County is 'fastest growing' in UK

By Grant Sherlock
BBC East

Peterborough's New Town status helped its rapid growth

Take a walk around Peterborough and you will find a dramatically different city to the place that was granted New Town status 41 years ago.

Like much of Cambridgeshire, Peterborough's development has been rapid.

With huge population growth and the massive increase in housing that was needed to support that rapid influx of people, the city has become an example of Cambridgeshire's evolution.

With its knowledge-based economy and close links to London, opportunities abounded over the years and that led to thousands moving into the area.

Research conducted for the BBC, revealed in a study called Changing UK, shows that Cambridgeshire had the highest population increase of any county between 1981 and 2006.

That expansion has continued since 2006, with the county achieving some of the boldest house building targets in the UK.

In fact, every two years the equivalent of a small town is built in Cambridgeshire.

The county's population grew 27.8% in the 25 years to 2006, the Changing UK study found.

The researchers analysed how communities across the UK had changed over the past 40 years.

If Peterborough had had to rely on the normal development process it wouldn't be the city it is today Wyndham Thomas

Forty years ago Peterborough was relishing its New Town status.

The government had been looking for new locations to take some of the strain from London and the South East, which was struggling to provide enough housing to match its population growth.

Wyndham Thomas, a former chief executive of Peterborough Development Corporation, said: "The initial plan was to double the population of Peterborough, which was then 75,000 to 80,000, in 15 years by attracting people and jobs."

Huge challenges

While that target proved to be over-ambitious, by the time the New Towns scheme was brought to an end in the 1980s the town had attracted 40,000 new residents.

Today its population is about 180,000.

"If Peterborough had had to rely on the normal development process it wouldn't be the city it is today," Mr Thomas said.

It is a story that is mirrored across Cambridgeshire.

But it is also a story that has presented huge challenges and, with government targets of 5,200 new homes every year, the challenge remains.

Cambridgeshire County Council predicts the county's population will have grown by another 33% by 2021.

The new town of Northstowe will have 9,500 homes

Mark Vigor, head of strategic planning at Cambridgeshire County Council, said: "We're clearly growing very rapidly.

"Current growth is about 3,500 homes a year since 2001. Our target is actually 3,700 per annum."

Market towns like St Neots, St Ives and Huntingdon will absorb some of that growth, as will areas of Cambridge.

But the county has other ideas for ensuring that infrastructure growth keeps pace with new housing.

The new town of Northstowe is one of those ideas.

Currently delayed but due to start within the next few years, a town of 9,500 homes and supporting infrastructure will be built on an old airfield near Longstanton over a 15 or 20 year period.

Sustainable development

It will be the largest new town in the country since Milton Keynes.

Natural England has stressed the need for sustainable development which is considerate to the environment across the country.

A Natural England spokeswoman said: "If we are to make the new communities places in which people will want to live, we must ensure there is a green infrastructure that is good for people, and good for the natural environment."

With a 33% growth in population to manage by 2021, Cambridgeshire's planners are looking for a way to ensure that along with all the houses there are schools for children, buses for commuters and enough jobs to go around.