Plans refused for 102 homes on former POW camp in Friday Bridge

Councillors have refused to grant permission for more than 100 new homes to be built on the site of a former prisoner of war camp.

The plans were branded as “extremely poor” by one councillor, while another said the site was the “wrong place” to build new homes.

The camp off March Road in Friday Bridge was used to house prisoners of war in the 1940s.

It was later converted into temporary accommodation for agricultural workers.

WMS Recruitment, which owns Fridaybridge Agricultural Camp, put forward plans to redevelop the site to build 102 homes, alongside a new community building/museum.

Gareth Edwards, a representative of the company, told councillors at a Fenland District Council planning meeting on Wednesday that the owners are looking at new options for the site due to declining numbers of workers staying there since Brexit.

He said: “We actually started the process in 2018 with a meeting with the then head of planning and the ward councillor.

“WMS were concerned with what the effect of Brexit would have on the camp and its numbers.

“It was agreed the site is residential in form, and the principle of residential development on a brownfield site was the most obvious long-term solution.

“The camp has the capacity for over 300 people to reside and prior to Brexit this was being achieved.

“However, at present it is running with between 100 and 150, which does increase slightly as the season goes on, but to break even, they need around 200 people.

“The majority of the people there at present are through the six-month visa agricultural workers scheme, which WMS have a year left on this agreement.”

Mr Edwards said the accommodation blocks used at the moment for workers were built in the 1990s, and said most of the original prisoner of war camp buildings that are left have “fallen into various stages of disrepair”.

He explained that an application had been made to Historic England to list the site, but said this had been rejected “due to [the camp’s] lack of completeness”.

Mr Edwards said: “WMS need to look at all options as the camp is now holding the company back and as a labour provider, they are having to look elsewhere.”

However, planning officers had recommended that the development should be refused.

Officers said the new homes would be “significantly separated” from the village of Friday Bridge, and would be built in an “unsustainable location with inadequate infrastructure to support safe and sustainable travel”.

They added that the development would “cause significant harm” to the character of the area and the countryside, as well as “significant harm to a non-designated heritage asset”.

Officers explained that 48 hours before the committee meeting, new information had been submitted suggesting all of the 102 homes would be made available as affordable housing.

However, they said the information had been submitted too late for it to be considered.

Councillor Ian Benney said the development was proposed “in the wrong place”.

He said the council was not there to “prop businesses up” and said: “They need to look at their own business model and not come to us with housing in the wrong place.”

Councillor David Connor said he could “not see anything right” with the application and said it was “extremely poor”.

The committee agreed unanimously to refuse permission for the plans.