our community.

Other conditions include a construction traffic management plan before work begins, restrictions on the opening hours of the commercial unit, controls on delivery times and waste collections, and limits on construction hours designed to reduce disruption for neighbours. While these conditions do not remove all of our concerns, they do provide safeguards that were not guaranteed when the application was first submitted.

For anyone wanting more detail, click here to read the Council’s planning application response. If you want to dig into the full background, you can find it on the planning portal (you will need to register to access it). Search for reference number 25/03323/FUL.

Outside of this, we have communicated with Berkeley Homes to ensure that they, as our freeholder, are enforcing protection of the “Whale Wall” and addressing ambiguities over the shared boundary wall. These are civil matters, not covered by the planning application process.

We would like to thank everyone who wrote to the Council or otherwise supported our representations. Our comments – which accounted for 24 of the 25 objections – demonstrated the strength of feeling within our community and helped ensure that residents' concerns were properly considered throughout the planning process.

The Board will continue to monitor the development as it progresses. In particular, we will engage with the developer as the required management plan is prepared to ensure that the interests of our community continue to be represented.

Thank you again for your support.

Tony Jewell

Chair

Cambridge Riverside (Midsummer Common) Management Board Ltd