Object

Representation ID: 55735

Received: 05/10/2020

Respondent: Brookgate

Agent: Bidwells

The Policy states that applications which create new employment floorspace and
promote increased jobs and job densities in the Area Action Plan area will be
supported where they are consistent with the other policies of the Area Action Plan
and adopted Local Development Plan.
Overall, up to 234,500 sqm of additional B1 floorspace is proposed in the NEC AAP
area.
The Policy states that ‘proposals that exceed these figures will need to be justified
in terms of the impact on the trip budget and Area Action Plan wide infrastructure
and where the character, role and function of an area will not be compromised’
Brookgate support the aims of Policy 12a in terms of creating new employment
floorspace and promoting increased jobs and job densities in the AAP area.
However, mix and quantum of new employment floorspace should be informed by
both market conditions and successful place-making. Bespoke solutions to
maximise economic and employment benefits should therefore be secured as part
of individual applications rather than through a generic and inflexible policy
approach.
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Indeed, initial assessment and design work together with its location adjoining an
existing transport hub has indicated that the Chesterton Sidings is capable of
accommodating greater than 36,500 m2 of additional B1 floorspace whilst having
no adverse impact on the trip budget or compromising the character, role and
function of the area.
It should also be noted that as of 1 September 2020, the Town and Country
Planning (Use Classes) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2020 amend the
Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987. Classes A, B1 and D1
applicable to retail, office and non-residential institutions are removed and a new
Class E ‘commercial’ use has been introduced in their place.
The Chesterton Sidings site (Land at Cambridge North) is capable of providing
significant additional capacity of commercial, Class E, floorspace than that
identified in Policy 12a to support the growing office and R&D market, with
associated increase in job creation.
There is a lack of Grade A office space in Cambridge. For the R&D and business
services sector, the location decisional drivers are access and ability to recruit the
right skill sets. Land at Cambridge North provides this, but the lack of available
space and lack of development pipeline puts that resilience at risk and could
undermine the growth of the R&D sector. Developing land at Cambridge North can
help address the demand and supply imbalance for quality office stock by bringing
forward Grade A space in close proximity to an existing transport hub.
A flexible and positive approach to employment growth should also be adopted in
the NEC AAP and considered in light of the CPIER and the target of doubling the
regional economic growth (GVA) of Greater Cambridge over the next 25 years.
This requires the area going beyond what it has achieved in the past (to double an
economy over twenty-five years requires an average annual growth rate of 2.81%.
Historically, since 1998, the local economy has only grown at around 2.5%.).
Achieving this requires employment growth and more importantly productivity
growth, as we are already at comparatively high levels of employment.
The Science and Technology sector is the engine of the Cambridge Phenomenon
that has driven the economy and it will remain an important part of the local
economy and job market. Alongside, it is important to have all types of commercial
space to provide for a wide range of job opportunities and to serve Greater
Cambridge at close quarters to not overly rely on long-distance travel to service the
area with goods and services. Further prime office floorspace in high quality
developments is also needed to consolidate and expand the world class facilities
which have recently put CB1 on the international property investment map.
The CPIER states that locations with high levels of public transport access, such as
Land at Cambridge North, should be identified for businesses with high
employment densities. This would include sites within walking distance of train
stations, travel hubs and along transport corridors.
“by ensuring good quality public transport is in place before development, the
number of those new residents who will use the transport is maximised. This is also
likely to be the best way to stretch some of the high-value businesses based within
and around Cambridge out into wider Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. These
companies will not want to be distant from the city, but these clusters could ‘grow’
out along the transportation links, providing connection to other market towns.”
Taller prime office buildings should be located close to Cambridge North station in
order to focus development at transport hubs; keeping the city compact, but
supporting the demand for high quality office space.