The site is located within the village of Stapleford, outside of the village’s Development Framework and
within the Cambridge Green Belt. Representations were submitted to the Issues and Options 2020
consultation to present the initial case for the site’s removal from the Green Belt and were accompanied
by a commentary note that provided an initial consideration of the site’s contribution to the purposes of
the Green Belt.
These representations relate only to the site’s Green Belt designation and continue to support the case
for the site’s removal from the Green Belt.
Policy GP/GB: Protection and enhancement of the Cambridge Green Belt
The proposed policy direction of Policy GP/GB seeks to protect land within the Green Belt in accordance
with national policy. It also identifies the established local purposes of the Cambridge Green Belt. In
addition to the five purposes of the Green Belt, which are set out in the National Planning Policy
Framework (NPPF) (2021) at paragraph 138, the Cambridge Green Belt has particular purposes and
was established to protect the historic city and its setting.
The purposes of the Cambridge Green Belt, are to:
● Preserve the unique character of Cambridge as a compact, dynamic city with a thriving historic
centre;
● Maintain and enhance the quality of its setting;
● Prevent communities in the environs of Cambridge from merging into one another and with the city.
As part of the preparation of the Local Plan, all land within the Green Belt should be thoroughly examined
to assess whether land within the Green Belt still serves the five purposes as set out in the NPFF and the
three local purposes of the Cambridge Green Belt. Where it is demonstrated that land no longer meets
these national and local purposes, or the fundamental aim of Green Belt policy, which is to prevent urban
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sprawl by keeping land permanently open (NPPF paragraph 137), the Green Belt boundaries as shown
on the Proposals Map should be altered in the emerging Local Plan accordingly.
Representations regarding Greenhedge Farm’s compliance with the NPPF’s purposes of the Green Belt
were submitted as part of the Issues and Options 2020 consultation. These representations were
accompanied by a commentary note (Appendix A) that provided an initial consideration of the site’s
contribution to the purposes of the Green Belt. The note identifies the following preliminary
considerations:
● The existing built form and surrounding mature planting provides an opportunity to reconsider the
Green Belt boundary in this location;
● The site should not be assessed in isolation, the Green Belt review should also consider the
adjoining land. However, it is considered that the southern parcels have a stronger connection to the
surrounding built form which lessens their contribution to the Green Belt;
● Discrete areas within the site, particularly the southern parcels, have different degrees of enclosure
due to built form and tree cover. As such, they have less ‘visual openness’;
● The site is not located between villages nor does in contribute to the separation of settlements;
● The site, due to its location and scale, is not considered to relate to the contribution of the Green Belt
to the setting and character of Cambridge.
This initial analysis begins to demonstrate that the site may no longer contribute to the fundamental aim
of Green Belt policy nor the five purposes of the Green Belt. The note strongly recommended that a full
Green Belt review is undertaken and that the site’s contribution to each purpose of the Green Belt is
assessed.
It is also considered that the site:
● Does not check the unrestricted sprawl of large built-up areas – it is surrounded on all four
boundaries by built development, with three of those boundaries comprising the development
framework of Stapleford. The removal of the site from the Green Belt would therefore not lead to
unrestricted sprawl;
● Does not prevent neighbouring towns merging into one another – the site is not located between
towns or villages and is enclosed by the existing built development of Stapleford. The removal of the
site from the Green Belt would not result in the coalescence of adjoining settlements;
● Does not contribute to safeguarding the countryside from encroachment – the site is surrounded on
all four boundaries by built development and whilst located outside of the development framework, is
not considered to encroach on the countryside that is beyond the settlement pattern; and
● Does not preserve the setting and special character of a historic town – it is considered that the
removal of the site from the Green Belt would not impact on the setting and character of the
Stapleford Conservation Area given the distance and intervening built form between the site and the
Conservation Area. Furthermore, due to its location and scale, the site is not considered to relate to
the contribution of the Green Belt to the setting and character of Cambridge.
The evidence base for the Preferred Options consultation includes the Greater Cambridge Green Belt
Assessment 2021. The Green Belt Assessment is a comprehensive study, which provides a robust
assessment that:
● Identifies variations in openness and the extent to which land contributes to the purposes of the
Green Belt; and
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● Uses this to determine variations in the potential harm to those Green Belt purposes of releasing land
within Greater Cambridge from the designation.
Appendix B of the Green Belt Assessment includes a detailed contribution and harm assessment of all
land within the Cambridge Green Belt. Greenhedge Farm has been assessed as part of the study as site
reference GS 10. The assessment of the site is included at Appendix B of these representations.
The assessment of the site presents supportive evidence for its removal from the Green Belt. In relation
to the site’s contribution to the Cambridge Green Belt purposes, it finds the following:
● Purpose One: Land is open and is adjacent to Great Shelford, which is contiguous with Cambridge
but which retains a degree of distinction from the main City area. There is weak distinction between
the parcel and the urban area, which decreases the extent to which development would be perceived
as diminishing Cambridge's compact character. Overall, the parcel makes a relatively limited
contribution to Cambridge Purpose 1. Contribution: Relatively limited.
● Purpose Two: Land has a weak distinction from the edge of Great Shelford/Stapleford, meaning it
has a strong relationship with the inset area. However, it is open and land use within the majority of
the parcel is not associated with the urban area, and therefore has some rural character. It has a use
to the north-east (Stapleford/Jubilee Pavilion) and south (allotments) that associate with the inset
area and weaken its rural character. It does not form or contain any specific features/aspects that
contribute to the quality of Cambridge’s setting. Overall the parcel makes a limited contribution to
Cambridge Purpose 2. Contribution: Limited /no contributions and
● Purpose Three: Land is too closely contained by the settlement of Great Shelford to contribute to its
separation from Cambridge. Contribution: Limited / no contribution.
The Council’s assessment concludes with the following statement regarding the overall harm of releasing
the land from the Green Belt.
Parcel GS10 makes a relatively limited contribution to preserving Cambridge's compact character. The
additional impact on the adjacent Green Belt of the release of the parcel would be negligible. Therefore,
the harm resulting from its release, as an expansion of Cambridge, would be low.
Overall, the Local Plan evidence clearly demonstrates that the site makes at best a relatively limited or
limited contribution to the Cambridge Green Belt and in terms of purposes two and three it makes no
contribution at all. In addition, its release would have negligible harm on the adjacent Green Belt and a
low harm overall. The Council’s own evidence, alongside that prepared by Peterhouse, clearly points in
favour of releasing the site from the Green Belt.
It is important that any retained Green Belt fulfils the purposes of the Green Belt in order to have a
robust, long-term and defensible Green Belt. The Green Belt Assessment undertaken as part of the
Councils’ evidence base clearly demonstrates that the site makes little to no contribution to the national
or local purposes of the Green Belt. In this case the Local Plan process must take the opportunity to
review and amend the Green Belt boundary to remove the site from the Green Belt in the preparation of
the Proposals Maps. A more appropriate designation for the site would be that of open countryside
outside of the village’s Development Framework. As such, it would act to strengthen a more logical and
defensible Green Belt boundary to Stapleford.