Approval for a mixed use community at Soham Eastern Gateway East Cambridgeshire
silhouette black man survey and civil engineer stand on ground working in a land building site over Blurred construction worker on construction site.
Client
This Land
Sector
Planning & Development
Location
East Cambridgeshire
How we helped
Planning consultancy
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Get in touch
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Richard Seamark
Partner, Planning & Development
01223 346634 Email me About Richard
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John Mason
Associate, Planning & Development
01223 326552 Email me About John
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I am a chartered Associate with Carter Jonas based in their Cambridge office. I work with clients across East Anglia on preparing and managing planning applications; providing planning advice in respect of a range of sites, types of development and uses; and negotiating with external consultants and local authorities on behalf of clients. I have an academic background in Geography, Urban Studies and Planning, with masters degrees from the University of Cambridge and the University of Vienna. I am a member of the Young RTPI Committee and the RTPI Regional Management Board for the East of England.
CGI depicition of greenfield site on the eastern edge of Soham in Cambridgeshire
CGI depicition of greenfield site on the eastern edge of Soham in Cambridgeshire
CGI depicition of greenfield site on the eastern edge of Soham in Cambridgeshire

Carter Jonas’ Eastern Region Planning and Development Team secured resolution to grant outline planning permission for This Land Ltd., at East Cambridgeshire District Council’s planning committee, for a 22ha greenfield site on the eastern edge of Soham in Cambridgeshire.

Soham Eastern Gateway will support the revitalised town centre of Soham, one of the largest and fastest growing market towns in the area, and will deliver significant economic, social and environmental benefits.

It will comprise of 540 new homes (incl. 108 affordable and 27 self-build), a mixed-use neighbourhood hub for a new medical centre, pharmacy, children’s nursery, local convenience shop, and other potential uses such as office workspace.

It will provide 6.3 hectares of public open space, linking two protected commons, biodiversity net gain, and will enable improved surfacing to existing public rights of way and create new footpaths, cycleways and bridleways in and around the town.

Development will support an estimated 130 construction jobs and 87 new full-time jobs, £337k on local road improvements, and multi-million pound contributions to fund local infrastructure and facilities. Residents of the new homes are expected to generate £1.7m/annum spend for the local economy.

Our P&D Team was originally involved in securing the allocation of the land in the East Cambridgeshire Local Plan 2015 on behalf of a separate landowner, before embarking on the preparation and submission of the planning application in 2019.

The outcome is testament to the perseverance and tenacity of This Land who have throughout a long and challenging process, worked with local stakeholders to understand concerns and negotiate solutions. In particular, the relationship built with the local medical centre to respond to the chronic shortage of suitable accommodation on their existing premises, by providing a site for a new and enlarged purpose-built facility that will benefit the town and the surrounding villages within its catchment. A parallel detailed planning application for this was approved at the same committee.

Carter Jonas led the planning and EIA process throughout the course of the application, working alongside This Land and technical project team.

Carter Jonas’ Planning and Development Team were exceptional in delivering the Soham Eastern Gateway planning application to a successful committee resolution on 13 August 2024. Richard Seamark has worked tirelessly for over 5 years to coordinate a team of consultants, planning officers from East Cambs and local stakeholders on this flagship scheme that will deliver much needed community benefits for Soham and the surrounding villages. This Land are very pleased with the result that Carter Jonas have delivered.
Tom Kershaw, This Land