Urban&Civic acquires 6,500-home Waterbeach Barracks site

Urban&Civic, part of the Wellcome Trust, has purchased Waterbeach Barracks in Cambridgeshire from its development partner, the Ministry of Defence. Urban&Civic has been the MoD’s development partner at Waterbeach since 2014 and, together with the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, has been granted outline planning consent for a £3bn redevelopment of the site to provide new homes, schools, and sports and community facilities, as well as a haven for wildlife. The former airfield and barracks of the Royal Engineers will be delivered in stages over the next 20 years and will provide 6,500 new homes, five new schools, extensive on- and off-site cycle connections, public transport services and active travel schemes. The site will also provide a town centre with health centre, shops and services and a range of community facilities, including parks, play spaces and sports facilities, along with 250 acres of green space and 34 acres of ecology habitats that will provide a home for wildlife. The Waterbeach site is one of six development partnerships with the MoD across the UK, and it is the first of these partnership sites to be sold. The sale has been managed by the DIO through its Land Sale Delivery Partnerships. David Brewer, the DIO’s chief operating officer, said: “This is not just a disused MoD site, it is a place with a heart, a rich military and archaeological history, and strong links with the existing community of Waterbeach. We are proud that this will be remembered and commemorated through the innovative and thoughtful development to come, and that those links with the existing community will be reinvigorated.” Nigel Hugill, Urban&Civic chief executive, said: “The transformation of Waterbeach Barracks was grounded in belief and leadership. [This is] a major government department actively releasing brownfield land for new homes to maintain local momentum that both anticipates and facilitates world-beating economic growth in north Cambridge. In the process, realising significant funds for new investment. Properly joined-up thinking. “Urban&Civic will continue to nurture Waterbeach lovingly as a unique waterside community within enhanced and protected natural habitats, quite unlike any other place in Cambridgeshire. We look forward to continuing to build on the collective vision.” To send feedback, e-mail akanksha.soni@eg.co.uk or tweet @AkankshaEG or @EGPropertyNews Discover which agents have been most active in Cambridgeshire so far this year >> Photo © Urban&Civic