Plans for more than 400 homes given the go-ahead

The development will include more than 400 homes

A new development which would see the building of more than 400 homes on the edge of Cambridge has been given the go-ahead by the government.

The development is planned for land north of Cambridge North railway station.

Planning minister Lee Rowley said on Tuesday that the government agreed with the Planning Inspectorate's recommendation that the proposal should be approved.

In a letter, he said: "The proposal as a whole would respect and retain the character and distinctiveness of the local landscape, including the River Cam corridor."

The developers said it would be an "excellent place to live, work and visit"

The plans are for 425 homes and five commercial buildings, including research and development space.

They were submitted by Brookgate Land on behalf of Chesterton Partnership and were considered by members of South Cambridgeshire District Council and Cambridge City Council at a joint development control committee last year.

The developers described the plans as offering "high-quality architecture" and said it would be an "excellent place to live, work and visit".

Councillors refused the application after raising concerns that it would create a "giant wall of development" on the edge of the city, but a planning inspector recommended that permission should be granted.

'Retain the character'

Mr Rowley, acting on behalf of Housing Secretary Michael Gove, has now agreed it would "contribute to the continued growth of the research and development cluster" in the area and be consistent with the government's vision for Cambridge, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

He said: “The secretary of state agrees with the inspector’s overall conclusions that the proposal would harm the character and appearance of the surrounding landscape, but such harm would be limited and generally localised and is mainly due to the change in the character of the site from a largely brownfield site to a new Urban Quarter.

“The secretary of state agrees that, considered in the context of the allocation of the site within the development plan, the proposal as a whole would respect and retain the character and distinctiveness of the local landscape, including the River Cam corridor.”

While there were concerns about water supply in the Greater Cambridge area, Mr Rowley said the development would be unlikely to have an “unacceptable consequence on water supply and quality”.