Northstowe

Northstowe is a proposed new town of up to 10,000 homes in Cambridgeshire, UK. The new town will fall in the Longstanton ward of Cambridgeshire County Council. Northstowe has been in development for around 15 years and through varying political administrations. Originally proposed to be "an exemplar of sustainability in the use of renewable energy resources and reducing carbon emissions". Northstowe will still have many exemplar features. The Northstowe site is located five miles northwest of the city of Cambridge, between the villages of Oakington and Longstanton and inside the administrative district of South Cambridgeshire. The Northstowe development is being led by the Homes and Communities Agency and the developers Gallagher Estates.

From its inception circa 2003 Northstowe was expected to be a low-carbon development, with the knowledge gained being applied elsewhere in the region. To further this aim, the Northstowe Sustainable Energy Partnership was created to link the developers, the local authorities, the Energy Saving Trust, Renewables East and other parties.

In January 2008, however, Yvette Cooper Minister for Housing and Planning Department for Communities and Local Government at the time confirmed in Parliament that Northstowe had not been adopted as an eco-town because the 2007 planning application submitted "predate[s] the eco-towns programme", and because it would not be zero-carbon.

Northstowe will be linked to Cambridge and St Ives by the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway.

In 2012 outline consent was given to Gallagher to progress with the first phase of 1500 homes, a primary school, road improvements and a local centre. The primary school started on site in 2015 and the first homes are expected in 2016/17.

In 2015 outline consent was also agreed in principle to build a further 3,500 homes, a town centre, 3 more schools including a secondary school education campus and a link road to the A14, plus a road linking the town to the Guided Busway. The homes in phase two cannot be occupied until a major A14 upgrade is completed which starts in 2016 and finishes in 2020.

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