Work is underway to build a new housing development in Cambridgeshire.

A ceremony was held at the construction site in Stretham, Ely on 17 September.

The Manor Farm development includes 50 homes, a third of which will be 'affordable'.

A new doctors surgery and several small business units are also to be built.

The project is the first of its kind to be developed involving a Community Land Trust (CLT).


The scheme has been created through a partnership between Laragh Homes, Peterhouse College, Cambridge and the Stretham and Wilburton CLT.

After an extensive consultation, the buildings have been designed around a large village green crossed by footpaths, cycle routes and bridleways.

In addition, the buildings are to have green credentials. They have been designed to ensure maximum energy efficiency and insulation, along with the heating being generated from air source heat pumps.

The start of works on site was marked with the planting of a cherry tree by Charles Roberts, Chairman of the Stretham and Wilburton CLT, along with Simon Somerville-Large, MD of Laragh Homes.

The project is scheduled to be completed in 2016.

(LM/CD)