Nine houses to be built on car park at The Ship Inn pub in Cambridge
Nine houses will be built on what is currently the car park of The Ship Inn pub in Cambridge.
The pub in Northfield Avenue reopened last year following refurbishment, having been closed for years.
But a Cambridge City Council meeting heard it is not considered to a “destination pub” and mainly serves people living in the area.
Since it is easily accessible on foot, by bike and by bus, council officers did not believe building on the car park would adversely affect its viability.
The development of two and three-bedroom homes, with their own gardens, was supported by the Cambridge District of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), which said the car park was “unnecessarily large” for the pub.
The meeting heard that since the pub reopened the car park had been fenced off. CAMRA said the pub had functioned well with this new layout and agreed the development would not have a detrimental impact on it.
Constructa Ltd and Charles Wells Ltd put forward the proposals, which council officers recommended for approval to the planning committee.
Cllr Katie Thornburrow (Lab, Petersfield) told last Wednesday’s meeting (December 6) she was “really disappointed” the proposed secure cycle storage was not due to be put at the front of the houses.
She said the committee had raised this issue “again and again”, calling for bike storage to be as easy or easier to access as car parking.
Cllr Dave Baigent (Lab, Romsey) agreed, suggesting the houses could have been moved further back on the plot to make room for the storage.
Planning officers said that would have made the gardens smaller. They also suggested some cyclists might choose to use a quieter road to cycle to the new homes, which would then bring them to the back of the buildings.
Cllr Katie Porrer (Lib Dem, Market) suggested that three cycle parking spaces should be installed in front of the houses.
Officers said this could be added as a condition, which the committee agreed, before unanimously voting in favour of the plans.
