Question 9. How do you think we should be reducing our impact on the climate? Have we missed any key actions?

Electrification of existing public transport, also investing in self-driving public transport options (to improve door-to-door public transport etc).

As stated previously, ALL development must give priority to sustainable living

• Broad aspirations about reducing our impact on the climate must be translated into specific planning policies and subsequent development that will prioritise and encourage cycling. • Land-use planning goes hand-in-hand with sustainable transport. Any significant development must have a mix of uses including accommodation, amenity, education, and employment - to give people a chance to access everyday needs without travelling far. • The Local Plan, in every aspect, needs to be enabling and encouraging a full-scale transition away from private car dependency and towards walking, cycling and public transport. Every development must be fully permeable with safe, convenient and high-quality walking and cycling routes.

New allotment sites should be designed and regulated so that they can be well-used for their primary intended purpose of food production. The sites created in the southern fringe (after the 2006 Cambridge City Local Plan) suffer from a ban on sheds imposed by the city council. (For the two larger sites this was explained to me as being because they are in the green belt. I say they are temporary agricultural buildings which are clearly needed and may be permitted on green belt land. The other two sites are inside the residential envelope so the green belt explanation cannot apply.) Food production requires convenient tool storage and rain shelter for which plot-holder sheds are the best solution. Sheds additionally allow rainwater collection which supports SA 10 because it reduces consumption of mains water for watering crops. I therefore suggest that tenancy agreements should require the plot-holder to install, maintain and use water butts if they erect a shed or ‘inherit’ one from a previous tenant.

Securing zero carbon homes in operation is the key way in which we can reduce our impact on the planet and slow the effects of climate change. The Vision document prepared by xx explains how the homes at Trumpington South can achieve zero carbon through a range of methods, including fabric first construction, water management, low energy environmental strategies and passive design features. It can also be achieved by encouraging the use of sustainable transport and planning around these important links as the masterplan in the Vision document explains. Should the site be allocated, Trumpington South is committed to delivering zero carbon homes in operation and creating a place that contributes positively to climate change, as demonstrated by the Sustainability Workshop Summary Report prepared by BuroHappold. Trumpington South is located in an established travel culture and is exceptionally well connected to nearby jobs and land uses. Its location can enable car free and/or housing with limited in-curtilage parking to promote sustainable mobility and travel.

Change people's behaviour - attitude to driving private cars? How about drastically reducing the bus fares or making the buses within Cambridge free? We ALWAYS take the car into town because it is the cheapest. Cycling with a family down Regent Street is a death wish.

It is good that tree planting is recognised but we believe that the Climate Emergency requires much more than this. We would like to see the constituent councils each adopt an emergency tree plan, which should prioritise looking after the trees we already have and providing funding and land for planting new trees and creating new woodland. Many councils have set targets for numbers of new trees to be planted: for example Peterborough City Council is planting 230,000 trees as part of its Forest for Peterborough scheme, one for every person in the council area. Norfolk County Council is proposing to plant 1 million trees, which again equates to one tree per person. The Woodland Trust has set out a 15 point guide to what could be contained in an emergency tree plan.

I think Cambridge should join Bristol in pledge to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 and use the C40 plans to achieve this target. C40 organization has already devised a plan to help cities become greener and carbon neutral and their resources can be found here https://resourcecentre.c40.org/climate-action-planning-framework-home At the moment Cambridge has poor public transport, which is unreliable and polluting. Cambridge buses (including the sightseeing buses) and taxis should all be electric as soon as possible. The city has too many cars, and a scheme should be made whereby private vehicles can be driven up to a park and ride station, from which only public transport can enter the city center. This would address the problem of pollution, congestion and climate change if public transport is electric. Traffic exclusion zones should be made around schools to improve air quality and children's health. Furthermore, the green spaces can be expanded at the expense of parking lots. The use of land for building can be minimized if car parks are built underground; many existing parking areas in front of new buildings or shopping malls can be turned to green spaces if appropriate car parks are moved underground. This is already the case in many European countries, notably Germany and Spain. Cambridge could use wind-based renewable energy that is stored centrally in heating stations from which heating is distributed to homes. This is what is considered "central heating" in continental Europe where each home does not have its own heating system but is linked to the heating stations within or just outside of cities. This is probably a considerable long term investment but a necessary one. All new homes. schools, health centres should be built with self-sufficient in terms of energy production from solar panels as was shown possible by this school https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/feb/18/renewables-barely-feature-building-programme-schools-solar-panels Also water within homes should be recycled and reused - e.g. used water from bathroom sink can be re-used for toilet flushing. Minimizing waste and providing easy access to locally grown food are also important in reducing rs carbon footprint. Businesses and retailers need to be incentivized to recycle and city should improve its recycling facilities.

The listed actions are good. Where it states “Using renewable and low carbon energy generation”, this should be more forceful. It would be better to say “Require all new developments to include solar PV” Likewise, “Considering the role of the plan regarding materials used in the construction process” should read “Require all new developments to minimise the carbon footprint of materials and processes used in the construction process” There is no consideration in here of infrastructure, and in particular electricity supply. Even without new build, the electricity supply network and generation capacity will need to be upgraded if a significant number of electric vehicles are to be substituted for hydrocarbon fuel ones, and/or a hydrogen fueling network will be required. A move away from hydrocarbon fuelled heating towards electricity will also be needed to meet carbon emission targets. The bullet “Discouraging our communities from using private cars where possible, and other lifestyle choices that affect the climate” is inappropriately negative. The communities need to be encouraged to use alternatives, which again needs appropriate infrastructure. Again, this is the case even without any further development. Given the challenges in improving the carbon footprint of existing buildings, new build should be required to be carbon negative to balance that. All ventilation systems should be required to use heat exchangers, to limit the loss of heating/cooling effort that has gone into the extracted air.

There's a lot to digest here, and I may be alluding to something you've already written about. Public transport is woefully inadequate. A massive increase in buses along routes that neighbourhoods determine, not bus companies. Closing off some of the main routes into/out of town to accelerate the demand for this and then making one way routes in town so that there is more space for cycling and walking. More cycling paths in the countryside (wider ones ...the ones here are too narrow) with compulsory purchasing of land to do this. I think that you should support car clubs in all the major areas of the city and every village should have one too: mostly electric cars, and some hybrids (to be phased out in 5 years). Fast recharging points should be within 10 mins drive of people's homes. Buses should be a priority as other schemes for a metro and rail links to the villages are longer term and we need to reduce particulate emissions for our health's sake as well as reducing CO2 emissions.

reducing our carbon emissions from all sources is essential to meet the legally binding obligations of the climate act. The key thing is to start now, with real actions. Priorities should include decarbonising transport, excellent public transport. One item thats been omitted is upgrading broadband because this allows many people to travel less, hence demonstrabley reduces carbon emissions

Public transport that is really easy to use, minimal dwell times, comfortable, clean, subsidised and that goes from and to places that people actually want to get to. Esat interchange with other modes of transport. Encourage 'grow your own'. Ban any building on allotment sites.

Overall this section about mitigating is disappointingly weak and meaningless. "Promoting" sustainable transport is a weak and pathetic approach to development and the Local Plan. You must develop specific policies that make it impossible to build anything that does not enable cycling and sustainable transport. You must have policies that allow the council to enforce these planning requirements. If these requirements are not met then planning applications must be rejected. If developments are built that do not meet these requirements then developers must be fined and immediately made to rectify the situation. Developers have been getting away with this for far too long. "Discouraging" car use is also empty rhetoric. YOU MUST HAVE **SPECIFIC POLICIES THAT CORRELATE TO SPECIFIC DESIGN STANDARDS** THAT HAVE BEEN PROVEN TIME AND AGAIN TO INCREASE CYCLING AND REDUCE DRIVING. Please take on everything that has been suggested in the Camcycle response to this consultation and seek their advice in developing the local plan as their vision and thinking is well ahead of anything else we have seen from our local authorities on this issue. This is not something new. We do not need to waste time making this up. Speak to Camcycle, they are the experts, they have the knowledge of best practice from around the world and they do know how this should be done. Unlike developers, they are not after profit, they are genuinely trying to ensure we have the best possible places to live in and the most sustainable and safe forms of transport. I can't make this point strongly enough the local plan needs **SPECIFIC POLICIES THAT CORRELATE TO SPECIFIC DESIGN STANDARDS**. These policies should also require connection to transport networks beyond the development. Again, please refer to Camcycle. To ensure these points are emphasised, I am copying Camcycle's points for this question: Broad aspirations about reducing our impact on the climate must be translated into specific planning policies and subsequent development that will prioritise, enable and encourage cycling. • Land-use planning goes hand-in-hand with sustainable transport. Any significant development must have a mix of uses including accommodation, amenity, education, and employment — to give people a chance to access everyday needs without travelling far. • The Local Plan, in every aspect, needs to enable and encourage a full-scale transition away from private car dependency and towards walking, cycling and public transport. Every development must be fully permeable with safe, convenient and high-quality walking and cycling routes. We should plan for a sharp curtailment of car usage in new and existing developments. • The amount of land devoted to car parking and roads should be reduced in favour of more space for trees and plantings, which will help to absorb carbon and make our streets nicer places. They will also help keep us cool and shaded as temperatures rise. Having shady trees to cycle under in the summer will make cycling a more enjoyable experience and will encourage more people to cycle. Again, "consider" and "investigate" and "supporting" are too weak. We must have SPECIFIC POLICIES THAT RELATE TO SPECIFIC DESIGN STANDARDS that mean developers must use the most sustainable materials when building and must offset carbon based on the best research which we already have available. We shouldn't be supporting, we should be 'investing', 'leading', 'requiring' and 'funding' sustainable initiatives.

Concentrate much more effort on enabling self-build for new housing, and community ownership of energy projects (turbines, solar, hydro). Both of these should be absolutely normal, not some special project. Self-builders build much better, lower-carbon housing (for less money) than big developers.

The Local Plan, in every aspect, needs to be enabling and encouraging a full-scale transition away from private car dependency and towards walking, cycling and public transport. When Travel Plans are submitted, they must demonstrate how car usage is going to be significantly reduced, and commit to measures that will be taken if the targets are not met. Highway and junction designs must prioritise walking and cycling, and must be planned with sharply reduced vehicle levels in mind. Fully inclusive cycle parking standards, making it easy to own cargo bikes and disability-adapted cycles, will help families to reduce their car usage. On new sites, the design of the transport network must be led by walking, cycling, public transport, landscape and urban design concerns first and foremost. New sites should seek to minimise car usage, prevent rat-running, and provide as little highway as absolutely necessary for access to properties. The walking and cycling network must be in place before dwellings are occupied.

Schemes such as this: https://communityenergyengland.org/ which support community based renewable energy schemes should be promoted and encouraged. Creating a local supply, based on solar panels or small wind farms takes the burden away from the big energy companies (such as it is!) but also empowers communities and reduces fuel poverty.

• The Local Plan, in every aspect, needs to be enabling and encouraging a full-scale transition away from private car dependency and towards walking, cycling and public transport. Every development must be fully permeable with safe, convenient and high-quality walking and cycling routes.

Other ways to reduce our impact on the climate include: a. Helping the educated appreciate societal benefits from projects like energy from waste or use of nuclear power to reduce pollution and generate carbon-free energy. b. Helping tradespeople upskill and improve working practices

• Broad aspirations about reducing our impact on the climate must be translated into specific planning policies and subsequent development that will prioritise and encourage cycling. • Land-use planning goes hand-in-hand with sustainable transport. Any significant development must have a mix of uses including accommodation, amenity, education, and employment - to give people a chance to access everyday needs without travelling far. • The Local Plan, in every aspect, needs to be enabling and encouraging a full-scale transition away from private car dependency and towards walking, cycling and public transport. Every development must be fully permeable with safe, convenient and high-quality walking and cycling routes.

Not only should we be protecting from the impact of this but massively reducing our impact. New builds need to be sustainable in the materials used, how they produce, use and save energy, water and nature. There needs to be a commitment to move away from fossil fuels ASAP, install water meters & rain harvesting, use greens roofs and have effective and efficient green spaces (ie what is grown there)

Planning policies (see above) that are implemented by a bigger team of officers — and enforced. Outside the remit of the Local Plan is transport, but working with the County Council, the Planners should push for transport reforms so ways to discourage individual car use. For example: Public ownership/management of public transport, so that the Council can ensure comprehensive rural bus services, instead of forcing people (often those on low incomes) to purchase and drive cars to their destinations. Transport hubs in far-flung villages, so that people don’t have to drive to Park & Rides on the edges of the city — see Smarter Cambridge Transport’s proposals for these. More and better pavements and pedestrian facilities so that people will be encouraged to walk. Currently the pavements are often very narrow, almost everywhere in shockingly poor condition, and often tramped at an angle making it difficult for people with physical challenges/pushchairs etc. to walk on. (An audit should be undertaken as a priority.) More and better cycling infrastructure — see submission by Camcycle.

Let's think big and aim high! We are in an incredibly popular part of the country. Lots of people want to live here. We can afford to think big and build expensive sustainable communities. Also, let's not do anything stupid: no houses on flood plains, please.

• Broad aspirations about reducing our impact on the climate must be translated into specific planning policies and subsequent development that will prioritise and encourage cycling. • Land-use planning goes hand-in-hand with sustainable transport. Any significant development must have a mix of uses including accommodation, amenity, education, and employment - to give people a chance to access everyday needs without travelling far. • The Local Plan, in every aspect, needs to be enabling and encouraging a full-scale transition away from private car dependency and towards walking, cycling and public transport. Every development must be fully permeable with safe, convenient and high-quality walking and cycling routes.

Whilst walking the eco-walk is important, what we do in the UK is inconsequential for the planet, except for the (important) role of influencing by example. The countries that are important are China, India, The USA, Russia and Brasil. And to come extent we export our high carbon consumption to them. How can we locally play a part in helping them to reduce CO2 emissions whilst also reducing inequalities, ie allowing the BRICs to develop? Not an easy one to answer. The fact is we need to reduce our consumption of **things**, which risks reducing GDP and therefore the tax base whch we need for education, health and care. Can **things** be replaced by non-CO2-consuming experiences and recreational activities? What can a local authority do to help? ** Encourage the use of wellbeing indicators rather than economic ones as the measure of what we should be aspiring to? ** Encourage and provide sports and recreational facilities ** Encourage re-use, repair and recycle rather than throw away -- how about the German "leave things on the street for others to take on bin day" approach to encourage recycling. The amount of apparently OK stuff that gets thrown away at the recycling centre is scary. ** Is Cambridge's transient population more likely to throw good stuff away when they move on? Does this need specifically addressing by the councils via information or specific services? ** Should there be an element on the Local Plan that specifically makes it a duty to consider the overseas climate change implications of all local policies and planning decisions.

By allocating new renewable energy schemes.

I think you’ve considered the big decisions such as housing, jobs, transport and economy but the detail of how other decisions play into those things is not considered. So there is no point locating new jobs on great public transport routes if there is no childcare locally and people have to drive to sort out childcare. Similarly if older people feel that the key things they need to access like healthcare etc cannot be reliably accessed by public transport they are less likely to give up cars. Personally I would like to stop driving and get rid of my car when my children leave home (or earlier) that is not a bad aspiration but if I don’t feel I can access the critical things I won’t give up the car and once you have a car it is almost impossible not to get lazy and use it too much. My husband wouldn’t give up a car because you can’t access the (council run) tip on foot. Also there are no car share schemes here in my village that I know of.

No comment.

Greater Cambridge is a leading local authority on climate change policy. This can be seen through the early declaration of a ‘Climate Change Emergency’ and also through the newly adopted Sustainable Development SPD. This leadership should continue, as it is central to the sustainable development of Cambridge, leading to better development for people, the environment, and for economic development. It should be borne in mind that Cambridge's knowledge economy increasingly demands high sustainability standards: sustainability, health and wellbeing, with climate change at the heart, is a key part of continuing Cambridge's economic development. This should remain a priority as part of a policy framework the recognises climate change as a key part of sustainable development across social, environmental and economic objectives. 4.13 Development should be promoted within previously developed sites that are highly accessible. Indeed, the densification and redevelopment of brownfield sites such as 104-112 Hills Road offer opportunities to maximise energy efficiency measures on site and achieving low carbon development, thereby helping to achieve the Council’s climate change targets.

Greater Cambridge is a leading local authority on climate change policy, such as through the early declaration of a climate change emergency and also through the newly adopted Sustainable Development SPD. This leadership should continue, as it is central to the sustainable development of Cambridge, leading to better development for humans, the environment, and for economic development. It should be borne in mind that Cambridge's knowledge economy increasingly demands high sustainability standards: sustainability, health and wellbeing, with climate change at the heart, is a key part of continuing Cambridge's economic development. This should remain a priority as part of a policy framework the recognises climate change as a key part of sustainable development across social, environmental and economic objectives.

Greater Cambridge is a leading local authority on climate change policy, such as through the early declaration of a climate change emergency and also through the newly adopted Sustainable Development SPD. This leadership should continue, as it is central to the sustainable development of Cambridge, leading to better development for humans, the environment, and for economic development. It should be borne in mind that Cambridge's knowledge economy increasingly demands high sustainability standards: sustainability, health and wellbeing, with climate change at the heart, is a key part of continuing Cambridge's economic development. This should remain a priority as part of a policy framework the recognises climate change as a key part of sustainable development across social, environmental and economic objectives.