Air ambulance plans for new base approved

An air ambulance charity has been granted permission to relocate one of its two bases.

The East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) submitted plans in November to move from its current site at Cambridge City Airport to New Shardelowes Farm on Balsham Road, in nearby Fulbourn.

The application was approved by South Cambridgeshire District Council's planning committee on Wednesday.

Richard Hindson, director of operations and infrastructure at EAAA, said: "This is just the start of our journey to a new home." The service now has to find the money to build the base, but said it would not be revealing details of the fundraising effort or target until later this month.

The charity operates 24 hours a day, covering Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, with its other base located in Norwich.

The Prince of Wales worked for the EAAA on a voluntary basis at Cambridge.

It said it had to find an alternative site for its western base due to the planned closure of Cambridge Airport by 2028.

EAAA said the new home in the west of its region would include helipads, a hangar, offices, a medical store and sleeping accommodation.

Hindson said: "We have acted quickly to identify a new site for our Cambridge-based operation that will allow us to continue providing this vital service, which directly treated over 900 people in 2025."

The charity said it would be launching an appeal to raise money to build the base after the planning application was approved.

"Creating a new Cambridgeshire air base, from scratch, is our biggest ever project and we need to raise a significant sum of money to make this happen," Hindson added.

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