The Homes

Bovis Homes, Bryant Homes and George Wimpey are creating a whole spectrum of different homes to provide something for everyone. One bedroom apartments nestle next to six bedroom detached properties, two bedroom cottages sit neatly beside three-storey townhouses, there are even barn-style properties. There are retirement homes and affordable housing too, all of this leading to a well-mixed and well-balanced community.

Over 1,800 homes are already occupied at Cambourne, with Great Cambourne - centred around 'The Meadow' and Monkfield Wood - looking appealingly established.

Lower Cambourne is also rapidly establishing itself around the village green cricket pitch. There is a Roman themed play area for toddlers to teenagers. Lower Cambourne benefits from its proximity to the Country Park and Lakes and is very popular with residents for this reason.

Upper Cambourne boasts the location of the second primary school, The Vines Inter-church School. Housing is due to commence in 2007.

Community

The vast majority of Cambourne’s residents are passionate about their new community as the drawing board plans steadily become the reality in which they live their everyday lives. Many are proud to be part of this exciting project and their pioneering spirit has helped to bring them together and make new residents feel welcome as they arrive.

Many clubs and classes have been set up by the residents for the residents including a successful running club, football club, parents & tots group, a pub lunch forum for older residents and a local branch of the WI. The residents also organise large public events such as the very popular Cambourne Summer Festival and an annual Bonfire Night fireworks display.

Hotel

Cambourne is the home to a brand new four star hotel, The Cambridge Belfry Hotel, which opened in June 2004. Facilities, open to hotel guests and the general public, include a restaurant, a brasserie, a bar and a deluxe leisure complex comprising swimming pool, gym, beauty treatment room, spa, sauna, relaxation area and outdoor tennis court. The 120 bedrooms incorporate 10 suites and 18 executive rooms and conference and banqueting facilities are also available.

Sport & Leisure

Cambourne has 600 acres of green open space for residents to enjoy the great outdoors whether on foot, on horseback or bicycle. There is also a fishing lake and allotments forming part of the Country Park.

A fully equipped sports centre is planned for the future at Cambourne. But in the meantime there’s no shortage of sport available, with tennis courts, a flood-lit multi-use games area with both a hard surface pitch and an artificial grass pitch, a number of sports fields, an impressive large skateboard park and an informal kick-about area for the kids. The Cambridge Belfry Hotel at Cambourne also has a superb gymnasium, pool and spa leisure complex.

Cambourne has a lively social scene and there are a great many clubs and societies that meet regularly in the new community centre known as 'The Hub', situated in the High Street.

High Street Shops

Cambourne has a centrally located High Street which provides a broad mix of retail outlets, offices and other services. It includes the library and health centre and the pub, The Monkfield Arms.

A number of estate agents, including Connells and Sharman Quinney have opened branches in the high street along with a number of food outlets including an Indian restaurant and a Fish N Chick’n shop providing residents with a great deal of choice.

There are also plans for a DIY/garden store which would be located off Back Lane at the rear of the High Street.

High Street Offices

Situated in the High Street are the new regional headquarters of Bovis Homes and the Cambourne Project Office. Anyone requiring any further information on the new settlement should contact Mr David Chare, Project Director on 01954 719438 or email Teresa.Snazle@taylorwimpey.com

Supermarket

Morrisons supermarket opened at Cambourne in October 2002. The 30,000 sq ft retail area offers Morrisons famous ‘Market Street’ concept with butchers, bakers, fishmongers and greengrocers. There’s also a popular café which overlooks Cambourne’s market square, a newsagent, petrol filling station and car wash.

Education

Cambourne has two primary schools, Monkfield Park Primary School in Lower Cambourne, which opened in April 2000 and The Vines Inter-Church School in Upper Cambourne, which opened in September 2005.

Monkfield Park Primary School is a highly successful school which has quickly attained a position amongst the top 25%of schools in the country and has a glowing OFSTED report. The school caters for pupils from Reception through to Year 6 and is led by Headteacher Lynne Anderson. The school has been the first in the county to have an Advanced Skills level teacher, and also leads the way in educational technology.

The Vines Inter-Church School is being headed up by Debbie Higham. The teaching is currently carried out in four temporary classrooms whilst the permanent buildings take shape next door. The school is expected to accommodate 420 pupils by September 2007.

Older children living at Cambourne fall within the catchment area of Comberton Village College, highlighted by the Sunday Times education survey in 2004 as the best secondary state school in the country.

Nursery

The Just Learning private day nursery is proving popular with parents since its launch in March 2001. The nursery, now an integral part of the Cambourne infrastructure, has facilities to look after 36 babies aged 12 weeks to two years, and toddlers aged from two to three. Pre-school children have rooms specially equipped with computers. Just Learning is an established childcare provider with similar nurseries across the country. The Nursery Manager and her staff are always happy to offer local parents the chance to view the fantastic facilities on offer at the nursery.

Play Areas

An imaginative new play area with a Roman theme for Lower Cambourne opened in July 2002. The theme was chosen to reflect archaeological findings dating back to Roman times on this part of the settlement and the different environments within the play area cater for toddlers up to teenagers. The children of Monkfield Park Primary have also been instrumental in the design of the play area by the Eco Park and in Lower Cambourne, creating colourful ideas in special workshops held to acquaint them with the Roman era.

Another popular children’s play area equipped with colourful swings, slides and play equipment has also been created near the village green of Great Cambourne.

The Eco Park also has two recreational areas – one a teenage hangout area, and the other an eco-themed area for younger children. The children’s area has been divided into two activity spaces – "the mole mound" for 0-4 years olds and "the newt pond" for 4-10 year olds, and an informal "picnic area" adjacent to the toddler area.

The teenage hangout area has been planned in conjunction with youngsters living at Cambourne to make sure they got exactly the sort of facilities they wanted. Similarly, the extensive skateboard park was designed by the Youth of Cambourne, in conjunction with professional skateboarders.

Healthcare

Sackville House is home to Cambourne’s medical practice, under the guidance of Dr Peter Bailey.

Dr Bailey’s patient-focused approach is proving both popular and effective, and a family service co-ordinator; part-time pharmacist and an information officer are now available to talk with patients directly, without having to go via a GP. There is also a health information library that the information officer will develop into a major resource for patients once the Practice moves into the Sackville House with the library. There are now four GP’s at the practice, Dr Peter Bailey, Dr Alistair Anderson, Dr Jyoti Sharma and Dr Jackie Koo.

Cambourne’s first dental practice has also opened. Located in Monkfield House, Dr Alexandra Cornell runs a state of the art practice which focuses on education and prevention.

Sackville House

Sackville House is situated at the far end of the High Street at the Junction with Sackville Way. As well as the medical practice this building also houses the library for Cambourne, together with HQ office accomodation for Cambridgeshire Trading Standards.

The Church

Looking after the spiritual well-being of the community is Cambourne’s own vicar, Reverend Peter Wood. Peter takes a modern approach to Christianity, wanting to make it relevant, open and accessible for all denominations and works with Churches Together in the community.

Peter and his young family were fortunate enough to move into a brand new vicarage — The Church House — at Easter 2002.

Until the permanent Church Centre is built, regular services and Church gatherings are taking place at a temporary community building, affectionately known as The Ark. The building serves as a meeting place for non-Church related community groups too.


Cambourne’s burial ground, adjacent to the new church is now operational.


There is now planning approval for an ambitious and inspirational new church at the head of Cambourne High Street. The community and diocese are working together to fund raise for the project.

Environment

Cambourne has been widely recognised as a fantastic example of how wildlife and care for the environment can be incorporated and positively encouraged by house builders and planners. With 80 acres of country parkland, 160 acres of newly planted woodland as well as a 20 acre Eco Park – Cambourne combines the very best of town and country living.

Over 11 miles of hedgerows and 91, 000 trees and shrubs have been planted, and there are now 13 acres of wetlands at Cambourne. 22 species of mammals have set up residence at Cambourne since its launch. Five species of amphibians and reptiles, including the protected great crested newt, have also been recorded. 115 bird species, some 25 species of butterfly and 17 species of dragonfly have newly colonised the lakes and ponds.

Care of the natural environment at Cambourne has been placed in the expert hands of environmental consultants ESL and the Cambridgeshire Wildlife Trust who have chosen to make their Headquarters at Cambourne.

Cambourne Business Park

Cambourne Business Park is located at the entrance to the settlement of Cambourne. With a total area of 50 acres the park will ultimately offer up to 750,000 sq ft of advanced business space, making Cambourne one of the UK's leading business parks.

The three buildings on Phase One offer 125,000 sq ft of air-conditioned office space at the front of the Business Park. They are occupied by Regus, Convergys and Citrix Systems. Phase Two of the Park was completed in February 2002. The three buildings in this phase have total floor space of 150,000 sq ft. Occupiers on this phase include Cambridge Display Technology.

In May of 2004 South Cambridgeshire District Council moved into their new offices at the head of the Business Park. This landmark building incorporates a host of environment friendly features including a "mixed-mode" cooling system, a rainwater harvesting system and low energy lighting. Around 350 staff work in the building which also contains a council chamber for meetings of the district council.

A central feature of the Business Park is the quality of its landscaping. The site's natural landscape has been enhanced by a 380 metre tree-lined boulevard running alongside two connected lakes set within two and a half acres of parkland at the heart of the site, and an extensive network of footpaths and cycleways. The business park's generous car parking is carefully screened by further landscaping with the majority of spaces being sited to the rear of the buildings. Where many business parks offer only the most rudimentary facilities, our network of footpaths and cycle ways linking the Business Park to the village will enable our occupiers to benefit from the wide variety of amenities in and around the settlement of Cambourne.

Over 1000 people already work on the Business Park and an increasing number of those are also choosing to live at Cambourne
Future information can be obtained from Lesley Scobell at the Business Park's Marketing office: 01223 472071.

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