Greater Cambridge Local Plan: Proposed Submission

The site occupies a highly sustainable location adjoining Nine Wells and close to the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, with excellent walking, cycling and public transport connections to destinations across Cambridge. The site is therefore particularly well suited to student accommodation and capable of meeting demand arising from higher education institutions across Greater Cambridge. Student accommodation is considered the preferred form of development because it would meet the needs of a group recognised in national policy whilst helping to reduce pressure on conventional housing stock. However, there should be flexibility to ensure delivery of the site and to respond to changing circumstances over the plan period.

The name of the allocation also needs to be amended to omit reference to Bell School and avoid confusion. The proposed modification is to replace the policy with:

Land at Nine Wells, Babraham Road
Site area of 0.38 hectares
Capacity: Approximately 100 student bedrooms or equivalent residential accommodation
The site is allocated for student accommodation. Student accommodation is the preferred use of the site and should accord with Policy H/SA. Alternative residential accommodation will be supported where necessary to secure delivery of the site.

Supporting text would also need to be amended as appropriate.

Introduction
1.1 The Bell Foundation Educational Trust Limited (The Trust) supports the principle of the allocation of the site for student accommodation in this location. However, it objects to Policy S/EOC/BS because it is based on an assumed operational relationship with the adjoining Bell School site which no longer exists. Further the supporting paragraph at 3.2.72 is factually incorrect in stating the Bell School site has changed ownership.
1.2 This draft allocation site and the adjacent educational site at Red Cross Lane are owned by the Trust. Its trading subsidiary, Bell Educational Services ("Bell"), which operated the Bell School in Cambridge for more than 70 years, entered administration and is no longer trading. Consequently, both sites have been marketed and are currently under offer. It could well be that the allocated site and the education site will have two separate owners.
1.3 As a result, the assumptions underpinning criteria 1(a) and 1(b) and the restriction to Bell School use only are no longer valid. The draft policy prevents delivery of the allocated use despite the site's continuing suitability for student accommodation and other appropriate residential uses. The site could not be developed and would remain as fallow grassland
1.4 The Trust considers that the policy is not effective, justified, positively prepared or consistent with national policy for the reasons set out below. The Trust propose retention of the allocation for student accommodation or a suitable residential alternative whilst removing the Bell-specific restrictions.
1.5 This was raised in previous representations at the Regulation 18 stage.
Effective
1.6 As currently drafted, no development could take place, and the site would remain as vacant land. This means a sustainable and otherwise deliverable site will remain undeveloped for the plan period and beyond. Development plans should facilitate, rather than hinder, the delivery of allocated sites.
1.7 The need for a flexible approach is reinforced by the Council's latest housing evidence. The Greater Cambridge Housing Trajectory and Housing Land Supply Report - Addendum September 2026 confirms that Cambridge has only 2.72 years of housing land supply for 2026-2031, substantially below the five-year requirement. In these circumstances, it is particularly important that sustainable and deliverable sites are not constrained by occupation-specific requirements.
1.8 A student accommodation allocation without this restriction would enable the site to respond to the demand for student accommodation in the City and contribute to meeting the range of housing needs in the City.
Justified
1.9 The allocation's association with Bell School originated in the adopted Cambridge Local Plan 2018 and reflected the circumstances that existed at that time. However, those circumstances have materially changed. Bell School no longer operates in Cambridge and the principal assumption underpinning the allocation has therefore fallen away. Whilst it may have been reasonable for the adopted plan to recognise the operational requirements of an existing occupier, the emerging Greater Cambridge Local Plan must be based on current and accurate evidence and delivery prospects. The continued restriction of the site to institution-specific accommodation is therefore no longer justified.
Positively Prepared
1.10 The site occupies a highly sustainable location immediately adjoining Nine Wells and close to the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, with excellent walking, cycling and public transport connections to the wider city and higher education institutions across Cambridge. As such, the site is extremely well placed to serve student accommodation needs arising not only from the biomedical and life sciences sector, but also from the wider higher education sector within Greater Cambridge.
1.11 The proposed restriction is also inconsistent with the wider strategy of the Draft Local Plan. Elsewhere, allocations are generally framed by land use rather than occupation by a specific end user which provides flexibility regarding future occupiers and detailed forms of development. No clear justification is provided for applying a restrictive approach to this site which consequently prevents development.
Consistent with National Policy
1.12 The soundness of the Plan must be assessed having regard to the applicable transitional arrangements and national policy framework.
1.13 Whilst the emerging Greater Cambridge Local Plan benefits from the Government's plan-making transitional arrangements, this does not mean that more recent national policy considerations are irrelevant. Both previous and current versions of the National Planning Policy Framework emphasise that plans should be positively prepared, deliverable and sufficiently flexible to respond to changing circumstances. National policy also seeks to make effective use of land in sustainable locations and significantly boost the supply of homes.
1.14 National policy requires plans to meet the housing needs of different groups, including students. By tying the allocation to Bell School, which no longer exists, rather than allowing student accommodation for any suitable educational occupier, the policy will prevent delivery of a highly sustainable site. A flexible allocation for student accommodation, with freedom as to the occupier in line with Policy H/SA Student Accommodation, would accord with national policy objectives of flexibility, deliverability and the efficient use of land.