The Northstowe Story - L&Q Estates

NORTHSTOWE The

The NORTHSTOWE stor y

Nor thstowe is the UK's most significant new town project since 1967. Already a thriving community with excellent schools and plans for a new town centre, Northstowe will comprise 10,000 new homes in an area close to the world renowned city of Cambridge, where house prices are typically 14 5 times average earnings.

L&Q Estates' focus has been on delivering Phase 1 of Nor thstowe, built on the site of what was Cambridge Golf Club, and adjacent to the former RAF Oakington where King Charles III learned to fly

Creating an aspirational new town community requires both vision and technical competence Working with Homes England, L&Q Estates under took the role of master place maker, steering this technically challenging project from conception

Nor thstowe Phase 1 provides 1,500 new homes, a mixed use local centre, including a community building, a primar y school, 135ha waterpark and new play facilities.

With its designation as a Healthy New Town by the NHS, the provision of the Guided Busway into Cambridge and natural green spaces encouraging outdoor activities, Nor thstowe offers so much more than just another new town

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NORTHSTOWE HISTORY

Iron Age to 1939

Set between the world-renowned university city of Cambridge and the market town of St Ives, Northstowe is the UK's most significant new town project since the founding of Milton Keynes in 1967.

Built on the parish lands of Longstanton, Oakington and Westwick, Nor thstowe has become par t of a rich histor y that goes back thousands of years Over the last 20 years, archaeological excavations have shown that the land has been inhabited since the Iron Age and possibly earlier

The new town's name is taken from the 'Hundred of Nor thstow', mentioned in William the Conqueror's Doomsday Book of 1086, which existed for many centuries The Doomsday Book shows that 'Stantune' was one of the most populated villages in the local area, with sheep as the predominant livestock The free draining gravel ridge which runs through these earlier settlements would have made the area an attractive place to live, with the community able to obtain fish, fowl and reeds from the nearby fen Arable farming would have been at the forefront of villagers' lives, evidenced by medieval cultivation in the paddocks near the churches.

Archaeology Excavations at Northstowe

Following the Norman conquest of 1066, Long Stanton was divided into three principal Manors After becoming Lords of the Manor in the early 17th centur y, the Hatton family was Longstanton's largest landowner for the next 250 years.

The Hatton family crest, featuring a Golden Hind, can be seen in Longstanton's All Saints' Church Sir Christopher Hatton, Chancellor to Elizabeth І and cousin of John Hatton, Lord of the Manor of All Saints, provided financial suppor t to Sir Francis Drake when he was preparing to make his voyage around the world In recognition of that suppor t, Sir Francis Drake renamed one of his ships' The Golden Hind'

After the death of the last Lord of the Manor, Sir Thomas Dingley Hatton, in 1812, the Hatton Estate was broken into smaller farms and sold in 1874 This sale laid the foundations for rural life in the villages, which continued until the outbreak of World War Two

The Hatton family tomb in Longstanton's All Saints' Church

Sir Christopher Hatton

NORTHSTOWE HISTORY

World War II to the present day

1939 saw the arrival of RAF Oakington, which had three runways constructed in the early 1940’s for various combat aircraft, including Short Stirling bombers.

R AF Oakington also has connections with the Great Escape Air Commodore Herber t Massey was commander at the base in 1942. His Shor t Stirling bomber was shot down and captured near the Dutch coast in June 1942 Massey was imprisoned at Stalag Luft III, becoming the most senior British Officer in the POW camp and authorised the 'Great Escape' in 1944.

After the war, Transpor t Command inherited the air field From July 1945 to April 1946, Liberator bombers made many flights to India to repatriate Allied troops In addition, Oakington became the home of several squadrons of Dakota aircraft used for medium distance transpor t tasks, notably the Berlin Airlift of 1948

NAAFI Canteen RAF Oakington.

WINSTON CHURCHILL watches a Short Stirling of RAF 7 Squadron taking off on 6 June 1941 from Oakington

SHORT STIRLING of No 7 Squadron RAF at Oakington,in 1941

From the 1950’s until 1974, R AF Oakington was an Advanced Flying Training School His Majesty King Charles III learned to fly at R AF Oakington and chose to celebrate his 21st bir thday there

The base became home to the Army in 1979, last used as a helicopter base The Ministr y of Defence relinquished the site in the 1990’s, becoming an immigration centre for a shor t period before passing to Homes England.

A small number of former R AF buildings remain, including nine listed pillboxes, conver ted to bat roosts as par t of the site's redevelopment .

One of the nine listed pillboxes

Phase 1 of Northstowe 2020

NORTHSTOWE PHASE 1

Phase 1 of Northstowe is constructed on what was the Cambridge Golf Club, Longstanton. The club was founded in 1991 Designed by G Huggett, who was also club professional, this was a nine-hole course until 1997, when a further nine holes were added.

The new parkland course measured 6,818 yards, making it one of the longest in Cambridgeshire, with hazards including ponds, ditches and lakes The club closed on 30th June 2013, with the land purchased by L&Q Estates as par t of the 1,500 home first phase of Nor thstowe.

Nor thstowe is being brought for ward in phases to ensure that community facilities and infrastructure deliver y are married to the development of new homes to suppor t those early communities in their ever yday lives. L&Q Estates' focus has been on phase one, the gateway to the new town, which includes a primar y school, employment uses, community, spor ts and recreational facilities.

© Rodney Burton

© Rodney Bur on

© Hugh Venables

PLANNING

Northstowe had been in the planning stages for over 20 years before the first new homes started to be built in 2016.

It’s development was suppor ted by various governments, all of which recognised the need for rapid housebuilding to alleviate an acute shor tage of new homes across the countr y With its world famous university and rapidly growing science and technology hub, Cambridge was considered a prime location for the UK's first planned new town for generations

The first outline planning applications were submitted in July 2005 and December 2007, the second being just months before the severe global financial crisis of 2008

Phase 1 comprises 1,500 new homes, 20% of which are affordable Following the infrastructure deliver y by L&Q Estates, land parcels have been sold to Barratt Homes, Bloor Homes, Bovis Homes, Linden Homes and Taylor Wimpey

The first residents moved into Nor thstowe in May 2017, and as ever y new resident is welcomed, the community continues to develop and grow

By 2040 the Nor thstowe community will be home to up to 10,000 new houses with its town centre, spor ts hubs, community spaces and employment zone

Travel within Nor thstowe is easily accessible on foot and cycle, with purpose built cycleways and electric bikes to rent The Longstanton Park & Ride/Guided Busway is within walking distance, with excellent public transpor t links to Cambridge and surrounding areas The A14, with easy access to the M11 and A1 is a few minutes' drive from Nor thstowe

Nor thstowe is also the only town in the UK to be entirely master planned around a dedicated public transpor t system, the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway The Busway, promoted and par t funded by L&Q Estates several years in advance of Nor thstowe commencing deliver y, was opened in 2011 It provides frequent ser vices between Huntingdon, St Ives and Cambridge, connecting the railway stations and other key destinations, such as Addenbrooke's Hospital and Cambridge Science Park

Our par tner in the development of Nor thstowe has been Homes England who will deliver 8,500 homes In addition, we have been working in close liaison with South Cambridgeshire District Council and Cambridgeshire County Council on the provision of community facilities, roads and other ser vices. A key feature will be the creation of a new secondar y school, one of the county's largest

ENABLING WORKS

Since the grant of planning in 2014, Northstowe has seen a massive investment in the infrastructure necessar y to enable the site to be made suitable for development. To date, L&Q Estates investment has secured:

EDUCATION 1 primar y school

SERVICES upgrades to gas, water, electricity and communication including super fast broadband for ever y home

SECTION 1 06 Contributions of £30 million towards education, play open space, sustainable transpor t and community infrastructure of 25 ha of open space

LANDSCAPING delivering significant swathes of play and spor ts facilities, landscaped open space, drainage corridors and lakes to enable local wildlife to thrive

INFRASTRUCTURE works including roads and drainage solutions, remediation and demolition in excess of £30m..

All of these have been facilitated and managed by L&Q Estates in house construction team

COMMUNIT Y

Northstowe will be a vibrant 21st-centur y town with a strong local identity. It will combine the best historical characteristics of local settlements with the provision for more sustainable patterns of living and lifestyle choices.

The unique vision for Nor thstowe reflects the Cambridgeshire Quality Char ter for growth which promotes planned growth of sustainable and vibrant new communities in accordance with four themes:

■ Community

■ Climate

■ Connectivity

■ Character

The Nor thstowe Design Code controls design quality throughout Nor thstowe

Extensive consultation and engagement processes have informed the planning and design of Nor thstowe Uniquely, the Nor thstowe Community Forum has brought together representatives of all the surrounding Parish Councils and residents and, since May 2009, has examined and influenced how the Nor thstowe scheme has evolved

Northstowe Secondary College

EDUCATION

The education offer at Northstowe is key to its success and community sustainability.

Providing high quality educational learning oppor tunities to young people within Nor thstowe was always a key driver to the development of the new settlement As a result, L&Q Estates have funded and delivered The Pathfinder C of E Primar y School, which opened to the first pupils in September 2017.

In September 2020, the school expanded to include preschool children aged 2+ Homes England has fur ther delivered the Nor thstowe Secondar y College, a brand new secondar y school that opened in September 2019

The Pathfinder C of E Primary School

CAMBRIDGESHIRE GUIDED BUSWAY

Nor thstowe is the only town in the UK planned around a dedicated public transpor t system.

At the nor thern end of the town is the Longstanton Park & Ride on the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway With additional stops along the dedicated busway spine through the town, residents, employees and visitors will be no more than 800 metres from a ser vice that will connect them quickly and reliably to Huntingdon, St . Ives and Cambridge

With real time information and frequent ser vices to impor tant destinations such as the railway stations at Huntingdon, Chester ton and Cambridge, the Science Park and Addenbrookes campus, Nor thstowe will be well placed to contribute to growth and prosperity in the sub region. This will in turn attract a range of jobs and businesses to locate in the town, contributing significantly to Nor thstowe's uniqueness In par ticular, there is the potential to explore a special relationship with Cambridge Science Park, just a 10 minute ride on the CGB or a cycle ride of about 7 ½ kilometres (less than 5 miles) along the adjacent cycleway. Current occupiers seeking more space might be encouraged to relocate or expand their operations at Nor thstowe whilst maintaining excellent connectivity via sustainable modes of transpor t Connectivity will also include high speed broadband and 'fibre to the home', schools and business premises which will help to ensure Nor thstowe is genuinely a market town for the 21st centur y

Cambridgeshire Guided Busway

HEALTHY LIVING STRATEGY

NHS England selected Nor thstowe as one of ten 'Healthy New Towns', suppor ted to create par tnerships, governance structures and deliver y plans to enable healthy place-making

Cambridgeshire has a thriving economy experiencing high levels of growth, leading to a housing shor tage for essential workers, par ticularly NHS and social care staff Other priorities include the need to provide homes for older people, suppor t for healthy ageing, and tackling rising levels of obesity

L&Q Estates engaged with NHS leadership at the earliest stages of the new development to understand the provision of health care within the local area and how health and care facilities need to be co designed to respond to future needs.

Sustainable drainage, active travel routes and wildfower greenways.

The 1 0 Principles of Healthy New Towns

1 Plan ahead collectively

2. Assess local health and care needs and assets.

3. Connect, involve and empower people and communities

4. Create compact neighbourhoods.

5. Maximise active travel.

6 Inspire and enable healthy eating

7. Foster health in homes and buildings.

8. Enable healthy play and leisure.

9 Develop health services that help people stay well

10. Create integrated health and wellbeing centres.

The Nor thstowe Healthy Living and Youth & Play Strategy was finalised in Spring 2018.

It sets out a series of built inter ventions to ensure Nor thstowe is a town with facilities to enable residents to lead active and healthy lifestyles. Healthy living measures include:

Play on the way and doorstep play

Outdoor gyms and trim trails.

Running routes

Frequent seating to enable older people to move around.

Inclusion of meeting places.

Edible landscapes

Green walls.

Access to nature

WATERPARK & GREENWAYS

Water is a defining feature of Northstowe.

Within the town there is a 135 hectare water park, whilst two greenways provide a sustainable urban drainage system and a unique ecological, leisure and landscape resource. Other ponds are uniquely designed to mitigate flooding in the existing villages of Longstanton and Oakington

Taken together with other areas of open space, approximately one third of Nor thstowe will be open space As a result, residents will have double the amount of open space per person compared to the average in UK cities and double the amount of informal open space compared to Cambridge, St Neots or Ely

Northern Greenway Waterpark

Northern Greenway Waterpark

SPORT, PLAY & LEISURE

Northstowe has a rich abundance of sport, play and leisure activities.

Western Park includes an all weather synthetic spor ts pitch, six spor ts pitches, a bowling green, multi use games area, as well as a community orchard and allotments

Phase 1 also boasts four Locally Equipped Play Areas (LEAPs) and a central Neighbourhood Equipped Area of Play (NEAP) to accommodate all age groups

A free outdoor gym allows ever yone to benefit from physical activity and improves the wellbeing of residents

In addition to play, the role of spor t and the benefits of open space to the general wellbeing of residents of Nor thstowe cannot be overstated From dog walking to football, bowls and tennis, there is ample oppor tunity for organised spor t and general recreation.

Nor thstowe is already thriving with community activities and events creating a real sense of belonging and identity. Residents are at the forefront of championing Nor thstowe, having already formed new community groups and working with existing groups to ensure they feed into the creation of their new town Over the past few years, residents have created fantastic oppor tunities for the community to connect, including a winter festival, regular volunteer café, running festivals, regular food vans, spor ts and wellbeing activities and a day to celebrate Nor thstowe's fifth anniversar y

Construction Play Pitches and field sports

Hard court sports Pioneer play area

THE FUTURE

With new homes come new community facilities.

Over the coming years, South Cambridgeshire Council will be building a new spor ts pavilion and community centre within Phase 1 The Community Centre will be within the Local Centre, providing a multi use facility for Nor thstowe residents. The Local Centre is expected to contain a mixture of shops and commercial development

By 2040, across all three phases, Nor thstowe will have 10,000 new houses that 25,000 people will call home

New sports pavilion entrance - Saunders Boston Architects

Masterplan artist s impressions view from the entrance of the Linear Park from the north

TESTIMONIALS

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Having the infrastructure in place early was a vital component in allowing us to market and deliver homes at Nor thstowe L&Q Estates created a sense of place where people wanted to live, work and play with fantastic links to Cambridge via the guided busway, and where health and well being are promoted ”

Georgina McCrae Head of Planning, Vistr y Homes

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With the L&Q Estates model you get your roads in then the schools in, and the buses are up and running ever ything is ready and then the housing and people come. ”

Anna Rose

of Planning Advisor y Ser vice

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It’s fantastic to work with L&Q Estates who take their role as a master developer seriously A true master developer is one that isn’t just focused on getting sites through the planning process, but one that has an eye to the future and the people that will one day live in the streets and spaces they create alongside their development par tners

L&Q Estates have a knack of balancing commercial and technical considerations with the oppor tunity and need to create well designed new communities

Regulator y constraints and the trials of securing planning consent can often cur tail a client’s appetite for place making, but this is what makes L&Q Estates quite different Despite these constraints, L&Q Estates is always looking for ways to work around these constraints and create better places for people to live, work and play in I am given the freedom to help L&Q Estates create places people will want to live in and stay for years. As an urban designer, you couldn’t ask for a better client ”

Dr. Stefan Kruczkowski Urban Design Doctor Ltd

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Katherine Herbert

Par tner, Birketts Solicitors, Cambridge

Head

“We worked positively together to achieve a mutually acceptable agreement as soon as was possible It is refreshing to work with such a positive approach