Cambridge City FC's plans get government green light

Cambridge City FC's new stadium will be built on greenbelt land in Sawston

A non-league football club will get its own ground after the government gave the green light to the greenbelt plans.

After a four-year planning wrangle, Secretary of State Sajid Javid MP said he was happy for Cambridge City FC to have a new home at Sawston.

Work on the 3,000-capacity stadium and two pitches on a former landfill site is expected to begin in the summer.

The club has been homeless for four years, after its Cambridge site was sold in 2014 for housing.

The Sawston project was first approved by South Cambridgeshire District Council in 2014, but became the subject of a judicial review after a last-minute appeal.

The club had played at its Milton Road ground in Cambridge for 91 years

The review was lodged in 2015 after the planning committee approved the proposal despite officers recommending its refusal.

In March 2016 the plans were backed by a High Court judge.

The final hurdle for the long-awaited stadium was for Communities Secretary Mr Javid to confirm he was happy for green belt site south of Cambridge to be developed.

The site will include a main pitch with stand, training pitch and car parking

"There is a very high bar set for construction within the green belt so it is quite right that there is this extra check in place," said Pippa Corney, chairwoman of the district council's planning committee.

The Southern League Division One East club has been sharing a ground with St Ives Town but its new base will have a stadium, a floodlit pitch, full-sized training pitch and parking spaces for 500 vehicles.