With regards to district identity and the desire to 'create a successful community where people will choose to live and work and play?' I think a key feature not discussed in the plan is education. Education plays a huge role not only in the lives of the young people who attend school but also on the community who exist around it. Given the scale of the NEC plan it would seem reasonable to expect approx. 5000 homes and at a modest estimate such a figure would yield approx 1000 secondary school aged children. Local education plans show that the current secondary provision in Cambridge would not be able accommodate additional young people.

It is important to question how young people can be expected to invest in a community which they would be required to leave every day in order to go to school. Cultural, sporting, arts, academic, pastoral opportunities afforded by a school would all be accessed outside their community, therefore taking them away rather than giving them the opportunity to bond within it.

Excellent educational provision develops a community by bringing people to live within it in order to access the education. It also provides opportunities for adult education and engagement within the very community where people live.

Finally in an area where the volume of traffic is far higher than desired a school within the community must be preferable to families leaving the community on a daily basis to contributing to both morning and evening peak time traffic.