South Cambridgeshire News
The latest South Cambridgeshire news: planning decisions, council and crime updates, business and community stories, each linked back to its official source.
Top story
Linton 100 Homes: Developer Appeals Horseheath Road Refusal
The developer refused 100 homes off Horseheath Road, Linton, has appealed. It says the council lacks a 5-year housing supply; the council now says 7.83 years.
More stories
Planning
South Cambs Parish Councils Lose Planning Call-In on 31 Oct
From 31 October, parish councils and ward councillors can no longer call planning applications in to committee. In 2026, 10 of 23 cases got there no other way.
Cost of living
South Cambs Hardship Fund: £180,000 for Vouchers and Debts
500 supermarket vouchers, 300 meter top-ups and debt rebates of up to £1,000: how South Cambs will spend £180,000, and where to get help before it opens.
Cambourne
Cambourne Bring Banks Removed After 24 Fly-Tipping Fines
The charity banks in Cambourne's Morrisons car park have gone after repeated dumping. Fly-tipping there now costs £420 to £700, and here is where to take things instead.
Melbourn
Melbourn Data Centre Could Heat 2,300 Homes: Vote 29 Sep
Cabinet votes on 29 September to consult on piping waste heat from an 8MW data centre near Flint Cross into Melbourn homes. The costs and the catches.
Cambourne
Cambium Square Cambourne: First Homes Open, 102 Affordable
The first of 256 homes at Cambium Square, Cambourne, are finished. 102 are council rent or shared ownership; four-bed homes for sale start at £559,950.
Milton
Milton Park Business Park: Planners Rated the Site Red
The councils' 2026 site check rated the Milton Park business park land red overall: landscape harm they say cannot be mitigated, and 97% Grade 2 farmland.
Waterbeach
Waterbeach Station Use Hits Five-Year High Before Move
Waterbeach recorded 371,828 entries and exits in 2024-25, a five-year high and only 1.5% below its last pre-Covid year, as work starts on its replacement.
Cambourne
Cambourne Community Shop Opens in £43,095 New Building
The food shop has moved into a new unit behind The Hub, paid for by a £43,095 rural grant. It opens Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 10am to 1pm.
House Prices
South Cambs House Prices: £439,573, £11,276 Off the Peak
The district average reached £439,573 in July, up £9,516 in a year but still below last September. Flats are worth less now than in July 2017.
Community
South Cambridgeshire Community Chest Grants: 5 Get £8,300
Waterbeach, Wimpole, Melbourn, Swavesey and Caxton share £8,300 in the latest Community Chest round. The next deadline is the 7th of the month.
Transport
Cambourne to Cambridge Busway Approved: 309 Objected
The minister approved the £192m busway on 8 September, overruling his own inspectors on Coton Orchard's veteran apple trees. 309 of 336 responses objected.
Council
South Cambridgeshire Council Merger Paused, No New Date
Ministers have paused the decision on scrapping South Cambridgeshire District Council. April 2028 is no longer a date, and there is no 2027 election here.
Council
South Cambridgeshire Grants Halve as Three Funds Close
Grant support in South Cambridgeshire fell from £3.09m to £1.52m in a year, as three external schemes closed. The council's own grants rose 31%.
Northstowe
Northstowe Town Hub: Plans In, and Parking Is Not in Them
The council's four-storey Town Hub plan is in, with GP space and a library. The only parking beside it is six blue badge bays. Comments close 30 September.
Cottenham
Oakington to Cottenham: 3.47km Path, Horses Get Own Strip
Greater Cambridge Partnership has filed a 3.47km walking, cycling and horse route between the villages. It is a lawfulness certificate, not a planning bid.
Food
South Cambs Food Hygiene: 19 New 5s in August, One 1
Twenty-four South Cambridgeshire venues were rated in August: 19 fives, four fours and a 1 for The Beach Fryer in Waterbeach. Across the district, 87% hold a 5.
Cottenham
Cottenham CityFibre Poles: Council Has Until 28 September
CityFibre lodged seven notices on 1 September: four 9m wooden poles and three cabinets, two of them in Cottenham's conservation area. The council cannot refuse.
Bins and recycling
South Cambs Food Waste Collections: Who Is Still Waiting
A third wave added 12,700 Greater Cambridge homes on 24 August, taking the total past 60,500. A fourth is due by the end of 2026, after the 31 March legal date.
Bins and recycling
South Cambs Bin Dates 2026: All 98 Villages, to 18 Dec
Every South Cambridgeshire blue, green and black bin date to 18 December 2026, with all 98 villages matched to their round. Nothing is published after that.
Community
Free to Feed South Cambs: 174 Signed Up, 39 Named
The council says 174 places have pledged to welcome breastfeeding families. The only list it publishes names 39 and dates from January 2023. Here they are.
House Prices
South Cambs House Prices: £436,011, Up £12,142 in a Month
The district average hit £436,011 in June, up 2.9% in a month, the 7th biggest rise in England. Cambridge fell, and the gap between them has almost halved.
Jobs
South Cambs Under-25 Claimants Hit 350, Highest Since 2021
The district total barely moved at 2,020. But 18 to 24 year olds on the count rose 56% in two years, the steepest in Cambridgeshire, while over-25 claims fell.
Cambourne
Cambourne Sixth Form: First A-Level Results, A*AA Top Grade
Cambourne Village College's first sixth-form cohort collected A-levels on 13 August. Top grade A*AA, with students off to Warwick, Nottingham and Cardiff.
Cambourne
Cambourne retirement flats refused: 58 homes on the pub site
McCarthy and Stone's 58 retirement flats off Back Lane, Cambourne were refused on 13 August, on land with permission for a pub. Two reasons, 61 objections.
Community
South Cambs grants: £15,250 shared by eight village groups
Melbourn Dynamos, Fen Drayton Bowls Club, Gamlingay Leisure, Graveley village hall and Duxford's wildflower meadow share £15,250 in the latest Community Chest round.
Northstowe
Northstowe's first shop confirmed as Morrisons Daily
Morrisons Daily will open Northstowe's first shop, in a 190 square metre council-owned unit on Harebell Road with six council flats above. Opening date due soon.
Planning
Greater Cambridge Local Plan: have your say by 25 September
The final Greater Cambridge Local Plan consultation closes at 5pm on Friday 25 September. Nine South Cambs village exhibitions run from 17 August, Linton first.