Ben Maguire brings North Cornwall infrastructure Bill to MPs

A promise of almost £350,000 nearly vanished from a Bodmin building site earlier this year. Now the MP who fought to keep it is taking the fight to Westminster, with a Bill aimed at stopping it happening anywhere else.

The Bodmin win behind it

The Liberal Democrat MP for North Cornwall, Ben Maguire, this week secured what he called a “landmark” win after developer Wain Homes had sought to withdraw close to £350,000 in promised infrastructure contributions from its Bodmin development. Maguire says the outcome shows the “severe need for wider legislative change.”

What the Bill would do

Maguire will formally bring his Infrastructure First Bill before the House of Commons this Monday, 14 September. Officially titled the Planning and Development (Community Infrastructure) Bill 2026-27, it would require developers to build any planned community infrastructure before starting work on the housing that infrastructure is meant to serve.

The Bill takes aim at what Maguire describes as a systemic problem: developers who promise money towards schools, roads, healthcare, sewage and other essential infrastructure through Section 106 funding, then later try to reduce or withdraw it by citing viability on profit margins, or who go into administration before the money is delivered.

Maguire’s message to Parliament

Maguire says North Cornwall is already feeling the strain, with thousands of new homes built or planned while roads, schools, healthcare and sewage systems struggle to keep pace.

“My constituents should not be left picking up the bill when developers walk away from promises they have already made through Section 106 funding,” he said. “We need a tighter system where infrastructure comes first, and I’ll be holding Ministers’ feet to the fire to get fully behind this legislation, and make sure this issue is finally treated with the urgency it deserves.”

The Bill has its first outing before MPs on Monday. Whether ministers get behind it is another matter entirely.

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