The ‘odour zone’ around the city’s sewage treatment site is putting a cap on how many houses can be built in the redevelopment plans for Cambridge Business Park, councillors were told.
Roughly 70 percent of the business park near Milton Road falls inside this zone, which limits residential construction.
There had been approval to move the Cambridge Waste Water Treatment Plant to a new spot north of the A14 between Horningsea and Fen Ditton, called Honey Hill, which would have freed up the current location for development.
However, that project hit a snag when government funding was pulled because costs shot up beyond estimates.
Last Wednesday (17 December), councillors from both Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council learned that this delay is affecting plans for Cambridge Business Park.
The Crown Estate owns the site and wants to redevelop it with new office spaces and labs aimed at startups and established companies, plus homes, leisure spots, and cultural venues, as reported by the Cambridge Independent.
An outline planning application is expected in spring 2026.
Matt Sampson, who leads the project as director at The Crown Estate, told councillors he remains “still hopeful” that eventually they’ll relocate the sewage works but with all this “uncertainty”, there’s a “greater responsibility” to create some real place-making along with parts of a district centre to achieve shared goals for this wider area.
The Crown Estate reps explained how this odour zone restricts where homes can go but said they’ve come up with a plan that should be ready to go from day one.
Outside of that odour zone, they’re proposing a co-living building with around 200-250 bedrooms right near Milton Road’s edge – something meant to serve as “the gateway to the site”.
Around another 190-210 homes could be built elsewhere on-site but still outside that smelly zone.
An example rendering showing what Park Edge might look like at Cambridge Business Park. Picture: Studio Egret West
The team said if things change regarding those odour restrictions, they have options lined up for more homes – several plots within that zone could switch from workspace to housing.
If those environmental hurdles go away completely, developers say as many as 500 homes might be possible on site.
Cllr Martin Smart (Labour, King’s Hedges) pointed out that currently parts of Milton and north Cambridge fall inside this odour zone too.
He asked if cutting down on home numbers was just due to convenience since maybe mitigations would allow more housing eventually.
The developers made clear they’d been told no homes can go inside that odour zone right now.
A conceptual image showing what a mixed-use neighbourhood might be like in part of Cambridge Business Park. Picture: Studio Egret West
Cllr Dr Martin Cahn (Lib Dem, Histon and Impington) asked whether these odour limits would affect whether commercial buildings there are viable or not.
Mr Sampson replied it’s definitely an issue now but The Crown Estate feels confident it will still appeal to buyers or renters in future markets.
Cllr Katie Porrer (Lib Dem, Market) understood why no houses are allowed inside that smelly area but said she “struggled to see the design rationale” behind putting a tall co-living building – around fifteen stories high – right on one edge of site.
She also worried fewer homes might mean areas feel empty after dark – places people won’t want to walk through much then.”An example picture showing what Testbed area looks like within Cambridge Business Park. Picture: Studio Egret West
She urged them to be clear about CCTV coverage plans plus sightlines too – basically ways they’d encourage people actually use these spaces safely.
Mr Sampson admitted keeping things safe will be tricky but stressed their hope is shops, restaurants, and community spaces will bring folks out onto site more often.
When concerns about building height came up, the team mentioned survey results where 68% of respondents supported having different heights among buildings while 82% liked idea of creating some kind of landmark tower.
Cllr Dr Tumi Hawkins (Lib Dem, Caldecote) pointed out supporting varied heights doesn’t necessarily mean folks back building something fifteen stories tall exactly.
Mr Sampson said they’ll take all feedback into account.
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