Context for this consultation

The current situation nationally and internationally with respect to Covid 19 could not have been foreseen when the review of the South Cambrdgeshire and Cambridge Local Plans commenced in 2019. The economic and social consequences of the pandemic and, at some point in the future, its aftermath, could be significant in both the short term and long term, yet no assessment of any possible future changes are built into the proposals set out in this consultation.

Given that certain major housing developments , such as Northstowe and Waterbeach are well underway and planning applications regarding new employment (such as at Granta Park and the Babraham Research Campus) are coming forward, is this consultation so time critical that it could not be delayed for, say,12 to 18 months ?

The location of at least some types of jobs could be affected by more remote working than pre-2020 and this, in turn, could mean that some individuals would no longer need to live close to the company or organisation for which they work, and this would have an impact on travel to work and commuting patterns.

A delay would give time for some indications of impacts relating to local jobs and housing to emerge and to be integrated into the emerging Plan prior to consultations such as this..


Location of housing

Much of the housing development the plan period will come from sites that are already in the current planning pipeline (that is, land already allocated for housing in the approved 2018 Local Plans or when developments has already commenced as , for example, at Northstowe, at Waterbeach and on the edge of Sawston).

However, I wish to comment on two of the new allocations.

I am concerned that the move of Marshalls from the airport site as this will lead to a reduction in the range of job opportunities available in the Greater Cambridge area. However, I accept that Marshalls do seem set to move, so development of the airport site (a brownfield site) is appropriate.

I am very concerned about housing on the waste water treatment plant site. It does not seem to me to be good use of more than £100 million of public money to move the waste water treatment plant about one mile in order to build houses on the present plant site. In fact, there is no need to build houses on the plant site. If the Councils were to revise their housing numbers to bring them more into line with government figures, then this site could be removed from the sites needed for housing development.


The Rural Southern Cluster

The First Proposals consultation includes policy areas for the Babraham Research Campus and for the Genome Campus. Given further likely developments at Granta Park, it is surprising to see that there is no such specific Policy Area for Granta Park.

Planning applications submitted over time are considered on an individual basis, but this approach fails to take into account the cumulative impacts of successive developments on Granta Park. In addition, successive planning applications that each involve building hundreds of car parking spaces do not seem to align with reducing dependence on motor vehicles.

Having a Policy Area covering the Granta Park site could provide a locally agreed framework for future development