44,000 new homes on the way for the region but where should they go?

Three new towns and a dozen potential developments could bring the next 44,000 homes to Greater Cambridge.

An ongoing conflict between the city and district councils and developers seeks to find the balance between expanding the city and creating new communities around Cambridge. It hinges on the local plans that are now under review.

South Cambridgeshire District Council leader Peter Topping told the Cambridge Independent how Greater Cambridge’s two local authorities are joining together to work for the region’s long-term success and how the plans are shaping up to cater for the ongoing Cambridge phenomenon.

“The big debate, and the one that is being played out at the moment, is the benefit of satellite towns rather than expanding the city,” said Cllr Topping. “It’s easier if you’re a developer to build on the edge of Cambridge. There are two reasons for that – first of all, it’s Cambridge, so you can sell the houses quicker. The other thing is that it’s easier to add on to what there is already and not have to think about all the new roads, schools and doctors surgeries that people will need.

“You could double the size of Cambridge with new developments, just grow out of Cambridge into the green belt and build lots of dormitory estates, but we passionately believe that is not the right approach. It’s better in the longer term to build new communities.

“Quite frankly a lot of developers are building for the short term. And that’s the tension. But we think we’re right, as you would expect.”

The councils enforce their vision with local plans, which set out how land is used, and what is built where.

Right now developers are scrambling to get new developments included in the new local plans, which could be in place as soon as autumn 2017. This is why they have taken so long to be delivered. All the proposals have to be heard at public hearings.

Cllr Topping said: “The plan we have now is pretty old and really was kicked off before the Cambridge economy went into overdrive.

“One of the things that the new local plan has is much clearer guidance for developers in terms of what we expect from them. Once that plan is in place it will help everyone.

“The local plan is not just about the numbers, it’s got content in there that will make the planning process better and quicker. That’s the frustration, that it’s not in place. We want it in place as quick as possible.”

South Cambridgeshire and Cambridge planners will start working in partnership to deliver these local plans that will work in tandem. This year will also see the two local authorities working together to better deliver services for residents.

Cllr Topping continued: “People make a lifestyle choice to live in a South Cambridgeshire village or the city for different reasons, but they expect the same services. I think people expect local government to work more closely together and we certainly have a good working relationship with the city of Cambridge, and with Lewis Herbert [the city council leader] in particular, and one of the things that helps is that developers can’t play us off against each other. They see that we’re joined at the hip and we have a shared vision.

“Other parts of the country would bite your arm off for this kind of growth. The challenge is to get it right. If we don’t get it right Cambridge and Cambridgeshire would just be an urban sprawl, and that’s absolutely not what we’re going to do.”