Planning approval for more than 100 new council houses in city

More than 100 new council homes are on the way to Cambridge – the first of 500 that were promised by the city council.

The development at Mill Road Depot will see 118 apartments built alongside the same number of privately owned homes, plus a community centre.

However, there were concerns from local residents that the proposed apartment blocks were too high and that the proposed community centre was not big enough to cope with demand.

The plans were approved on Monday (June 17) by the council’s planning committee.

Resident Theresa Klinowska, who spoke at the meeting, said: “I’m disappointed. Of course we need good quality affordable local housing, but we need to be sympathetic to the local community and yet another five storey block seems out of scale.”

Katie Preston opposed the application, telling the committee about her concerns that the community space offered was inadequate.

Cllr Richard Johnson said: “I am very pleased proposals have been approved for the second phase of our plan to transform and regenerate the former Mill Road Depot site. The project will deliver a total of 118 badly needed new council homes – half the overall total – and will make a vital contribution to our goal of building at least 500 new council homes across the city by 2022.

“All the homes will be tenure-blind, meaning that those homes for rent or sale will be built to exactly the same standards. The development will be built to the highest sustainability and accessibility standards, be linked to the Chisholm cycle trail, and new community facilities will benefit the new residents and the surrounding area.”

Following 100 years as the council’s depot site, the regeneration is being led by Cambridge Investment Partnership (CIP), a joint venture between the city council and Hill Investment Partnerships.

The 2014 draft Cambridge local plan allocated the site for residential development.