Current status of the Beehive planning application
Feb 12th 2025 At the Planning Committee meeting on 12 Feb 2025, those attending found out that Railpen lobbied the Secretary of State to get their plans called-in, thus bypassing local democracy. The plans were debated in full, and we shared our concerns in objection. the Planning Committee was unanimously minded to refuse on the grounds of ‘loss of residential amenity’ as advised by the case officers. You can read about the concerns over loss of daylight and sunlight in this correspondence.
Feb 27th 2025 The Neighbour Appeal Notification Letter is created. You can find this on the Greater Cambridge Planning Portal. We will be submitting our report. All representations must be received by 1st April 2025 and will not be acknowledged. This should include the Inspectorate Reference which is PCU/RTI/Q0505/3360365. The letter will be send to all those who commented on the application and contains the details of where to send correspondence.
Read our press release in response to the events of 12 February, 2025
We encourage you take part. You may wish to highlight these points:
The plans constitute unsustainable development, breaching the fundamental premise of the National Planning Policy Framework and Local Plan (2018) Policies 1, 8, 23, 28, 55, 56, 60, 61 and 67.
Despite the recent amendments to the scheme, the number of buildings, combined with their height and bulk, will create an overwhelming development dominating its suburban surroundings. The proposal fails to enhance the area's character or fit in with our residential context (typically 2+1 storeys).
The proposed scale and massing takes little regard of its harmful effects on the adjacent conservation area or on the historic collegiate core of the city when seen in views highlighted in Policy 60. In some views, the current Beehive scheme would present a large cluster of unremittingly boxy form buildings, breaking the skyline and adjacent to iconic buildings such as King’s College Chapel.
The independent review of daylight and sunlight by Schroeders Begg (UK) LLP dated January 2025 cited that ‘there will some noticeable impacts to daylight for a number of properties with reductions not meeting BRE Guide target default criteria' (at the planning committee meeting this was estimated to be 150 homes affected.
Despite the announcement of the Water Credits System and water saving measures, the scheme remains unsustainable as it will cause an added burden on water supply in the region. The Water Credits System, as yet, is not designed and therefore not tested or proven. Furthermore, it is too high risk to depend on the Grafham Water pipeline supply or the Fens Reservoir supply which are not due until 2032 and 2036 respectively.
We/I do not believe that the proposals put forward will mitigate the Urban Heat Island Effect already afflicting both Petersfield and Romsey. These proposed buildings would cause overshadowing and overlooking to immediate neighbours and harm the setting, character and appearance of the Mill Road Conservation Area as well as our open space.
Even with the improvement to the open space provision, this proposal would overwhelm our communities already limited Open Space, particularly on Silverwood Close, on Cromwell Road and on Coldham's Common.
We, the Better Beehive Cambridge Group, are not a political group and thank all those involved from all parties. We are disappointed in the lack of efforts to address the loss of residential amenities in the two years that these plans have been developed and the breach of trust in local knowledge and democracy shown by Railpen in lobbying for this calling-in.
We are resolute that the Beehive scheme remains an over-development of the site that would significantly impact its neighbouring residents and ultimately the wider city. Given the risks involved in granting permission to an outline scheme, we strongly recommend that the scheme must be reduced further at the outline stage. The issues of scale, massing and over-shadowing cannot be solved with conditions.