MP welcomes decision not to proceed with Sibson garden village

Plans for 2500 homes on the site were announced last summer and were met with huge opposition from local residents and organisations.

North West Cambridgeshire MP Mr Vara, together with Cllr Rita Matthews, opposed the scheme. It was felt that the scheme was simply not sustainable and the number of houses would be more than all the surrounding villages put together.

During the campaign to stop the development, Mr Vara was in contact with the Rt. Hon. Sajid Javid MP, Secretary of State at the Department for Communities and Local Government and made absolutely clear to him his own opposition to the scheme as well as that of the community.

Following the announcement, Mr Vara said: “I am very pleased with this result. There has been huge opposition to this proposal from residents, parish councils and local groups and I am delighted that common sense has prevailed. I am also grateful to Cllr Rita Matthews who worked incredibly hard throughout this campaign.”

The first successful garden village bids were announced on Monday, January 2, and Sibson was not one of them. The Government has instead offered support to Huntingdonshire District Council to explore the proposal further. However, the Council has decided to concentrate its capacity and expertise on its currently planned developments and the delivery of its new Local Plan. The Council will not therefore be proactively exploring this proposal further.

Executive Leader Councillor Robin Howe said “Huntingdonshire continues to be at the forefront of transformational growth and the Council expressed an interest in exploring a potential garden village at Sibson Aerodrome. It is however increasingly evident that the challenge of delivering the currently planned developments and the new Local Plan cannot be underestimated, and these will be the Council’s priorities, and thus will not be supporting the Sibson Garden village proposal.”