Land South Of St Neots Road Hardwick Cambridgeshire

1. 1.The application site lies outside the defined development framework of Hardwick and within the open countryside. The proposal would introduce residential development on an unallocated site beyond the village framework, resulting in an urbanising encroachment that would harm the rural character and appearance of the countryside and erode the settlement's established edge. No exceptional circumstances or site-specific justification have been demonstrated to support residential development in this countryside location. The proposal would therefore conflict with the spatial strategy of the development plan, which seeks to direct growth to sustainable locations, and would undermine the plan-led distribution of development. Accordingly, the proposal is contrary to Policies S2, S3, S4, S5 of the NPPF (2026) and the objectives for protecting the countryside and achieving sustainable patterns of development, and policies HQ/1 and NH/2 of the South Cambridgeshire Local Plan (2018).
2. 2.The application site lies outside the defined development framework of Hardwick and within the countryside. The proposal comprises residential development that has not been demonstrated to accord with the circumstances in which development outside settlements may be supported under Policy S5 of the NPPF (2026). In particular, the site has not been demonstrated to represent a sustainable location for development and there is no identified unmet housing need to justify the release of the site, having regard to the Council's ability to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply. The proposal would therefore constitute unjustified residential development in the countryside, contrary to the plan-led spatial strategy which directs development to sustainable locations. Accordingly, the proposal is contrary to Policies S/2, S/3 and S/6 of the South Cambridgeshire Local Plan 2018 and Policies S3, S4, S5 and L2 of the NPPF (2026).
3. 3.The proposal fails to successfully integrate surface water mitigation measures within the wider design, thus failing to demonstrate that potential onsite flooding can be adequately mitigated ensuring the development would be safe from flooding. Therefore, the proposal is contrary to policies CC/7, CC/8 and CC/9 of the Local Plan and policy CC3, and F7 of the NPPF (2026).

From the council's decision notice.

Application type

Outline Application

Scale / size

Large

Number of dwellings

138

Parish

Hardwick CP

District

South Cambridgeshire District Council

Date validated

30 March 2026

Consultation expiry

29 April 2026

Last date for comments

22 May 2026

Target decision date

29 June 2026

Agent

Savills (UK) Ltd

Agent address

Unex House 132-134 Hills Road Cambridge CB2 8PA

Statutory period

91 days

Last advertised

29 April 2026

Site notice start

30 April 2026

Documents

91