If the housebuilding goes ahead, Tempsford would become bigger than Cambridge

Residents in a tiny village fear they will soon be swamped by Britain’s biggest new town and 40,000 new homes. Many of the 600 residents of Tempsford, just over the Bedfordshire border, are frustrated after the civil parish was shortlisted among seven new towns in England.

The government has committed to deliver 1.5 million new homes by 2029 which could see 40,000 new properties in the village, making it larger than Cambridge. If the proposal is confirmed, Tempsford could be fast tracked due to the new East West Rail Link following the development of the Cambridge to Oxford corridor.

Movie giant Universal Studios has also started work on its first theme park in Europe. The 476-acre complex is just 14 miles away.

Parish council chairman David Sutton has lived in the village for 10 years in his Tudor home which is around 450 years old. He said: “There is this fallacy the government are trying to push about the Cambridge to Oxford corridor.

“We’re not NIMBYs – we just don’t want everything in our backyard. Tempsford has around 600 residents and the upscale if they build these houses is going to be massive.

“We haven’t had any correspondence on what we want, we wish someone would come out here to talk to us. We’d need a doctors, a dentist, schools – we don’t even have a shop. Why do we need to wait until new homes are built before we start putting infrastructure in place for the people who need it and are already living here?”

David also runs The Wheatsheaf pub, which is the only business open seven days a week and prides itself on its community offerings. But David fears Tempsford’s charm could be lost if it became ‘concrete’.

He added: “This development – if it goes ahead which it looks like it will – is going to change everything. We are a rural community and lots of people moved here because they wanted to live in the countryside. Yet nobody will tell us anything about how things are going to change or what the outcome is going to be.”

The Cambridge to Oxford corridor has been dubbed Europe’s Silicon Valley. The government has said funding will become available to “kickstart development” including backing new homes, laboratories, and workspaces.

But Tempsford, residents say, is steeped in rich history, including being the home of an RAF base dubbed one of the most secret airfields of World War II. Tempsford is also partly on a flood plain which has caused issues for villagers over the years, including road closures and sewage overflows. The area is surrounded by farmland and there are concerns over the future of the agricultural land.

Julie Stanley, 53, has lived in the village for 15 years and has been plagued by floodwater, which once left her having to be rescued by the fire brigade. Julie, a hotelier, is currently living in a caravan as her house has been branded unhabitable and she cannot insure it to sell.

She said: “Practicality has not been thought about here. It’s going to look like the Bronx. We’re not inventing new land, we’re encroaching on what is already being used. I’m not against developing – I know progress, whether good or bad, has to happen.

“But I am essentially homeless and I am living in a caravan next to my property. The floodwater rose to waist height in 20 minutes and I had to get myself, my dogs and my partner out.

“I’ve spoken to the council and the environment agency and there’s nothing they can do for me. I even offered up two acres of my land for them to resolve my flooding issue. And yet they want to build on it.”

It is a 16 mile drive for Julie to get to the nearest shop due to a lack of access roads and ongoing work at the nearby Black Cat roundabout. She said none of these have been considered when proposing Tempsford as a site for a new town.

Julie, who owns 10-and-a-half acres of land, said she had even been issued with a stop notice on her caravan. She added: “The council will tell anyone trying to put a planning application through they can’t do it because it’s on a flood plain or it’s ruining the rural idyll.

“But it’s a double standard when they’re wanting to build 40,000 new homes here. I moved to a village. If I wanted to live in a city then I would have moved to one.”

John Hewitt, who has lived in the village for five years at his thatched cottage, said: “I’m not against development but it is on a huge scale.We need to build houses and we need more jobs but it does depend on how much afford housing they’re planning on building.

“If they’re going to build a train station for Universal [theme park] then it would be nice for the kids to be able to walk up there. Some people in the village are very against it. We are in the countryside – we even have a field behind our house. Tempsford does seem to be at the top of the government’s list.”

The plans are currently undergoing a consultation period with a final decision slated for this summer.