The government’s infrastructure commission is considering 76 growth locations with the potential to house an additional 1.5m people around the Cambridge/Milton Keynes/Oxford “growth corridor”.
It is understood the National Infrastructure Commission has drawn up a plan for a series of urban extensions in towns across the area, along with 15 affordable transport infrastructure projects.
An announcement on the new growth locations and potential funding is expected in the Budget.
One potential growth area is Calvert, where the new east-west, Oxford to Cambridge “varsity” railway line is planned to cross the north-south HS2.
The NIC recently held an ideas competition, with architects invited to pitch. Among the chosen shortlist of four, Mae Architects proposed a city of 250,000 people at this location.
Significantly, the area is not classified as green belt.
Mae Architects’ proposal
The NIC, which was set up in 2015 by the then chancellor George Osborne and is chaired by Lord Adonis, provides expert advice to government on a long-term infrastructure strategy.
Last year, the NIC was set the task to consider how to maximise the potential of the growth corridor as a single, knowledge-intensive cluster that competes on a global stage.
The NIC’s central conclusion in interim findings published in November 2016 was:
“A lack of sufficient and suitable housing that presents a fundamental risk to the success of this area. Without a joined-up plan for housing, jobs and infrastructure across the corridor, it will be left behind its international competitors.”
A new east-west railway linking Oxford to Cambridge, cutting journey times by more than half, was proposed, among other major new transport links with the “specific intention of securing tens of thousands of new homes this area needs”.
A final NIC report was due to be published by autumn 2017.
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