The NECAAP Area is expected to deliver a total of up to 8,350 dwellings, including around 4,000 during the Local Plan Period to 2041.

This is a strategic-scale residential allocation which is focused on a relatively small and highly constrained development site. High densities and high building heights would be required to enable the capacities that are envisaged, and we are of the view that the stated numbers will not be deliverable, particularly within the timescales that are envisaged. The relocation of the existing sewage works and associated site remediation works, which are subject of a Development Consent Order (DCO)(unlikely to be determined until 2023 at the earliest), are just one of a number of factors which could negatively impact on timescales and reduce the delivery of housing completions within the plan period.

We consider that the Councils should review both the overall quantum of residential development to be allocated to the NECAAP Area, and the ability of the site to deliver within the Local Plan Period to 2041. This should take into account the likely lead-in times of recent strategic-scale developments in the Greater Cambridge area (e.g. Waterbeach) and both local and national housebuilding rates, to inform what the site can realistically deliver within the period to 2041. The site’s contribution to the housing trajectory should be revised downwards, accordingly.