Minister for Housing proposes a centrally-led development corporation for Greater Cambridge.

Posted byCambridge Town OwlPosted inUncategorized

In this written statement to Parliament, Matthew Pennycook MP stated his intention for what the new development corporation will be like. It won’t be led by the Combined Authority Mayor.

See also the Cambridge Growth Company’s statement and brochure published today, and the Minister’s video piece below.

While the statements says he’s going out to consultation on this, the reality is that the growth of Cambridge will be controlled from the centre, and not by local or regional politicians

This announcement (which comes as no surprise) and follows hot on the heels of several other announcements including:

Would you like to go to in-person events to discuss the content of the above and the future of Cambridge?

I’ve posted an update on possible future workshops here. Given the work involved I don’t have the capacity to book venues and do sufficient publicity *and* run the events at the same time. This is something that will need an alliance of community groups, campaigns, and local charities to work together on. (I’m happy to run workshops and give presentations at individual events but cannot do that and all of the things that need doing alongside it to make for an interesting and worthwhile event). (Drop me a note antonycarpen [@] gmail if your group is interested).

“In order that the benefits of further growth will be felt by new and existing communities alike, we are committed to an ongoing partnership with local leaders, communities and residents. Their insights, knowledge and direct input will steer the precise form of any delivery vehicle’s ambition.

“Should a decision be taken to establish a centrally-led development corporation, it is our intention that local democratically elected leaders would be invited to join the Board. There will be opportunities to formally shape the government’s proposals as part of the future consultation process.”

Above – Minister for Housing, Statement to Parliament 23 Oct 2025

“What about public transport? Any news on light rail?”

There is a hint:

“The CGC is working with the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority and other local partners to explore options for mass rapid transit solutions for Cambridge.”

Above – Statement to Parliament

This is cross-posted in the Cambridge Growth Company’s brochure which you can access at the foot of this link.

“On transport we are working with other government departments and with the Cambridgeshire andPeterborough Combined Authority, asthe Strategic Transport Authority, to explore mass rapid transit solutions for Cambridge”

Above – CGC Press Release & Brochure 23 Oct 2025 p12

“Also, has the CGC moved address to the old Government Office for the East of England?“

Above – between 2004-06 I used to work at that address where the old ‘GO-East’ used to be located – the home of civil servants working for up to ten different Whitehall departments but based in Cambridge, not London

“What does success look like?”

That’s for another blogpost (mercifully!) but we have a very useful local historical case study to learn from: Peterborough.

Peterborough New Town 1968-88

You can read about the experiences of Peterborough in this publication by Terence Bendixson from their old development corporation published in 1988. There are a few second hand copies available on ABEBooks here, and on that auction site here.

Furthermore, local historians can explore the British Newspaper Archive and their digitised copies of Peterborough’s local newspapers, in particular the post-war publications that documented the experiences of the rapidly-growing cathedral city in a time of huge social and economic change. If I was the Mayor of the Combined Authority I would be commissioning the Peterborough Civic Society to undertake a significant local history programme over the next few years engaging with residents on their experiences of that huge growth and also getting children and students in Peterborough and Fenland engaged in local history as a means of shaping their own futures. Given the Pride in Place funding for two of Peterborough’s communities, there is potential for match funding as well. (This could help cover events hosted within the communities, bringing people and businesses into the neighbourhoods too.)

The point is that such a research project would benefit Peterborough as that is where it would be located and most of the funding would be delivered for practical things. And Cambridge would benefit because of the lessons learnt that such a research project would uncover and bring to a new generation of local councillors, local council officers, civil servants, and even MPs & ministers themselves.

Ministers and local political leaders now need to identify what is needed for Cambridge to become what it has been for decades: A regional centre.

The Census of 2021 (caveated due to the lockdowns resulting in higher than previous home working)

Above – Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Insight

Note those figures don’t include homeworkers and those with no fixed workplace, hence why the total numbers feel small. The estimate for December 2023 from the Office for National Statistics estimated around 66,000 people were employed. Given better regional transport links into Cambridge, those figures from surrounding districts including over-the-county border ones, would be much higher. Note also the data does not include commuting school children and further education students – which when you look at the crowds of teenagers at Cambridge Railway Station in term time adds more than a few thousand to those numbers. And that’s just the trains. Consider the buses too.

Beyond commuting, there are things like:

  • Leisure and entertainment – the customers’ postcode data from The Junction, the Corn Exchange, The Arts Theatre, and even Cambridge United Football Club tell of patterns of people coming into Cambridge from outside of the city for purposes other than work or study.
  • Healthcare – Addenbrooke’s and Royal Papworth Hospitals will soon be joined by the Cambridge Children’s Hospital and the specialist Cancer Hospital which are mentioned as national government priorities.
  • Conferencing – the Combined Authority Mayor has (in my view rightly) identified the business need for a conferencing and convention centre. While the colleges have got together to create a single point of contact for potential business under the Meet Cambridge brand, what the city does not have is a substantial four star hotel with extensive business and conferencing facilities. This is something that many people I’ve met over the decades at corporate events have told me ever since I went to my first one in my early civil service days at Robinson College, Cambridge in 2004. Hence the news from Astra Zeneca last month coming as a bit of a blow.

Put all of those together and you see why public transport – in particular a new mass transit/metro/call it what you like, is ever so important. Hence my continued support for Cambridge Connect Light Rail, which has an update for their proposals integrating East West Rail below

Above – Regional Connections Map from Cambridge Connect (click here for a detailed view)

“The problem is that Heidi Alexander MP, the Transport Secretary says there’s no money for east-of-Cambridge rail“

Yes there is – she’s just looking in the wrong place.

And this reflects the huge structural issue of how growth is being funded – and why it is making Cambridge unpopular with the rest of the country which is really struggling. A reputation not helped by government announcements that look like this from today:

*Up to £400 million of initial government funding will kickstart development in Cambridge with affordable homes, infrastructure and business expansion*

Above – from Gov UK Press Release 23 Oct 2025 which was also followed up in the Cambridge News today

“You mean you *don’t want £400million quid*?!?

Quite the opposite. I just think that more of the total funding could come via a much wider range of taxes targeting those that are making their fortunes from brand Cambridge.

  • The private language colleges
  • Apart-hotels and AirBnB owners
  • Tourism levies
  • A post-light-rail-completion tourist and day-tripper congestion charge (combined with a ban or severe restrictions on private coaches into the city)
  • A land value tax
  • A ‘Chelsea Tractor tax’ to pay for a new generation of neighbourhood micro e-pool-cars known as quadracycles and e-vehicles.
  • A workplace parking levy paid for by the land owners

…to name but a few options. But all of these require primary legislation – new Acts of Parliament. And that means waiting for the Department for Transport to do the essential policy development work.

Which brings us back to devolution and local government reform. Are we dealing with genuine devolution or ‘Devolution In Name Only’? (DINO!)

If it’s the latter, then local government institutions (unitary councils and strategic authorities) will remain as delivery agents for Whitehall – the politics being thrashed out in central London and the local level councils/authorities left with little to do but oversee competitive tendering processes for third parties to bid for the right to do service delivery. Which then makes a mockery of local democracy. What’s the point on getting involved in anything if it’s all decided by a series of public procurement exercises. But then we were warned about such things in 1987. Hence the feeling today judging by the growth of both The Green Party and TeamNigel that the current system of running public services (1980s-style New Public Management Theory) is now obsolete and is showing its glaring weaknesses in the face of 30+ years of testing and trying out. There’s only so long you can get away with statements made in the 1990s about how wonderful privatisation is before you get called out on it not delivering what you said it would deliver at the time.

With a month to go before the Budget 2025 chances are there will be a few more announcements before the Government plays its hand on major changes to the tax system and levels – things that are being rumoured and trailed in the media in the meantime.

If you are interested in the longer term future of Cambridge, and on what happens at the local democracy meetings where decisions are made, feel free to: