It is a new settlement and lies on the A428 road between Cambridge, 9 miles (14 km) to the east, and St Neots and Bedford to the west.

As part of plans to build thousands of new homes in the south-east of England, a new settlement on 400 hectares (990 acres) of former agricultural land, 9 miles (14 km) west of Cambridge, was considered in the late 1980s.

Planning permission for the development at Monkfield Park was given in November 1996, and construction began in June 1998,[2] on what was previously farmland.

The High Street in Cambourne has been developed further with a takeaway and eat-in food outlets, estate agents, a bookmaker, a building society branch, a dry cleaner, and a pharmacy.

This suggested that a three-stage process could begin at the end of 2014, with a couple of larger retail units being built beside the Morrisons roundabout.

Stage 2 could see a row of smaller shops and a larger convenience store located on land opposite The Monkfield Arms.

In April 2014, a planning application was submitted for a new 60-bedroom hotel, pub and small shop unit on open land at the entrance to Great Cambourne.

Retained firefighters from the nearby Papworth and Gamlingay stations are trained to use these vehicles as part of the UK's New Dimension programme.

The club has enjoyed a sustained period of growth since its inception, culminating in the award of ECB Clubmark status in 2008, which demonstrates proven higher levels of organisation, management, coaching and safety.

A new sports pavilion was completed in September 2011 on the playing fields off Back Lane, Greater Cambourne.

[19] In 2020, the 'Cambourne West Consortium' gained consent to create a new bus-only roadway to connect Sterling Way in Upper Cambourne and Broadway, to substantially decrease the overall distance travelled by local bus services.

The new bus gate would allow services such as the Stagecoach Citi 4 route to extend from School Lane to the new roundabout junction on the A1198, and then into Cambourne West.

ECL Civil Engineering was appointed as the principal contractor to deliver the first phase of the Cambourne West Project infrastructure.

[22] From an early point in planning the new development of Cambourne, Christian church leaders expressed an interest in being involved in helping create the new community.

[citation needed] The original Cambourne master plan included space for a church located at the east end of the High Street.

Phase one of building was completed at a cost of £1.1 million in late 2009 and officially opened by the Duke of Gloucester on 13 July 2010.

In June 2011, work began on a new permanent building for the Jeavons Wood Primary School, situated 100 yards from the temporary site on Eastgate, Great Cambourne.

In June 2011, Cambridgeshire County Council held a public exhibition of the plans for 'A Secondary School for Cambourne'.

A new Sixth Form College opened on the site of the secondary school in September 2024, being incorporated in to the Cam Academy Trust.

[27] Cambourne has a large population of young people,[citation needed] due in part to the very high birth rate over a number of years, but also as a result of families moving into the town.

CCS was set up in 2010 with the vision of creating a platform for celebrating the culture, music and dance of the diaspora from the Indian subcontinent.

The society members hold frequent gatherings, mostly for celebrating Indian festivals like Diwali, Navratri, etc, and featuring dance, music and food from the subcontinent.