Tesco steps in to give Cambridgeshire eco-town longer shelf life » Housing » 24dash.com

A proposed eco-town in Cambridgeshire is back on track thanks to supermarket giant Tesco.

Hanley Grange, a new environmentally friendly community planned for South Cambridgeshire, is now set to proceed to the next stage of the Government’s consultation process after Jarrow Investments and Tesco confirmed that they were still exploring the scheme.

On Wednesday July 16, the Wellcome Trust announced that it was not going to proceed with the offer to become a partner in the Hanley Grange eco-town proposals.

Since then the Hanley Grange project team has examined the viability of an eco-town on the 264 hectares that is under the control of Jarrow Investments.

Having reviewed the scheme in the light of the Wellcome Trust decision a smaller, more compact new settlement is viable and can be delivered with the sustainable technologies needed to create an exemplar eco-town community.

The new Hanley Grange proposal will feature at least 6,500 homes, of which a significant number will be affordable, in order to respond to the extreme housing affordability pressures in the area.

Hanley Grange will help reduce the imbalance between jobs and homes to the south of Cambridge and provide further opportunities for expansion of the high technology cluster which surrounds the site and also nurture ‘eco-industries’ that will be vital for the future of the UK economy.

According to the developers, it will also be an exemplar in water management by significantly reducing consumption and setting new standards for cleaning and re-using waste water and replenishing the natural aquifer.

The project will enhance the ecologic resource of the water by creating wetlands and through the water treatment facilities it will provide opportunities for anaerobic digestion to capture energy.

Nick West, Project Director for Hanley Grange, said: “Although the Wellcome Trust’s decision is disappointing, the reduced size makes the proposals easier to design and deliver.

“With reduced housing numbers over a smaller site, we can now create an eco-town with sustainable densities that will deliver the environmentally friendly benefits of the original proposals while minimising the effects of the scheme on the surrounding communities.”

Nick Gellatly, Corporate Affairs Manager for Tesco, said: “We are delighted to be associated with such a groundbreaking and innovative project."