Delivering infrastructure at scale is complex. It requires long-term planning, significant upfront investment, with complex negotiations and coordination across multiple organisations.
The government is consulting on proposals for how it wants to work with local and regional partners to address persistent infrastructure constraints to support a strong and sustainable Greater Cambridge. The proposed development corporation would have the backing of central government and provide the funding, powers and expertise to support economic growth and community wellbeing over the long term.
From 4 February until 1 April, local residents, businesses and local authorities are being asked to give their views on whether this approach is right for the area, and how it could work in practice.
But this is not simply about structures or delivery mechanisms. It is about what we are trying to achieve together: the kind of place we want Greater Cambridge to be - and the kind of lives people can build here.
Greater Cambridge already has a strong tradition of high-quality design, placemaking and delivering good growth. We must build on that foundation. That means well-designed, mixed-use neighbourhoods, with a genuine diversity of tenures, where green spaces, schools, GP practices, community facilities and rich cultural and sporting offerings are just as important as the number of homes and workplaces. It means strengthening and extending the sense of community that already defines Greater Cambridge, so that more people can share in it and feel they belong. It also means ensuring that, as the area grows, we embrace and support everything that makes Greater Cambridge special.
People are right to ask how a centrally led body would respect local democracy. With devolution changing local decision‑making nationwide, it’s fair to ask how that principle would be upheld here.
Greater Cambridge’s success has always relied on strong local leadership and if the government decide to establish the development corporation, it is not proposed that this will change. For example, subject to the government's decision on establishment, local leaders would be invited to join the board of the development corporation and its potential planning committee would comprise of appropriate local representation alongside technical experts in planning, urban design and infrastructure delivery with a view to maintaining accountability.
A potential centrally led body does not mean riding roughshod over local views. It means combining local knowledge with the long‑term certainty, coordination and investment needed to deliver the big infrastructure.
It would be rooted here, with a locally based team focused on Greater Cambridge, supported by national backing to unlock funding and coordinate across government to achieve it.
The depth of community expertise is incredible and any development corporation should embrace that. Drawing on lived and technical knowledge covering skills, climate resilience and the environment, social inclusion, health and wellbeing for example will be key to ensure local voices directly inform decisions.
Just as importantly, residents must help shape the future. Any plans would involve extensive public engagement. We know there’s interest in citizens’ assemblies, and we encourage you to put your views through the consultation on the best ways for communities to be involved and hold a development corporation to account, should the government proceed with establishing a development corporation.
I took on this role because I believe in Greater Cambridge - not just as an engine of national growth, but as a place that should work better in the day-to-day lives of the people who live and work here. We have a genuine opportunity with the potential establishment of a development corporation to address long-standing challenges in a serious and coordinated way, and to put in place a model designed specifically for Greater Cambridge - one that reflects its character, its ambitions and its needs.
I encourage everyone to have their say before the consultation closes on 1 April.
The government is consulting on proposals for how it wants to work with local and regional partners to address persistent infrastructure constraints to support a strong and sustainable Greater Cambridge. The proposed development corporation would have the backing of central government and provide the funding, powers and expertise to support economic growth and community wellbeing over the long term.
From 4 February until 1 April, local residents, businesses and local authorities are being asked to give their views on whether this approach is right for the area, and how it could work in practice.
But this is not simply about structures or delivery mechanisms. It is about what we are trying to achieve together: the kind of place we want Greater Cambridge to be - and the kind of lives people can build here.
Greater Cambridge already has a strong tradition of high-quality design, placemaking and delivering good growth. We must build on that foundation. That means well-designed, mixed-use neighbourhoods, with a genuine diversity of tenures, where green spaces, schools, GP practices, community facilities and rich cultural and sporting offerings are just as important as the number of homes and workplaces. It means strengthening and extending the sense of community that already defines Greater Cambridge, so that more people can share in it and feel they belong. It also means ensuring that, as the area grows, we embrace and support everything that makes Greater Cambridge special.
People are right to ask how a centrally led body would respect local democracy. With devolution changing local decision‑making nationwide, it’s fair to ask how that principle would be upheld here.
Greater Cambridge’s success has always relied on strong local leadership and if the government decide to establish the development corporation, it is not proposed that this will change. For example, subject to the government's decision on establishment, local leaders would be invited to join the board of the development corporation and its potential planning committee would comprise of appropriate local representation alongside technical experts in planning, urban design and infrastructure delivery with a view to maintaining accountability.
A potential centrally led body does not mean riding roughshod over local views. It means combining local knowledge with the long‑term certainty, coordination and investment needed to deliver the big infrastructure.
It would be rooted here, with a locally based team focused on Greater Cambridge, supported by national backing to unlock funding and coordinate across government to achieve it.
The depth of community expertise is incredible and any development corporation should embrace that. Drawing on lived and technical knowledge covering skills, climate resilience and the environment, social inclusion, health and wellbeing for example will be key to ensure local voices directly inform decisions.
Just as importantly, residents must help shape the future. Any plans would involve extensive public engagement. We know there’s interest in citizens’ assemblies, and we encourage you to put your views through the consultation on the best ways for communities to be involved and hold a development corporation to account, should the government proceed with establishing a development corporation.
I took on this role because I believe in Greater Cambridge - not just as an engine of national growth, but as a place that should work better in the day-to-day lives of the people who live and work here. We have a genuine opportunity with the potential establishment of a development corporation to address long-standing challenges in a serious and coordinated way, and to put in place a model designed specifically for Greater Cambridge - one that reflects its character, its ambitions and its needs.
I encourage everyone to have their say before the consultation closes on 1 April.