The Trumpington Meadows site is to the south west of the current village. The overall site is 154 hectares, with the River Cam marking its western border, including Byron's Pool in the north west corner. The Church and Anstey Hall are to the north east and Hauxton Road to the south east. The site encircles the Trumpington Park & Ride site. The site extends south west of the M11, towards Hauxton. The north east part of the site is in the City, while the majority of the area is in South Cambridgeshire District.
The site is perhaps best known as the home of the Plant Breeding Institute (PBI), which took over Anstey Hall Farm in 1950, and was itself taken over by Monsanto.
There is evidence of Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman occupation on the site, including a Romano-British settlement near the river.
The plans for the Trumpington Meadows development have been produced by a partnership between Grosvenor and the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), who acquired the site in 2004.
The outline planning application was approved by the Joint Development Control Committee for Cambridge Fringes on 20 February 2008. The Committee considered a detailed report from the Joint Planning Director and a number of updates and revisions (the report is 4.5 MB). Permission to proceed with the outline application was given in October 2009, after the S106 agreement was completed.
The initial planning application was submitted to Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire in July 2006 (City application 06/0706/OUT and District application S/1310/06/O). The latest version was submitted on 21 December 2007 (City application 08/0048/OUT and District application S/0054/08/O). The District Council Planning Web site has the full application from December 2007 (search for S, 1310, 2006).
The approved plan includes 1200 dwellings on 30 hectares, a local centre, a primary school and community centre and a 60 hectare park. The housing and school will form a C-shape to the north, west and south of the current Park & Ride site. There will be a level of 40% of affordable dwellings across the site. There will be a spine road with two access points on Hauxton Road, the southern one opposite the new Addenbrooke's Access Road. When taken together with the proposed development on Glebe Farm, immediately to the east of Trumpington Meadows, these changes will create a distinctive southwestern edge to Cambridge.
The area to the west and south west of the housing development will be a country park with public access, including footpaths near the River Cam. This will be adjacent to Byron's Pool along the north western part of the site. The area to the south of the housing development alongside Hauxton Road will be farmland, some of which could be used to produce bio fuels. The parkland and farmland will extend to the south west of the M11, crossed by a footpath and cycle track from Hauxton to Trumpington.
The local Wildlife Trust has agreed to manage the country park.
The existing buildings on the site were removed in early 2009, including the offices and greenhouses dating from the use of the site by the Plant Breeding Institute.
The developers plan to begin work on the site in 2010 and complete the project by 2015.
The Association has welcomed the overall plans. It submitted a number of responses to the application: general comments (July 2007), specific issues with the plans for the open space (August 2007) and comments on the September 2007 (October 2007) and December 2007 revisions (January 2008) (Word files, each 500K).
The project is complicated by the area being administered by both Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council (SCDC). The majority of the site is currently in South Cambridgeshire (Haslingfield parish).
The District Council had been considering whether to create a new parish. The Residents' Association and others have argued that it would be better to transfer the area to the north east of the M11 into the City, so that all of the built up area was part of Trumpington. SCDC has defer its parish review pending clarification from the government as to whether there will be a review of the overall district/city boundary.
The photographs to the left show the area in 2007, before any major changes. New reports and images will be added when work is underway.
The A10 corridor between Hauxton and Trumpington is likely to be further transformed over the next 10 years.
In December 2006, Harrow Estates submitted a planning application to South Cambridgeshire District Council for up to 380 dwellings and 4000 sq. m. of office and retail space (application S/2308/06). The outline application was approved in October 2009. The area the former Bayer CropScience site, to the east of the A10, around Hauxton Mill. The bulk of the development will be to the south of the River Cam, with a green space and flood plain in the smaller area to the north. This will be across the road from the southern end of the Trumpington Meadows green area. The development will double the number of dwellings in Hauxton. The District Council Web site has more information.
There are also plans for a second Park & Ride site, between Trumpington and Hauxton, to the south west of the M11 junction.
Trumpington Residents’ Association. A Company Limited by Guarantee. Company Number 6729377. Registered in England. Registered Office: Trumpington Pavilion, Paget Road, Trumpington, Cambridge CB2 9JF.
Email: admin@trumpingtonresidentsassociation.org