LVA are of the view that the Local Plan should allocate enough deliverable small to medium sized sites for development so Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council are not heavily reliant on the delivery of large strategic sites. There appears to be a disproportionate reliance on such sites to meet the 11,640 additional homes that are required in the period 2020-2041. 11,200 of these are quoted as coming from just six sites (3,900 at North East Cambridge, 2,850 at Cambridge Airport, 1,000 at North West Cambridge, 750 at Northstowe,750 at Waterbeach New Town, and 1,950 at Cambourne).

Small to medium sized sites can make an important contribution to meeting the housing requirement of an area as they are generally built out quicker than larger sites (as per Paragraph 68 of the NPPF). In this regard, they are an important element of improving the supply of sites. This is particularly the case for Cambridgeshire which contains an area in which there are sustainable settlements and villages where smaller greenfield sites tend to be more readily available than brownfield sites and large strategic sites.

LVA believe there should be a more detailed focus on villages within the Local Plan and a mechanism introduced to allow for larger levels of development in these locations. The key point in LVA’s view is that it is accepted that interrelationship with surrounding areas is material and that it is accepted that residents in village locations must rely upon services and facilities outside of their particular settlement to meet all of their needs. This is not uncommon and is generally how most residents in villages within Cambridgeshire meet their daily needs. In such villages, a reliance on the private car is to be expected and that development in these locations should not be prohibited on this basis. More distinction needs to be given as between rural settlement as opposed to rural areas.

LVA consider it important to permit all villages to grow proportionately and enhance the quality of life for all generations. Not to plan and allow housing in these areas will lead to ever reducing demands for schooling, employment, and shops services as the aging population grows in such settlements. Further, we will see a continuing trend of aging dependent populations in villages lacking the care support of having families nearby as they will be forced to move to larger settlements due to a lack of new housing options especially those of an affordable nature that are typically found within open market led schemes.

Housing Need - The Councils Homes topic paper states that as of April 2021 there were 1,603 applicants on the Housing Register for South Cambridgeshire and 1,919 applicants for Cambridge (Source: Home-Link Choice Based Lettings Scheme Register). There is a need for affordable housing from within the local community in almost every village in South Cambridgeshire. The Housing Statistical Information Leaflet (South Cambridgeshire District Council, December 2019) shows that there are no Housing Register applicants in only five out of the 102 villages in the district and the Housing Register only captures part of the overall need. Market housing is also often needed to support the delivery of affordable housing, and this would bring a significant benefit.

Working from Home needs to be catered for - One of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic over the past 21 months has been the introduction of an era of home working and it naturally follows that this flexibility will give rise to workers feeling less inclined to live close to their workplace, which are commonly in urban areas. They will instead seek to retreat to life in more rural areas that provide better quality living and amenity spaces, with more value for their money after a year spent at home. Furthermore, after a year of isolation from friends and family, it is inevitable that people will want to live nearer to their loved ones, namely who are elderly or vulnerable and residing in villages. The Local Plan therefore must acknowledge and cater for number of city and town residents moving to more villages due to the effects of COVID-19.