Chancellor Rachel Reeves has today announced plans to accelerate growth in and around Cambridge, including a revival of the Oxford-Cambridge Arc abandoned by Boris Johnson, and green-lighting of plans for development at Waterbeach and Cambridge’s Beehive site. 

This announcement is a recognition of Cambridgeshire’s significance to the UK economy. But it’s also an urgent attempt by the Government to revive flagging economic growth, and much of what has been announced by way of infrastructure to support intensified development around Cambridge consists of schemes already planned or under way.

It’s not clear whether the money is there for the whole route of East West Rail to Cambridge, and residents and businesses need certainty about this so that they can plan for the future.

House-building plans in and around Cambridge are already ambitious, developed through the local planning process. The infrastructure in the Chancellor’s announcement is needed to meet these existing plans. For example the proposed Fens Reservoir—still in the early stages of consultation—will not be supplying water until the late 2030s, and is intended to enable the existing housing targets. Additional development will require further investment to ensure communities have access to sufficient water, health services, and transport.

Commitment to the Cambridge Cancer Hospital is welcome, but our health services, from GP surgeries and access to dentists, to accident and emergency facilities in our hospitals, are already struggling.

And the establishment of further unaccountable delivery bodies to progress the Government’s plans does not bode well for genuine public engagement and democratic input. This is particularly concerning as the Chancellor’s announcement comes just at the point at which the Government is tearing up the fifty-year-old map of local government and reorganising local councils which will take several years to set up and start work.