Vision and development strategy
11. CPRE have read the Vision statement on the web site. It sounds forward-thinking. It is a great shame the
Vision is not matched by the development strategy. The entire strategy is predicated on growth of both
population and employment. Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire are areas of effectively full
employment. So, any growth in jobs can only be achieved by encouraging inward migration of significant
numbers of people from other, often poorer, areas of the country.
12. Such population movement will deplete other regions of some of their youngest and most dynamic
populations, causing damage to the social and economic fabric of those areas. It is not consistent with the
government’s Levelling Up agenda.
13. The development strategy is not consistent with the stated vision of Greater Cambridge, being “a place
where a big decrease in our climate impacts comes with a big increase in the quality of everyday life for all
our communities”. Quite the opposite. The level of housing and business development proposed will cause
significant increases in both embedded carbon due to construction and emitted carbon due to the increased population living in the area and the additional infrastructure needed to support them. A vision
which sought to spread Cambridge expertise to other areas of the country, which could benefit from
refurbishment and redevelopment, would be far more forward-looking socially and climatically.