Plans for a development of 15 new residential flats in the heart of the village would see two further storeys built above the commercial units on School Hill.
The redevelopment of the School Hill site is being led by property investment company Camel Projects. Phase 1 of their work culminated in 2021 with the completion of business premises that are now home to Histon Library, the Indian Ocean, Cambridge Building Society, Histon Opticians and Stir.
New approach
The residential scheme now being put forward would include 12 one-bedroom flats suitable for double occupancy, plus three two-bedroom properties, and all would have level access to a lift, with doorways suitable for wheelchair access.
In addition, a new-build element of the scheme would serve as the residents’ communal entrance building. Created at the back of the Tesco store, it would be linked to the rest of the building at the first and second floor levels, creating two offices/commercial spaces totalling almost 100m2. The ground floor level below would be used for bin storage and secure cycle racks.
The plans are being put forward after initial designs for the site – which were given planning permission in 2019 – were changed. The successful application included nine residential units above the supermarket, which was occupied by Tesco Express at the time, but their lease was due to expire. Tesco’s subsequent decision to renew their lease for a further 15 years meant those plans didn’t go ahead, and under the new scheme no changes will be made to that building.
Affordable
Camel Projects are proposing that all 15 properties in their new scheme are based on the Build to Rent concept. This would mean a minimum of 20% of the homes would be provided as Affordable Private Rent at a 20% market discount, but the developers are exploring the possibility of providing all of the flats at this rate.
The fall-back arrangement, they say, would be to provide the properties for sale, in which case, under the South Cambridgeshire Local Plan, 40% of these would have to be sold as ‘affordable housing’.
Visual appearance
The developers aim to deliver “a high-quality design, that will be worthy of its status as a focal point for this part of the village”, but the introduction of a two-storey extension on the site is controversial. The site is located within the Histon Conservation Area and the Histon & Impington Village Design Guide states that “development should be no taller than two storeys when fronting onto the High Street”, though it also says “3 storey development may be acceptable set back from the road frontage”.
The Histon & Impington Neighbourhood Plan – drawn up on the back of extensive community consultation – is sympathetic to new residential uses above ground floor level, including an upper floor on School Hill, but the possibility of a third floor there is not covered in the Plan.
The developers have anticipated concerns about the height of the development, pointing out that it is no higher than the roof line of Windmill Grange behind. Also, their design is for the new upper floors to be set back from the retail units below, stepping up to 3 storeys and, in doing so, creating a shared terrace for residents on the first floor and “balconies which add interest to the otherwise plain façade.” A row of front facing gables is included, aiming to better suit the village context than a flat roof.
Parking
Another issue likely to prove controversial is parking, though Camel Projects’ Andrew Slaymaker told HI HUB: “We are very confident the parking arrangement on the application are policy compliant and a huge improvement to the current situation.”
The Transport Statement submitted with the new planning application points out that although the community uses the Tesco parking spaces for purposes other than shopping at the supermarket, in fact the land is privately held and not a public car park.
It says the current car park is capable of accommodating 47 cars, but the spaces are not formally marked and are not to standard dimensions, and Andrew told HI HUB: “Even without the current development proposals we would be re-organising the car park to facilitate efficient space utilisation and orderly parking.”
The latest proposals would see 20 spaces created at the back of the site and a further 13 along the side access road beside Tesco. Whilst this total is 3 more than permitted under the 2019 planning permission, 15 spaces – one for each flat – would be prioritised for residents, compared with just 6 under the previous plans. Each resident would be given a single permit to use the car park but no specific spaces would be allocated to any particular retail or residential unit, or the library.
The length of time a retail customer, café or library user could use the car park for free would be limited to 45 minutes between 6:30am and 6pm – just half of the 90 minutes permitted under the planning permission currently in force. After that a charge of £1 per hour would be applied, and only residents with permits or others with special permission would be allowed to park overnight. No provision is made for staff parking at the commercial units on the site, though “travel planning advice will be available” to them.
The Transport Statement also refers to on-street and public car parking available nearby. It suggests that this is not currently at full capacity and can accommodate many more vehicles. A survey commissioned by the developer reports a total of 99 public parking spaces being available within a 3-minute walk of the site, with spaces for up to 9 cars in the lay-by along the site frontage on School Hill offering free short-term parking of up to 30 minutes, and a further 50 spaces at the public car park off the High Street, owned by the Parish Council. It found the maximum current demand for parking in the area to be 65 cars.
Consultation
The plans for completing the School Hill development have been taking shape for some while. In 2022 Camel Projects had pre-application discussions with the planning authority about a proposal for 18 residential units on the site, after which revisions were made. The new proposals were re-presented to the Greater Cambridge Design Review Panel in February 2023, and in July 2023 to members of the Histon & Impington Parish Council planning committee. They welcomed the improvements that the first stage of the development has made to School Hill and the plans for affordable housing, but they also raised questions about several issues, including the percentage of affordable homes and car parking.
The statutory public consultation on the plans is due to close on 2 January 2024 but the Parish Council is applying for an extension to this date so that the planning committee can communicate with the community as a whole and hear the concerns they have.
Full details of the scheme including the planning application, transport statement and drawings, can be found on the Greater Cambridge Shared Planning website.