‘Serious concerns’ have been shared over a developer’s plans to reduce the facilities at a 1,200-home development in Ely.
Endurance Estates said it needs to change what will be in the local centre to keep it viable, including replacing a proposed pub and restaurant with a nursery and retirement flats instead.
The North Ely development. Picture: Google
However, planning officers believe the plans should remain as they are, arguing that not enough evidence has been given to justify the loss of facilities.
Permission was granted by East Cambridgeshire District Council in 2014 for the North Ely development, including up to 1,200 homes, shops and other facilities on land between Cam Drive and the A10.
Some of the development has been completed, with people living in the new homes, and other parts of it are under construction, with more detailed plans awaited for areas that have yet to be started.
The developer wants to change what is featured in the Cam Drive Local Centre “in order to be able to deliver a viable development”.
It argued demand for a pub was “very limited” and none of the offers received to build the local centre included the delivery of the pub.
It suggested one of the shops in the local centre could be a wine bar instead.
It also proposed to build a smaller work hub within a community building.
It intends to increase the number of shops from four to five, but the overall retail floorspace would remain the same.
The new plans also propose removing a micro library and purpose built live/work homes from the scheme.
Meanwhile, Endurance Estates wants to increase some of the building heights to up to three storeys.
It is estimated the changes would reduce 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 are rejected, saying “insufficient evidence and justification” had been provided.
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.”
District councillors are due to meet at a planning committee on Wednesday (15 January) to consider the developer’s request and decide whether to allow the changes or not.