Section 2.6: Rest of Rural Area

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. Fulbourn 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 east of Balsham Road in Fulbourn would support the existing services and facilities in the village, including the supermarket and other small convenience stores, the library, and post office, and existing and future bus 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 east of Balsham Road in Fulbourn is 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. There are regular bus services to Cambridge, Haverhill and Newmarket from Fulbourn, and there is a cycle route between Fulbourn and Cambridge. The Greater Cambridge Partnership has proposed a greenway (walking and cycling route) between Fulbourn and Cambridge. The Greater Cambridge Partnership’s Making Connections project seeks to improve the frequency of bus services from Fulbourn, including to Cambridge, Cambridge Station, Cambridge Biomedical Campus and the proposed Cambridge South Station. Fulbourn is a sustainable location 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 65 affordable dwellings in Fulbourn for those with a local connection to the village. This identified need would not be met without allocations in the village.

There are three current and recent major housing developments in Fulbourn, as follows:

• App Ref. S/3396/17/FL: A rural exception housing scheme off Balsham Road for 14 affordable dwellings. The s106 Agreement includes a planning obligation requiring the affordable housing to be occupied by those that can demonstrate a local connection to Fulbourn. The development is complete.
• App Ref. S/0202/17/OL: An application for 110 dwellings off Teversham Road, with 30% affordable housing which equates to 33 affordable dwellings. The s106 Agreement includes an affordable housing obligation requiring the first 8 affordable dwellings only to be offered to those that can demonstrate a local connection, with the remainder of the affordable housing available for district-wide housing needs. Reserved Matters Application S/3290/19/RM was refused in October 2021. This application can be appealed, however development may not come forward on this site.
• S/0670/17/OL: An application for 203 dwellings at the former Ida Darwin Hospital site, with 40% affordable housing which equates to 81 dwellings. The s106 Agreement does not include any obligations specifying that affordable housing must be offered to those with a local connection, and therefore the affordable housing is available for district-wide needs.
Therefore, all of the completed Balsham Road development was available to meet local housing needs, a small proportion of the Teversham Road development will be available for local housing (if a future appeal is submitted and subsequently allowed) needs, and none of the Ida Darwin Hospital development will be specifically allocated to meet local housing needs. It is acknowledged that those with a local connection to Fulbourn might apply for an affordable dwelling at the Teversham Road and Ida Darwin Hospital developments, but it is likely that the majority of affordable dwellings provided at these developments will be allocated to meet district-wide housing needs. Therefore, despite the existence of recent and current housing developments in Fulbourn it is very likely that the identified affordable housing needs of the village for those with a local connection will remain unmet during the plan period. In addition, as one of the more sustainable villages in South Cambridgeshire, Fulbourn should be meeting district-wide affordable housing needs and not just those needs generated in the village.

The promoted development by Hill Residential at land east of Balsham Road in Fulbourn would include housing and affordable housing to meet local needs of the village.

For all these reasons, additional small scale housing allocations should be made in the more sustainable villages within the rest of the rural area, including Fulbourn, 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 only be partially met by other developments.

Hill Residential’s representations to the assessment of the land east of Balsham Road in Fulbourn site in the HELAA (Site Ref. 40271) comment on the potential constraints identified with the promoted development and explain how those constraints would be addressed. In summary, it is noted that the site assessment identifies no ‘red’ scores for the site against suitability criteria, which indicates that the site is suitable subject to the implementation of mitigation measures. It is acknowledged in the assessment that development at the sites would make a negligible impact on landscape character. The existing trees and hedgerows at the site boundary would be retained as part of the promoted developments. It is considered that the site makes limited contribution to the purposes for including land within the Green Belt.

Requested Change

It is requested that the development strategy for the rest of the rural area includes an additional residential allocation at land east of Balsham Road in Fulbourn, with the following policy requirements:

• Site Area of 1.10 Ha
• Capacity for approx. 40 dwellings, including affordable housing
• Retain protected and other trees at site boundary
• Provide green infrastructure
• Facilitate an extension to the existing recreation ground