The University of Cambridge's investment in creating a strong sense of place at the North West Cambridge Development reached a milestone today as proposals for the local centre and landscaping along the Western Edge of the site were approved by the local planning authorities.

Significant amounts of landscaped green open space along the Western Edge, adjacent to the M11, will see extensive planting, pathways and a series of swales and lagoons integrated to create a soft landscape as an amenity for the public to enjoy.

The Western Edge, designed by Aecom, will be the repository for rainwater in the local area and will contribute to the development's sustainability ambitions, as well as playing an integral part in the water recycling system on the site, the largest of its kind in the UK.

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Plans for the local centre were also approved and include a supermarket, shops, doctors' surgery, police touchdown and energy centre. The buildings, designed in partnership between Wilkinson Eyre Architects and Mole Architects, are formed around a market square in the heart of the first phase of the development with hard landscaping in the surrounding streets by Townshends.

Roger Taylor, Project Director of the North West Cambridge Development, said: "The local centre and landscaping proposals reflect the quality of the kind of place that we will create. Both aspects capture slices of city and park life in Cambridge and promote the urban extension that we have always envisaged the development to be.

"The Western Edge and local centre create natural meeting places where people can come together. The University's commitment to these facilities will establish the foundations for a new part of the City of which Cambridge can be proud."

Works on the North West Cambridge Development infrastructure will start in 2014 with phased completions from late 2015-16.

(CD)