Peter Freeman, chair of the Cambridge Growth Company, spoke to councillors about the aims of the company at a Cambridge City Council meeting.

Peter Freeman, chair of the Cambridge Growth Company, answered questions from councillors about the company’s aims for the area.(Image: John Sturrock/Homes England)

The Cambridge Growth Company (CGC) was not created to ‘impose lots of houses on villages’, the chair Peter Freeman has said. Mr Freeman said the aim of the company is to focus on larger projects, and to liaise with central government to get support for the infrastructure he said the Greater Cambridge area needs.

The growth company was set up by the government last year to “address barriers and help unlock Greater Cambridge’s full potential”. Mr Freeman met with councillors from Cambridge City Council on Tuesday (December 9) to explain some of the aims of the CGC and to answer questions from members.

He said the growth company is “committed to building good places”. He said he believed new development in the area should have a focus on providing a mix of uses and be “infrastructure led”. He added that it is “essential that the benefits of growth are felt by existing communities” as well as creating places to attract people to the area.

Mr Freeman said part of his job is to persuade central government that if it wants to see growth in the area then it needs to help pay for upfront infrastructure costs. He added that a “key thing” for the company is that it is “absolutely not here to try and spread the load around 100 villages”.

He said: “We are here to help major set pieces, like the Marshall Airfield, to actually take the strain off villages. My view is it is up to villages if they would like help to keep schools and shops open and they would therefore like some more houses.

“We are not here to impose lots [of houses] on villages, we are here to do joined up work on large schemes where they can be infrastructure led. Our job is to preserve villages from having to take extra houses. As far as I am concerned, for the vast majority, 95 out of 100 villages, we should bring a neutral to positive impact.”

Beth Dugdale, deputy chief executive of CGC, said Cambridge was in a “unique position” with “huge potential“ to help the “UK growth agenda”. She said if the area is going to contribute to this then they need to make sure that “nationally significant infrastructure” is put in place to meet that growth, which she said the CGC is there to achieve.

‘There is a perceived democratic deficit’

Councillor Jenny Gawthrope Wood (Labour) said there is a “perceived democratic deficit” with the creation of the company. She asked how the CGC planned to engage with people in the area, as well as the councils.

Ms Dugdale said the CGC will have a “programme of engagement” with the public, highlighting that it has already held a couple of events. The advisory council for the company was also highlighted, which includes representatives from councils in the area.

Councillor Katie Porrer (Liberal Democrat) said it had been mentioned that the company is not intending to take all of the planning powers away from the councils, but asked what “reassurance” could be offered over this.

She said: “I feel we have a really high performing planning authority and I would prefer the CGC to work in areas like infrastructure to help us out and for planning to remain as much as possible with the planning authority.”

Mr Freeman said he only envisaged that a development corporation would make decisions on the “largest most strategic schemes”. He said even then he expected they would work with planning officers at the councils when dealing with the applications.

Councillor Jamie Dalzell (Liberal Democrat) asked what specific area the company is looking at and whether any council boundary changes under local government reorganisation could impact that.

Ms Dugdale said the government had asked the CGC to “explore the Greater Cambridge geography”, which she said is what they are focusing on at the moment. She added that it will be a ministerial decision for what area any development corporation would focus on, but said public consultation would help inform this.

Councillor Dave Baigent (Independent) stressed the importance of truly affordable housing being built in the city. He told the CGC representatives that in his view would like to see 40 per cent homes offered at social rent, so people on lower paid jobs can still afford to live in the area.

Cllr Baigent also said the city is in a “difficult position” with regards to transport infrastructure and claimed some companies had said they did not want to come to Cambridge “because it is too congested”.

He referenced previous plans by the Greater Cambridge Partnership to introduce a congestion charge and improved bus network that were dropped after political support fell apart.

Mr Freeman said he recognised transport is an issue and said it is “probably the knottiest problem”. He said the company is due to take on a strategic transport expert, but said it is still early days in this area. On the issue of affordable housing, Mr Freeman said it is “critical” that a “significant amount” of new housing is affordable and that the “majority is social rented”.

Councillor Hugh Clough (Green Party) asked if neighbourhood plans would still be followed by the company. Mr Freeman said if an area had a neighbourhood plan they “treasure” then the company would not loot to “wrap it up or stop it”.

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