Greater Cambridge draft Local Plan sets out proposals for thousands of new homes

Additional reporting by Hannah Brown, Local Democracy Reporter

Ambitions for a new development of 6,000 homes in South Cambridgeshire and the “significant enlargement” of approximately 13,000 homes at Cambourne have been revealed under proposals for the next version of the Greater Cambridge Local Plan.

The draft Local Plan also includes an updated assessment of jobs and housing needs with confirmation of the need for more than 50,000 new homes between 2024 and 2045 to meet the forecast increase in jobs.

The plan – a blueprint for where new homes and workplaces could be built in Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire over the next 20 years – will be considered by councillors next month and follows the government’s announcement of its plans for a Cambridge Development Corporation.

South Cambridgeshire District Council’s lead cabinet member for planning, Cllr Dr Tumi Hawkins, said: “This is another key milestone on our pathway towards ensuring we have a clear long-term plan, helping to bring forward the new homes we need – along with protecting our local habitats and landscapes.”

The draft – the first joint plan for Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire – follows significant additional work by the Greater Cambridge Shared Planning service on the area’s infrastructure constraints and builds upon the consultation feedback in 2021.

Of the 50,000 new homes needed, some 37,000 are already provided for within planning permissions and sites identified in the adopted local plans from 2018. Sites included in a 2021 consultation on the joint plan, such as Cambridge Airport and the expansion of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, also remain.

The councils said the draft plan identifies sites to deliver 13,463 further homes by 2045.

Of the additional homes proposed to be built by 2045, the draft local plan suggests that 413 homes could be built in Cambridge, with 7,450 homes on the edge of the city, and 5,605 built in South Cambridgeshire.

Some of the developments identified would not be fully built out by 2045, and the draft plan suggests that from the sites identified a further 4,050 homes could be built on the edge of the city after 2045, and 13,900 further homes built in South Cambridgeshire.

Earlier ambitions for further growth at Cambourne have increased, with a significant enlargement of approximately 13,000 homes proposed.

“Planned new infrastructure means that Cambourne will become one of the best-connected places in the region with the A428 upgrade, Greater Cambridge Partnership’s proposed public transport corridor and the East West Rail project connecting Cambridge with Oxford delivering a new railway station,” a report to councillors states.

The councils say in response the plan presents a vision where, over several decades, Cambourne would grow to become the “largest centre outside Cambridge”.

The plan also proposes a new community of some 6,000 homes on land next to the A11 and A1307 near Great Abington.

Together these homes will replace some of those previously planned for new housing at North East Cambridge following the cancellation of funding for the waste water treatment works relocation.

The councils say the plan reflects the government’s continued support for growth in innovation across the area by enabling sites like the Cambridge Biomedical Campus and Babraham Research Campus to “grow further”.

In addition, reflecting evidence of a growing need for logistics and new industrial spaces, the plan identifies two new sites on the A14 corridor including the expansion of the existing lorry parking at Cambridge Services.

The report from officers makes clear that there remain unresolved challenges with the plan being put into practice, which includes confirming the identification of solutions to critical infrastructure, including water supply and treatment issues currently impacting developments in the Greater Cambridge area.

The plan and supporting documents will be scrutinised by local councillors, starting with Cambridge City Council’s performance, assets and strategy overview and scrutiny committee on Tuesday, 4 November, and then South Cambridgeshire District Council scrutiny and overview committee on Thursday, 6 November.

The plan will then be put in front of a joint cabinet meeting between both councils on Tuesday, 25 November, where councillors will decide whether the proposals proceed to public consultation, currently pencilled in to start on 1 December for eight weeks.

The city council’s cabinet member for planning and transport, Cllr Katie Thornburrow, added: “After it has been considered and finalised by councillors it will be up to residents to make their views known, and I hope that many people will take the chance to comment when the consultation starts on 1 December.”

The consultation is planned to run between 1 December and 30 January, 2026, and feedback will help shape the final version, which will be consulted on in summer 2026 before submission to the government is to be examined.