Cambridge City Council has approved plans to use water from the River Cam to heat buildings at Darwin College.

The plans to install a river-sourced heat pump at the site was considered by councillors at a city council planning committee meeting on Wednesday (02/04). A report presented to the counsellors stated that the pumps would help to “eliminate the use of fossil fuel on site and the associated carbon emissions”.

Under the plans a pump room will be built next to the River Cam where the water will be both extracted and returned. Darwin College will also have improved insulation installed. The College’s master, Dr Mike Rands, said the proposed changes would reduce energy demand by around 70 percent.

The College has also asked for permission to extend The Hermitage building and fill the “undercroft” area currently used for car parking in order to build a new garden for its students.

Rands admitted that the College’s grounds were “constrained,” and that it “really need[ed] more space for working and socialising”. He said the proposed projects were “vitally important” and necessary to improve the College’s facilities and assist its efforts to become carbon neutral by 2032.

Rands added: “Having celebrated [its] 60th birthday last year, this scheme sets the College up to meet the needs of the next decades, so the College can continue to make its contribution to the life and beauty of the city.”

Councillors were supportive of the proposed plans. Councillor Naomi Bennett said: “I think this is one of the most interesting and well thought out applications we have seen in a long time.”

Councillor Katie Porrer said the fact that Darwin College was open to the public was an important factor. She added that in the past other Cambridge colleges had come forward with plans, stating that they offered public benefits “when the public cannot get in”.

Councillor Katie Thornburrow agreed that there were public benefits to the projects but had concerns over the proposed design, stating that she was “a bit concerned about the proportion and scale” of the windows proposed in the Hermitage extension.

A conservation officer explained that the glazing chosen for the extension was preferred to bricks, which they thought would be “too heavy”.

There were also concerns over the height and placement of the plant room which was proposed to be built next to the River Cam, with one councillor worrying that the council could see an influx of applications for similar sized buildings along the river if the plant was to be approved.

But, conservation officers argued that it was better to locate the heat pumps closer to the river, highlighting that the College site is constrained. Both Porrer and Bennett agreed with the proposed plans, stating that the River Cam had an “industrial heritage,” and the installation of the pump house would be “returning to that heritage”.

When put to vote, the council unanimously agreed to approve the plans.