The Cambridge street given conservation area status in recognition of its architecture and history

A Cambridge street has been given extra protections from developments in recognition of its history and “special character”.

Howes Place has been made a conservation area by Cambridge City Council. This means that the street’s “architectural merit and historical development” should be protected and considered when developments are proposed.

Conservation area status for Howes Place was originally considered in 2009, but the proposal was recently revived by the area’s ward councillors and residents.

A council report acknowledged the street did have the “special and unique” characteristics to warrant the designation.

It highlighted the history of the area, where the former National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB) headquarters was built in 1921.

This was two years after the founding of NIAB, which employed a number of ex-servicemen, some of whom lived in Howes Place homes that were built at the same time as the headquarters.

Designating the street as a conservation area would allow it to be “preserved and enhanced”, the report said, offering guidance for its future, including suggesting that further tree protection orders should be considered to cover those trees at the back of homes. It also said any new buildings and changes within the conservation area or adjacent to it should be “designed to a high quality” and should not “detract from the special character of the conservation area”.

The designation was unanimously supported by councillors at a planning and transport scrutiny committee on January 16.

Cllr Katie Porrer (Lib Dem, Market) said: “This is very welcome. I feel like I know this area extremely well since it has come through planning many times. I welcome particularly the additional protection the conservation area will give to the trees, the pleached limes are so special particularly when you read about the history.”

Cllr Iva Divkovic (Lab, Arbury) supported the creation of the new conservation area to help “preserve Howes Place for future generations”.

And Cllr Elliot Tong (Green, Abbey) believed it was a good place to protect, describing it as a “really nice example of an area where social history and natural history intersect”.