Month: March 2026

What we want from a Development Corporation

On March 19 Cambridge City Council held an extraordinary meeeting to discuss its response to the Government consulation on “Establishing a Development Corporation in Greater Cambridge” – please read more and respond online.

Each councillor got three minutes to talk, and these are my speaking notes which i mostly followed. They reiterate the points I’ve made elsewhere. You can also watch the whole debate on the City Council YouTube channel.

Notes Towards a Talk

While we have concerns over the shape, function and makeup of a future Development Corporation, I think we should welcome the government’s recognition that Greater Cambridge will benefit from extra help and support.

We face enormous difficulties due to systemic, national-level constraints in water supply, waste water treatment, electricity grid capacity, communications, and transport.

So, if a devco can provide the national convening power and multi-billion-pound, long-term investment needed, we will embrace it.

However, we want it on our terms, working with elected local authorities not against us.

We want a development corporation to help us to deliver our ambitions, not countering them

To expand what is possible, not limit our potential

And to help deliver our promises to the people of Cambridge, made when they elected us.

So, what does that mean?

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“Let’s Talk About” – the Greater Cambridge Development Corporation


On the evening of March 4 I took part in a public discussion about the government’s consultation on establishing a Development Corporation for Greater Cambridge, organised by the Cambridge Room, of which I am proud to be a Trustee.

We were joined by Peter Freeman and Beth Dugdale from the Cambridge Growth Company and Cllr Dr Tumi Hawkins from South Cambs District Council. Also on the panel was Eleanor Riley from The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government who talked through government context and details of the consultation.

Each of us was given a chance to outline our views, and these are the speaking notes I used – though I may have said something slightly different on the night.

The consultation on the Development Corporation runs until the end of the month and I urge you to read the papers and make your own contribution. And perhaps my notes will be helpful.

Notes towards a talk

Thank you all for being here. Today, I want to share my thoughts on the proposed development corporation (devco), and I have three main points to make: one is a common-sense point about democracy, one is a practical concern about the planning service drawn from my own experience, and the third is a more radical proposal for the future of Greater Cambridge, because the challenge today is not just acknowledging the devco and the government’s ambitions, but defining how we use it to deliver our wider objectives rather than just “business as usual” expansion.

First, we must address the democratic deficit that is too easily built into a centrally-led Urban Development Corporation. The government’s proposal relies on a top-down model where the board is appointed by the Secretary of State. While the proposal invites local council leaders and the combined authority mayor to sit on this board, having a few seats at the table is simply not enough for true democratic integration. To meet our challenges, the board must also include specific expertise in ecological resilience, local food policy, circular economics, and community or youth engagement.

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