‘Serious concerns’ have been shared over a developer’s plans to cut facilities at a 1,200 home development in Ely. Endurance Estates has said it needs to change what facilities will be included in the local centre in order to keep it viable. However, planning officers have said the plans should remain as they are, as not enough evidence has been given to justify the loss of some facilities, such as a pub.
Permission was originally granted by East Cambridgeshire District Council back in 2014 for the overall North Ely development, which included building up to 1,200 homes on land between Cam Drive and the A10. Shops and other facilities were also included within the plans. Some parts of the development are now complete with people living in the new homes, with other parts still under construction, and more detailed plans still awaited for some parts that have yet to be started.
Plans have now come forward to change what would actually be included in the Cam Drive Local Centre, which the developer said is needed “in order to be able to deliver a viable development”. The changes proposed include no longer building a pub and restaurant, proposing instead to build retirement flats in its place.
The developer said the demand for a pub was “very limited” and none of the offers received to build the local centre included the delivery of the pub. They did suggest that one of the shops in the local centre could be a wine bar to make up for the loss of the planned pub. It is also proposed to build a smaller work hub within a community building.
The number of shops are proposed to be increased from four to five, but the overall floorspace for the shops would remain the same. The plans also propose to remove the micro library and remove the purpose built live/work homes. A proposal has also been put forward to increase some of the building heights to allow up to three-storeys. It is estimated that the changes would see a reduction in the number of potential jobs created from 250 to 178.
The developer said: “[The changes proposed] seek to ensure that the Cam Drive Local Centre can be brought forward at pace in a commercially viable way to respond to changes in the development context and market in the eight years since the outline planning application received permission, yet still in a manner that overall is entirely consistent with the planning policies that have been prepared to guide the development of North Ely.”
The City of Ely Council said it has “serious concerns” about the reduction of community space and “particularly” of leisure areas. It said: “Members felt that the application differs too far from facilities that were originally planned.”
Planning officers at the district council have recommended that the changes requested are refused, as they said “insufficient evidence and justification” had been provided for the loss of community facilities within the development. Officers said: “There are a number of changes proposed which are not considered to impact the North Ely development, such as the increase in retail units with the same previously approved floorspace, the removal of the live/work units, the addition of [a drinking establishment] in the retail units, and the increase in the building height parameters.
“However, it is considered that the proposed amendment to remove the public house/restaurant from the scheme and replacement with a nursery and retirement living has not been sufficiently justified. The applicant has been provided the opportunity to submit more robust justification and evidence of efforts to deliver the approved uses, however no further information has come forward, such as marketing information, sales particulars, information on any reductions in asking price, details of interest enquiries, details of offers received and whether these were pursued.”
Councillors are due to meet at a planning committee next week (January 15) to consider the developer’s request and decide whether to allow the changes or not.