This emerging policy will confirm that the three new settlements of Northstowe, the new town north of Waterbeach, and Bourn Airfield new village, will continue to be developed during the period of the new Local Plan and beyond.
We note that the consultation document states that there is evidence which means “it is reasonable to assume that annual delivery rates at Northstowe and Waterbeach will be higher than so far relied on, meaning that more of the planned homes will be completed in the plan period, with less to follow after 2041”.
The evidence base supporting this approach is stated to lie within the Development Strategy Topic Paper. On reviewing the relevant section relating to emerging Policy S/NS: Existing new settlements, it is stated that the Authority “have not completed evidence focused on this topic”. Therefore, we are very concerned that there is no clear justification for the assumption that these new settlements will deliver more homes within the plan period.
In the ‘delivery of development’ section relating to the new settlement policy, it is states that the new settlement sites are:
• “anticipated to start delivering additional dwellings a year from 2026/2027 after adoption of the new Local Plan and current five year supply period (2021- 2026), with build out rates based on Housing Delivery Study assumptions for new settlements of maximum of 300 dwellings a year, therefore additional 50 dwellings a year to the 250 dwellings a year already including in the Greater Cambridge Housing Trajectory (April 2021)
• additional 750 dwellings anticipated in 2020-2041 for each of Northstowe and Waterbeach New Town”.
The above does not provide any reasoning for the basis behind these assumptions. For example, it is not clear if these delivery rates have been suggested by the new settlement’s promoters or if they have been assumed by the local planning authority.
Moreover, it is noted that even with the ‘higher delivery rates’ the new settlements will not be contributing to the area’s housing land supply within the first five years of the plan period.
Published evidence from Nathaniel Lichfield & Partners (Start to Finish, November 2016) outlines that the determination period of an application of 500+ dwellings (i.e. a new settlement) is circa 5.3 to 6.9 years. For the most part, this time period is due to complex planning issues. When an application is determined quicker than average, this is a result of matters being substantially addressed prior to submission which, when combined with the determination period, still adds up to the same amount of time; as the report states “there is rarely a way to short-circuit planning”. For new standing settlements, this is likely to be significantly longer given the greater difficulty in identifying and planning, then servicing and accessing such sites. This means the best way to plan for strategic sites is to do so well in advance. Whilst we do agree that the Greater Cambridge Plan should be planning for new settlements, what this evidence does demonstrate, is that in the short term, there is often a need for an Authority to place a greater reliance on small and medium sized sites, which can deliver homes in fewer than five years.
Delivering more new homes as soon as possible is especially pertinent in the Greater Cambridge area especially given the current issues with higher house prices and trends of in-commuting due to the number of jobs outstripping local housing supply.
The land east of Cambridge Road, Sawston SHLAA Ref: 531, and land east of Haverhill Road, Stapleford SHLAA Ref: 530 are both examples of sites that are capable of accommodating housing developments within the first five years of the plan. Therefore, in the absence of the clear evidence to justify why the new settlement sites should be attributed higher numbers of homes throughout the plan period, we believe the Local Plan should be allocating more homes to come forward within the initial five year period.