Environmental groups slam 'insane' plan to transform Cambridge into 'Europe's Silicon Valley'

An alleged proposal to transform one of the UK's fastest growing cities into Europe's answer to the 'Silicon Valley' has been called "insanity" by environmental groups.

A report in the Sunday Times revealed details of a leaked document called "Cambridge 2040" which set out housing secretary Michael Gove's plans for the city.

As part of the scheme, 250,000 new homes would be built in Cambridge over the course of two decades in order to "unleash new life into the sciences and technology sectors".

The Times report also claimed that the government would soon start "identifying large swathes of land to construct new business parks, laboratories and science hubs".

250,000 new homes would be built if the plans were approved. Credit: ITV News Anglia

The plans, if approved, would lead to a "huge expansion" of Cambridge which currently has a population of around 150,000 residents.

Since the article was published on Sunday, many local environmental groups have slammed the rumoured proposals which would be an expansion of existing house-building plans in the area.

"Cambridge is not particularly well endowed with brownfield sites due to our history - there has never been much industry here," Ian Ralls from the Cambridge Friends of the Earth campaign group said.

"It's basically agricultural land or the green belt. Agricultural land we need for food, especially following Brexit. It's insanity really."

In response to the speculation, Cambridge City Council said in a statement that it had "not been consulted" on the ideas and "would expect to be fully engaged in any proposals and the decision-making regarding the future of our city."

Critics have argued that housing needs to be more affordable in Cambridge in order to attract the best candidates. Credit: ITV News Anglia

Some businesses based in the city have given the idea a cautious welcome, although many were in agreement that the cost of housing needs to be reduced in order to attract the best young talent.

"We've had a lot of recent records where candidates have been struggling to find places - it's very difficult to find places to rent as well," Sai Shivareddy, the chief executive of Cambridge-based battery charging company, Nyobolt, told ITV News Anglia.

"Its a combination of what fast growing companies need and what the city can keep up with in terms of infrastructure to make it really attractive for people to really enjoy working and living in the region around here."

California's Silicon Valley is home to many start-up and global technology companies around the San Francisco area, including Apple, Facebook and Google.

Cambridge has already been labelled 'Silicon Fen' by some experts after many businesses decided to move to the city in the late 1990s.

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