Whittlesey - Proposed Developments

Proposed Developments

In July 2009, a new housing development, to be situated between Whittlesey and the nearby village of Eastrea, was proposed. As well as approximately 500 homes, the plans included a nursing home and other amentities. Developers held a meeting at which local residents expressed concerns about the development's possible adverse impact on Whittlesey's infrastructure. Despite this, in April 2011, Fenland District Council granted outline planning permission for the site. The updated plans involved around 460 houses, a 70-bed care home, a local centre and public open space, as well as necessary amendments to the adjacent A605. The council received eight letters of objection from angry residents concerned about the traffic the estate would bring. After the plans were approved, local counciller Martin Curtis also expressed this view, saying that he felt that "the traffic situation had not been taken into account." Planning director Richard Edwards defended the decision by saying, "It will bring new homes which are needed in the area."

Also in April 2011, supermarket giant Tesco submitted plans to build a new store, around a year after their plans to build one in the centre of the town were rejected. The new plans, like the housing development, involved land off Eastrea Road. If allowed, planners said that it would create up to 200 jobs.

In July of the same year, plans were unveiled to build a retail park, Sainsbury's supermarket and 54 acre country park in Whittlesey, adjacent to the prospective Tesco site and across the road from the area earmarked for new housing. A pub and restaurant chain expressed interest in opening at the site too. The company behind the plans, Whiteacre Management, hoped that the complex would bring around 300 jobs. Mayor Derek Stebbing liked the idea of the park - which would border Whittlesey's existing nature reserves - but felt two supermarkets were not needed. The decision between the two was deferred in May 2012, and it was not until the 29th of August that councillors opted for Sainsbury's plans and refused Tesco's.