Countryside support the proposed policy and agree that developments should take a holistic approach to their design to account for climate change and weather events. This approach is consistent with the NPPF which requires Local Plans to take a proactive approach to mitigating and adapting to climate change.

Countryside has recently committed to becoming a net zero company by 2030 and have released a report ‘Pathfinder: Marking out the route to Net Zero’4 which sets out the principles that Countryside will follow to respond to the global call to arms for climate action. Land to the west of Cambridge Road, Melbourn will benefit from the action plan set out in the Pathfinder report to deliver its commitments. A key element of the approach is to follow a fabric first approach to the design of dwellings to achieve high levels of efficiency through improving window glazing, air tightness, roof insulation, wall thickness and improved floor insulation and underfloor heating.

In addition to adopting a fabric first approach to reduce heating demand, Countryside will also apply the principles of their energy hierarchy to help reduce both regulated and unregulated energy usage. This includes supplying only A-rated energy efficient appliances, using smart meters and smart thermostats to reduce energy consumption by learning living and heating patterns, developing a suite of e-learning packages and support material to help households reduce consumption and live more efficiently.

The site also presents an opportunity to provide significant landscaping as shown on the Illustrative Masterplan. This can contribute to urban greening and increasing tree canopy across the site, which is currently an arable field, reducing climate risks through landscape design. In relation to sustainable drainage, it was confirmed through the previous outline application that a suitable drainage system can be delivered as part of the proposals that incorporates the use of SuDS doesn’t increase the risk of flooding on or off site and accounts for climate change allowances.

3 https://www.countrysideproperties.com/sites/default/files/2021-11/Pathfinder%20-%20Marking%20out%20the%20route%20to%20net%20zero.pdf