Question 13. How do you think we should improve the green space network?

• Parks should be linked up with safe and convenient walking and cycling routes to each other and to all the residential neighbourhoods surrounding them. • Parks within the built-up area should be overlooked by houses and shops, with a welcoming design that encourages interaction with the surrounding community, and which feels safe throughout the day. • Giving people access to green spaces will increase their connection with nature and desire to protect it as well as improving health and wellbeing. Cycling access to these areas is one way to improve public access to the natural environment. • Reducing the amount of road and parking space needed for cars will provide more space for greenery and green corridors in our region. “Evaluation of programmes for encouraging exercise indicates that attractive, green environments close to the home or work provide the best opportunities to encourage daily exercise, walking or cycling. People also keep exercising longer in natural surroundings. The effect on children seems particularly marked. Children who have easy access to safe greenspaces (parks, playgrounds, kickabout areas) are more likely to be physically active than those who are not so close, and this has apositive effect on health, particularly for those from low income families” (Barton, 2009) Evidence for our response to Question 13. • Barton, Hugh (2009). Land use planning and health and well-being. Land Use Policy.

Parks should be linked up with safe and convenient walking and cycling routes to each other and to all the residential neighbourhoods surrounding them. Giving people access to green spaces will increase their connection with nature and desire to protect it as well as improving health and wellbeing. Cycling access to these areas is one way to improve public access to the natural environment. Reducing the amount of road and parking space needed for cars will provide more space for greenery and green corridors in our region.

Parks and other green spaces should be connencted and where applicable be crossed by walking and cycling routes to give easy access. Reducing road space for parking cars will free up room for more tree planting and green space on streets throughout the city.

Giving people access to green spaces will increase their connection with nature and desire to protect it as well as improving health and wellbeing. This is particularly important for those who do not have the means to travel far. Including green areas in all new developments is essential. These green areas should be visible from the main rooms of residential properties, therefore providing a direct connectivity. Parks should be linked up with safe and convenient walking and cycling routes to each other and to all the residential neighbourhoods surrounding them. Cycling access to these areas is one way to improve public access to the natural environment. Reducing the amount of road and parking space needed for cars will provide more space for greenery and green corridors in our region.

Most of the land use in Cambridgeshire is for monoculture agriculture, which are deserts for biodiversity. Farmers should be subsidised to grow woodlands and meadows along their boundaries, encouraging long wildlife corridors that can connect with other boundary corridors.

Green bridges are better than wildlife tunnels. Community engagement one estate at a time to join up garden habitats and educate home owners/ occupiers about the benefits of wildlife.

• Parks should be linked up with safe and convenient walking and cycling routes to each other and to all the residential neighbourhoods surrounding them. • Giving people access to green spaces will increase their connection with nature and desire to protect it as well as improving health and wellbeing. Cycling access to these areas is one way to improve public access to the natural environment. • Reducing the amount of road and parking space needed for cars will provide more space for greenery and green corridors in our region.

Less buildings and tarmac and more grass, trees, flowers

The main issue is to improve connectivity between green spaces by walking and cycling. Green space that is "wild" and "natural" is much more valuable than contrived green space created within new developments. Green spaces in new developments become the preserve of the residents of those developments rather than being community assets. The value of green space is greatly diminished if it is contained within a development.

The Trumpington Residents’ Association believes that we must invest in the existing green spaces and make sure they work together to provide a green belt (lower case) around the City and green/wildlife corridors into the city. We are particularly concerned about the importance of the River Cam corridor (including Trumpington Meadows Country Park and the surrounding agricultural land) and the green corridor from Great Shelford into the City, including Hobson's Park, which is being undermined by approved or proposed developments, including the conversion into play areas near Long Road and the impact of the South East Transport Project and Cambridge South station. We are concerned that the consultation gives too little emphasis on biodiversity and the protection of wildlife and landscapes. We see an opportunity to continue to protect and enhance five existing areas of large-scale open space: (1) the River Cam corridor, including being alert to the potential impact of East-West Rail; (2) Byron's Pool/Trumpington Meadows Country Park, including the opportunity to extend the area of tree coverage and the need for mitigation in response to the development of the new Travel Hub at the M11/A10 junction; (3) the Vicar's Brook corridor; (4) Hobson's Park, including the importance of mitigation in response to Cambridge South Station and East West Rail; (5) Nine Wells, including the opportunity to enhance and extend the site as mitigation for the South East Cambridge Transport Scheme, East West Rail and the approved further extension of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus. In addition, there may be an opportunity to develop the five areas referred to in our response to Question 2, ideally by their continued use as agricultural land with enhanced public access along a network of footpaths. The areas are: (1) the green corridor between Trumpington Meadows, Hauxton Road and the M11; (2) the land to the south of Addenbrooke's Road, between the M11 and the west side of Shelford Road; (3) land to the west of Trumpington Road, from Trumpington village to Latham Road; (4) land to the south of Addenbrooke's Road, between the east side of Shelford Road and Granham's Road; and (5) land to the south east of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, including White Hill towards Granham's Road and the approaches to Magog Down.

Green spaces within developments and existing green spaces to have good connectivity to encourage use e.g. walking and cycling Connect green spaces across rivers and main road to improve and increase walking and cycling routes

Savills (UK) Ltd are instructed by St John’s College, Cambridge to make the necessary submissions to the Council’s consultation “The First Conversation” as part of the Issues and Options consultation process for a new Greater Cambridge Local Plan. The College is a significant landowner in and around Cambridge and accordingly needs to make the necessary representations to the Councils in respect of its assets and on other relevant planning policy issues that will arise in the context of any new development plan for the two administrative areas of South Cambridgeshire and Cambridge City. The new Local Plan could advantageously support the development and implementation of broader landscape initiatives across different landowners such as the Colleges’ Backs Landscape Strategy. A number of the Colleges, including St John’s College, are seeking to increase the ecological value of their green spaces, including initiatives to develop the biodiversity associated with the Bin Brook.

There seems to be no recognition that large-scale developments are incompatible with preservation of the natural environment. This basically needs to be left alone or sensitively improved. Wildlife needs wildernesses., not planned parklands primarily designed around visitors, their dogs, runners, and cyclists. People and wildlife are generally not a good mix.

Every college lawn needs to be a wildflower meadow with tress dotted through. Jesus Green needs to be & Parkers Piece. Every local park. Every verge. Private gardens, like Dig for Victory in WW2. Absolute maximization everywhere that isn't used to grow food. No postcards on a dead planet. No beer festival on a dead planet. No football on a dead planet. Save the planet first, then let's see what space we can spare again for sports, events and fake manicured "prettiness". Solid riverbanks need to go too and be converted to reeds and mud, where birds can hide and watervoles can burrow. Hard standings, driveways, etc. need changing to that mesh used to widen the Parkers Piece path, so floodwater can drain and plants can grow through. Every roof that isn't solar panels needs to be flowery green roof. This is a clever city, we can think of a million things to do. Let's check with a diverse jury to ensure vulnerable groups aren't unduly impacted, then let's do every single thing that passes that test.

Think long term and think of forests for future generations

Green space needs to be more connected and principle sites for biodiversity need to be as large as possible to minimise edge effects. For example, there can be greater biodiversity value in two large sites with a singular corridor than a disrupted network of smaller sites. Creating a separation between green space purely designed for recreation, and green space for biodiversity will be important for the conservation of certain key species/habitats for which the region is of local and/or national importance. Recognising that, for example, grassed areas like football fields provide minimal biodiversity value and some areas with high biodiversity value, like Nine Wells, are suffering from overuse for recreation. Please refer to the submission made by the North Barton Road Land Owners Group for the development of land north of Barton Road, referred to as South West Cambridge, where there is potential to provide a comprehensive new green infrastructure network.

Do not build new houses on green land. Retain the green spaces we still have, including parks, recreation grounds, grass verges and the green lungs afforded by gardens. Do not allow developments in back gardens, including so-called "studios" and "stores" . New developments with areas of bleak hard-standing eg parking spaces, and the "piazzas" outside Cambridge and Cambridge North Stations, should have far more trees, shrubs and grass to work on (so not icy in winter, not baking hot in summer) Do not allow any further removal of grass verges, and enforce the restirctions on parking on grass verges.

The Huntingdonshire Local Plan to 2036 supports protecting, enhancing and creating links to green infrastructure priority areas, the Cambridgeshire Green Infrastructure Network and rights of way network through policy LP3. Such priorities do not stop at Local Authority boundaries and therefore thought should be had to any potential cross border linkages including river crossings to increase the leisure opportunities and the distribution of the impact of tourism on area?

You can improve it by controlling the amount that you concrete over with housing and roads/guided bus tracks etc.

ensure all green spaces are easily accessible from within between and through communities and other green spaces, not just by one path, road etc. think radial links to ensure access without resulting to cars. highlight that the green spaces are community assets, that our council tax pays for/maintains them etc.

Reduce space for cars - encourage green transport. Provide lots of green areas. parks etc in new developments

• Parks should be linked up with safe and convenient walking and cycling routes to each other and to all the residential neighbourhoods surrounding them. • Giving people access to green spaces will increase their connection with nature and desire to protect it as well as improving health and wellbeing. Cycling access to these areas is one way to improve public access to the natural environment. • Reducing the amount of road and parking space needed for cars will provide more space for greenery and green corridors in our region.

Green spaces should have a rich biodiversity and wildlife offering. All residents should live close to green spaces both for health and wellbeing purposes. With the River Cam and Country Park to the west and the open countryside of Cambridgeshire to the south, Trumpington South sits within a strong and established green infrastructure, with direct connections to a network of footpaths and cycle ways. Therefore, the site can commit to offering a landscape-led scheme and provide an extension to the Country Park, therefore improving the surrounding green space network. Green corridors and fingers can define the site and run through it, creating a strong east-west network of connected green spaces. Grosvenor and USS’s commitment to car free areas within the development releases space to provide opportunities for increased wildlife and biodiversity within the pedestrian focused streets and network of routes. This is explained in the Vision document prepared by Terence O’Rourke. Trumpington Meadows Country Park is now established, and through on site management provided by the Wildlife Trust, has delivered significant biodiversity gains. Trumpington South has the potential to create a further expansion to the country park. This could enhance the function of the remaining Green Belt, improving the setting and unique character of Cambridge while delivering significant compensatory improvements to the Green Belt.

We would like to see the local plan have a target for woodland creation and/or tree planting. This could be a number of trees to be planted (as mentioned previously) or better still would be a target to expand the tree canopy in the area covered by the two councils. I understand that Cambridge has measured its tree canopy and has a project just launched to protect and enhance it: it would be good to see this referenced in the plan. The Council could also consider adoption of a greenspace or woodland standard, such as the Access to Natural Greenspace Standard promoted by Natural England or the Access to Woodland Standard produced by the Woodalnd Trust: these standards are designed to be complementary to each other. Our Access to Woodland Standard aspires that everyone should have a small wood of at least two hectares within 500 metres of their home and a larger wood of at least 20ha within 4km of their home. Space for People is our report which sets out the Woodland Access Standard and shows how each council performs against it.

Whether we grow existing villages or create new ones, whether they are along major public travel ways, homes should have plenty of green public space within developments the and around them to create these corridors for wildlife. Growing food should also be part of these developments - allotments with secure community sheds/cabins and meeting rooms.

See our answer to question 12. Rivers are natural and indelible features, but only serve people and biodiversity if they are maintained and improved as corridors. Focussing net gain projects on water achieves this along with protecting soils and peat from carbon /sediment loss.

Carparks and roads should be scaled back and transformed into green spaces. Demand for roads and carparks can be reduced by improving cycling and public transport. There should be a higher ratio of green space to developed space in new developments. (We've seen too many developments where there is not enough grass for the people who live there let along a sense of natural green space). There must be specific policies to ensure these green spaces are of high quality and high biodiversity.

A strategic approach is needed towards preservation, restoration and enhancement of green infrastructure. This approach would benefit Nine Wells and Hobson’s Brook in several ways: 1. It would support their biodiversity and provide an integrated approach to the management of the whole entity, from Nine Wells to the Conduit Head in Lensfield Road. 2. It would help to enhance their landscape character as a whole, again through an integrated approach. 3. Balancing public access with the need for undisturbed natural habitats is an important issue for the HCT. This is particularly the case at Nine Wells, which suffers from over use by the public in terms of vegetation damage, erosion of the springs and their channels and degradation of paths. Along the brook there are issues of path degradation and litter, both on the ground and in the water. 4. The issue of rural biodiversity and its compatibility with modern agricultural practices is an issue for the HCT at Nine Wells. The HCT is in favour of extending the Local Nature Reserve designation in order both to improve biodiversity and to protect Nine Wells itself and its immediate setting. Over use by the public of the small site of Nine Wells would be mitigated by extending the area available for public use around it. 5. National policy requires development to achieve a net gain for biodiversity. Probable and possible development adjacent to Nine Wells and Hobson’s Brook, including housing, Cambridge South station and associated works, the East-West Rail Link and Cambridge South East Transport Scheme busway, have the potential to benefit Nine Wells and Hobson’s Brook through enhancement of biodiversity value of the sites themselves and of land immediately adjacent to them. The HCT recommends that the Local Plan takes these opportunities into account.

With parklets and microparks. Small, green spaces within the city, accessible to bikes and walkers only where plants, trees and planters are put in, and where ball games can be played. Waltham Forest, London has done some excellent work in this area. It greens an area and creates spaces for people. These also need to be actively linked into existing cycle routes, through residential areas and overlooked by shops and houses so they are safe and feel safe to use all day and night.

I would support the improvement of existing green spaces and the creation of new green spaces through the Local Plan and new development The Greater Cambridge approach should take the opportunity to plan strategically for a 20 year green space network. This should include: -A green space strategy for all the open space and countryside around Cambridge and the open countryside around villages in South Cambridgeshire. -Plan for green space in and around villages together with new woodland tree belts and biodiversity rich areas prior to new development , including the re designation of some agricultural land and reuse of the edges of fields as biodiversity corridors - Provide for the designation and creation of larger scale green spaces, sufficient to include multiple uses with larger areas for biodiversity, areas for recreation, cycling and walking and natural areas and water space. -Provide for strategic connections between the new green space network and existing green space. -The designation of areas of urban forest, new woodlands and tree belts -Include for the designation and acquisition poorer agricultural land to provide green space at landscape scale. -