South Cambridgeshire Logo
My South Cambs:
Sign in or register
Sport Health And Wellbeing

Faith and Community Land

Allocation of the Faith and Community/Voluntary Land at Phase 1, Northstowe

The window for applications by an eligible community group to win the award of the faith and community/voluntary land at Northstowe is now open. The bidding window will open on 23 January 2025 and close at midnight 23 January 2026.

The land is currently owned by the lead developer, Urban&Civic, and is set to transfer to us in Spring 2026. In anticipation of this transfer, the district council has opened the bidding process to identify the winning group to be awarded a 999 year-long lease to develop the land.

The application process requires applicants to provide information about themselves and their proposals, with weighted scoring used to assess the relative merits of bids received. This will be judged by an assessment panel of officers, to be convened at the end of the bidding window.

Summarised project proposals and officer assessments will be published, followed by a 6 week period for consultation, with views invited from the community to inform the final council decision. The degree of public support would contribute to the weighted scoring, as set out in the assessment matrix.

We will publish its final decision, followed by an appeals period lasting one month, before the successful applicant will be made an offer.

A withdrawal of any offer and/or the termination of any leasehold agreement with the applicant could result if applicants:

  • fail to disclose relevant information during or post application
  • fail to adhere to the policies they provide
  • fail to deliver to agreed project milestones

A draft leasehold agreement is available in the supporting information section.

Criteria

Submissions are invited from groups who can show that their proposal meets the following criteria:

  • The applicant faith or community/voluntary group has a local association with Northstowe.
  • The applicant group or lead organisation of a consortium is a registered charity.
  • The organisation that would manage the faith/voluntary land and any building delivered would have charitable status.
  • The applicant organisation has the financial resources and organisational capacity to deliver their project proposal.
  • The applicant can achieve construction within the time frame laid out in their project proposal (which should include clear milestones to show the progress anticipated within the first five years post award).
  • The land and any building delivered must have space to accommodate shared spaces for community activities open to all, in addition to any dedicated worship space that it may include.
  • Any building delivered would be staffed and the managing group would make the shared space available to other community and faith groups regardless of faith, belief or lifestyle.

Application Form for Northstowe Faith/Community Land Development

Supporting Information

The following information is made available to potential applicants:

The application form can be saved throughout the process. It must be submitted by midnight on 23 January 2026 to be considered.

Post-Assessment Feedback To Applicants

Total assessment scores and rankings will be made available to all applicants following the conclusion of the Council’s assessment of all eligible applications.

Further feedback on the breakdown of scoring as per the Assessment Matrix, will be made available to all applicants on request, within the window for appeals.