Tag: Northstowe

Contract Signed For Northstowe Start

10:00 Wednesday 29th January 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[S]UZIE ROBERTS: It’s been revealed this morning that £30 million has been secured for the first 1,500 homes in Northstowe. The money will fund infrastructure projects around the new town, including a new primary school, secondary school and community centre. Cllr Ian Bates was asked when he thought work on the new development would start.
IAN BATES: We hope that perhaps later this year we will start to see some activity on the site. A primary school will be built early on, which means that when the people do move in, there will be those sort of accommdations ready for their children to go to school. It is a major step forward for Northstowe, but I’ve been around a long time as well, but it has been around a long time and people perhaps have thought it would never happen.
SUZIE ROBERTS: You can hear more of that interview with Ian Bates with Andy Harper straight after this bulletin.

10:10

[A]NDIE HARPER: Plans for a new town in the county north of Cambridge beside the villages of Oakington and Longstanton were first revealed over ten years ago. But while Northstowe as it became known exists on paper, it doesn’t exist in reality, even though people were supposed to be living there by now. But as you heard in the news, building work can finally get under way, and soon. Well earlier I spoke to Cllr Ian Bates, Cabinet Member for Growth and Planning for Cambridgeshire County Council, to try and find out what today is all about. I suggested to him I’d been around a long time, and never expected this to happen. But today’s the day. He told me why.
Continue reading “Contract Signed For Northstowe Start”

Bourn Airfield Development Debate

07:22 Friday 6th September 2013
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[P]AUL STAINTON: Campaigners opposing plans to build over 3,000 homes on Bourn Airfield say they’ll protest tonight outside a Council exhibition in the village. The proposals are part of South Cambridgeshire District Council’s Local Plan, which is currently being consulted on. Des O’Brien is the Chairman of the group Stop Bourn Airfield Development, and is joined by Cllr Tumi Hawkins, the LibDem councillor who represents the area of Caldecote. Morning. Morning to both of you. So what’s the problem then Des with this development?
Continue reading “Bourn Airfield Development Debate”

Got To Pick A Pocket Or Two

17:42 Wednesday 17th April 2013
Drive BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[P]ETER SWANN: We spoke to John Bridge of Cambridgeshire’s Chamber of Commerce. He’s called for the Leader of Cambridge City Council to support plans for a widened A14, regardless of his political views. Mr Bridge says all local authorities must set aside politics to form a united front in order to convince the Government to improve that stretch of the road between Cambridge and Huntingdon. (TAPE)
JOHN BRIDGE: There’s little doubt that the A14 upgrade is the top of every business’s priorities, because they know and understand the detriment it can have on our economy, and clearly the real benefit we would derive from seeing the current problems dealt with, which is why we find it very difficult to understand that one of our local councils feels unable to support what we feel is absolutely necessary, and to my mind, has the full support of businesses and the majority of people, who desperately know and understand why it needs to be done. (LIVE)
PETER SWANN: It should just be mentioned that it was announced last week that work to widen a short stretch of the A14 between Histon and Girton will begin in 2014. But we’re talking about the larger project here. Councillor Tim Bick is the Leader at Cambridge City Council. He joins us on the show now. Evening Tim.
TIM BICK: Good evening Peter.
PETER SWANN: So first of all, just underline your position. You’ve heard what John Bridge has had to say. Are you against then any kind of redevelopment for the A14? Continue reading “Got To Pick A Pocket Or Two”

A14 Upgrade A Mixed Blessing For Cambridge

07:07 Friday 29th March 2013
Bigger Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[R]ONNIE BARBOUR: We won’t give you any money for the A14 upgrade. That’s the message from Cambridge City Council. Councillors say they won’t receive financial benefit from it. Liberal Democrat Councillor Tim Bick is Leader of Cambridge City Council. Tim, good morning to you.
TIM BICK: Good morning.
RONNIE BARBOUR: So you’re not going to give any money towards this. Continue reading “A14 Upgrade A Mixed Blessing For Cambridge”

The Northstowe Poker Game And The Missing Millions

17:23 Monday 18th March 2013
Drive BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[C]HRIS MANN: South Cambridgeshire District Council is set to agree the budget for the first phase of the new Northstowe town with the developers, but at many millions less than was first suggested. Developers Gallagher Estates’ latest offer for infrastructure such as transport and schools now stands at £30 million. That’s less than half the original amount. It will be voted on at a Council meeting tomorrow. So where have the missing millions gone? And what will it mean for the new town? Tim Wotherspoon is Cabinet member for Northstowe, and a councillor for Cottenham. Tim joins us now. Hello Tim.
TIM WOTHERSPOON: Good evening. Yes.
CHRIS MANN: So, how did we get from sixty five million to thirty? Continue reading “The Northstowe Poker Game And The Missing Millions”

Clegg Moots Cash Boost For Northstowe

17:08 Thursday 22nd November 2012
Drive BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

CHRIS MANN: The Government today put the Cambridgeshire new town of Northstowe firmly at the top of its building priorities, as it looks to solve the nation’s housing crisis. It’s to share in a £250 million injection of cash to unblock delays and get work on the first of a planned 10,000 new homes started by the Spring of 2014. The announcement was made today by the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, and afterwards he told me more. (TAPE)
NICK CLEGG: A number of sites around the country including Northstowe which have have got blocked for various reasons, and you’ll know as well as I do that there’s been a bit of stopping and starting on the Northstowe project for some time now, and basically .. and there are several other sites like Northstowe around the country, in other parts of the country, where if we can only unblock them, all at the same time, we’d be able to build close to 50,000 new homes across the country pretty quickly, including of course up to 10,000 homes in Northstowe. And I’ve announced today that we’re putting up, as far as central government is concerned, £225 million to be made available to those sites, so that we can finally get building. And I very much hope that that’s the final bit in the jigsaw puzzle if you like, which is required to give the green light to Northstowe becoming a reality, and not just a dream on a planner’s map.
CHRIS MANN: So how much of that £225 million will be spent on Northstowe? And what exactly will it be for? Continue reading “Clegg Moots Cash Boost For Northstowe”

Northstowe and the A14

17:06 Thursday 6th October 2011
Drive BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

ANDY BURROWS: Plans for a massive housing development in Cambridgeshire are back on the agenda. The Northstowe development was first put forward over ten years ago. But the plans have been heavily criticised, because of the amount of traffic they would bring to the already congested A14. The Leader of Cambridgeshire’s Chamber of Commerce, John Bridge, says it must be stopped. Continue reading “Northstowe and the A14”

New Northstowe Plans Mean More A14 Madness

17:17 Friday 15th July 2010
Drive BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

ANDY BURROWS: Possible changes to the Masterplan for a new town in Cambridgeshire are back on the agenda. Billed as a flagship Government eco-town, Northstowe was due to be built on land near Oakington and Longstanton, just off the A14. There could be a number of potential changes though, to the original plans, including increasing the number of homes by five to ten thousand. We could also see two secondary schools and not one. Independent councillor for Longstanton, Alex Riley, questions the development’s location. Continue reading “New Northstowe Plans Mean More A14 Madness”