THE first of 9,500 homes in Britain s first new town of the 21st century are expected to be built in two years time. When it is completed by about 2025, Northstowe, on the former Oakington Barracks between Huntingdon and Cambridge, will be home to 24,000

THE first of 9,500 homes in Britain's first new town of the 21st century are expected to be built in two years' time.

When it is completed by about 2025, Northstowe, on the former Oakington Barracks between Huntingdon and Cambridge, will be home to 24,000 people with their own town centre, at least one secondary school, six primary schools, two employment areas, three sports hubs and more than 20 children's play areas.

The housing will be 'not as we now know it', according to developers Gallagher and the national regeneration agency English Partnerships. New designs are to the latest eco-friendly specification, with its own heat and energy supplies and a neutral carbon footprint.

A third of the employable adults will also work there, either in companies that settle there or from their own homes, using installed broadband infrastructure.

Northstowe will have three 'districts', each with its own shopping and employment areas, in addition to the town centre, which will be based on a traditional market town model with streets only as long as idle people are likely to be prepared to walk.