Showground home plans refused over legal agreement

Plans to build 1,500 homes on the East of England Showground have stalled

Plans to build 1,500 homes on a former showground site have been refused after the owner asked for "fundamental changes" to a legal agreement.

The proposals for the East of England Showground in Peterborough, which include a hotel, primary school and care village, have previously been approved subject to conditions.

One of those related to an agreement around community infrastructure, and the landowner, East of England Agricultural Society (EEAS), had asked for changes to when it provided these facilities in the building process.

Peterborough City Council's planning committee voted unanimously in favour of refusing the application.

The 165-acre (67 hectare) showground on Oundle Road hosted events including music and comedy festivals, vehicle shows and trade fairs.

It was also home to the Peterborough Panthers motorcycle speedway team, TruckFest and the East of England Show before it was discontinued in 2013.

The plans - across two applications - had both been given approval on conditions including the completion of a Section 106 agreement, which aims to mitigate the impact of development on local communities.

The now-decommissioned speedway track was last used in 2023

Phil Moore, the head of the planning at the council, said a number of extensions of time had been granted and that EEAS were seeking "significant deviations from those heads of terms".

These included when it builds community and leisure facilities and reducing the contributions made by the developer "on viability grounds".

"Officers of the opinion very strongly that the changes that are being sought are not acceptable and that there are therefore no extenuating circumstances to justify any extension of time," he said.

Kirsty Knight, an independent ward councillor, told the meeting: "Despite all the talk of charitable duty and public benefit, the society has made it clear - they will not sign the agreement because they believe the financial contributions are too high.

"This is not about legal complexity, it is about money.

"The society may argue that none of its trustees stand to gain personally from this development. That may be true but this isn't about personal profit, it is about organisational gain."

Steven Hemming, from Lambert Smith Hampton and representing EEAS, told the meeting that despite being a joint applicant it had not been party to the draft heads of terms on the 106 agreement.

"Any landowner is perfectly entitled to secure the best possible outcome from the disposal of its assets and should not be pressurised into agreeing a deal which they do not consider delivers this," he said.

The meeting heard there were disagreements between EEAS and their partner applicant over the viability of the site.

Mr Hemming told the meeting: "What we're seeking to do is sit down with your officers and try and get to a position where we can agree a 106 which is acceptable to the society which their trustees can sign up to and will satisfy the requirements of the Charities Act."

However councillors chose to refuse the planning application.