Waterbeach Barracks sold by Ministry of Defence to Urban & Civic as work progresses on 6,500-home new town
The Ministry of Defence has confirmed the sale of Waterbeach Barracks to Urban&Civic, which is due to build 6,500 new homes and five new schools on the site.
The sale comes as the first 111 homes from the housebuilder Cala are about to be launched on the site.
The MoD has been working at Waterbeach since 2014 with its development partner Urban & Civic - part of the Wellcome Trust - and with the Defence Infrastructure Organisation.
After achieving outline planning consent, they began work on the new town for the former airfield and barracks of the Royal Engineers.
Over the next 20 years, 6,500 new homes, five schools, including one special school, on and off-site cycle connections and active travel schemes, plus public transport services will be delivered.
At the heart of the development, a town centre is planned with a health centre, shops and services and community facilities, including parks, play spaces and sports facilities. There will be 250 acres of green space and 34 acres of ecology habitats to provide homes for wildlife.
David Brewer, DIO’s chief operating officer, said: “We are delighted to announce the sale of the Waterbeach site to Urban&Civic PLC and have enjoyed working together over the last nine years to help navigate the site through the planning system and into early delivery.
“This is not just a disused MoD site, it is a place with a heart, and a rich military and archaeological history with strong links to the community of Waterbeach. We are proud that this will be remembered and commemorated through the innovative and thoughtful development to come and that those links with the local community will continue to be strengthened.”
Nigel Hugill, Urban&Civic’s chief executive, added: “The transformation of Waterbeach Barracks was grounded in belief and leadership. A major government department actively releasing brownfield land for new homes to maintain local momentum that both anticipates and facilitates world-beating economic growth in North Cambridge - in the process, realising significant funds for new investment: properly joined-up thinking.
“Urban&Civic will continue to nurture Waterbeach lovingly as a unique waterside community within enhanced and protected natural habitats, quite unlike any other place in Cambridgeshire. We look forward to continuing to build on the collective vision.”
The developers have promised the recycling of materials on site, including more than 98 per cent of the hard materials from the buildings on site to cut carbon use, waste and construction graphic. Homes and civic buildings will all have low energy features, including air source heat pumps and electric vehicle points.
They have pledged a 20 per cent net gain for biodiversity.
Meanwhile, the designs are intended to reflect the Royal Engineers’ time on site, by incorporating woodland, grassland areas and the 23-acre lake, as well as the historic fen edge farming from centuries earlier.
The existing military heritage museum, run by volunteers, will remain in place at the village entrance, while the memorial garden will be maintained and set within a wider Memorial Park to honour the sacrifices of those who served at RAF Waterbeach and the barracks.
The Waterbeach site is the first of six MoD development partnerships to be sold.
And it comes as Cala prepares to launch 76 one and two-bedroom apartments and three- and four-bedroom homes, plus 35 affordable homes provided by Longhurst Group on the 724-acre site.
Prices for a three-bedroom house start from £524,950
A VIP launch event takes place on July 15 and 16 before a showhome opens to the public on July 17.
