Progress made on housing plans for Brampton

Two schemes that will boost the number of available homes in Brampton have been given the seal of approval this month.

The first concerns 23 MOD-owned homes in Horseshoes Way and Kyle Crescent that have remained unoccupied for more than 12 months after United States Air Force personnel, who were renting under a lease agreement, moved out.

Cllr John Morris has been campaigning to see the mostly four-bedroom homes reoccupied after the MOD took back responsibility in April and earlier this month he received confirmation that families would move in by September.

He said: “This is excellent news and I know that residents in Brampton will be delighted to hear that these homes will soon be reoccupied by families. We look forward to welcoming the new arrivals to our village.”

A statement from the MOD read: “Our intention is to have the houses occupied over the next few months.

“Most families prefer to move during the summer school holidays so there is no disruption to schooling so I fully expect the houses to be occupied by September, if not earlier.”

Then, on Monday (June 15), an outline planning application for 402 homes at the former RAF Brampton site was approved by Huntingdonshire District Council.

Cllr Morris, who is a district councillor for Brampton, Grafham and Perry, said he would like to see this first phase of a larger development for the site include affordable homes.

“There is an acute shortage of affordable housing in Brampton and so it is vital that we get some lower cost housing at RAF Brampton to help local young families in particular get a foot onto the housing ladder,” he said.

“Campbell Buchanan, the developer, have told us that they are in an advanced stage of negotiations with a housing association who hope to secure some government grant to make sure homes are built that are truly affordable by local people.

“Without affordable homes, where can our children and grand-children afford to live?”