The emerging Local Plan intends to direct development to where it has the least climate impact, where active and public transport is the natural choice, where green infrastructure can be delivered alongside new development, and where jobs, services and facilities can be located near to where people live. We support the principle of this strategy and consider that it aligns with the NPPF and principles of sustainable development.
The First Proposals document states:
“We want our rural villages to continue to thrive and sustain their local services, but we don’t want to encourage lots of new homes in places where car travel is the easiest or only way to get around. We therefore propose some development in and around larger villages that have good transport links and services, and to support important employment clusters. In smaller villages, we’ll continue to support infill development and affordable housing on suitable sites, but we do not propose lots of village growth”.
Across the rural areas, owing to their location, communities are not usually served by public transport links that are as well connected or indeed frequent as urban areas. However the reduced services should not be seen as a barrier or restriction to growth as rural areas provide a variety of other services and facilities and work as a network to meet local needs.
The proposed development strategy in the First Proposals is currently too restrictive for development in the rural areas and instead provides a barrier to sustainable rural growth. We consider that by preventing growth within the Villages, the emerging Local Plan does not comply with Paragraph 68 of the NPPF (2021) in respect of providing for a sufficient mix of sites across the Greater Cambridge area.
Land West of London Road, Fowlmere, offers a sustainable location for development, which has acknowledged to have scored positively in the Councils’ HELAA assessment (Site ref: 40116). The Site benefits from good transport links, including bus services, which connect the Site to other settlements benefitting from train stations.