Waterbeach Barracks & Airfield Project

Wildflower Turf Ltd is recognised as the leading organisation in the UK for those seeking knowledge or products to develop wildflower spaces. As such, our expertise is often called upon in a consulting capacity and, in our spring newsletter, we wanted to share one of our latest projects with you.

We have been working with Landscape Architect, Bradley Murphy Design Limited (BMD), since last autumn on a project centred around the redevelopment of a former airfield and barracks site at Waterbeach in Cambridgeshire.

The project has its inception as far back as 2014 when property development company Urban & Civic Plc was appointed to redevelop the 290-hectare site. The project will see a new town (with an estimated population of 25,000 people) established in conjunction with a sustainable transport infrastructure, while also conserving and enhancing the inherited natural assets of the site to ensure that nature and wildlife thrive. BMD was commissioned to provide a combined landscape architectural and ecological service to this extensive project.

The airfield and barracks is an entirely brownfield site located on the northern edge of the historic village of Waterbeach. It has excellent transport links and lies just three miles from the Cambridge Science and Business Parks; it is this location that will provide the setting for a modern, connected and highly sustainable location to live and work.

Waterbeach (Photo courtesy of Bradley Murphy Design)

Sitting at the meeting point between the Western Claylands and Fenlands landscape character areas, the site is a gateway to the fens. With a man-made lake at its heart, extensive areas of existing grassland and woodland plantations combine to form a rich ecological jewel.

Wildflower Turf Ltd’s role has been to determine the best species and products for the planting schemes on-site to cater for the differing requirements of both humans and wildlife!

The final scheme will incorporate a wide range of our products from SuD’s Turf to Meadowscape Pro™ and Wildflower Turf® across a range of locations on the Masterplan; from retention ponds to mounded features and flatter meadow spaces. Some bespoke species and bulbs are also likely to be added to the specifications. It will be several years until this landscape is finally planted up but we are very much looking forward to sharing the final result with you.