Cambridge: Government's alleged housing plan for city 'absurd'

The Department for Levelling Up, Communities and Housing is apparently seeking to rapidly expand the number of homes in Cambridge

A council leader said an alleged plan to build 250,000 new homes in Cambridge was "absurd".

Mike Davey, from Cambridge City Council, said he was "shocked" to read a Sunday Times article about Michael Gove's apparent plans for the city.

He said the authority needed to find out if there was "anything of any substance" in the reports.

The government said it would "work with local communities to build more of the right homes in the right places".

The newspaper reported that a Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) document called "Cambridge 2040" proposed building the homes over two decades to support investment in the sciences and technology sectors.

It was part of the housing secretary's project to turn Cambridge into the "Silicon Valley of Europe", it said.

The plans "envisaged a huge expansion" of Cambridge and the surrounding area, which has about 150,000 residents, it added.

Labour councillor, Mr Davey, said it was "the first [the council had] heard of it".

"The fact that it's described by the Sunday Times as a concept from Michael Gove probably tells you that it's not had a great deal of thought put behind it to date," he said.

"We need to go back to Mr Gove's civil servants and find out if there is anything behind this of any substance."

Leader of Cambridge City Council, Mike Davey, said the newspaper report was the first it had heard of the Cambridge 2040 concept

He said chief executive Robert Pollock would be asking the DLUHC what the true situation was and why the alleged plans were "leaked in this way".

"Usually when you want to do something as important as this proposal you talk to the city council, you talk to South Cambridgeshire District Council and have a discussion about what is and isn't feasible," he said.

"On the grounds of what was in the paper... the proposal seems to be quite absurd... because 250,000 homes in Cambridge and Cambridgeshire doesn't make sense.

"It's very difficult to respond in a cogent way until we get the better detail.

"We're currently going through a local plan process and the current proposals are for 50,000 homes, which we think will be a bit of a stretch anyway."

He added that any growth had to be sustainable and any plans had to look at the environmental impact.

Cambridge City Council's leader said the local plan's current proposals for 50,000 homes was a "bit of a stretch"

Mr Davey said he had highlighted the area's "incredible need for water" to Mr Gove about six weeks ago, but had not yet had a response.

"Rather than announcing odd plans about building 250,000 homes, a better response would have been to talk to us about what the water requirements are for the existing commitments we already have.

"I just think it's slapdash and silly."

Anthony Browne, MP for South Cambridgeshire, also said he would fight the alleged housing plan.

A DLUHC spokesman said it would be working with local communities and knew that "development is only welcomed when new homes are beautiful and built alongside new GP surgeries, schools and transport links".

"Our reforms have democracy, environmental enhancement and new neighbourhoods at their heart and will help us reach our target of one million new homes this Parliament," a statement said.

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