Section 2.5: Rural Southern Cluster / Policy S/RSC: Village Allocations in the Rural Southern Cluster

OBJECT

It is considered that the growth of the more sustainable villages must be part of the development strategy for emerging GCLP, and particularly those villages that contain a very good range of services and facilities, are accessible by a range of modes of transport, and where there is an identified need for affordable housing for those with a local connection to the village. Great Shelford falls within this category.

Paragraph 79 of the NPPF seeks to promote sustainable development in rural areas and acknowledges that housing can enhance or maintain the vitality of rural communities and support local services. The promoted development at land off Cabbage Moor in Great Shelford would support the existing services and facilities in the village, including the convenience stores, post office, library, banks, public houses and restaurants, bus, and rail services.

Paragraph 69 acknowledges the role that small and medium sized sites can make towards meeting the housing requirements, and that such sites are often built-out relatively quickly. Small and medium sized sites typically only require limited new physical infrastructure and amendments to the access arrangements. The housing monitoring data from Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire confirms that small and medium sites are delivered quickly i.e. within two to three years. It is considered that small and medium sized sites make a significant contribution towards the short term housing land supply and the five year housing land supply position in Greater Cambridgeshire. It is requested that small sized sites such as land off Cabbage Moor in Great Shelford are allocated to meet the requirement for a mix of sites including those that are easily deliverable.

Paragraph 104 of the NPPF expects transport issues to be considered at the earliest stages of plan-making. Those issues include opportunities created by existing or proposed transport infrastructure in terms of the scale, location and density of development, and opportunities to promote walking, cycling and public transport use. Great Shelford contains a railway station. The proposed Cambridge South Station would be located to the west of Cambridge Biomedical Campus. Shelford Road is on a bus and cycle route. Trumpington Park & Ride and the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway are within close proximity of the site off Cabbage Moor. The Cambridge South East Transport project by the Greater Cambridge Partnership includes a stop at Great Shelford and at Cambridge Biomedical Campus. Great Shelford and the land off Cabbage Moor are sustainable locations in transport terms, and additional development in this location would be consistent with Paragraph 104.

Paragraph 62 of the NPPF expects the size, type, and tenure of housing needs of the community to be assessed and reflected in planning policies, including for example those with an affordable housing need, students, renters, and self-builders. South Cambridgeshire District Council's 'Housing Statistical Information Leaflet' (December 2019) identified a need for 47 affordable dwellings in Great Shelford for those with a local connection to the village, and 21 affordable dwellings in Stapleford. This identified need would not be met without allocations in the village. The promoted development by Shelford Investments at land off Cabbage Moor in Great Shelford would include housing and affordable housing to meet local needs of the village, and there would be a policy requirement to include a proportion of self/custom build housing plots.

For all these reasons, additional small scale housing allocations should be made in the more sustainable villages within the Rural Southern Cluster, including Great Shelford, because it is accessible by sustainable modes of transport, it is well related to employment opportunities, there is a need to support the existing services and facilities within the village, and there is an identified need for affordable housing in the villages which would not be met via other means. The affordable housing needs for Great Shelford would not be met by the preferred allocation in Stapleford identified in emerging GCLP.

Shelford Investments representations to the assessment of the land off Cabbage Moor in Great Shelford site in the HELAA (Site Ref. 40529) comment on the potential constraints identified with the promoted development and explain how those constraints would be addressed. In summary, there is an existing vehicular access to the site from Cabbage Moor. There are limited views of the site from the surrounding area because of the existing landscaping at the site boundary. The site makes a limited contribution to the purposes for including land within the Green Belt.

Requested Change

It is requested that the development strategy for the Rural Southern Cluster includes an additional residential allocation at land off Cabbage Moor in Great Shelford, as promoted by Shelford Investments, with the following policy requirements:

• Site Area of 1.81 Ha
• Capacity for approx. 70 dwellings, including affordable housing and self/custom build plots
• Retain and enhance existing trees and hedgerows at site boundary
• Provide open space and green infrastructure
• Upgrade existing vehicular access on Cabbage Moor and at junction on to Shelford Road