Cambridge University plan for student and staff homes approved

Up to 3,000 homes and accommodation for 2,000 students is set to be built in Cambridge after outline approval was granted.

The £1bn Cambridge University development, near Huntingdon Road, was agreed by a three-council committee.

Residents raised concerns about the scheme becoming a "university enclave" and increasing congestion in the area.

However, a committee spokesman said the plans included new transport links, a school and community facilities.

The project, which includes 1,500 affordable homes for the university's key workers, will be built on former green-belt farmland to the north west of the city.

'Overloaded transport system'

Plans include research facilities for institutions linked to the university, a supermarket, schools, a community centre and a GP surgery.

Members of the committee described it as a "high-quality design for a new neighbourhood".

However, Lewis Herbert, a Labour councillor on Cambridge City Council, said the development could "shoe-horn into an already overloaded transport system" as current park-and-ride facilities were "weak" in that area.

"There is also a risk it could become a university-only part of the town. We want this to be open and integrated," he added.

The scheme's project director Roger Taylor said the public would have access to large areas of new open space and the transport plan included cycle paths and proposals for improved public transport links.

Work on the first phase is expected to start in early 2013 and be completed by mid-2015.