The new site is expected to include 1500 units of mostly graduate accommodation

When the University announced last month that it was issuing £350 million in bonds in order to fund capital projects, the most prominent one mentioned was the new North West Cambridge site that will be developed over the next few years. Other projects likely to be funded by the bond issue include the Cambridge Biomedical Campus near Addenbrooke’s Hospital, the redevelopment of the New Museums Site in the centre of town and the improvement of the Old Press Site.

However, it is thought that a significant amount of the money raised will be going on the new North West Cambridge Site, although the final decision on how spending will be allocated is yet to be taken, and will be made by Regent House in January next year.

For students at the central colleges in town, the proposed site for the development is unlikely to be an area they have visited before. It is bounded by Huntingdon Road, Madingley Road and the M11 motorway; roughly between Girton and the other colleges on the west of the city: Churchill, Fitzwilliam and Murray Edwards.

Permission has now been granted by Cambridgeshire County Council, Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council for outline planning permission for the site, which covers nearly 150 hectares. This now means that the University Council can apply to the University for support for the first phase of the development.

The plans for the site are extensive and include 1,500 homes for University and College employees, accommodation for 2,000 graduate students and 100,000 square meters of research facilities. The Vice Chancellor, Sir Leszek Borysiewicz said the site “will provide much of the residential and research accommodation that the University needs as it grows over the next 20 years. Attracting world-class academics, researchers and research partners is vital if the university is to retain its world-class position, particularly against growing global competition. Being able to provide high-quality, affordable housing in a thriving community will be an important element of our offer to them.”

However, some postgraduates have expressed concern at the thought of being made to live so far away from their college (if it is the central colleges who take up the accommodation built on the site). There has also been some debate in Cambridge as to whether it is fair for the University to offer such cheap accommodation to its staff when local residents will still be paying the more expensive prices found in houses elsewhere around the city.

Rumours have been circulating about the creation of a new college on the site. However, University Communications Director Tim Holt confirmed that currently “no decision has been made” regarding a potential future college on the site.
Instead, the current plans intend to recreate a college-like atmosphere. As a result, a third of the site’s land will be kept as open-air space, which is intended to provide public spaces for sport and for ecological use. The site will also include shops, a GP’s surgery and a nursery school.

The plans for the new site have placed a strong emphasis on sustainability, with plans to include new cycleways and cycle parks for residents. According to sustainability standards set by the government, the buildings themselves are also intended to be carbon neutral. As a result, the houses on the new site will have some of the lowest energy electricity and water uses in the country.