Cambridge is poised to welcome AstraZeneca, the UK’s second largest drug maker, when it brings 1,500 people and a £330m capital investment from Manchester to its new global headquarters in Cambridge Biomedical Campus.
This is the news that served as a backdrop for EG’s Cambridge Question Time debate on 27 February, when 150 property movers and shakers convened at the Howard Theatre in Cambridge University’s Downing College.
They were drawn in by a rare opportunity to hear AstraZeneca’s views on the city that is to become its home in 2016. The firm’s transition leader Andy Williams explained the attraction behind Cambridge.
“We recognise the next generation of drugs is going to require a much better understanding of science and we must collaborate with other companies and institutes for that, and Cambridge is definitely a recognised area of scientific excellence,” he said. Williams joined a heavyweight panel including Beverley Firth, partner, Mills & Reeve; Rob Hall, development director, Hill Residential; Tim Leathes, project director, Alconbury Weald, Urban & Civic; Rob Sadler, head of Cambridge office, Savills; and Jeanette Walker, project director Cambridge Biomedical Campus.
The panel identified Cambridge was becoming a victim of its own success, with a desperate need to tackle logistical problems such as congestion, lack of housing and insufficient infrastructure.
Hall said bureaucracy was slowing down development in the county’s satellite districts. “We’ve got something like 570 units in planning at the moment which we would start tomorrow but we know the planning system is a slow one,” he said.
“Also, we have to remember Cambridge is a medieval town and we’ve got strict planning guidelines in place to protect that. And while there will be new sustainable settlements out of town, they will continue to put pressure on transport links into the city of Cambridge. People will still want to pile into Cambridge.”
Meanwhile, Tim Leathes explained how the A14 upgrade could at least unlock development. “One of the biggest constraints to development is the infrastructure. Without news on the A14 there was a complete choke on the ability for large-scale developments to be planned because you simply could not plan ahead within the transport model. It just ground to a halt.”
The debate, held in association with Mills & Reeve and Savills, ended with the panel agreeing that London mayor Boris Johnson’s ‘Med City’ initiative would complement Cambridge’s R&D offering rather than threaten it.
Rebecca.Kent@estatesgazette.com
• Watch a video of the debate
• Watch interviews with the audience
• Listen to the debate in full
• Listen to an interview with Andy Williams, UK footprint transition team lead, AstraZeneca
• Find out more about EG’s Question Time debates
Rebecca.Kent@estatesgazette.com
