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

The developer’s track record includes transforming the London 2012 Olympic venue into Stratford City. It has just confirmed it will take over L&Q Estates, the land-buying arm of housing association L&Q, meaning it has acquired a large reserve of land around Milton Keynes – another area Hugill believes is ripe for expansion.

How can Tempsford be developed?

“I think it would be worth building a modernised version of Milton Keynes, although certainly with fewer roundabouts,” says Hugill.

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

“When you build new communities, you have to create places for parents to meet in front of schools, and you have to create playgrounds for children near primary schools. You have to encourage walking to school,” Hugill says.

Emerson believes that housing should be denser within a 15-minute walk of a train station, which would help alleviate the housing shortage in London, Oxford and Cambridge.

Development could be rapid. If the government moves quickly to choose the right locations, residents could move into the first new towns before the end of the parliament, says Hugill. Developers only need planning permission.

But the people of Tempsford are already preparing for a fight.