World War Two airfield set for redevelopment

A council has granted permission to long-awaited plans to build 3,500 homes on the site of a former World War Two airfield.

The development at Bourn Airfield, Cambridgeshire, was first approved by South Cambridgeshire District Council in 2021.

The plans received the go-ahead on Tuesday after years of delays due to concerns about the local water supply.

Bridget Smith, a Liberal Democrat councillor and the leader of the authority, said the council had now been given "more clarity" about the future of sustainable water supply in the area around Cambridge.

Ms Smith said the council had "quite rightly" delayed its decision while it considered the impact of the new development, which is situated near the town of Cambourne, Cambridgeshire.

"We cannot simply pursue growth at all costs, and the time and care which we have taken to reach this point shows just how seriously we take this responsibility," she said.

The council leaned on a decision made in a separate application for 450 new homes to be built on the edge of Cambridge, which was approved by the government earlier this year.

For the Cambridge development the proposed reservoir in the Fens was mentioned as a long-term way to boost water supply. The establishment of the Water Scarcity Group, which will address supply issues in the area, was also cited.

RAF Bourn was used as a base by heavy bombers in World War Two. Plans to build a new village there were mentioned in the council's local plan in 2018, three years before it approved a developer's proposals.

The developer has been told to take steps to conserve water, with all new houses in the first phase of development required to be designed to use no more than 99 litres per person, per day.

Last year the Environment Agency included Bourn Airfield in its objections to five planning applications in the south of Cambridgeshire over concerns about water.

The decision comes as local councils face bigger house-building targets as part of Labour's pledge to build 1.5 million new homes by 2029.

Cambridge City Council has been told to nearly double the amount of homes built each year to more than 1,000, compared to the 600 built last year.

South Cambridgeshire District Council's annual target of more than 1,000 homes is roughly the same as under the Conservatives.

The University of Cambridge's west Cambridge campus, a research, development and leisure facility, was also recently granted planning permission after a lengthy wait due to "environmental challenges".

Katie Thornburrow, Cambridge City Council's executive councillor for planning, building control and infrastructure, said: "The time taken to finalise the approval shows how seriously we take environmental challenges [...] particularly around the area's water supply."

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