Next phase of science centre given green light

The three-storey building will be the second phase of the South Cambridge Science Centre

Councillors have given the green light to the next phase of a science centre.

Members of South Cambridgeshire District Council approved plans for a research and development building on the outskirts of Sawston, Cambridgeshire.

The three-storey building will form the second phase of the South Cambridge Science Centre at Dales Manor Business Park.

Plans for the first phase were approved by the council last year.

One council member told the planning committee on Wednesday that the impact on the landscape was “quite significant”, the Local Democracy Reporting Service reported.

But committee vice-chairman Peter Fane said the new building would be an “improvement”.

He said he believed there were “overwhelming” reasons to support the development.

Abstract Securities, the property development company behind the project, said the centre was poised to become a "foremost hub" for research and development in Cambridge's "life science and bio-tech cluster".

It said the centre was "strategically located", being close to other science parks, and designed to provide an "unparalleled environment" for collaboration and innovation.