Cambridge Rugby Union Club Grantchester Road Newnham Cambridge Cambridgeshire CB3 9ED
Refused on 16 April 2026
Council decision: Refused PermissionDelegated (officer decision)3 reasons for refusal
Boundary © HM Land Registry, © Ordnance Survey · details
This information is subject to Crown copyright and database rights 2026 and is reproduced with the permission of HM Land Registry. The polygons (including the associated geometry, namely x, y co-ordinates) are subject to Crown copyright and database rights 2026 Ordnance Survey AC0000851063. Conditions of use.
Proposal
Erection of 4 no. Electric Vehicle (EV) car chargers on existing car park area together with DC master unit. Chargers to be connected via underground cables to main clubhouse building alongside a transformer and a photovoltaic inverter box.
- Received
- 27 October 2025
- Decision level
- Delegated (officer decision)
- Council
- Cambridge City Council
- Ward
- Newnham
- ReceivedReceived27 Oct
- ValidatedValidated21 Nov
- Consult.Consultation24 Dec
- TargetTarget Date16 Jan
- DecidedDecided16 Apr
Decided in 146 days (council typically 49)
About this application
This is a full planning application for a new dwelling at Cambridge Rugby Union Club Grantchester Road Newnham Cambridge Cambridgeshire CB3 9ED. Cambridge has handled 1,534 applications of this type. This one was decided in 171 days, 17 weeks longer than Cambridge's typical decision time. There are no previous applications recorded at this address. In the past year there have been 188 applications across Newnham. We hold 690 applications in total for the CB3 postcode area.
90% of full applications at Cambridge City Council were approved. Across all application types, the council typically decides in about 7 weeks (median).
Based on decided applications received in the last 3 years.Planning something similar? See what gets approved on your street
Why it was refused
- The proposed development would be located close to protected trees (1 x cherry and 3 x maples protected under Tree Preservation Order TPO 14/2007) and the proposed underground cabling would run within the root protection areas of these protected trees. No arboricultural information has been provided to ensure the proposed cabling routing does not impact the rooting areas of these trees. On this basis, the proposed development would have an adverse impact on protected trees, contrary to Policy 71 of the Local Plan 2018.
- Whilst images of the battery storage unit have been provided, no actual dimensions have been submitted with the application nor has one specific location been identified. As a result, the Local Planning Authority cannot properly assess the scale, appearance, or potential impact of this element of the proposal, particularly in relation to the openness of the Green Belt. In the absence of such essential information, the proposal fails to demonstrate that the battery storage infrastructure would preserve the openness of the Green Belt or avoid harm to its character and purposes. The development therefore conflicts with Paragraph 154(h) of the National Planning Policy Framework (2024).
- The dimensions of the battery storage unit, including its height and depth have not been submitted for consideration. On the basis of the current information, given the ambiguity and lack of precision regarding the information provided, the proposed development would on account of its siting, height and bulk add to the visual clutter of the area and have an adverse impact upon the character and appearance of the local area, contrary to polices 55, 56 and 59 of the Cambridge Local Plan (2018) and Policy SNNP11 of the South Newnham Neighbourhood Plan 2025.
From the council's decision notice.
Application details
- Postcode
- CB3 9ED
- Application type
- Full Application
- Scale / size
- Small
- District
- Cambridge City Council
Planning application dates
- Date validated
- 21 November 2025
- Last date for comments
- 24 December 2025
- Target decision date
- 16 January 2026
Applicant and agent
- Agent address
- Carter Jonas Llp One Station Square Cambridge CB1 2GA
Planning decision
- Statutory period
- 56 days
Publicity
- Site notice start
- 3 December 2025
Additional information
- Documents
- 42
Site constraints
Designations that overlap or adjoin the site outline.
- Flood zone 3: High probability (rivers and sea)Part of the site
- Tree Preservation Order: Ref 14/2007Part of the site · +1 more
- Green belt: CambridgePart of the site
Also checked, none recorded (22)
flood storage areas, conservation areas, listed buildings, Article 4 directions, scheduled monuments, World Heritage Sites, World Heritage Site buffer zones, registered parks and gardens, registered battlefields, Heritage at Risk entries, nutrient neutrality catchments, national parks, National Landscapes, SSSIs, Special Areas of Conservation, Special Protection Areas, Ramsar sites, ancient woodland, national nature reserves, local nature reserves, heritage coasts and brownfield registers.
A guide only, from official open data; it is not a planning search. Flood zones cover rivers and sea, not surface water.
Data © Crown copyright and others · sources and licences
Contains public sector information from planning.data.gov.uk (MHCLG and local planning authorities), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright and database right 2026.
© Historic England 2026. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. The Historic England GIS Data contained in this material was obtained on 2026-11-03. The most publicly available up to date Historic England GIS Data can be obtained from HistoricEngland.org.uk.
© Natural England copyright. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.
© Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2026. All rights reserved. Flood Map for Planning, Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.
Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.
Source: Cambridge
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