Development
Recent and Future Development
Papworth Everard grew rapidly in the first half of the 20th century as a rehabilitation centre for Tuberculosis sufferers and, later, disabled people. By the early 1980s there were more than 300 houses, in addition to the hospital, several care homes, factories and workshops. However, by the early 1980s problems were becoming apparent, resulting from an ageing population and a restrictive letting policy for the housing (at the time virtually all the housing was tenanted and owned by the Papworth Village Settlement). Some houses stood empty, the school roll had fallen to not many more than 30 pupils, the village stores was finding it difficult to make a profit and the village GP’s were considering moving the surgery to a larger settlement.
In the mid-1980s, the Village Settlement (now, The Papworth Trust) was persuaded to give the village a new lease of life by allowing some of its land to be included in South Cambridgeshire District Council's 'Local Plan' for development - as private housing. At the same time the factories near the centre of the village would be relocated to a business park at the southern end of the village.
As part of this deal it was agreed that some of the proceeds from the sale of this land for new housing would fund 50% of the cost of a bypass of the village. Much of the proposed development has now taken place, however, at the time of writing (November 2010), a large development (about 365 dwellings) known as “Summersfield” – although more correctly called “Summer’s Hill” - to the west of Ermine Street South and south of the Church has yet to be started. After many delays, construction of the bypass was finally completed in Spring 2007.
Other potential future development includes the construction of new offices/apartments between Pendrill Court and Jubilee Green. Also, a large area, known as “Papworth West Central”, to the west of Ermine Street is being considered for redevelopment, including the old Printers' factory, the former village stores, the old Tallyn work centre and the site of the former Robert Ellis House (residential home) on Church Lane, as well as some smaller areas on the west side of Ermine Street North - e.g. the disused Roman Catholic Church site. Any development here will take several years to complete. It is the intention of the local planning authority (South Cambridgeshire District Council) to issue a draft ‘mater plan’ of this whole area towards the end of 2010. Village residents will have the opportunity to make comments on the draft document.
In 2004, the Strategic Health Authority and PapworthHospital began promoting a proposal to relocate the Hospital to the Addenbrooke's Hospital site in Cambridge. Although such a move has been talked about since as early as the 1950s, it now looks very likely that it will actually happen within the foreseeable future, but probably no earlier than 2015. If the relocation does go ahead it will have a major impact on the village, particularly in terms of local employment opportunities and for local businesses. And what will the existing Hospital site be used for once it is gone? South Cambridgeshire District Council intends to prepare a 'development brief' for the site, which will outline its potential uses when it becomes vacant.