The English village that could become Angela Rayner’s first new city

The developer’s track record includes transforming the London 2012 Olympics site into Stratford City. It has also just confirmed that it will acquire L&Q Estates, the land-buying arm of housing association L&Q, meaning it has acquired large holdings of land around Milton Keynes – another area Hugill says is ripe for expansion.

How could Tempsford be developed?

“I think you would have an updated version of Milton Keynes, albeit with fewer roundabouts, for sure,” says Hugill.

Milton Keynes is based on a system of individual neighbourhoods and green spaces.

“When you’re building new communities, you need to put places where parents can meet in front of schools, and you need to put playgrounds for kids near elementary schools. You need to encourage walking to school,” Hugill says.

Emerson says the development should be dense, within a 15-minute walk of the train station, to help ease housing pressures in London, Oxford and Cambridge.

Development could be rapid. If the government acts quickly and chooses the right locations, residents could be moving into the first new towns before the end of this parliament, says Hugill. Developers just need planning permission.

But in Tempsford, residents are already preparing for the fight.