To achieve that ambition, Ms Reeves has set up a 2012 Olympics-style development corporation governing Greater Cambridge.
Such organisations oversee major regeneration projects and are led by the Government or regional officials. Development corporations have powers to bypass local politics.
Supporters of the plan include Prof Deborah Prentice, vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge, who called it a “bold” action.
However, the model is opposed by various groups, including South Cambridgeshire’s district council, which flagged a “serious concern” with the new body on Wednesday, calling it “wholly unnecessary”.
Bridget Smith, the council’s leader, said the area already had planning consent for 37,000 homes. He added that local officials were recognised by the Royal Town Planning Institute as offering the “best planning service in the country”.
“We think this change risks slowing growth down,” she said. “The real barriers to delivery are not the planning decisions made locally, but delays in key supporting facilities such as water, transport and utilities, and this is where any development corporation should focus its energy and influence.
“We are in the dark as to any details about how the development corporation will operate and frankly, we have more questions than answers.”
The Chancellor made it clear in March that she would steamroll any resistance to her plans for Cambridge.
“Where landowners are intransigent or insist on unreasonable demands, we are ready to acquire land using compulsory powers – either directly or by standing by local leaders,” she said at her Mais economics lecture.
The Cambridge East site has spent at least 15 years stuck in the planning system under its previous owners and includes Cambridge Airport, which is in the process of being closed.
