The landowners and CBC Limited support Policy S/CBC and in particular welcome the support it offers to Vision 2050 and the design principles established therein. As author and steward of Vision 2050, CBC Ltd is glad that the First Proposals document supports effective placemaking on the existing Campus and emphasises the need to consider the existing land and any future expansion as a single district that must operate in an integrated way, whilst also integrating with and providing enhanced facilities and benefits to the existing neighbouring communities.

We support the policy position that a priority should be to enhance the existing Campus land. CBC Limited and the landowners support the intention to renew the masterplan for the Campus, taking account of existing commitments and anticipating the implications of Vision 2050 future expansion, to ensure that it can deliver an effective and broader offering of facilities and services to support the needs of Campus employees and visitors, together with an integrated programme of services, utilities and transport. The masterplan will embed the placemaking principles of Vision 2050, including establishing a clear, legible urban grain with active and sustainable travel at its heart.

The First Proposals advise that “Development on the additional land will only be allowed to take place when evidence is provided that opportunities on the existing Campus have been fully explored and utilised before development takes place on the released land”. We recognise that land on the Campus must be used efficiently and that expansion onto greenfield land requires special justification. In this context, the landowners and CBC Limited acknowledge the need to plan the development of the expansion land taking full account of the development of the Campus.

It is our clear view that, even with a more intensive use of existing land, the market demand for Life Sciences space, coupled with the need to offer a much better, more wide ranging Campus experience to attract, retain and support talent on site will exhaust the existing allocated land early in the plan period. We are also aware that the existing proposed land release may be insufficient to address all the pertinent matters, not just in terms of demand, but also to provide the wider landscape, amenity and neighbourhood mitigations required to make a growing CBC fulfil its potential as an asset for the economy and for South Cambridge communities.

To that end, we wish to work with GCSP to determine the proposed boundaries to ensure that any solution works with the true grain of the landscape and optimises infrastructure, sustainability and placemaking priorities.

Looking therefore at the programme of work required to assess the ultimate need, scale, phasing, mix, accessibility, environmental impact, delivery and design of the Campus expansion we propose the following key tasks and assessment approach should be worked through jointly with the Councils during the course of next year:

CBC Ltd and the landowners intend to work closely together and with:
• all landowners affected by the development and expansion of the Campus,
• GCSP, the Highways Authority, Statutory Undertakers and all other regulatory stakeholders,
• The local communities of South Cambridge, those employed on Campus and those who regularly use and benefit from or are impacted by the services provided on site.

The work would be designed to produce:
• A set of clear parameters that support the social, environmental, and economic priorities of stakeholders, including:
• an environmentally facing solution for energy, water, waste and transport; which futureproofs the Campus against change;
• an agreed approach to accelerate delivery of supporting uses to remedy existing qualitative deficiencies;
• A clear movement strategy that leverages the opportunities created by investment in sustainable transport on site and to promote an active travel hierarchy;
• A placemaking strategy with a specific set of phased interventions that improve legibility, wayfinding and better integrate the campus with its hinterland; and
• Committing to achieve Net Zero and net biodiversity gain within a clear route map.

The work would also produce principles of a landscaping and green infrastructure strategy that enhances the wider environment and mitigates visual impacts from the Campus expansion, whilst enhancing the quality and access to the countryside south of the expansion land.

These documents would then enable GCSP to:
• determine whether the parties had addressed the various requirements of the First Proposals sufficiently to justify the removal of the land from the Green Belt and
• Design a suite of site allocation planning policies to effectively manage the growth of the Campus so that it can become more reflective of Vision 2050 and achieve the highest standards of inclusive, sustainable placemaking it represents.

In order to ensure that this evaluation and design process is followed and to provide GCSP with the resources it would need to fully engage in that process, CBC Ltd and the landowners would be pleased to formalise that approach. This would help direct resources as required, ensure governance is effective and enable an effective working relationship to be established without prejudicing the independence of the planning authority.