The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
MP vows to fight plans for 2,500 homes near Castor
MP Shailesh Vara has attacked plans fora huge new homes development ear marked for land near the villages of Castor and Ailsworth. Peterborough City Council’s draft local plans sets out proposals for 2,500 new homes on open countryside north of the A47. The MP for North West Cambridgeshire has vowed to fight the plans which he said would have a negative impact on existing villages.
MP Shailesh Vara has ‘come out fighting’ against proposals for a new 2,500 home development north of Castor and Ailsworth.
The MP for North West Cambridgeshire voiced his strong opposition to the plans within hours of them being revealed, claiming that the development will be “completely out of keeping with the local area and will set a dangerous precedent for further development in the open countryside”.
The proposals are part of a new draft local plan for Peterborough up to 2036. Other developments pencil led in are for 250 properties in Eye, 120 split between Thorney and Helpston, and 400 by the East of England Show ground, near Alwalton.
The document, published this week by the city council, also declares there will be 12,500 undergraduate students at a campus-based Peterborough University by 2036, and it predicts that the city’s population will rise from 183,961 in 2011 to 227,890 in 2036, an increase of nearly 24 per cent.
The report also states there is no need for further traveller sites in Peterborough, although planning permission for them will be granted if certain criteria are met.
The local plan identifies a need for 3,500 new homes in Peterborough by 2036, with 2,500 proposed for land north of Ailsworth and Castor.
The new settlement, dubbed ‘Great Kyne’, also includes a new country park, employment land and a cemetery. Investigations would also begin for university facilities to be provided in the settlement.
The 2,500 houses would be built north of the A47 and the country park south of the dual carriageway.
The village of Castor was earmarked by the Peterborough Development Corporation decades ago to become a town, but the Government decided against it.
Mr Vara said he was coming out fighting against the settlement which he said would include three separate garden villages. He added that people living in villages “want a certain way of life away from the hussle and bussle of busy cities and to enjoy more peaceful surroundings.
“The garden villages of Great Kyne could be enormous. They will be significantly bigger than all the local villages combined and will inevitably have negative impacts on Ailsworth, Castor, Upton and Sutton.
“I will be working with local councillors, parish councils and residents to strongly oppose these plans.”
Council leader and Castor ward councillor Cllr John Holdich said: “I’ve represented Castor for 38 years and I made my reputation from stopping the Castor township. The MP is right to put in his initial response and we can debate it. It’s my job to represent the views of the people of Castor.”
Cllr Peter Hiller, council cabinet member for planning and housing, and ward councillor for Castor, said: “I’m conscious these potential sites won’t be everyone’s popular choice but can assure you a huge amount of time and analysis has been spent by our very capable planning teamin these initial suggestions, and challenges are invited.”
Cast or Parish Council said: “As this matter has not been formally considered at a convened meeting of the parish council, we are not in a position to put on record the council’s position at the cur- rent time.”
The draft plan says developments of over 500 dwellings should incorporate a preschool and primary schools, and either a secondary school or a “contribution to secondary school provision off-site.”
Provision must also be made for retail, leisure and health facilities and open spaces for sport and recreation. A consultation on the proposals begins in December.