r/Ely • u/GullibleFortune4879 • Aug 29 '26
Discussion Has anyone seen/commented on the Ely North 1,607-home planning proposal?
Has anyone noticed the next stage of the Ely North Development (1,607 homes on Highflyer Farm, off Lynn Road) has submitted planning permission? It feels eerily quiet given the scale of it and the impact it'll have on roads, schools, parking, GP capacity etc.
I'm not on Facebook, so I don't know if it's being discussed there. Anyone able to share what people are saying, if anything? Also curious what people think about the proposal? I know its in the Local Plan.
I'm planning to object because it just feels like more homes and more pressure, without infrastructure. Not to mention that the homes themselves aren't affordable for local jobs :(
Plans for up to 1,600 homes on Highflyer Farm in Ely | Ely Standard
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u/camlefty Sep 02 '26
Thanks for this. I am going to make a comment in support, because the nimbys are typically the only ones who comment on these things. We desperately need more houses in this part of the country. We also desperately need that reservoir to start construction yesterday - absolutely insane that it's taking so long!
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u/GullibleFortune4879 Sep 02 '26
Thanks. Can you share more about the reservoir? I haven't noticed anything about it.
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u/camlefty Sep 02 '26
Of course! There's a timeline on the project website (https://fensreservoir.co.uk/the-project/work-to-date/ or https://fensreservoir.co.uk/documents). The site was identified in 2022, construction is expected to begin in 2029 (SEVEN years of consultation and planning!), and it's planned to come online by 2036 (at the earliest). All for something that's massively needed, but building anything in this country seems to take ten times longer (and at ten times the cost) than it needs to.
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u/GullibleFortune4879 Sep 02 '26
Oh interesting. I hadn't seen this before - possibly because it's up near Chatteris. Thanks for taking the time to share and giving these extra details. It's a fascinating project.
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u/PeakAdaequatus Sep 03 '26
I am largely in support of the proposals, but I do have concerns, namely that Ely needs another public Secondary School. These houses are targeted at families and the kids in those families will eventually all be piling in to Ely College, or be forced to cross the city to go to Witcham, or go to Littleport, which has also been exploding in growth of late.
North Ely is also in desperate need of a large grocery store, which I suspect is likely to be a Lidl located opposite the Linden estate, since that was what was stated in the masterplan and Lidl have already stated they are keen to move in to Ely. But I don't believe there are concrete plans for this yet.
I also share infrastructure problems, and don't get me started on that ridiculous proposal for a distribution centre down Angel Drove. If all these plans go through Ely and the A10 will be gridlocked 10 hours a day.
I think if they can address these concerns alongside the development then it should be a big boost to the city.
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u/habbinclapper Aug 29 '26
Is this the phase that includes the shop and community space in the development north of Cam Drive?
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u/Forward-Article7035 Aug 30 '26
I think that was phase one where they had to build the ship and community space. Which might be a care home now apparently.
I feel the same, Ely doesn’t have the infrastructure to accommodate 1600 more houses.
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u/PeakAdaequatus Sep 03 '26
only the 'pub' is going to be a care home, the shop and rental spaces are still planned. This is in spite of the fact that Linden had a care home as part of their plan as well, as a result Linden have now changed their care home to be more housing, though I think that housing is largely single-storey so possibly aimed more at over 65s.
Ely definitely needs better infrastructure to support the northern growth, there's nothing up here yet except Isle of Ely school, which has been doing a decent job at being a kid-focussed community space outside of school hours.
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u/GullibleFortune4879 Aug 29 '26
This is a new proposal for an additional 1600 houses on top of what has already been approved.
I believe a shop is included in the proposal, but as we've seen in the previous Ely North developments this can easily be reneged after approval is granted: https://www.cambridgeindependent.co.uk/news/pub-shelved-from-1-200-home-development-plans-as-councillors-9401860/
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u/resdresdresd Aug 29 '26
It's part of the same overall scheme, but I guess this is specifically talking about the new bit that's been approved from north of the hospital up to Chettisham: https://www.highflyerfarmnorth.co.uk/#proposals
The overall development of that section does include an area for shops plus a school, but I guess technically that belongs to the previous phase (even if they haven't started on them yet, AFAIK)
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u/GullibleFortune4879 Aug 29 '26
These 1600 houses haven't been approved yet, they are additional.
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u/resdresdresd Aug 29 '26
Slight mistake on my side, apologies, but other than saying that's it's been approved everything that I said is correct.
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u/GullibleFortune4879 Aug 29 '26
I might be wrong, but I don't see proposals for a school, community centre or shop in this new application.
That may have already been approved as part of a different application.
I think "Ely North" is a bit confusing because there are multiple phases. Some have already been built, others have planning permission but not built yet, and this proposal is additional - it hasn't received planning permission yet and is open for public comment.
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u/resdresdresd Aug 29 '26
You can see it on here: https://www.highflyerfarmnorth.co.uk/#proposals
Right at the north end of the current High Flyer project is a primary school and "Local Centre" (i.e shops and small businesses).
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u/GullibleFortune4879 Aug 29 '26
Yes, and I think that part (school, local centre) has already been approved. Whereas 26/00753/ESO is a new proposal.
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u/Eastern-Move549 Aug 29 '26
I live near this and they have already started building?
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u/GullibleFortune4879 Aug 29 '26
This proposal is for an additional 1600 homes, that haven't been approved/started building yet.
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u/resdresdresd Aug 29 '26
I'm planning to object because it just feels like more homes and more pressure, without infrastructure
Part of the plans includes a new primary school, and shops. The hospital is already undergoing some extensions to make it so that they can do more diagnostics there, and I believe they want to expand it further, but are yet to secure that funding.
So genuine question - what extra infrastructure would make you happy with this development?
Not to mention that the homes themselves aren't affordable for local jobs :(
The only information that I know about this is the applications, which early applications gave some percentage of "affordable homes", but the more recent things that I've seen just suggests a mixture including affordable homes.
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u/rock-valley-7 Aug 30 '26
So genuine question - what extra infrastructure would make you happy with this development?
I think the biggest infrastructure concern for all of us should be water. The Environment Agency repeatedly objects to new development along the Ely-Cambridge corridor on the grounds that there is not enough water to go around. Naturally, this is almost always ignored and overridden by approving authorities. The chalk aquifer that provides us with drinking water is being over-extracted as it is, and climate change is reliably putting us into drought every year. The Fenland Reservoir is a new water infrastructure project to improve our water security but that has 2030 as its target start date (that's start of construction, not of operation). This new development is not in isolation, it will follow huge development (and ensuing population growth) already underway in Ely, not to mention the Waterbeach New Town which will also partially rely on water from the same already-over-extracted sources.
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u/Forward-Article7035 Aug 30 '26
Don’t forget about waste water recycling. All these new houses will generate waste water and water companies have a limited capacity to treat it before being released back into the environment.
Schools, roads, hospitals - in no particular order. Cathedral medical centre became all online. My wife gets messages now even when she said she wants a face to face appointment.
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u/GullibleFortune4879 Aug 29 '26
This is my own personal feeling, but I expect most people buying the homes will work in Cambridge or even London, given the price, which means more commuting traffic by road and rail.
The roads in town are congested, parking is a nightmare especially on the weekends with parking overflowing into residential areas. Parking at the train station is difficult already.
GP and dentist capacity is stretched.
Previously promised pubs and restaurants haven't materialised in Ely North, so I'm not convinced the shop and community centre will be delivered. This will put more pressure on the roads into town as people drive to pick up milk etc
Delivering this city-level infrastructure would make me much happier, but is that feasible?
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u/Project_Life_Pursuit Sep 08 '26
Ely College seems to already be close to capacity. They seem to be keeping up with demand for primary schools, but we're going to desperately need more capacity at secondary level soon.
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Sep 01 '26
[deleted]
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u/GullibleFortune4879 Sep 01 '26
This was written last year by a local councillor, and it gives an interesting perspective: https://alisonwhelan-vpnmt.wordpress.com/2025/10/04/highflyer-farm-north/
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u/jjalonso Aug 29 '26
Ely need a a&e atleast covering broken bones, baby issues, blood pressures episodes, vomits and nauseas, etc... etc at night going to Cambridge is crazy. We being there every 2 months