2022 Review

HERE ARE SOME OF THE 2022 HIGHLIGHTS FROM HOMES ENGLAND…

It's been another year at Northstowe, and it's great to see so many things happening across the newer phases of the town as well as across the wider established and growing community. So we thought we would look back at some of this.

The biggest news is that planning permission is granted for the final phases of Northstowe to progress - the final 5,000 homes and facilities. Phase 3B will provide 1,000 homes, another primary school, a small mixed-use area and public open spaces.

This news follows Phase 3A getting the green light too, which includes 4,000 new homes, a mixed-use centre, two primary schools, and a range of open spaces. Homes England also secured £123.9m of funding to deliver new infrastructure (including roads. cycle, and busways) for the town at the same time.

We've welcomed new housebuilders on site. Keepmoat will launch very soon in Phase 2B, and we are progressing with finding a new development partner for the remainder of Phase 2A.

Central One is the name for the Town Centre area, and we marketed the site earlier this year to find a partner to develop this important and long-awaited heart of Northstowe. This partner will build the very first phase including; 450 apartments and townhouses, a shop, a market hall with retail and leisure use, a civic hub, two public car parks, town gardens and a section of what will become the main High Street.

It also includes additional housing with permission for up to 130 houses and a neighbourhood play area. We've found a partner, and we hope to be able to announce this new partnership in Spring. There will be lots of opportunities for the local community to have their say on the detailed plans as they develop, and we are very excited about it.

Alongside this, we secured funding from the Government to plan and deliver the rest of the town, including enabling roads, homes and facilities needed. This is £123 million to focus on finishing Northstowe.

In the summer, we ran a competition for the local community to decide on the names of the three lakes at Northstowe. This was a huge success, and the names are; Bug Hunter Waters, Unity Lake and Halcyon Mere. The lakes will provide a place for the local community to explore, and we are working on a management plan so that they can open safely and continue to be managed properly once they are no longer considered part of the construction process at Northstowe.

The Bug Hunter Waters footpath is open, and you can walk around it. Unity Lake is opening soon for walking around, and Lake Halcyon is still under construction but will be more for wildlife.

We supported the Northstowe Running Festival in the summer, where some of our team also ran in the 5k race.

The link road is undergoing some final works and checks by relevant organisations/authorities, and we are aiming to have it open to the public in 2023. It will be the main access into Northstowe once open.

The new Heritage Centre has started to be built. This important building will house some of the finds from both the Northstowe archaeological digs and also from the A14. It will be open in the Spring, all being well. We've provided funding and land to help make this happen, including funding for a sculpture which will be inside the building.

We are also proud that our Section 106 money has been put to good use. Not least, it has enabled Northstowe Arts to become a formal Community Interest Group so they can take on bigger projects at Northstowe that benefit the community.

And finally, the community once again lit up Northstowe this recent festive period, and we are proud to be supporting the tree and this important community event each year. It's been a great year, and we are hitting the ground running in 2023.