Developers behind a scheme which could bring nearly 3,000 more homes to St Neots have launched plans for accesses to the site.

Planners acting for the Wintringham Partnership say the plans, which have just been submitted to Huntingdonshire District Council, would support the “timely delivery” of the Wintringham Park development.

The council is already considering the major hybrid planning application for Wintringham Park, to the east of the town, which was submitted last autumn.

This involves the construction of up to 2,800 homes, 63,500 sqm of commercial space, two primary schools and community and retail facilities based on a district centre.

Now the Wintringham Partnership, which includes Urban and Civic, developers of the former Alconbury airfield, for homes and businesses, wants to build two access points from the adjacent Cambridge Road at roundabouts which currently serve the Dransell Rise and Stone Hill areas of the Loves Farm housing area.

There have been concerns about the impact of traffic on the busy A428 from the thousands of new homes being built as part of St Neots’ eastern expansion.

A statement submitted to the council by the developer’s planners said: “The aspiration of the applicant is that Wintringham Park will be delivered rapidly, yet with an innate quality which will ensure that new residents swiftly attain a sense of place and that the council realise their ambition, as envisaged in the 2010 Urban Design Framework, of a high quality and sustainable urban expansion to the east of St Neots.

“The access proposals brought forward under this application would support the timely delivery of the Wintringham Park development in accordance with the adopted and emerging development plan which establish the principle of development as acceptable.”

Planners said the separate scheme for the accesses would allow for highways issues to be progressed, enabling the fast delivery of the first phase of development to get under way.

They said: “Consistent with the tiered structure of the hybrid application, which seeks to front-load planning for the early development areas, the access proposals are submitted to support the timely delivery of the Wintringham Park development but without prejudice to Huntingdonshire District Council’s pending decision in respect of the hybrid planning application.”

The Wintringham Park site covers just over 400 acres of agricultural land and is the largest component of St Neots’ eastern expansion.