Campaigning for a neighbourly Beehive
We believe in a development that respects our community, our homes, the climate, open spaces and our cityscape.
Take action today:
Learn more about our concerns by reading and sharing this website.
Stand with us on social media.
Read our blog.
Together, we can make a difference. Thank you.
Current status of the application
Statement following the appeal for the Beehive site as a result of the decision by Railpen to lobby the government, July 2025
The Better Beehive Cambridge Group attended the public inquiry and formally shared our concerns, including, but not limited to, loss of residential amenity.
We were taken aback when the council and developer reached an agreement to recommend passing the illustrative height as opposed to the maximum height. We strongly expressed our concern about the lack of detail on the heights and took every opportunity following this news, to state that harm is harm.
We now await the Planning Inspector’s report and decision by the Secretary of State’s department in a few months. The finer details of scale and height will be agreed at reserved matters planning application. Please do keep in touch with us, follow our blog and find us here on Facebook, as we’ll need your support in the months to come.
We close by extending an enormous thanks to everyone who wrote to the planning portal. Without your support, these plans may have been passed on the original enormous scale and this site would have set a precedent for our city and beyond. Many of the points raised showed a lack of awareness about the area by the developers about the people who live here and how much we value our homes and sense of place. To get any reduction is a positive outcomeWith best wishes, ‘a small but vocal group of residents’
Read more on our blog
“We consider that the proposed development, despite changes from 2021 proposals, represents a massive over-development of the site that is surrounded by two-storey residential neighbourhoods.”
— Sarah Nicholas, Cambridge Past, Present and Future (from Cambridge Independent, 11/8/23).
Timeline 2025
Feb 12th 2025 At the Planning Committee meeting on 12 Feb 2025, those attending found out that Railpen lobbied the Secretary of State to get their plans called-in. Despite this, the plans were debated in full, and we shared our concerns in objection. The Planning Committee unanimously were minded to refuse on the grounds of ‘loss of residential amenity’ as concluded by the case officers. You can read about the concerns over loss of daylight and sunlight in this correspondence.
Feb 27th 2025 The Neighbour Appeal Notification Letter was posted from the case officers to parties who commented. You can find this letter on the Greater Cambridge Planning Portal. It explains the process after RailPen lobbied the Goverment to call this application in. Read our press release in response to the events of 12 February, 2025
March 2025 Silverwood Close and St Matthew’s Gardens residents are helping surveyors from Railpen and GCSP with detailed measurements inside their homes and gardens.
12th March 2025 The Freedom of Information request is responded to.
26 March 2025 We attended a forum held by The Cambridge Room and met with people experienced in planning from Cambridge and beyond. We thank them for their facilitation of this event.
1st April 2025 We submit our report to the Planning Inspectorate.