Wenny Meadow is an area of land allocated for housing in the 2014 local plan, as part of the “East Chatteris” area. It forms part of the East Chatteris Broad Concept Plan. There is a live planning application proposing the construction of 93 houses on the Eastern side of the site.
Chatteris already has approval for 1,356 new houses. This represents 30% growth in the size of the town. Approval of the 350 houses proposed for East Chatteris would mean the town will grow by almost 40%.
Number of Chatteris Households in 2011
The 2011 census recorded 4,537 houses within Chatteris with a population of 10,453 people.
| Ward | Number of houses |
| Birch | 1,056 |
| Slade Lode | 1,148 |
| The Mills | 1,237 |
| Wenneye | 1,096 |
| TOTAL | 4,537 |
The Fenland Local Plan (2014)
The Fenland Local Plan, adopted in 2014, proposed the construction of 1,350 houses across two sites:
- East Chatteris (350 houses)
- South Chatteris (1,000 houses)
This represents a growth of 30% in the size of the town, compared with 2011 housing numbers. The plan was intended to cover the period from 2014 to the year 2031.
A detailed map showing the location of these sites is available here, with a more simplified version below:
The East Chatteris Broad Concept Plan (2017)
The East Chatteris Broad Concept Plan, produced in 2017, sets out how the 350 new houses will be built in the East Chatteris land allocation. You can view the full report and plan here (PDF document, 27.9MB).
The East Chatteris plan includes a number of different parcels of land with different owners, as demonstrated by the diagram below. Wenny Meadow is the area shaded in blue.
The East Chatteris Broad Concept Plan says the houses will be delivered in number of separate “character areas”. Each of these has a name, as shown on the map below. The areas “Parkside” and “The Spinney” will be built on the Eastern side of Wenny Meadow. About one third of the meadow will be retained as public open space.
The council has approved 1,356 houses since 2014
Since the 2014 local plan was adopted, Fenland District Council has approved 1,350 houses for construction within Chatteris. This is more houses than desired in the 2014 local plan, which set out the housing need from 2014 to the year 2031.
This has been achieved without the approval of any of the 350 houses proposed for the East Chatteris site, because the council has approved 356 houses in areas not allocated for housing within the local plan.
The approved developments are:
| Location | Number of houses | Planning Application |
| Womb Farm Between Tesco and Doddington Road | 248 | F/YR19/0834/O |
| West Street West and South of West Street | 58 | F/YR15/0512/O |
| South of Fairbairn Way Off London Road, South of Fairbairn Way | 50 | F/YR19/0152/O |
| Chatteris South (Tithe Barn) The Tithe Barn development to the South of Chatteris, between Cromwell Community College and London Road/Somersham Road | 1,000 | F/YR10/0804/O |
| TOTAL | 1,356 |
Only the 1,000 houses at Chatteris South (Tithe Barn) form part of the Local Plan allocation.
The 248 houses at Womb Farm are now under construction. The other sites have outline planning permission, with only reserved matters and discharge of conditions needing to be resolved before construction can commence.
The location of the four approved medium-sized developments is as follows:
If the 350 houses at East Chatteris are also approved, Chatteris will grow by 38% in comparison to the number of houses in 2011.
Application for 93 houses at Wenny Meadow
Plans were submitted for the first phase of the East Chatteris Broad Concept Plan development in August 2021. The application proposes 93 new houses on Wenny Meadow. This will be the first phase in the wider 350-house development.
You can view the plans in full on the Fenland District Council website, and you can find out more about Wenny Meadow here.
The applicant has submitted the following site layout:
An overlay of these plans with a Google Maps image of Wenny Meadow shows how this will look in practice:
The applicant proposes retaining some of the land for recreational use, and the retention of most of the trees. Many of the trees will be incorporated into the residential development. The developer will plant additional trees to replace those lost when road access is built.
Review of the Fenland Local Plan
The local plan is currently being reviewed. You can learn more about this on the Fenland District Council website. A draft version of this plan will be published for public consultation in June and July 2022.
An early version of the draft local plan shows Wenny Meadow and most of the East Chatteris site removed from the areas of land allocated from housing and places it outside of the “settlement boundary” – the line that shows where developed area of Chatteris should end.
The early version also proposes that the part of Wenny Meadow not previously considered for development should be protected as designated Local Green Space. The Parish Poll is asking about the entire area of Wenny Meadow (see below).
Proposed Local Green Space designation
The Parish Poll on Tuesday 7th June 2022 proposes that the entirety of Wenny Meadow is given Local Green Space designation. This area is depicted on the map below.
The Parish Poll says nothing about the wider East Chatteris Broad Concept Plan development, which would currently deliver about 250 houses.
You can find out more about Local Green Space designation here, and you can find out more about Wenny Meadow here.
