Iron Age fort could repel Huawei plant
PLANS by Huawei to build a new research facility in Cambridgeshire are in doubt after experts warned that building work could affect a nearby Iron Age fort.
The Chinese technology giant spent more than £37million to buy land near the village of Sawston for a microchip research and development campus with more than 400 workers on the 550-acre estate.
However, planning experts have warned that the site, which Huawei wants to use to design state of the art semiconductors, borders the protected Iron Age hill fort Borough Hill, which is classed as being of “national importance” under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.
In a letter to South Cambridgeshire district council, an inspector of ancient monuments for Historic England said Huawei’s plans could “directly affect” the fort.
Although Huawei has yet to make a formal planning application, documents show that it wants to surround the protected Iron Age fort on three sides with a technology research facility. Prof Timothy Champion, an Emeritus Professor of archaeology at the University of Southampton and a vicepresident of the Royal Archaeological Institute, said: “The fort itself is a protected site, but that doesn’t mean to say that outside the boundaries of the protected area, there’s nothing worth looking at. Everything we know about these sites suggests the contrary.
“If the developers have any sense, they wouldn’t go near the boundary.”
Huawei proposes to build an underground car park with enough space for 422 cars less than 50 metres from the fort.
The council could order Huawei to pay for an excavation of the land to identify any archaeological remains before construction starts and reject the planning application if felt it hadn’t properly checked the area.
A Huawei spokesman said: “We appreciate this is an important issue and will prepare an environmental impact assessment.
“Our proposals will have no impact on the historic site and will comply with all the requirements from the planning authority.”