Facilities boost as Cambourne extension agreements signed

Plans for 2,350 new homes and millions of pounds of new facilities at Cambourne have taken a major step forward, with the signing of key planning documents.

The proposals were originally approved at a meeting of the South Cambridgeshire District Council Planning Committee last year. Since then, work has been ongoing to draft the legal agreement to deliver £45 million of community and sporting facilities alongside the new homes. These include an athletics track, and funding towards a new swimming pool at Cambourne.

The new facilities will not only be for new and existing residents, but will also provide greater sporting, shopping and employment opportunities for residents of the surrounding villages and beyond.

The agreement has been signed by South Cambridgeshire District Council, Cambridgeshire County Council and Cambourne Parish Council, to ensure all the necessary highways improvements, health, education, sporting and community facilities are delivered at the right stages, so the local community continues to thrive.

The expansion to Cambourne will be built on land around the existing secondary school and extends from the tree belt to the west of Lower Cambourne to the A1198, and from the A428 in the north to the Caxton Bypass in the south.

A formal decision notice, confirming the granting of planning permission subject to conditions and the Section 106 agreement to deliver facilities, has now also been sent to the developers, Taylor Wimpey and Bovis Homes.

Their expansion of Cambourne will include:

• Two primary schools and a second secondary school
• Sports pitches and play areas
• Shops and community space
• Offices and light industrial employment areas
• Public open space
• Surface water drainage and landscaping
• Segregated cycle and pedestrian routes
• Alterations to an existing access off the A1198 and the redesign of the Caxton bypass and Cambourne Road roundabouts
• 705 affordable homes

Following the planning approval for the entire site, a series of more detailed applications will be submitted for drainage and roads, and to describe the look and feel of homes, buildings and facilities. Developers hope to start work on site later this year, with the first new homes expected to be delivered the following year.

A total of £8.7 million from the developer agreement has also been allocated for improving public transport links between Cambourne and Cambridge and nearby villages. The money is planned to be added to funding available through the Greater Cambridge Partnership, to deliver proposals for faster, reliable and sustainable bus services between Cambourne and Cambridge.

Cllr Robert Turner, South Cambridgeshire District Council’s Cabinet Member for Planning, said: “Cambourne already has some great facilities, and this developer funding will build upon those. From an early stage, we’ve worked closely with Cambourne Parish Council to understand what new and existing residents would most benefit from. This agreement will ensure that money goes towards what we know are the right priorities for the community both now and in the future. Cambourne already has a brilliant sense of community, and I’m confident that the addition of these extra facilities will further enhance this.”