The proposals that extend to 2046 could result in 27,000 new homes following the increased house building targets imposed by ministers
You can:
- read the BBC Cambridgeshire article that summarises the local plan headlines
- browse through the Huntingdonshire local plan documents – item 7 Appendix 1 is the draft plan
- browse through the outline choices for Huntingdonshire back in 2024 that I wrote about here
“What does the map look like?”
Like this:
Above – you can browse through the map in detail here. Cambridge is located at the bottom right of the image above, and the jagged line in grey is the area of land secured for East West Rail.
In this blogpost I’m going to focus on the south of the historical county
Southern Huntingdonshire – with Alconbury highlighted below, is the part of the county that is closest to Cambridge – in particular St Ives at the bottom right if the image.
Above – Alconbury and Southern Huntingdonshire on G-Maps here
The former RAF airports of Alconbury and RAF Wyton have been selected for development.
The images below include one with lots of layers on, and one with just the allocated areas of land allocated for development, and the mustard colour wavey line that indicates a growth corridor.
Above – Huntingdonshire draft local plan details map
“It does look a little fragmented from here”
This is why some of the residents said they feared the proposals risked looking like “a new town – without a new town plan” in the BBC Cambridgeshire article.
Which means residents and interested people need to keep an eye on the facilities reports – such as their Indoor and Sports Facilities Strategy 2022
“Huntingdonshire does not have a flagship competition pool to provide a venue for swimming clubs galas and competitions and any new development should also consider this”
“…there is a supply/demand deficit of 815m2 . To put this into context one 6-lane x 25m pool equates to 325m². This deficit will be further exacerbated as a result of upcoming population growth”
Above – HDC Sports Facilities Strategy p12 / p15pdf
Given that the deficit already exists, getting plans for a new large pool prepared becomes all the more important – otherwise they risk getting stuck in the way Cambridge has been with the West Cambridge swimming pool that the University of Cambridge is dragging its feet over.
Anti-growth campaigners calling for the plan to be paused
Above – the plans from the Hunts Post via Pause the Plan, 08 September 2026 from FB
This gives a more clear picture of the scale of growth.
A new town without a centre
Just as an expanded Cambridge risks swamping an already cramped city centre with continued housing growth, so Huntingdonshire risks developing separate larger towns that struggle to function greater than the sum of their parts. Note the maps above are to the north of the East West Rail route which will connect St Neots with Cambourne. St Ives and Huntingdon used to be connected by rail – the line east of St Ives having been converted into the first busway.
A cursory wordsearch has not brought up any text discussing new sub-regional centres.
Which is a concern because the expansion of the cluster of existing towns combined with the proposed new towns gives the sense that each settlement is expanding as a discrete site rather than in co-ordination with each other. For example as I have argued with Cambridge, the new and expanding towns should all be connected by suburban or light rail, and within walking distance from each public transport station should be a leisure facility that can serve not just the residents of the settlement but also those travelling in from neighbouring towns and villages. If each new/growing town had a different attraction to the others, you end up with a series of connected settlements greater than the sum of their parts rather than aiming for an identikit offer in every new settlement.
Minister for Housing and Planning in ‘No nonsense’ approach – Why councillors pushed this through to a vote
Matthew Pennycook MP, the Minister for Housing and Planning laid down the law to Basildon District Council just over six weeks ago. He was uncompromising:
“This government was elected on a manifesto that included a clear commitment to build 1.5 million new homes in this Parliament, and all areas are required to play their part…”
“…I consider that the intervention criteria are met, and that intervention is justified. Pursuant to the powers in s.27(2)(b) of the [Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004] I am directing the Council as follows:
“Submit the emerging plan consulted on under the above direction by no later than 31
December 2026 with any proposed minor modifications necessary after full
consideration of representations received at consultation.”
“Commence a Regulation 19 consultation on the emerging plan that was published for
consideration by Cabinet on 23 July and to do so by no later than 10 August 2026 for
a minimum period of 6 weeks…”
“….[Your council’s] existing plan is over 27 years old and the policies it contains are likely to be significantly out of date, so I consider that such a direction is needed.
Given Huntingdonshire’s proximity to Greater Cambridge, East West Rail, Tempsford, and the huge Universal UK Theme Park development near Bedford, there’s nowhere for the district council to hide. Furthermore, ministers have made it very clear in their decisions on planning and infrastructure that they are more than willing to intervene and grant permissions to large planning applications – especially for infrastructure projects – where they judge it to be in the national interest.
It will be interesting to see how the plan evolves as the currently-delayed Local Government Reform unwinds over the autumn.
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