New homes at former prisoner of war camp refused

Plans to build 102 new homes at a former prisoner of war camp have been refused as the site was considered to be "in the wrong place" to be sustainable.

The camp off March Road in Friday Bridge, Cambridgeshire, was used to house prisoners of war in the 1940s and was later converted into temporary accommodation for agricultural workers.

WMS Recruitment Ltd, which owns Fridaybridge Agricultural Camp, wanted to build the new homes as there were no longer enough workers to make the current camp a viable business option.

However, Fenland District Council said the plans were in an "unsustainable location with inadequate infrastructure to support safe and sustainable travel".

Gareth Edwards, representing the site owners, said the company was looking at new options due to the declining number of workers staying there since Brexit.

"The camp has the capacity for over 300 people to reside, and prior to Brexit, this was being achieved," he told a council planning meeting, external on Wednesday.

"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 accommodation blocks used at the moment for workers were built in the 1990s, and most of the original prisoner of war camp buildings had "fallen into various stages of disrepair", he said.

An application made to Historic England to list the site had been rejected due to the "[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, councillors rejected the housing plan, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

They said not only was the site "significantly separated" from the rest of the village of Friday Bridge, but the plans would "cause significant harm" to the character of the area and the countryside, as well as "significant harm to a non-designated heritage asset".

Conservative Ian Benney said the development was proposed "in the wrong place".

He added 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."

The application was unanimously rejected.

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