Cambridge Community Board 2025-2028
Cambridge is changing. The question is, are we talking about it enough?
Charlotte FitzPatrick
Ask almost anyone why they chose to live in Cambridge, and you’ll hear the same themes. The sense of community. The character and the trees. The way people stop and talk in the street. The river walks, the parks, the schools, the sports clubs and the feeling that this is a town where people still look out for one another.
For many of us, that’s what Cambridge felt like 20 years ago, and it’s what we want it to feel like 20 years from now.
It’s important to acknowledge that Waipā District Council is required by central government to provide for growth, through the National Policy Statement on Urban Development. That growth, however, is not meant to be unplanned or disconnected from community values. Through the development of Ahu Ake – the Waipā Community Spatial Plan – Waipā was clear about what matters most: protecting the character, identity and liveability of our towns and villages as they evolve. Those aspirations are at the heart of the concerns being raised now.
Proposed Private Plan Change 37, which was lodged in December and accepted for processing under the Resource Management Act, seeks to rezone land on the southeastern side of Leamington from rural and deferred residential to medium density residential. If approved, around 1250 new homes would be built on the edge of town. There’s no question this is a proposal of significant scale, and with that scale comes significant impact on town character, transport, infrastructure, services and schools.
Acceptance to notify doesn’t determine the outcome, but it does trigger a formal assessment and public submissions process.
Cambridge is already experiencing growth pressures. Adding development of this scale before there is any clarity and commitment about how infrastructure will keep pace strains and devalues the very things that make Cambridge a great place to live.
Once rural land is rezoned and developed, those changes are permanent. It’s not unreasonable for the community to ask whether the scale and form of this proposal aligns with Cambridge’s values, or whether it risks fundamentally altering them.
The Community Board intends to oppose the private plan change and to continue advocating for a more considered, coordinated approach to growth.
The community is also being asked to engage in the second phase of Cambridge Connections to shape how we move around Cambridge over the next 30 years. A major growth proposal landing during this engagement makes the need for joined-up planning even more obvious.
This phase of Cambridge Connections is about responding to agreed problem statements by building a long list of ideas and potential solutions. The goal is to capture the full range of community ideas before options are tested and refined.
If we want to retain the Cambridge we love, now is the time for you to speak up. Take part in the consultation and submission processes underway, and share your views directly with the Community Board.
Cambridge Community Board 2025-2028, from left Stewart Dromgool, Gerda Venter, Chris Minneé, Charlotte FitzPatrick, Mike Montgomerie, Andrew Myers, Pip Kempthorne.
