Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner may compel Trinity College to resume development on land it owns in Surrey, following accusations that the Cambridge college has “mothballed” the construction of thousands of homes, according to The Times.

Trinity, Cambridge University’s wealthiest college with a £1.5 billion endowment, owns the 625-acre Dunsfold Aerodrome site in Surrey — one of the largest brownfield development sites in the UK.

Although plans for 2,600 homes on the site were approved in 2018, construction appears to have stalled, and the College has reportedly tried to sell the land, valued at around £120 million.

Local campaigners and councillors have subsequently written to Rayner, who is also Housing Secretary, urging her to intervene and pressure Trinity into continuing building work.

Kevin Deanus, a Surrey county councillor, said in a letter to Rayner: “Trinity recently notified Waverley borough council that they intend to ‘mothball’ the site indefinitely and will not be actively pursuing development. This decision is disastrous for [the council] and leaves its five-year housing land supply in tatters.

“[Trinity] cannot be allowed to simply ‘landbank’ the site at the expense of the local community and greenfield sites across Surrey,” Deanus added. The Ministry of Housing said it would respond to Deanus’ letter “in due course”.

Surrey County Council and Waverley Borough Council also support the development of the site, which includes 25% affordable housing earmarked for first-time buyers.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government responded: “We expect those involved to build as quickly as possible so we can deliver the homes that people desperately need.”

A Whitehall source also told The Times that the government is considering issuing a completion notice — forcing Trinity to complete construction or lose its planning permission. A compulsory purchase order is also reportedly under consideration.

Dunsfold Aerodrome is recognisable as the filming location for Top Gear and scenes from Star Wars and Batman films. It was also the development location for the Hawker Harrier jet.

However, before the site can be developed, it needs to be decontaminated of pollution resulting from its previous use as an airfield.

Trinity College and its senior bursar have argued that the decontamination process, not strategic “mothballing,” is behind the delay.

In response to the criticism, Trinity’s senior bursar Richard Turnill stated: “We know how much these new homes are needed and we have invested tens of millions of pounds cleaning the site from its historic pollution. We are committed to spending millions more on the clean-up to make it fit for development. We share the frustration of Waverley borough council and local residents at the delay, and we hope it can be resolved as quickly as possible so that hundreds of families can get new homes.”

A Trinity College spokesperson echoed Turnill, telling Varsity: “The characterisation of the situation set out in The Times is completely wrong. Trinity has not ‘mothballed’ Dunsfold Park, nor or is it ‘land-banking’ it.

“Dunsfold hasn’t been developed yet due to the historic chemical contamination of the site – which we are continuing to invest millions of pounds to clean up – and a contractual dispute that is hindering our progress,” the spokesperson continued. Trinity did not specify the cause or nature of the “contractual dispute”.

Trinity’s vast wealth also includes the lease for the O2 Arena in southeast London, which it has also reportedly put up for sale.