Location

Love’s Farm East, St. Neots, Cambridgeshire

Date

2017 to present

Status

Completed

Client

L&Q Estates

Services

Masterplanning, Landscape Design, Design Coding

Collaborative Design Coding

St Neots is strategically positioned to strongly benefit from the widespread economic development that is already happening in the Oxford-Cambridge corridor and accordingly, there has been unprecedented growth of the town in the past 15 years. Approximately 4,000 new homes are planned for St Neots over the next 15 years which it is estimated will bring approximately 1,500 working age adults into the town.

Much of the growth of St. Neots has been to the east of the town on the eastern side of the rail line, in effect spatially growing the size of St. Neots by another 50%. In doing so, the challenge has been to ensure new housing developments to the east can be adequately connected to the town, both socially, and physically, bridging the barrier of the rail line. 

Define were appointed following the grant of Outline Planning Permission to produce a Design Code for the latest expansion to the town of approximately 1,000 new homes including a new primary school, local centre and employment situated on the very east of the expanded part of St Neots. The principles set out in the Design Code sought to ensure that the new development would be entirely connected to previous phases of expansion, as well as the wider extent of St. Neots whilst creating a sustainable walkable neighbourhood where living, working, learning, and leisure were all in close proximity.

The Design Code included detailed principles setting out the requirements for a cohesive network of green infrastructure providing a variety of open space functions to serve new development and be accessible to existing neighbourhoods.

Updates

Project update

Design Code Approved

Love’s Farm, St. Neots

Project team