From community celebrations to enhancing education: a year in review in Northstowe

2023 has been an exciting year in Northstowe’s journey, with the development of the emerging town taking significant steps forward and its resident community continuing to thrive.

Working alongside a range of partners, Homes England, which is responsible for delivering phases two and three at Northstowe as master developer, has completed several projects and supported various initiatives throughout the year.

Here, we’ve looked at some of the highlights of the last 12 months in Northstowe!

HELPING MORE PEOPLE TO FIND A HOME IN NORTHSTOWE

Homes England selected Keepmoat Homes as the development partner to deliver part of the second phase of Northstowe.

In the first half of the year, we saw Keepmoat kickstart the construction of 300 homes, a play park and a commercial unit at Stirling Fields. The development offers a range of housing options, enabling more residents to join the vibrant and growing population of Northstowe. The works have made significant progress on site this year and Stirling Fields has welcomed its first residents – keep your eyes peeled for more on this soon!

CREATING PLACES FOR THE COMMUNITY TO THRIVE

It’s been fantastic to see more and more community activities taking place and so many community, culture, and faith groups continuing to spring up across Northstowe.

Following planning approval and the delivery of the modular building earlier in the year, September saw residents celebrate the opening of the Temporary Community Centre, now named ‘The Cabin’.

The building is located next to The Green and provides space for friends, families, and community groups to meet and host events. It also features a community garden, NHS rooms to host local health services and office space used by Community Development Officers and Northstowe Town Council.

A community landmark, The Cabin is also home to 'A Symbol for Northstowe', a captivating new sculpture which blends elements of the town’s past, present, and future. Local Willingham artist, Chloe Leaper, created the piece with the local community through the Northstowe Heritage Art Project, which was managed by Northstowe Arts. The project was made possible by funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Homes England, Cambridgeshire County Council and Northstowe Foodies, and by working alongside project partners Longstanton & District Heritage Society, Homes England, Cambridgeshire County Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council.

Being active becomes easier

Wellbeing and sustainability are at the heart of Northstowe’s development, with the emerging town surrounded by countryside and green spaces firmly embedded into its design. There are already over 15km of walking and cycling routes in Northstowe, supporting residents and visitors to lead active lifestyles and enjoy the great outdoors.

Northstowe Running Festival is always an annual highlight for the town and makes the most of some of these routes. Members of the Homes England team took part in September’s event and enjoyed meeting local residents and attendees. This year’s festival was a great success and raised over £8,000 for various charities.

More recently, we saw the completion of the Western Park Sports Pavilion, set to offer great new leisure facilities to the community. Provided by South Cambridgeshire District Council, the pavilion will serve the Western Park sports pitches, bowling green, and hard surface games area and provide facilities from team and referee changing to a cafe.

Enabling access to the emerging town

*Credit: Phil Mynott on behalf of Homes England*

September saw a series of major milestones, highlighted by the opening of the new access road, Wilson’s Bridge, and associated bridleways, footways and cycleways. The road links the emerging town to Bar Hill, Cambridge, and beyond and provides quick, smooth, and safe access to Northstowe.

The opening of the new access road also enabled access to the lakes, which includes scenic pedestrian and cycle routes around Unity Lake and Halcyon Mere. More details can be found here.

Enhancing education for future generations

***Credit: Marc Mann @ SkyTech Cambridge for Homes England***

Education is at the heart of Northstowe’s development; in fact, the very first building to be developed on the site was Pathfinder School.

Building on the existing education provision, this year saw construction work commence on a major expansion of the Northstowe Learning Community. Following substantial land and financial contributions which have enabled two high-quality occupied schools in Northstowe, land and funding provided by Homes England, the government’s housing and regeneration agency, is now helping to make way for expansion of the education campus around the first phase of Northstowe Secondary College.

Festive fun to finish the year

In recent weeks, it’s been great to see the town glitter in all its festive glory.

Kickstarting the season, Homes England co-sponsored the town Christmas tree, and the Christmas light switch-on event was a great success which attracted over 400 attendees. The celebration lit up the town before a living advent calendar brought Northstowe to life with a new festive scene each day. Throughout December, residents also spread the winter cheer with Christmas-themed activities and craft workshops galore including 'Light Up Longest Night' by Northstowe Arts.

The future looks merry and bright

It’s safe to say that it’s been an exciting year for Northstowe, but looking ahead, there’s plenty more to be cheery about. With plans now approved for a permanent community centre, the opening of the Western Park Sports Pavilion, and much more in the works, we’re looking forward to what 2024 will bring.

All that’s left is to wish friends of Northstowe’s past, present, and future a very happy new year!