New forest city still happening, says businessman

A businessman said the building of a new city which he believes will "bring tens of billions" to the county will "absolutely" still go ahead, despite the proposal suffering a government setback.

Entrepreneurs Shiv Malik and Joseph Reeve want to develop their Forest City on 45,000 acres of land east of Cambridge, and between Newmarket and Haverhill in Suffolk.

Malik claims the ambitious development could support a population of one million people in 400,000 affordable homes and "solve Britain's housing problems".

However on Tuesday evening, Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook said the government had "no current plans" to back the project.

Malik and his team had said they would seek parliamentary approval to establish a development corporation "with compulsory purchase and planning powers".

This is how Canary Wharf and the 2012 Olympic site were delivered in east London.

The Forest City website does not outline exactly where a new large settlement would be.

Pennycook said, at this stage, it failed to qualify for Labour's New Towns programme because it did not meet "the deliverability objective".

Speaking in the House of Commons during an adjournment debate, the minister also described it as being a "speculative proposal" that the government would not be taking forward.

Malik told the BBC that he agreed with the points, acknowledging that the scheme was not yet ready for consideration, but one day it would be.

"We're very much at the beginning stage and we haven't created the proper business plan yet," said Malik, of Albion City Development Corporation (ACDC)

"That work is still to be done, but is currently getting started. So there's a lot of work to do before I think anyone could consider this a feasible plan.

"That was always our aim from the beginning — that we spend upwards of £250m on properly master planning this before anyone takes a proper decision."

The debate about the new city, which would also have 12,000 acres of forest, was secured by the Conservative MP for West Suffolk, Nick Timothy, who opposed the plans.

He said residents were concerned about its impact, with some claiming to have been told their village would be "flooded" to make way for a new reservoir.

Timothy, who said he was not against new housing, added that people believed village life would be "gone forever" if the development went ahead.

"I've had emails from people who found their dream home, but can't commit to buying it as long as this development remains on the table," he added.

During the discussion, Timothy also claimed that Malik had been claiming to have the support of local groups and certain prominent, local figures when he did not.

But Malik, whose city would also boast 8,000 acres of commercial space and a 1,600-acre lake to help with its water needs, said that was "entirely untrue".

"We've never claimed any of those things. He's misinterpreted small comments in our WhatsApp group so he can play a game," he added.

"If he wants to hide behind his parliamentary privilege to repeat many untruths, well, then there's nothing we can do about it, unfortunately.

"It's sad to see, but we have lots of backers, well above 1,500 and many more who are prominent individuals who want to solve and repair the social contract."

Other MPs, however, have suggested Forest City could be good for the region and the country.

Peter Prinsley, Labour MP for the neighbouring Bury St Edmunds & Stowmarket constituency, described it as "a bold idea, like the NHS" and said it could be "a solution to the housing crisis".

Despite the split opinion, Malik believes it will "absolutely" happen and claimed it could contribute £53bn to the UK economy annually.

"In every little village and town, another few hundred homes will be built on the edges with no requisite infrastructure. It's a terrible plan and no-one likes it," he said.

"The question really is, is there a better way of doing it? Is there a way of bringing tens of billions to Suffolk? That's really what Forest City is about."

Additional reporting by PA

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