Local Plan: We Want to Hear Your Views on Bourn Airfield

The South Cambridgeshire Local Plan, adopted in September 2018, sets out the planning policies and land allocations to guide the future development of the district until 2031. Encompassing issues related to housing, employment, services and facilities, it emphasises affordable housing and protecting the environment. Read more about the Local Plan

Under the previous administration there were a couple of years when there was no Local Plan and no five-year housing land supply.

During that time more than 4000 houses were given planning permission in South Cambs, which would not have been under normal circumstances. Many of these houses were in the countryside and were not required to make any financial contribution to the communities they were associated with, to pay for healthcare, education or local amenities. 

With the Lib Dem adoption of a new Local Plan and a five-year housing land supply, planning laws, especially those preventing development in the countryside, are being rigorously enforced. 

Now this Local Plan has allocated the site of the Bourn Airfield to a new community of around 3,500 homes with accompanying facilities and transport links.

The vision is of a sustainable, low-carbon community with plenty of green spaces and plenty of practical alternatives to using the car. We want the new village to be a great place both to live and work. We want it to have good schools, shops and a focal point where people enjoy meeting for recreation as well as retail.

We are now consulting the public on the development’s Supplementary Planning Document, which provides details and guidance on how the village will be built. We would really like you to get involved in this major new development and have your say.

Deputy Leader of South Cambridgeshire District Council and Lead Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Transport, Cllr Aidan Van de Weyer, said: “We really want help from local people to provide the best possible guidance for how this new development should come forward. It is an excellent chance to influence a green, low-carbon community right before a single brick is put into place. We’re always working to be green to our core and as environmentally friendly as possible, and that’s why we’re highlighting our aspirations for this site to be as kind to the environment as it can be, while delivering some of the new homes that we know we need. Please do tell us what you think of these proposals. It’s very easy to comment via our website.”

Find out more

The draft documents considered by the council 

The six-week consultation period ends on Monday 29 July. Tell us your views now!