Peterhouse supports the principle of policy S/RRA in allocating sites for homes and employment
in the rural area. The Local Plan should seek to allocate a component of its housing needs
towards growth at existing villages. Sustainable development in rural areas makes an important
contribution to ensuring the vitality of villages and supporting existing rural services and facilities.
This approach is supported by the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which at
paragraph 79 states that to promote sustainable development in rural areas, housing should be
located where it will enhance or maintain the vitality of rural communities. Planning policies
should identify opportunities for villages to grow and thrive, especially where this will support local
services.

Notwithstanding this clear direction in national policy, the emerging Local Plan makes very few
additional allocations in the rural area and Peterhouse objects to this approach. This approach
threatens the vitality of villages within the rural area and stifles opportunities for further growth
and supporting local services. The allocation of additional small to medium sized sites in the rural
area will also help to ensure that the housing supply for the Local Plan is balanced and robust,
reducing the reliance on strategic sites and the limited allocations in villages. As such, the
Development Strategy should include for further allocations in the rural area to ensure that a
sound spatial strategy is developed and delivered.

To fully support the rural area and develop a sound spatial strategy with a mixture of deliverable
and suitable rural allocations, Land to the south of Hattons Road, Longstanton should be
identified as an allocation for residential development. The site is considered to represent a
sustainable location for development which will help to meet the housing needs of Greater
Cambridge in the next Local Plan period. The land is considered to be available, achievable and
suitable and the development proposals will bring a number of tangible social, economic and
environmental benefits to support the delivery of a sound and sustainable spatial strategy as part
of the Local Plan, including:
● The opportunity to deliver a substantial amount of affordable housing to help meet the needs
of Longstanton and the wider District, including the potential to possibly deliver an element of
custom and self-build;
● Locating residential development in a sustainable location, within close proximity to existing
and proposed services, facilities, infrastructure and employment opportunities. The site is
located approximately 150m from the village High Street, located adjacent to allocations for
employment development and an extension to the recreation ground and is well within cycling
distance of the Longstanton Park and Ride. The site is therefore well placed for future
residents to be able to walk and cycle, rather than travel by private car, to meet their daily
needs;
● A landowner who wishes to work with the community in order to shape a proposal which
meets the needs of and can provide wider benefits to the village;
● Delivery of a substantial amount of open space which would be accessible to new and
existing residents and would provide connectivity with the allocated recreation ground
extension;
● Supporting Longstanton’s economy, including local shops and services; and
● Enhancing biodiversity levels across the site. The site is predominantly agricultural land and
can currently be considered to be of low ecological value. The The proposals present an
opportunity to deliver a biodiversity net gain of at least 10%.