Survey says district is a great place to live

SOUTH Cambridgeshire has been named as one of the best places to live in the UK.

Two national surveys have placed South Cambridgeshire among the nicest areas to set up home in the country.

The area came 11th in the Halifax Quality of Life Survey, October 2007 which compared quality of life, house prices, labour market, health, urban and physical environment and education.

Channel 4's Location, Location, Location 'Best and Worst Places to Live' survey aired live on television placed the area as the seventh best place to live.

Residents were described as "affluent middle class professionals" who typically earn around £555 a week, almost 20 per cent higher than the national average. Crime figures were also found to be "exceptionally low".

The area was also praised for being able to cope with a "sizeable growth in housing over the last decades" but still "respect the local environment". Cambourne was praised for its eco-park and 80-acre country park.

Cambourne Consortium project director, David Chare, said: "Cambourne was designed to offer a fantastic environment for residents and visitors to live, work and play. The fact that this has come to fruition is tribute to everyone involved - not least the residents."

Cllr Ray Manning, leader of South Cambridgeshire District Council, said: "These surveys show what we already know - South Cambridgeshire is a great place to live."

The only downside noted was that there is "very little to do". Cambourne parish councillor, Roger Hume who has lived in Cambourne since April 2000, said the area offers good air and countryside.

But he added: "Services are constantly being cut though and it does not get the correct amount of Government funding. There are going to be massive infrastructure problems in the future unless funding improves."

In the Location, Location, Location survey, Edinburgh was top followed by Winchester and Epsom and Ewell.