Comment

Greater Cambridge Local Plan Preferred Options

Representation ID: 56904

Received: 08/12/2021

Respondent: Save Honey Hill Group

Representation Summary:

The objective of the policy for development to demonstrate how it preserves or enhances the significance of the heritage assets of the Greater Cambridge, their setting and the wider townscape, including views into, within and out of conservation areas will be contravened by the requirement by Policy S/NEC North East Cambridge to relocate the Waste=Water Treatment plant to an area of Green Belt. Conservation areas and heritage sites will be compromised by the juxtaposition of a large industrial plant.

Full text:

This policy states : ‘Development will be required to demonstrate how it preserves or enhances the significance of the heritage assets of the Greater Cambridge, their setting and the wider townscape, including views into, within and out of conservation areas.’
Relocation of CWWTP to Green Belt is in contravention of this policy. Views within and out of conservation areas (Horningsea, Quy and Fen Ditton) will be damaged. See ‘Greater Cambridge Green Infrastructure Opportunity Mapping: Baseline Report’, LUC/South Cambridgeshire District Council & Cambridge City Council , November 2020,
Greater Cambridge Green Infrastructure Opportunity Mapping Baseline Report (Land Use Consultants) November 2020 (greatercambridgeplanning.org)
Fig 6.2, Cultural Heritage, p46 - this map shows conservation areas and listed buildings encircling the  proposed site of the CWWTP on the pristine Green Belt  between Fen Ditton, Stow cum Quy and Horningsea.
Other heritage assets and conservation areas such as Biggin Abbey, Baits Bite bLock, Anglesey Abbey may have reduced enhancement due to odour and proximity of commercial development.
Size of the development, height of the development, industrial nature of the development dwarfs heritage assets. Impact intensified by open nature of the landscape between the conservation areas.

The underpinning Strategic Heritage Impact Assessment considers 8 strategic spatial options across 3 potential growth levels:
https://consultations.greatercambridgeplanning.org/sites/gcp/files/2021-08/StrategicHeritageImpactAssessment_GCLP_210831.pdf
The report clearly indicates development for the Green Belt spatial option to represent Moderate/High risk for the medium growth option and classifies this option among the least preferred.
The subsequent Impact Assessment Supplement which further refines study focus on the Medium growth level establishes a Preferred Options Spatial Strategy as being the best performing:
https://consultations.greatercambridgeplanning.org/sites/gcp/files/2021-08/StrategicHeritageImpactAssessmentSupplement_GCLP_210831.pdf
While the assessment documents, along with the initial baseline study, offer a methodical approach to the assessment, they are fundamentally flawed as they do not consider the consequential land take required for relocation of the Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) currently proposed for the Green Belt.
In order to deliver the intent of the Local Plan in considering land allocation, use and forward planning these assessments should be reconsidered taking into account the consequential Green Belt land take associated with the North East Cambridge development / WWTP relocation and re-classified accordingly.