Plans to build a new retirement community on the edge of Comberton have been rejected after one councillor referred to it as creating a “senior ghetto”. Concerns were shared about the impact hundreds of older people moving to the village would have on the GP surgery and other health services.
The proposal to build the development on the edge of the village was also branded as “inappropriate” with concern raised as to how people would access services. However, the developer argued their plans would meet a “significant need for older person housing” and provide “once in a generation” investment into Comberton.
Plans were submitted to South Cambridgeshire District Council by Endurance Estates (Comberton) Ltd to build the new retirement community on land off Branch Road. The developer proposed to create 200 extra care units alongside a range of other facilities, such as a cafe, restaurant, meeting/activity space, treatment rooms, clinical treatment space, a gym, swimming pool, and fitness studio, which they said would also be open to the rest of the village.
Ellen Pearce, a representative of the developer, told councillors at a planning committee meeting this week (January 15), that there is a “significant need for older person housing” both nationally and in the district. She claimed there are “very limited housing options” for older people in the area, which she said could lead to people staying in an unsuitable home, going into a care home, or facing having to move away from their community. Ms Pearce said: “This proposal addresses these issues, providing an attractive alternative to your residents.”
Ms Pearce recognised they were proposing to build the new retirement community in the green belt, but argued the benefits of the development represented the special circumstances needed to go ahead. She highlighted the plans for a clinical room on site, which she said would be offered to the GP surgery, although admitted no agreement on this had yet been reached.
Ms Pearce also said the developer would provide over £2million of investment in the area through Section 106 contributions, which she said could deliver “once in a generation improvements to Comberton”. However, a number of objections were raised about the plans, both by people in the area, the GP surgery, and officers at the district council.
The GP surgery objected to the development highlighting that it is already at capacity. The housing strategy officer objected claiming the development did not meet the specific needs of Comberton. They also said it would create an “over concentration of older people within a small village”, rather than creating more places for older people to live across the whole district.
Councillor Jessica Marshall, from Comberton Parish Council, told the committee that the parish council had concerns about the impact of the development on the GP surgery. She also criticised the design of the proposed development stating it was “very urban in nature”.
Claire Michel, from Comberton, told councillors that she was concerned about the ability of the sewage network in the area to cope with the proposed development. She claimed sewage already overflowed from manhole covers after heavy rainfall and shared fears the development would “worsen this situation”. The developer representative highlighted that Anglian Water had said there is capacity in the sewage network for the proposed development.
‘This is not the right provision in the right place’
Councillor Heather Williams said she had never seen so many objections to a development from such a broad spectrum. She said there is a need for supported housing for older people, but said this was needed in a “variety of places” rather than concentrated in one place.
Councillor Peter Sandford said they should not be trying to ‘dump’ everyone in one village. He said: “According to Google the current population of Comberton is 2,200 and a significant number of those are already over 65. Add another 300 seniors and you are talking about a village that is 30, 40 per cent over 65, it’s creating a senior ghetto.
“I think we know the facilities in Comberton, public transport, buses are pretty erratic, there is a village shop, but it is a long way from the site. That is before we even look at the harm to the green belt. This is an inappropriate application in the wrong place. We definitely need to be looking at smaller facilities closer to the villages around the district, not dumping everyone onto one smallish village, that is not the way to go.”
Councillor Anna Bradnam said she also believed the supported housing should be “dispersed across the district” rather than being focused in one location. Councillor Dr Martin Cahn raised concerns that the development was proposed to be built on the very edge of the village. He said people living there would have to rely on driving to access services as the development was “not well integrated” into the village.
Councillor Dr Tumi Hawkins also raised this issue and said the development was proposing to put “hundreds of people with significant needs on the edge of a village”. She said she did not think the proposed clinical space put forward by the developer would be enough to “meet the significant health needs of people in that age group”. Cllr Hawkins said: “This is not the right provision in the right place.”
When a decision was put to a vote the councillors agreed unanimously to reject the application.