Cambridge – Waterbeach New Town

A major 1,200 acre site for a linked sustainable urban extension to Cambridge for about 11,000 homes. The ownership of the site is split between the Ministry of Defence and a local landowners Trust. The local landowners element of the project is led by Turnstone in a joint venture with St John’s College & Royal London Asset Management, known as Waterbeach Development Company.

The site has an allocation in South Cambridgeshire District Council’s Local Plan adopted in 2018. In September 2018 RLW Estates obtained full planning permission for a relocated railway station. In January 2021, RLW obtained a resolution to grant outline planning permission for:

• 4,500 new homes, providing a wide variety ranging from one bed apartments to five-bed homes, ensuring homes for all requirements;
• 30% affordable housing provision;
• A masterplan based around the concept of ‘Sociable Streets’, designed to create neighbourhoods for cyclists and pedestrians over the car;
• Contributions of over £100m for local infrastructure;
• One secondary school, two primary schools and a sixth-form centre;
• Over 35 hectares of open space, including a 20-acre country park; and
• 24,800 sqm of employment space.

Waterbeach New Town East will be developed alongside the consented scheme at Waterbeach Barracks which combined will see the delivery of 11,000 homes. This meets the requirements of the Local Plan in South Cambridgeshire, which identified land to the north of the existing Waterbeach Village as suitable for a new settlement.