Draft Greater Cambridge Local Plan for consultation

BRC support the continued allocation of Babraham Research Campus, under Policy S/BRC, for mixed-use development to support the future needs of the Campus.
There remains a significant demonstrable unmet need for further employment and residential development at the Campus. Indeed, an outline planning application for the mixed-use development of the Campus was submitted to Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service in December 2025 following extensive engagement with the Local Planning Authority, local community, Campus staff and other key stakeholders (under reference 25/04634/OUT). The application is pending determination at the time of writing these representations. The planning application demonstrates a comprehensive approach to the redevelopment of the Campus and fully accords with the aims and objectives of draft Policy S/BRC.
In terms of employment, the Greater Cambridge Growth Sectors Study: Life science and ICT locational, land and accommodation needs (Final Report, September 2024) identifies that, with increased permissions now in place, the supply for wet lab space through 2025-2030 is substantial, although there is likely to remain a shortfall in commitments in the longer term. However, there remains a shortfall in smaller start-up and smaller scale-up space provision.
Babraham Research Campus plays a key role in the Cambridge life science ecosystem in terms of offering such provision. Much of the commercial research and development floorspace is split into small lettable units providing a combination of office and laboratory space. There are examples of companies occupying two or more units at the Campus but there are no large commercial tenant buildings occupied by a single organisation. This approach varies from other science parks in Greater Cambridge, which tend to concentrate on larger single occupancy units. The nature of funding at the Campus allows BRC Ltd to support companies through flexibility of terms which helps align their leases with their funding cycles. A commercial landlord would be unwilling and possibly unable to provide this flexibility.
The other unique and distinct characteristics of Babraham Research Campus that help support smaller, scale-up provision is as follows:
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Shared Technology and Facilities – the Campus currently provides a number of shared scientific facilities, such as Mass Spectrometry, FACS, Chemistry services and Containment Level I / Containment Level II facilities. Start-ups and small and medium companies use these facilities without having to make the significant and often prohibitive investment needed to purchase, install and run the technology in-house. This allows companies with relatively limited budgets to make use of these key technologies, when they would otherwise not be able to do so. The Campus is able to offer shared technology because it is required for and funded by the research activities undertaken by the Institute. There are no other science parks with the breadth and scale within the Cambridgeshire area offering shared technology of this type;
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High Health Status Small Animal Facilities – The Babraham Institute has a world-class biological services unit which is able to provide facilities for the breeding of and research using mice. Some of these specialist capabilities are made available to the companies on the Campus;
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Access to a World-leading Research Institute – The UK government continues to promote the importance of industrial collaboration with the academic community. The Babraham Institute is a world-leading centre for the understanding of basic bioscience underpinning health and ageing. Access to the resources available in the Institute and the research
community itself through collaborative research and consultancies is one of the distinct features of the Campus;
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A range of networks to nurture and support – the Campus is a nucleation point for a number of activities that support growing companies. These activities include an annual bio-Investment Forum, open innovation activities with Pfizer and Astra Zenica, membership agreements with One Nucleus and Cambridge Network, with an active relationship with Cambridge Enterprise and the University.
The distinct and unique role that Babraham Research Campus has to play in the life science ecosystem must be recognised. This is reflected in both the high occupancy rate at the Campus and the significant financial support that has been secured from Central Government, through the UK Research and Innovation Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (UKRI BBSRC).
If the valuable economic contribution offered by Babraham is to be sustained and enhanced, the Campus must grow to accommodate the changing needs and increasing demand of the Sector. Such an approach is entirely consistent with the objectives of both national and local planning policy to support economic growth and particularly clusters of knowledge driven, creative and high technology industries.
The urgent need for expansion to support the life science sector is also supported at a national level, with the recent publication of the Modern Industrial Strategy (June 2025) and the Life Science Sector Plan (July 2025).
The Modern Industrial Strategy (June 2025) sets out the Government’s 10-year plan to significantly increase business investment in 8 “growth-driving sectors”, by making it quicker and easier for businesses to invest and providing them with the certainty and stability needed for long-term investment decisions. Life Sciences is one of the growth-driving sectors and the Government’s ambition is “that the UK will, by 2030, be the leading Life Sciences economy in Europe; and by 2035, the third most important Life Sciences economy globally, after the US and China.” (page 138).
The Life Sciences Sector Plan (July 2025) provides the specific details of the Government’s approach outlined in the Industrial Strategy with a series of targeted actions to support world-class research and development, attract investment, grow advanced manufacturing, and accelerate health innovation. This includes significant investment to support growth in discovery science and supporting the UK’s city regions and clusters, including the Oxford to Cambridge Growth Corridor.
In summary, the proposed Campus expansion is crucial to meeting a demonstrable unmet need in supporting start-ups and smaller scale-ups that already occupy the Campus with the flexibility to grow and develop on-site and to attract future tenants wishing to relocate to the Campus. Few places in Cambridge (and therefore elsewhere in the UK) provides such an ecosystem. Failure to satisfy this demand for nationally significant high quality life science floorspace at the Campus will inevitably result in companies seeking alternative accommodation elsewhere beyond the district boundaries and possibly outside of Cambridgeshire and the UK.
In terms of residential, there is a need for additional dedicated housing at the Campus. The BRC thrives in attracting the brightest minds in the biotech sector. Many are initially doctoral graduates
of Cambridge University but originate from outside of the UK, do not have specific ties to the UK and will receive offers from across the world. If they are to be retained in the Greater Cambridge area, they need initial accommodation – a first step on the housing ladder. There is also a need for dedicated housing at the Campus for key underpinning support staff that operate the facilities at the Campus.
If this housing is not co-located with the Campus and provided only for employees at the site, those the BRC is seeking to attract will need to compete with the rest of the housing market. While the Greater Cambridge Local Plan will facilitate higher rates of housing delivery, it will be sometime before this has a meaningful effect on house prices and availability. The BRC needs the accommodation now otherwise the rapid growth of the Campus seen in recent years is likely to stall. Co-locating housing with the employment will also reduce the need for staff and visitors to travel to/from off-site and therefore increase the internalisation of movements generated by the site. This will reduce the expansion’s impacts on transport infrastructure and services in the wider area.