Outline planning consent has been received from Cambridge City Council for a new sustainable garden suburb on a site known during the planning process as Clay Farm and Glebe Farm. The major development is a planned urban extension to the south of Cambridge.
Located immediately to the east of Trumpington, on the southern edge of the city, the development at Great Kneighton will be a mixed use scheme including 2,550 new homes, with community, retail, healthcare and educational facilities including a site for a new primary and secondary school and access to 120 acres of parkland. Detailed planning permission has been achieved for the first phase of housebuilding for 286 new mixed-tenure homes.
The new urban extension at Great Kneighton will provide the setting that will become home to more than 5,800 people, in vibrant new neighbourhoods, enjoying new schools, shopping, parks, recreational and community facilities with new and improved transport connections including an extensive footpath / cycleway network.
The scheme has been developed in response to regional and county planning policy, together with Cambridge City Council’s Local Plan and the Southern Fringe Area Development Framework and extensive stakeholder and community consultation.
A wide range of new homes will be built with a significant proportion of affordable housing. The majority of the new homes will be houses with gardens. A major new public open space of 120 acres will be provided between Hobson’s Brook and the railway line containing new wetland, balancing ponds, allotments and formal sports pitches. In addition, there will be informal recreational space and play areas throughout the developments.
The wetland area will be provided in the early stages of development and it will become a major habitat for wading birds, as well as a valuable public amenity.
Great Kneighton is well located in relation to the city centre, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Trumpington village and the local public transport network. The Addenbrooke’s Access Road will provide the main access into the development from the south, via a new roundabout, while a new signalised junction on Long Road will afford access from the north. The development will be served by the Cambridge Guided Bus (CGB) which runs directly through the site, including a stop close to the centrally located neighbourhood centre. The CGB will serve key parts of the new development, and be accessible to all residents within the village of Trumpington.
At the heart of the project will be an attractively designed central square hosting essential neighbourhood facilities including a new community/health centre, library, shops, offices and transport hub. From here the new and wider community will be able to gain direct access to Addenbrooke’s Hospital and the Cambridge railway station via the CGB, complemented by a conventional bus route running throughout the site.
All development at Great Kneighton must accord with a Design Code which is currently being prepared by Countryside Properties in collaboration with the local authorities.
The architecture of the new homes at Great Kneighton responds appropriately to its gateway location. Homes will range from one to four bedrooms, with a significant percentage of affordable properties. A key part of the site will feature two-storey family homes. The new homes have been designed to achieve ‘Lifetime Homes’ standards and will be highly sustainable as they will meet levels 3 and 4 of the Code for Sustainable Homes.
Great Kneighton has been designed to respect the existing character of the site and to successfully integrate with surrounding communities. There will be extensive open space and new landscaping that will promote an enhanced, interconnected environment. There will be new allotments and a contribution will also be made to public art.
Great Kneighton is located adjacent to the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, a world-class centre for medical research and a joint venture between Countryside Properties and Liberty Property Trust and is easily accessible from the M11 at junction 11.
Infrastructure works are now underway and housebuilding will commence at Great Kneighton in early 2011.
Information correct as at 08/10/2010