TWI Campus at Granta Park in Great Abington near Haverhill will be improved and expanded after the proposal was approved

The revamp and redevelopment of a number of ‘outdated’ laboratory buildings has been given the go ahead, despite concerns about the impact of the tall new buildings in a rural area.

TWI (The Welding Institute) Limited, a research and technology organisation, asked for permission to redevelop and repurpose its buildings at Granta Park in Great Abington, 11 miles from Haverhill.

The company put forward plans to demolish four of its existing buildings, replacing them with four new buildings, and refurbishing five others to improve their sustainability.

At a meeting of South Cambridgeshire District Council’s (SCDC) planning committee on October 11, Justin Bainton, a representative of TWI, said: “The campus features a number of buildings that are outdated, inefficient and no longer fit for purpose.

“This outline application will enable TWI to repurpose and redevelop the estate to meet their changing requirements, to provide new lab and science accommodation to which there is significant need, together with providing a platform to meet their ambitious sustainability agenda with the wider aim of being carbon neutral by 2035.

“Fundamentally, TWI cannot afford to carry inefficient dead space which will fundamentally compromise the efficiency of their operations and ultimately the sustainability of their business.”

Concerns about the redevelopment were raised by Great Abington and Little Abington Parish Councils.

Cllr Tony Orgee, chair of Great Abington PC said the need to replace older buildings was understood but the new buildings needed to take into account the rural location.

He highlighted in particular the proposed five-storey building, telling the meeting if it was built it would be the tallest building on the wider Granta Park site at 26.5metres high.

Cllr Orgee said there were also concerns about the need to cut down some of the mature trees on the site as part of the redevelopment work.

Cllr Heather Williams said the redevelopment was needed in terms of creating the improved laboratory space and providing more environmentally friendly buildings.

She did not think though, that the proposals created the right balance between the benefits and the impact on the local area of the larger buildings.

She said: “For me I feel there is still work to be done here to make sure we have got the best out of this.”

Councillor Anna Bradnam said she recognised the new buildings would be “prominent”, but said the ground level where the buildings would be built dips “quite significantly”.

She also said she thought the modernised buildings would improve the impact on the neighbouring heritage buildings.

However, Cllr Bradnam highlighted that a number of trees were proposed to be cut down, and suggested TWI could set aside a piece of land elsewhere where new trees could be planted and would not be disturbed in the future.

Cllr Peter Fane said he did not think the impact on the surrounding area was sufficient enough to justify refusing the application.

When the decision was put to a vote eight councillors voted to approve the application, with one voting against.

As an outline application more detailed plans will need to be submitted and approved by the district council.