Town Planner Pro
Free trial
Search appeal decisions

Planning appeal decision

Allowed9 September 20253360616

Beehive Centre , Coldhams Lane , Cambridge , Cambridgeshire, CB1 3ET

Planning appeal 3360616 at Beehive Centre , Coldhams Lane , Cambridge , Cambridgeshire, CB1 3ET (Cambridge City Council) was allowed on 9 September 2025 by Inspector Bore J, following an inquiry. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: The extent to which the proposed development is consistent with Government policies for building a strong, competitive economy in NPPF (NPPF Chapter 6).

Demolition of existing buildings and structures and redevelopment of the site for a new local centre (E(a-f), F1(b-f), F2(b,d)), open space and employment (office and laboratory) floorspace (E(g)(i)(ii)) to ground floor and employment floorspace (office and laboratory) (E(g)(i)(ii)) to upper floors, with supporting infrastructure

Authority
Cambridge City Council
Appeal type
other · Called In Planning Application
Procedure
Inquiry
Development
employment-industrial · Major retail and services
Inspector
Bore J
Postcode
CB1 3ET

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

  • The extent to which the proposed development is consistent with Government policies for building a strong, competitive economy in NPPF (NPPF Chapter 6)
  • The extent to which the proposed development is consistent with Government policies for ensuring the vitality of town centres in NPPF (NPPF Chapter 7)
  • The extent to which the proposed development is consistent with Government policies for achieving well-designed places in NPPF (NPPF Chapter 12)
  • The extent to which the proposed development is consistent with the development plan for the area

What decided it

The collective public benefits of the scheme, particularly economic growth, employment and efficient brownfield reuse, were found to outweigh the identified less-than-substantial heritage harm and significant harm to residential amenity, alongside a finding that the proposal accorded with the development plan as a whole.

the benefits of economic growth, employment/social value, and efficient use of a brownfield site (significant weight), together with moderate-weight benefits of community/retail provision, design/placemaking and sustainable transport, were found collectively sufficient to outweigh the significant weight harm to residential amenity, the great weight harm (less than substantial) to designated heritage assets, and the limited weight townscape harm

What the Inspector cited

Development plan policies
Policy 2Policy 3Policy 6Policy 28Policy 29Policy 31Policy 32Policy 33Policy 34Policy 35Policy 36Policy 37Policy 38Policy 40Policy 55Policy 56Policy 57Policy 59Policy 60Policy 61Policy 62Policy 67Policy 70Policy 71Policy 73Policy 80Policy 81Policy 82
National Planning Policy Framework
Paragraph 11Paragraph 49Paragraph 57Paragraph 58Paragraph 86Paragraph 87Paragraph 125Paragraph 135Paragraph 212Paragraph 215
Judgments
Rainbird, R (on the application of) v The Council of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets [2018] EWHC 657 (Admin)

How the Inspector dealt with each one is set out in the app, in order: the development plan, national policy, housing land supply, other considerations and the planning balance, beside the letter.

See how each was applied

The decision letter

Town Planner Pro holds this letter. The Appeals plan opens it and every other letter we hold, all of them searchable, with the main issues and what decided each case picked out. We do not show letters on the free site because they carry people’s names and addresses.

Appeals plan, £15 a month

With an account

What an account adds to this decision

210 other decided appeals within two kilometres of this site. In the app every dot opens its decision, and its letter wherever one was published, and you can draw your own site to see what has been decided around it.AllowedDismissedSplitThis decision
An appeal decision in the app, with the main issues, policies and judgments cited picked out beside the letter
Every letter, there to read. We pick out the main issues, the policies and the judgments cited, so you can work through the letter faster.
Searching the full text of appeal decision letters in the app
Search inside every letter. By words or by meaning, filtered by authority, outcome, appeal type and procedure, with every locatable decision on the map and the Inspector named on each.
Start your free trial

More decisions in Cambridge

The authority’s record since 2016 · every decision in 2025

  1. Dismissed14 October 20266008906
    Land At The Rear Of 31 Neale Close, Cambridge, CB1 3LE
  2. Dismissed2 July 20266005302
    36 Peverel Road, Cambridge, CB5 8RH
  3. Dismissed14 April 20266002662
    1 Stanesfield Close, Cambridge, CB5 8NJ
  4. Dismissed19 March 20263373568
    122 Malvern Road, Cambridge, CB1 9LH
  5. Dismissed22 April 20253353657
    1 Daws Close, Cambridge, CB1 9LE

The main issues, what decided it, the planning balance and the policies and judgments listed as cited are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro and are our summary, not the Inspector’s words; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.

In the app this decision sits on the map beside every appeal around it, with its letter to read and the main issues, policies and judgments cited picked out.