Environment Agency objects 1000 new homes in Cambridge

The Environment Agency has raised water supply concerns over plans to build new homes at Darwin Green.

The organisation has said it has not seen evidence to show the new homes could be supplied with water sustainably.

Councillors from Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council are due to meet next week to look at the plans for the next phases of the Darwin Green development.

The outline application proposes to build up to 1000 new homes, as well as a new primary school and secondary school, shops, and community facilities.

The developer, Barratt David Wilson Homes and The North West Cambridge Consortium of Landowners, has already lodged an appeal with the planning inspectorate over the plans, claiming the planning authority did not make a decision on the application in time.

This means the application will now be decided by a planning inspector.

At the joint development control committee on Monday 30 October, councillors will consider the plans and decide what the council’s position should be at the appeal.

A report published ahead of the meeting reveals that planning officers believe the application should be refused.

The developer has faced problems in the current phases of the development, with 83 properties, including some fully build houses, needing to be demolished due to faults with the foundations.

The developer said no one had yet moved into any of the impacted properties.