Residents only have until Thursday (March 7) to have their say over a significant proposed extension of Wittering.

Peterborough City Council is currently holding a consultation over its latest Local Plan.

The Local Plan will direct growth and regeneration in Peterborough and the surrounding villages all the way up until to 2044.

Among the largest potential projects named in the plan is a “a new large-scale settlement to the west of the village of Wittering, north of the A47 and west of the A1.”

A major development to the west of Wittering has been proposed. Photo: Kwangmoozaa - stock.adobe.com.

placeholder image — A major development to the west of Wittering has been proposed. Photo: Kwangmoozaa - stock.adobe.com.

The site is believed to have capacity for approximately 3,000 houses with the possibility of delivering 1,800 homes in the plan-period.

The site, located to the west of Wittering would be roughly one third of the size of Stamford and around one and a half times the size of the nearby Uppingham.

The land is being considered as part of the City Council’s commitment to meet government housing requirements within Peterborough’s Local Plan strategy.

Many residents have spoken out against the plans, raising concerns that the development would lead to thousands of extra vehicle movements in the area, the loss of Grange Farm in Wittering as well as the effect all of the increased traffic would have on rural lanes, school routes, the A1/A47 corridor and neighbouring villages.

The development would be comprised of land in the pink area.

The proposed site is considered an ‘alternative’ option to an area of land northeast of Castor and Ailsworth that was initially considered for development.

According to the Peterborough Draft Local Plan Alternative Site Option Consultation document, the potential inclusion of the land northeast of Castor and Ailsworth led to “significant concerns” being raised by “both the public and statutory stakeholders on impact on the natural environment and biodiversity, impacts and pressure on the local infrastructure, including highways and other services and facilities, and impacts on landscape.”

Speaking of the alternative site west of Wittering, Councillor Mohammed Farooq, Cabinet Member for Growth and Regeneration, said: “No other singular site, or combination of sites have been suggested to the council that can deliver the level of housing required.”

“Therefore, this is the only alternative and available site for consideration.”

“To be clear, this consultation exercise does not mean the council has made a decision to include the site on land to the west of Wittering in the submission version of the Local Plan,” he said.

He added:

“The feedback from this focused consultation will help inform the Council on which site would be most suitable for inclusion in the final version of the Local Plan.”

The public consultation will last for six weeks until 5 March 2026 and has been running for the past six weeks.

Once the consultation is complete, all comments received will be reviewed and any necessary changes to the Local Plan will be made and presented to Full Council for approval.

To respond to the consultation, visit https://www.peterborough.gov.uk/council/planning-and-development/planning-policies/local-plan-review.