Question 57: What community facilities are particularly needed in the North East Cambridge area?

This area will need a new Doctors Surgery as all the ones close to this area are very busy and it is difficult to get an appointment now.

I haven't managed to find the Consultation Strategy Document but I am making some comments based on your email. Firstly, I would like to say that we welcome the initiative that you are taking to consult with local residents.

I don't think it is anyone's fault but I don't think that the project has really been noticed much by local residents despite several articles in local newspapers. It is a bit like IT projects where given a blank piece of paper people don't know what they want, but faced with the actual system can definitely say they don't like it. I think what is happening needs to be articulated in the way of more concrete examples, although I appreciate this is difficult.

I don't think the scale of the project has been really expressed. The number of homes represents a development the size of Ely, but this is not the impression that really comes across. The consultation needs to address the issues which are likely to be of most interest to residents such as:
* Impact on traffic congestion and transport. This is going to be a big worry.
* Impact on services, such as medical services and local schools.
* Quality of architecture, is this going to anonymous architecture that could be anywhere in the world. Will it just be very high flats?
* Quality of life for the inhabitants and community.
* Sense of identity and place.
* Provision of genuinely affordable housing, not based on the official definition.

Residents will be as interested in how the objectives of the development will be attained as much as what they are. Developers wriggling out of undertakings to provide good communal space, quality of build and basic infrastructure have been the norm rather than the exception. Issues around The Station Square, The Marque and Cambourne Secondary School are just the tip of the iceberg. There needs to be detail on how these kinds of problems can be prevented.

Related to this, objectives need to have metrics which can be measured and enforced. A developer in Cambridge considered that having a shed in the garden was sustainable housing and this kind of rhetoric is very cheap. It needs to be things like, say, "Heating needs to be reduced by 75% compared to existing standards".

There is a concern that, for instance, it is assumed that traffic on the development will be low because owners cannot have cars. However, this may not work if other people in the houses have cars and owners use cars registered to family members who live elsewhere. There needs to be explanation of how critical measures are really going to work. Not allowing off street parking may not mean fewer cars. Unless there is a completely watertight ban on cars then having no off road parking will just lead to displaced parking problems elsewhere.

[REDACTED] has suggested the following in terms of communications., A leaflet drop advertising the exhibitions and giving information to residents. Leaflets and posters at local Libraries, community centres, doctors' /dentists' surgeries. The political parties should advertise the dates too but unfortunately residents in King's Hedges (which involves half of Milton Road) don't seem to get these -No problem West Chesterton where the voting is tighter. I don't know the situation in East Chesterton. Posters at bus stops.

Distributing leaflets to houses is the obvious way to distribute. Anything else is going to be problematical.

There are lessons to be learnt from the Milton Road Project. This started off fairly disastrously but there is now a good relationship between residents associations and the project. [REDACTED] deserves a lot of credit for building good relationships in an [REDACTED] role and the project has actually take on board with what residents have suggested. There has been a cost to the project to do this but I think that the benefits in terms of quality of outcome have been immeasurable. Having someone as a residents contact is essential. Although I am kind of reporting back it maybe useful to have a presentations to residents association members and other key stakeholders. The Milton Road project has had various Local Liaison Forums and this could be a model to use.

In terms of area I think what you suggest is about right although I think that Hurst Park Estate would also like to be included. I might include West Chesterton and an exhibition at Chesterton Community College.

In terms of electronic communication I would add that I am struggling to find documents amongst council papers and we need a webpage with links to the documents of interest to residents. The residents associations do have some social media, but many residents don't really engage with this, although if you can provide content it can be distributed. I assume you could use things like Facebook advertising to send information by location, but I don't imagine it would be cheap.

Noise
There doesn't seem to be much recognition of noise as a problem. As the development is right next to the A14 this is something that needs to be addressed. It is something people living at Orchard Park often comment on. The only solution I can see is having noise barriers which really work, but the last I heard the about the barriers for Milton Country Park was that they did not look like materialising. The danger is that this is a downshift on quality of life before we have even started.

Buses
It is difficult to see how there can be other than a minimal bus service unless local government has some control over the service, as in London. There is often talk of the Mayoralty having powers in this respect, but unless it can be sorted out properly beforehand, when there is some leverage, then this aspect of the project is probably doomed.

Cycling
One would hope that cycling provision is designed into the plans coherently in all respects from the outset. Even on completely new developments it seems that the cycling facilities are fitted around everything else, as an afterthought, so are not properly linked together. The lack of proper bike routes to The Triangle and Station bike parks would be an example.

Assuming that this can be sorted out then you need to think about improvements to cycle provision across the board so that people can make entire trips across Cambridge with ease. Although improvements are being made it is generally where it is easy, such as Arbury Road, rather than where it is necessary, e.g. East Road roundabout.

Another problem is lack of decent lighting on cycle routes, even when they are new and purpose built. The cycle track next to the guided bus on Kings Hedges Road is treacherous at night as it is pitch black. The Arbury Park cycle path is currently being built but The County are refusing to provide decent lighting on it.

Height of Development
I think we have apprehensions about high buildings and we will need some convincing. Certainly, one can point to areas of say, Berlin and Paris, where buildings of 5 stories combine good communities, independent shops, decent parks and play areas. Unfortunately, CB1 has not delivered the advertised quality of life for many people and it seems that this country, for whatever reasons, is very poor at achieving what is desired. I was at Limehouse Marina this week and it was a like a ghost town. It would be good to have some examples where this has worked for new build in this country and why.

The danger is that high developments attract transient populations which are not conductive to new communities or long term families.

Something to consider is that once you have the required space between buildings etc. the overall density is not as much more than medium densities. There are also micro climate affects to consider such as shading and cold winds being dragged down to street level.

I think most would agree that decent independent shops would be part of the mix. However, expensive new shops will likely just be small clone towns. Leases need to be cheap and controlled by the council as this is the only way you will get independent shops.

Hotels
I would be apprehensive about having hotels as the architectural quality of new hotels in Cambridge has been dreadful. If it is easy to rectify this one would ask why is the proposed hotel by the Grafton Centre as dreadful as all the others?

Car Traffic
No doubt there will be a lot of debate about this but, as I mentioned in my previous email, we need to avoid management by wishful thinking. The Centre Parcs approach of having cars stored on the periphery of the development directed away from the city centre may be worth considering, but it is always tricky doing things with concrete which haven't been tried before. We must be wary of things being superficially sugar coated, such as calling a multi-storey car park a car barn, although I see that it is for residents to keep cars in and there is a distinction there.

Safety
If people are going to walk then the environment must not only be safe but be perceived by them to be so by the inhabitants. We assume that there is a body of knowledge that can be used to implement this. There is an issue locally that the council have significantly cut the level of street lighting to save money and most people think that it is now completely inadequate. There will need to be a level of lighting that people are genuinely happy with which will need to be much more than the current council "standard".

Milton Road Project
There has been a Cost Benefit Analysis of the Milton Road Project. How does this fit in with the Northern Fringe? As the latter is not yet certain it is not clear why there have not been 2 variations of the CBA for with and without The Fringe. It is not clear why the extra traffic from the Fringe does not undermine the case for faster buses. Equally, the volume of cyclists, (operating at a suspiciously fast speed), may be dependent on The Fringe. It is not clear if the volume of buses required can be accommodated or how the whole Milton Road Project fits in with The Fringe as it pre-dates it.

Community Facilities
These are, hopefully, a given and the new community centre at Eddington is impressive. We would hope this is the kind of thing which is possible and that it can be done without University involvement.

Insulation
I think a carbon reduction of 19% on current regulations is too lacking in ambition and too open to being gamed. I think we should be aiming at the Passivhaus standards of being almost completely insulated. After all these houses will, hopefully, still be standing in 2050 when the aspiration is for zero emissions.

I haven't managed to find the Consultation Strategy Document but I am making some comments based on your email. Firstly, I would like to say that we welcome the initiative that you are taking to consult with local residents.

I don't think it is anyone's fault but I don't think that the project has really been noticed much by local residents despite several articles in local newspapers. It is a bit like IT projects where given a blank piece of paper people don't know what they want, but faced with the actual system can definitely say they don't like it. I think what is happening needs to be articulated in the way of more concrete examples, although I appreciate this is difficult.

I don't think the scale of the project has been really expressed. The number of homes represents a development the size of Ely, but this is not the impression that really comes across. The consultation needs to address the issues which are likely to be of most interest to residents such as:
* Impact on traffic congestion and transport. This is going to be a big worry.
* Impact on services, such as medical services and local schools.
* Quality of architecture, is this going to anonymous architecture that could be anywhere in the world. Will it just be very high flats?
* Quality of life for the inhabitants and community.
* Sense of identity and place.
* Provision of genuinely affordable housing, not based on the official definition.

Residents will be as interested in how the objectives of the development will be attained as much as what they are. Developers wriggling out of undertakings to provide good communal space, quality of build and basic infrastructure have been the norm rather than the exception. Issues around The Station Square, The Marque and Cambourne Secondary School are just the tip of the iceberg. There needs to be detail on how these kinds of problems can be prevented.

Related to this, objectives need to have metrics which can be measured and enforced. A developer in Cambridge considered that having a shed in the garden was sustainable housing and this kind of rhetoric is very cheap. It needs to be things like, say, "Heating needs to be reduced by 75% compared to existing standards".

There is a concern that, for instance, it is assumed that traffic on the development will be low because owners cannot have cars. However, this may not work if other people in the houses have cars and owners use cars registered to family members who live elsewhere. There needs to be explanation of how critical measures are really going to work. Not allowing off street parking may not mean fewer cars. Unless there is a completely watertight ban on cars then having no off road parking will just lead to displaced parking problems elsewhere.

[REDACTED] has suggested the following in terms of communications., A leaflet drop advertising the exhibitions and giving information to residents. Leaflets and posters at local Libraries, community centres, doctors' /dentists' surgeries. The political parties should advertise the dates too but unfortunately residents in King's Hedges (which involves half of Milton Road) don't seem to get these -No problem West Chesterton where the voting is tighter. I don't know the situation in East Chesterton. Posters at bus stops.

Distributing leaflets to houses is the obvious way to distribute. Anything else is going to be problematical.

There are lessons to be learnt from the Milton Road Project. This started off fairly disastrously but there is now a good relationship between residents associations and the project. [REDACTED] deserves a lot of credit for building good relationships in an [REDACTED] role and the project has actually take on board with what residents have suggested. There has been a cost to the project to do this but I think that the benefits in terms of quality of outcome have been immeasurable. Having someone as a residents contact is essential. Although I am kind of reporting back it maybe useful to have a presentations to residents association members and other key stakeholders. The Milton Road project has had various Local Liaison Forums and this could be a model to use.

In terms of area I think what you suggest is about right although I think that Hurst Park Estate would also like to be included. I might include West Chesterton and an exhibition at Chesterton Community College.

In terms of electronic communication I would add that I am struggling to find documents amongst council papers and we need a webpage with links to the documents of interest to residents. The residents associations do have some social media, but many residents don't really engage with this, although if you can provide content it can be distributed. I assume you could use things like Facebook advertising to send information by location, but I don't imagine it would be cheap.

Noise
There doesn't seem to be much recognition of noise as a problem. As the development is right next to the A14 this is something that needs to be addressed. It is something people living at Orchard Park often comment on. The only solution I can see is having noise barriers which really work, but the last I heard the about the barriers for Milton Country Park was that they did not look like materialising. The danger is that this is a downshift on quality of life before we have even started.

Buses
It is difficult to see how there can be other than a minimal bus service unless local government has some control over the service, as in London. There is often talk of the Mayoralty having powers in this respect, but unless it can be sorted out properly beforehand, when there is some leverage, then this aspect of the project is probably doomed.

Cycling
One would hope that cycling provision is designed into the plans coherently in all respects from the outset. Even on completely new developments it seems that the cycling facilities are fitted around everything else, as an afterthought, so are not properly linked together. The lack of proper bike routes to The Triangle and Station bike parks would be an example.

Assuming that this can be sorted out then you need to think about improvements to cycle provision across the board so that people can make entire trips across Cambridge with ease. Although improvements are being made it is generally where it is easy, such as Arbury Road, rather than where it is necessary, e.g. East Road roundabout.

Another problem is lack of decent lighting on cycle routes, even when they are new and purpose built. The cycle track next to the guided bus on Kings Hedges Road is treacherous at night as it is pitch black. The Arbury Park cycle path is currently being built but The County are refusing to provide decent lighting on it.

Height of Development
I think we have apprehensions about high buildings and we will need some convincing. Certainly, one can point to areas of say, Berlin and Paris, where buildings of 5 stories combine good communities, independent shops, decent parks and play areas. Unfortunately, CB1 has not delivered the advertised quality of life for many people and it seems that this country, for whatever reasons, is very poor at achieving what is desired. I was at Limehouse Marina this week and it was a like a ghost town. It would be good to have some examples where this has worked for new build in this country and why.

The danger is that high developments attract transient populations which are not conductive to new communities or long term families.

Something to consider is that once you have the required space between buildings etc. the overall density is not as much more than medium densities. There are also micro climate affects to consider such as shading and cold winds being dragged down to street level.

I think most would agree that decent independent shops would be part of the mix. However, expensive new shops will likely just be small clone towns. Leases need to be cheap and controlled by the council as this is the only way you will get independent shops.

Hotels
I would be apprehensive about having hotels as the architectural quality of new hotels in Cambridge has been dreadful. If it is easy to rectify this one would ask why is the proposed hotel by the Grafton Centre as dreadful as all the others?

Car Traffic
No doubt there will be a lot of debate about this but, as I mentioned in my previous email, we need to avoid management by wishful thinking. The Centre Parcs approach of having cars stored on the periphery of the development directed away from the city centre may be worth considering, but it is always tricky doing things with concrete which haven't been tried before. We must be wary of things being superficially sugar coated, such as calling a multi-storey car park a car barn, although I see that it is for residents to keep cars in and there is a distinction there.

Safety
If people are going to walk then the environment must not only be safe but be perceived by them to be so by the inhabitants. We assume that there is a body of knowledge that can be used to implement this. There is an issue locally that the council have significantly cut the level of street lighting to save money and most people think that it is now completely inadequate. There will need to be a level of lighting that people are genuinely happy with which will need to be much more than the current council "standard".

Milton Road Project
There has been a Cost Benefit Analysis of the Milton Road Project. How does this fit in with the Northern Fringe? As the latter is not yet certain it is not clear why there have not been 2 variations of the CBA for with and without The Fringe. It is not clear why the extra traffic from the Fringe does not undermine the case for faster buses. Equally, the volume of cyclists, (operating at a suspiciously fast speed), may be dependent on The Fringe. It is not clear if the volume of buses required can be accommodated or how the whole Milton Road Project fits in with The Fringe as it pre-dates it.

Community Facilities
These are, hopefully, a given and the new community centre at Eddington is impressive. We would hope this is the kind of thing which is possible and that it can be done without University involvement.

Insulation
I think a carbon reduction of 19% on current regulations is too lacking in ambition and too open to being gamed. I think we should be aiming at the Passivhaus standards of being almost completely insulated. After all these houses will, hopefully, still be standing in 2050 when the aspiration is for zero emissions.

I haven't managed to find the Consultation Strategy Document but I am making some comments based on your email. Firstly, I would like to say that we welcome the initiative that you are taking to consult with local residents.

I don't think it is anyone's fault but I don't think that the project has really been noticed much by local residents despite several articles in local newspapers. It is a bit like IT projects where given a blank piece of paper people don't know what they want, but faced with the actual system can definitely say they don't like it. I think what is happening needs to be articulated in the way of more concrete examples, although I appreciate this is difficult.

I don't think the scale of the project has been really expressed. The number of homes represents a development the size of Ely, but this is not the impression that really comes across. The consultation needs to address the issues which are likely to be of most interest to residents such as:
* Impact on traffic congestion and transport. This is going to be a big worry.
* Impact on services, such as medical services and local schools.
* Quality of architecture, is this going to anonymous architecture that could be anywhere in the world. Will it just be very high flats?
* Quality of life for the inhabitants and community.
* Sense of identity and place.
* Provision of genuinely affordable housing, not based on the official definition.

Residents will be as interested in how the objectives of the development will be attained as much as what they are. Developers wriggling out of undertakings to provide good communal space, quality of build and basic infrastructure have been the norm rather than the exception. Issues around The Station Square, The Marque and Cambourne Secondary School are just the tip of the iceberg. There needs to be detail on how these kinds of problems can be prevented.

Related to this, objectives need to have metrics which can be measured and enforced. A developer in Cambridge considered that having a shed in the garden was sustainable housing and this kind of rhetoric is very cheap. It needs to be things like, say, "Heating needs to be reduced by 75% compared to existing standards".

There is a concern that, for instance, it is assumed that traffic on the development will be low because owners cannot have cars. However, this may not work if other people in the houses have cars and owners use cars registered to family members who live elsewhere. There needs to be explanation of how critical measures are really going to work. Not allowing off street parking may not mean fewer cars. Unless there is a completely watertight ban on cars then having no off road parking will just lead to displaced parking problems elsewhere.

[REDACTED] has suggested the following in terms of communications., A leaflet drop advertising the exhibitions and giving information to residents. Leaflets and posters at local Libraries, community centres, doctors' /dentists' surgeries. The political parties should advertise the dates too but unfortunately residents in King's Hedges (which involves half of Milton Road) don't seem to get these -No problem West Chesterton where the voting is tighter. I don't know the situation in East Chesterton. Posters at bus stops.

Distributing leaflets to houses is the obvious way to distribute. Anything else is going to be problematical.

There are lessons to be learnt from the Milton Road Project. This started off fairly disastrously but there is now a good relationship between residents associations and the project. [REDACTED] deserves a lot of credit for building good relationships in an [REDACTED] role and the project has actually take on board with what residents have suggested. There has been a cost to the project to do this but I think that the benefits in terms of quality of outcome have been immeasurable. Having someone as a residents contact is essential. Although I am kind of reporting back it maybe useful to have a presentations to residents association members and other key stakeholders. The Milton Road project has had various Local Liaison Forums and this could be a model to use.

In terms of area I think what you suggest is about right although I think that Hurst Park Estate would also like to be included. I might include West Chesterton and an exhibition at Chesterton Community College.

In terms of electronic communication I would add that I am struggling to find documents amongst council papers and we need a webpage with links to the documents of interest to residents. The residents associations do have some social media, but many residents don't really engage with this, although if you can provide content it can be distributed. I assume you could use things like Facebook advertising to send information by location, but I don't imagine it would be cheap.

Noise
There doesn't seem to be much recognition of noise as a problem. As the development is right next to the A14 this is something that needs to be addressed. It is something people living at Orchard Park often comment on. The only solution I can see is having noise barriers which really work, but the last I heard the about the barriers for Milton Country Park was that they did not look like materialising. The danger is that this is a downshift on quality of life before we have even started.

Buses
It is difficult to see how there can be other than a minimal bus service unless local government has some control over the service, as in London. There is often talk of the Mayoralty having powers in this respect, but unless it can be sorted out properly beforehand, when there is some leverage, then this aspect of the project is probably doomed.

Cycling
One would hope that cycling provision is designed into the plans coherently in all respects from the outset. Even on completely new developments it seems that the cycling facilities are fitted around everything else, as an afterthought, so are not properly linked together. The lack of proper bike routes to The Triangle and Station bike parks would be an example.

Assuming that this can be sorted out then you need to think about improvements to cycle provision across the board so that people can make entire trips across Cambridge with ease. Although improvements are being made it is generally where it is easy, such as Arbury Road, rather than where it is necessary, e.g. East Road roundabout.

Another problem is lack of decent lighting on cycle routes, even when they are new and purpose built. The cycle track next to the guided bus on Kings Hedges Road is treacherous at night as it is pitch black. The Arbury Park cycle path is currently being built but The County are refusing to provide decent lighting on it.

Height of Development
I think we have apprehensions about high buildings and we will need some convincing. Certainly, one can point to areas of say, Berlin and Paris, where buildings of 5 stories combine good communities, independent shops, decent parks and play areas. Unfortunately, CB1 has not delivered the advertised quality of life for many people and it seems that this country, for whatever reasons, is very poor at achieving what is desired. I was at Limehouse Marina this week and it was a like a ghost town. It would be good to have some examples where this has worked for new build in this country and why.

The danger is that high developments attract transient populations which are not conductive to new communities or long term families.

Something to consider is that once you have the required space between buildings etc. the overall density is not as much more than medium densities. There are also micro climate affects to consider such as shading and cold winds being dragged down to street level.

I think most would agree that decent independent shops would be part of the mix. However, expensive new shops will likely just be small clone towns. Leases need to be cheap and controlled by the council as this is the only way you will get independent shops.

Hotels
I would be apprehensive about having hotels as the architectural quality of new hotels in Cambridge has been dreadful. If it is easy to rectify this one would ask why is the proposed hotel by the Grafton Centre as dreadful as all the others?

Car Traffic
No doubt there will be a lot of debate about this but, as I mentioned in my previous email, we need to avoid management by wishful thinking. The Centre Parcs approach of having cars stored on the periphery of the development directed away from the city centre may be worth considering, but it is always tricky doing things with concrete which haven't been tried before. We must be wary of things being superficially sugar coated, such as calling a multi-storey car park a car barn, although I see that it is for residents to keep cars in and there is a distinction there.

Safety
If people are going to walk then the environment must not only be safe but be perceived by them to be so by the inhabitants. We assume that there is a body of knowledge that can be used to implement this. There is an issue locally that the council have significantly cut the level of street lighting to save money and most people think that it is now completely inadequate. There will need to be a level of lighting that people are genuinely happy with which will need to be much more than the current council "standard".

Milton Road Project
There has been a Cost Benefit Analysis of the Milton Road Project. How does this fit in with the Northern Fringe? As the latter is not yet certain it is not clear why there have not been 2 variations of the CBA for with and without The Fringe. It is not clear why the extra traffic from the Fringe does not undermine the case for faster buses. Equally, the volume of cyclists, (operating at a suspiciously fast speed), may be dependent on The Fringe. It is not clear if the volume of buses required can be accommodated or how the whole Milton Road Project fits in with The Fringe as it pre-dates it.

Community Facilities
These are, hopefully, a given and the new community centre at Eddington is impressive. We would hope this is the kind of thing which is possible and that it can be done without University involvement.

Insulation
I think a carbon reduction of 19% on current regulations is too lacking in ambition and too open to being gamed. I think we should be aiming at the Passivhaus standards of being almost completely insulated. After all these houses will, hopefully, still be standing in 2050 when the aspiration is for zero emissions.

Playgrounds

Parent and child-friendly facilities are needed if this is to be a self-contained walkable district. Having such facilities nearby makes life much easier. There is good provision in central and west Chesterton, as well as Arbury, but the new area will be a relatively long walk from those areas. As well as outside playgrounds, it would be really useful to have some sort of soft play or other indoor facility for when the weather is bad. The majority of Cambridge's soft play centres are in surrounding villages, which can only (easily) be accessed by car. Having one within walking or cycling distance would reduce parental reliance on the car - better for health and the environment. Indoor and outdoor play areas near shops would also make it easier to visit those shops with young children, rather than having to head out of town to more child-friendly places (e.g. Cambourne Tesco and nearby soft play; Bury Lane farm shop and play barn). It would be even better if such a facility could be combined with a spacious child-friendly cafe - like the German Kinder Cafes.

Church
Cafe
Pub
Restaurant
Museum
Library

Place of worship, public house, youth centre? When New Chesterton was built in the 1930s, a church and public house were seen as needed.

The North East Cambridge area should include a church. There should also be places to eat (including all times of day and week), sports facilities (of some type, eg outdoor gym equipment, running track) and provision for young people (a youth centre or community centre with a youth program, outdoor places to be which may overlap with sports facilities eg football field or basketball court).

A good local library, some cafes and community meeting points (the area is very short of these and lots of pubs have also closed in recent years), a sports centre and place for cultural events.

Quality of life and what makes places livable and enjoyable seems to disappear in current planning considerations. NEC could be a cultural district and a good alternative to the City Centre for some provision which inevitably generates people movements such as leisure and entertainment. Cambridgeshire lacks a major concert hall and the NEC area is next to a station with good transport links and easy access from the A14 and A10 so would be an excellent location, likely to stimulate an evening economy and quality businesses and restaurants.

It is often hard when developing a new area to get community facilities up and running effectively so that people can use them from the start and don't get into 'bad habits' of going outside the area. Have you asked those involved in similar developments (eg Orchard Park) what lessons they learned?
A key community facility would be a building - either set aside or shared - for a local church. Unlike clubs etc, a church exists for its non-members, actively seeking to involve people of all ages, nationalities and backgrounds. It is cheap too, as it is self-funded.
Cambridge attracts lots of Christians; many churches in the city have seen significant growth in recent years. Help newcomers to the city get out of their cars on Sundays by planning for a local church.
This would require a building with 1 big space plus breakout rooms for children's work, cupboards for storage & an office space. Churches often run events throughout the week for all sorts of people (eg toddler groups, youth groups, 60+ groups), but the building could also be shared with scouts, money advice centres, drop-in baby weighing etc etc.

My comments all relate to the need for a secondary school to be built as part of the NEC area plan.

The County Council's methodology for planning secondary school places is that 18-25 places are needed to cater for the demand for each 100 homes built. 5000 homes (a figure quoted in the press and not contested by council officers when asked at a meeting) would potentially generate a need for 900-1250 secondary school places. This level of demand cannot be accommodated in existing local schools, and therefore a new secondary on the NEC site should be considered. In addition, the published SCAP (school capacity) forecasting data indicates a shortage of 611 secondary places in Cambridge City by 2023-2024. This does not take account of any development in NEC. As a result, it is clear that the additional 900-1250 secondary places will not be available in other local schools.

Point (vii) of the executive summary notes that 'In particular, the successful regeneration of the NEC area is not just about providing for new development and physical growth, it is also about the realisation of the social benefits and improvements to the overall quality of place that new development can deliver'.
Social benefits are most likely to be delivered via excellent, local educational institutions. The adjacent wards are deprived. Investing in secondary education in the NEC would increase life chances for residents and provide a clear educational centre for the whole community to benefit from.

Paragraph 6.16 notes that 'As an innovation district, NEC needs to capitalise on great links to education facilities in the area to improve links to businesses'. This clearly recognises the importance of education in the area and would be bolstered greatly by a secondary school serving as the educational hub for the local community.

Paragraph 7.24 notes that 'Mixed use development, with a diverse range of residential, employment, education, retail and local amenities would provide the opportunity for those living and working in the area to access many services without using a car'. The plan states the need for a diverse range of amenities, including strong educational facilities. This should be supported by planning for a secondary school on site.

- Pupil number forecast combined with key goals for the development present a clear case for a secondary school to be included in the NEC area plans.

In principle, I support this proposal, but I only support proposal if there is a higher proportion of social/council rent level and affordable (this definition needs re-defining at a national level) housing to ease the local housing waiting list.

We do not need another 'commuter community' where the properties are occupied by those commuting to London to work and who contribute nothing to the local economy and block accommodation from those in need locally.

More consideration needs to be given to the reality of car use- not the fantasy that planners have that all will use public transport or cycle. We need a decent public transport system - currently it is expensive, unreliable and not frequent enough. If Milton Rd is to be the main road, it needs redeveloping. Sort out the traffic light sequencing- it's ridiculous.

Hold developers to account for decent S106 and stop letting them 'renegotiate' because they suddenly decide the development is not financially viable.

This proposal must have community amenities (Orchard Park and Cambourne failed) such as community centres' schools, GP, pharmacy, café/social area, lots of small neighbourhood parks; early in the development, not several years later when the developer wants to.

Overall design/layout needs to facilitate interaction if a sense of community is to be achieved. Provide some structured activities/space and leave space opportunities for first arriving residents to create their own and contribute to the identity of the place. Get a community worker in early on to help with this. Doing so will save problems developing later. Development should be led by community's needs and interests, not the developers.

Clearly there is a lot of new housing going into this development. With this increase will come the need for primary and secondary schools.

Given the objectives of wanting to create a community and reduce the level of travelling needed to access services locally (for both cohesion and sustainability reasons), I'm surprised that this need isn't being addressed in the plan.

The planning should also explicitly recognise the "Climate Emergency" and set the highest standards in sustainability and carbon emissions in developments.

Start the planning process for new secondary school (and primary schools) provision.

Ensure all new housing development are "Zero Carbon Homes"

I have answered a subsection of the questions in the NECAAP in support of the following overall proposal:

I believe a "fast train" service is needed between Cambridge North,Cambridge and the proposed Cambridge South station. To do this would require the level crossing to be shut permanently.
There is also the issue of public safety to cyclists and pedestrians using the new cycle link from Newmarket Road to North Cambridge station, there is a considerable increase in cyclist using Fen Road to access Moss Bank to the new station, this is a very dangerous road and the new bridge to link to Moss Bank where cyclist an pedestrians have to cross Fen Road will increase that DANGER CONSIDERLY.
I have seen a number of accidents and near misses to cyclist using the Fen Road, closing the crossing will ensure that traffic along that stretch of Fen Road will be reduced by over 90% making it a very safe environment for everyone.

This plan makes it essential that communities and businesses North of the level crossing should be connected by high quality walking and cycling links to Chesterton, bypassing the level crossing; it also crucially requires a road link over the railway into the new development. This further has the benefit of integrating new and old communities and businesses and giving existing communities access to the facilities at the new development and onto Milton Road and the A14.

All of this would give the best chance of the development realising the ambition of being green and sustainable without generating extra car traffic across Cambridge for those who don't end up working on site.

Chesterton Fen (the area bounded by the railway, the A14, and the river) has a very different character to the rest of the AAP area and forms part of the Green Belt, so I do not agree with the area's inclusion in the AAP area. However, AAP developments will increase railway traffic over the level crossing which is the only access to the area, causing additional social isolation for already marginalised communities. The AAP must provide for alternative access to Fen Road east of the level crossing to mitigate the negative effects of the AAP on adjoining areas.

This would extend the benefits of the scheme to this area by providing access to new facilities that will come from the new development. This in turn allows greater transport provision along the railway corridor via the closing of the level crossing, allowing more trains to run more frequently.

Q4: No, you have missed the constraint of the active level crossing, which limit the capacity of rail traffic through Cambridge North. In context this is particularly important for journeys across Cambridge, but limits the capacity in general.

This is also relevant to 4.19 - air quality will be affected if residents are forced to use cars to get to work, due to insufficient rail capacity. You cannot assume all residents living within the NECAAP will work within the NECAAP.

Q5: I believe that better connections to the Chesterton Fen area would support the inclusion objective you have identified. This is particularly relevant to objective 5: "NEC will integrate with surrounding communities, spreading the benefits it delivers to surrounding areas."

Q7: I suggest you include permeability for walking and cycling though the business park.

Q11: Sports, Arts, Community spaces, particularly those open in the evening.

Q17: I believe this bridge should also include road traffic and be capable of taking heavy goods vehicles.

Q25: High quality walking and cycling access from the Milton end of Fen Road to both Chesterton and the NECAAP area, to safely bypass the level crossing.

Q27: We support increasing capacity on the railway to reduce car dependence.

Q37: I specifically do not wish to have existing business sites pushed out of the area, as their location allows them to thrive.

Q50: I believe provision should be made for travellers within the site. Specifically travellers settled within housing require good access to their existing community, and this necessitates a road link (see answer to question 17).

Q57: Laundrette facilities should be included. Pooling facilities like this supports low-carbon living and helps support those who may not have access to washing machines.

Q70: OBJECT

Q71: Relocation within the area should be investigated in order to allow close integration with existing communities.

Q75, 76: SUPPORT

Q83: It is vital the needs of existing traveller communities in the area are considered under the Equality Act. Better connectivity to the AAP area must be compulsory in order to prevent these communities being further disadvantaged.

I believe a "fast train" service is needed between Cambridge North,Cambridge and the proposed Cambridge South station. To do this would require the level crossing to be shut permanently.
There is also the issue of public safety to cyclists and pedestrians using the new cycle link from Newmarket Road to North Cambridge station, there is a considerable increase in cyclist using Fen Road to access Moss Bank to the new station, this is a very dangerous road and the new bridge to link to Moss Bank where cyclist an pedestrians have to cross Fen Road will increase that DANGER CONSIDERLY.
I have seen a number of accidents and near misses to cyclist using the Fen Road, closing the crossing will ensure that traffic along that stretch of Fen Road will be reduced by over 90% making it a very safe environment for everyone.

This plan makes it essential that communities and businesses North of the level crossing should be connected by high quality walking and cycling links to Chesterton, bypassing the level crossing; it also crucially requires a road link over the railway into the new development. This further has the benefit of integrating new and old communities and businesses and giving existing communities access to the facilities at the new development and onto Milton Road and the A14.

All of this would give the best chance of the development realising the ambition of being green and sustainable without generating extra car traffic across Cambridge for those who don't end up working on site.

Q2: Chesterton Fen (the area bounded by the railway, the A14, and the river) has a very different character to the rest of the AAP area and forms part of the Green Belt, so I do not agree with the area's inclusion in the AAP area. However, AAP developments will increase railway traffic over the level crossing which is the only access to the area, causing additional social isolation for already marginalised communities. The AAP must provide for alternative access to Fen Road east of the level crossing to mitigate the negative effects of the AAP on adjoining areas.

This would extend the benefits of the scheme to this area by providing access to new facilities that will come from the new development. This in turn allows greater transport provision along the railway corridor via the closing of the level crossing, allowing more trains to run more frequently.

Q4: No, you have missed the constraint of the active level crossing, which limit the capacity of rail traffic through Cambridge North. In context this is particularly important for journeys across Cambridge, but limits the capacity in general.

This is also relevant to 4.19 - air quality will be affected if residents are forced to use cars to get to work, due to insufficient rail capacity. You cannot assume all residents living within the NECAAP will work within the NECAAP.

Q5: I believe that better connections to the Chesterton Fen area would support the inclusion objective you have identified. This is particularly relevant to objective 5: "NEC will integrate with surrounding communities, spreading the benefits it delivers to surrounding areas."

Q7: I suggest you include permeability for walking and cycling though the business park.

Q11: Sports, Arts, Community spaces, particularly those open in the evening.

Q17: I believe this bridge should also include road traffic and be capable of taking heavy goods vehicles.

Q25: High quality walking and cycling access from the Milton end of Fen Road to both Chesterton and the NECAAP area, to safely bypass the level crossing.

Q27: We support increasing capacity on the railway to reduce car dependence.

Q37: I specifically do not wish to have existing business sites pushed out of the area, as their location allows them to thrive.

Q50: I believe provision should be made for travellers within the site. Specifically travellers settled within housing require good access to their existing community, and this necessitates a road link (see answer to question 17).

Q57: Laundrette facilities should be included. Pooling facilities like this supports low-carbon living and helps support those who may not have access to washing machines.

Q70: OBJECT

Q71: Relocation within the area should be investigated in order to allow close integration with existing communities.

Q75: 76: SUPPORT

Q83: It is vital the needs of existing traveller communities in the area are considered under the Equality Act. Better connectivity to the AAP area must be compulsory in order to prevent these communities being further disadvantaged.

I believe a "fast train" service is needed between Cambridge North,Cambridge and the proposed Cambridge South station. To do this would require the level crossing to be shut permanently.
There is also the issue of public safety to cyclists and pedestrians using the new cycle link from Newmarket Road to North Cambridge station, there is a considerable increase in cyclist using Fen Road to access Moss Bank to the new station, this is a very dangerous road and the new bridge to link to Moss Bank where cyclist an pedestrians have to cross Fen Road will increase that DANGER CONSIDERLY.
I have seen a number of accidents and near misses to cyclist using the Fen Road, closing the crossing will ensure that traffic along that stretch of Fen Road will be reduced by over 90% making it a very safe environment for everyone.

This plan makes it essential that communities and businesses North of the level crossing should be connected by high quality walking and cycling links to Chesterton, bypassing the level crossing; it also crucially requires a road link over the railway into the new development. This further has the benefit of integrating new and old communities and businesses and giving existing communities access to the facilities at the new development and onto Milton Road and the A14.

All of this would give the best chance of the development realising the ambition of being green and sustainable without generating extra car traffic across Cambridge for those who don't end up working on site.

Q2: Chesterton Fen (the area bounded by the railway, the A14, and the river) has a very different character to the rest of the AAP area and forms part of the Green Belt, so I do not agree with the area's inclusion in the AAP area. However, AAP developments will increase railway traffic over the level crossing which is the only access to the area, causing additional social isolation for already marginalised communities. The AAP must provide for alternative access to Fen Road east of the level crossing to mitigate the negative effects of the AAP on adjoining areas.

This would extend the benefits of the scheme to this area by providing access to new facilities that will come from the new development. This in turn allows greater transport provision along the railway corridor via the closing of the level crossing, allowing more trains to run more frequently.

Q4: No, you have missed the constraint of the active level crossing, which limit the capacity of rail traffic through Cambridge North. In context this is particularly important for journeys across Cambridge, but limits the capacity in general.

This is also relevant to 4.19 - air quality will be affected if residents are forced to use cars to get to work, due to insufficient rail capacity. You cannot assume all residents living within the NECAAP will work within the NECAAP.

Q5: I believe that better connections to the Chesterton Fen area would support the inclusion objective you have identified. This is particularly relevant to objective 5: "NEC will integrate with surrounding communities, spreading the benefits it delivers to surrounding areas."

Q7: I suggest you include permeability for walking and cycling though the business park.

Q11: Sports, Arts, Community spaces, particularly those open in the evening.

Q17: I believe this bridge should also include road traffic and be capable of taking heavy goods vehicles.

Q25: High quality walking and cycling access from the Milton end of Fen Road to both Chesterton and the NECAAP area, to safely bypass the level crossing.

Q27: We support increasing capacity on the railway to reduce car dependence.

Q37: I specifically do not wish to have existing business sites pushed out of the area, as their location allows them to thrive.

Q50: I believe provision should be made for travellers within the site. Specifically travellers settled within housing require good access to their existing community, and this necessitates a road link (see answer to question 17).

Q57: Laundrette facilities should be included. Pooling facilities like this supports low-carbon living and helps support those who may not have access to washing machines.

Q70: OBJECT

Q71: Relocation within the area should be investigated in order to allow close integration with existing communities.

Q75: 76: SUPPORT

Q83: It is vital the needs of existing traveller communities in the area are considered under the Equality Act. Better connectivity to the AAP area must be compulsory in order to prevent these communities being further disadvantaged.

I feel that without the inclusion of the Fen Road site (over the railway line) into the action plan there will not be a full regeneration. Any plan which includes a bridge over the railway but does not address the anti social behaviour and deprivation on Fen Road over the railway will invite conflict and community tension just like it does in East Chesterton currently.

If a bridge is not built then it will contribute to the increasing ghettoisation of the gypsy sites down Fen Road, where those sites are "left behind", which again will lead to community conflict. If that is not addressed then it will not be a desirable place to live if people do not feel safe, no matter how attractive the space is.

Aside from this, I feel that the approach is very good. Plenty of green space with walking and cycling which is central to the site. Roads for motor vehicles should stay at the edges and journey times should be quickest by bike (cars must take a longer route to tip the daily balance of vehicle choice away from cars).

There should be car pool dedicated parking to encourage sharing cars rather than ownership. For a period of 5 years or so, sponsor car share companies to make high availability in the area, then hopefully natural demand will continue it.

Leisure facilities are sorely lacking in northern Cambridge. There is high demand from the science and business park areas, with the only evening venue being the Golden Hind or Milton pubs. Making sure there is a community space like Stir (Chesterton) is essential to keeping the area vibrant and not just another Orchard Park (which I consider failed due to high crime levels and lack of community cohesion).

A new leisure centre with great family swimming facilities would be brilliant, including climbing facilities and space for classes and other indoor sports like badminton. There isn't a huge amount of leisure activities I'm aware of in Northern Cambridge aside from Impington college.

My work used to be sited by the West Cambridge sports centre and my colleagues and I used the space at lunchtimes for squash, football and basketball. We since moved to St John's innovation Park and there is not much around to continue these activities.

As a Milton resident who cycles as much as possible, my family and I would very much use the facilities which are to be developed. Please look at the Dutch and Norwegian models for residential development, which prioritise walking and cycling over motor vehicles.

Thanks.

I am concerned that the plan does not appear to contain any mention of a secondary school; how can this truly be a sustainable plan when such a key part of any modern community is absent? Without a school in the proposed area, all 11-16 year olds will be forced to travel to alternative sites for their education, providing additional strain on the already oversubscribed schools and, in many cases, adding traffic to the overused roads in the immediate vicinities.

The provision of education, and subsequent travel, does not seem to have been considered adequately within the current plan. Whilst the NEC consultation document pays lip-service to the recognising the importance of education, the plans themselves do little to support this statement.

I have tried to find how to make a comment about the Northern Fringe consultation to no avail, in the end I have given up and am sending this email.
I found that there is very little information about what is planned and how it is going to look and the people at Brown's Field certainly couldn't tell me anything for certain which makes an awful consultation process. However, I would like to make the following points.

* Do we really need a large town stuck between the A14, Milton Road and Cambridge North? I hear affordable, flats, high storey, working in the same place as living. It just sounds like developer talk and how to get the maximum amount of people into a space for the least money.
* Who will live there? Will the places be affordable to shop staff and cleaners or will they only be affordable to software engineers at the Science Park?
* I was told buildings would be 5 stories high. Isn't this one of the problems with the area around Cambridge Main station. Too many people shoved together leads to too much noise, short term lets, no feeling of place?
* it is very close to the A14 so bound to have lots of pollution, would you like your child to grow up there breathing toxic air?
* ...and noise?
* If people didn't use cars, there would be far more deliveries and hence an increase in larger delivery vans with nowhere unable to park and left on the street when they make deliveries.
* The main exit for all these people would be Milton Road, think what a huge impact that would have, instant congestion.
* there is a distinct lack of buses in Cambridge especially on Milton Road so if destinations were not on the railway network how do they get there?
* Will the Metro be there?
* Cycle paths along Milton Road are being upgraded but will they be suitable for thousands more people? How would you ensure there was coherent cycling in all directions that is safe, wide and well lit?
* The area will need a good community centre (Eddington is a good example) and plenty of open space or people feel trapped and unhealthy.
* For a community to work there has to be a base resident population. For a family of three, one member of the family could work at the Science Park, another could work in Comberton or Chatteris and where would the nearest secondary school be? and how would that person get to Chatteris?
* I suggest you plan the roads well with wide cycle lanes, plenty of walking space with cars and lorries only allowed along the periphery, exceptions being for the disabled BEFORE any bricks are lain and discuss it with the developers. That mistake has been made the main station and already at Cambridge North when the planners built the lovely cycle paths and the developers designed a building that went straight through them.
* The people at the talk were really pleased to say it would be low carbon and there wouldn't be room for parking. Sounds great but you haven't achieved that anywhere else so what makes this place different? I do support the view of fewer cars but I am not sure others do.
Interestingly when I went to Brown's Field to see the stands - I wouldn't call it plans as there were none - I had been asked pick up some leaflets because very few people in the area around the proposed site knew anything about it. The box was very heavy. The officer said to me 'bring your car round and I will put them in the boot'. This off the cuff statement said it all and showed he had no idea of how others got around except by car. I didn't bring a car, I rarely go anywhere by car preferring to walk or bike if possible. But here was an officer who was intent on a car free area but obviously never went anywhere without his car. Sounded like one rule for him and another for everyone else, says it all. Please lead by example.

I have answered a subsection of the questions in the NECAAP in support of the following overall proposal:

I believe a "fast train" service is needed between Cambridge North,Cambridge and the proposed Cambridge South station. To do this would require the level crossing to be shut for much longer, and possibly permanently.

This plan makes it essential that communities and businesses North of the level crossing should be connected by high quality walking and cycling links to Chesterton, bypassing the level crossing; it also crucially requires a road link over the railway into the new development. This further has the benefit of integrating new and old communities and businesses and giving existing communities access to the facilities at the new development.

All of this would give the best chance of the development realising the ambition of being green and sustainable without generating extra car traffic across Cambridge for those who don't end up working on site.

Q2: Chesterton Fen (the area bounded by the railway, the A14, and the river) has a very different character to the rest of the AAP area and forms part of the Green Belt, so I do not agree with the area's inclusion in the AAP area. However, AAP developments will increase railway traffic over the level crossing which is the only access to the area, causing additional social isolation for already marginalised communities. The AAP must provide for alternative access to Fen Road east of the level crossing to mitigate the negative effects of the AAP on adjoining areas.

This would extend the benefits of the scheme to this area by providing access to new facilities that will come from the new development. This in turn allows greater transport provision along the railway corridor via the closing of the level crossing, allowing more trains to run more frequently.

Q4: No, you have missed the constraint of the active level crossing, which limit the capacity of rail traffic through Cambridge North. In context this is particularly important for journeys across Cambridge, but limits the capacity in general.

This is also relevant to 4.19 - air quality will be affected if residents are forced to use cars to get to work, due to insufficient rail capacity. You cannot assume all residents living within the NECAAP will work within the NECAAP.

Q5: I believe that better connections to the Chesterton Fen area would support the inclusion objective you have identified. This is particularly relevant to objective 5: "NEC will integrate with surrounding communities, spreading the benefits it delivers to surrounding areas."

Q7: I suggest you include permeability for walking and cycling though the business park.

Q11: Sports, Arts, Community spaces, particularly those open in the evening.

Q17: I believe this bridge should also include road traffic and be capable of taking heavy goods vehicles.

Q25: High quality walking and cycling access from the Milton end of Fen Road to both Chesterton and the NECAAP area, to safely bypass the level crossing.

Q27: We support increasing capacity on the railway to reduce car dependence.

Q37: I specifically do not wish to have existing business sites pushed out of the area, as their location allows them to thrive.

Q50: I believe provision should be made for travellers within the site. Specifically travellers settled within housing require good access to their existing community, and this necessitates a road link (see answer to question 17).

Q57: Laundrette facilities should be included. Pooling facilities like this supports low-carbon living and helps support those who may not have access to washing machines.

Q70: OBJECT

Q71: Relocation within the area should be investigated in order to allow close integration with existing communities.

Q75, 76: SUPPORT

Q83: It is vital the needs of existing traveller communities in the area are considered under the Equality Act. Better connectivity to the AAP area must be compulsory in order to prevent these communities being further disadvantaged.

Question 57 - What community facilities are particularly needed in the
North East Cambridge area?

I fully support the NECAAP as a thriving new place for living, working, playing and learning. I particularly support the vision for a social and economic inclusion.

I am keen that 'fit for purpose' community facilities accessible to all. The reality is that in a number of previous new developments this has been poorly planned and failed to provide what it could.

Also, in view of the scope of the vision this should be of significant size and range of possibilities and opportunities to end users.

In particular, as an active member of a faith group, I would support the building of a place that could also be used for the significant faith communities and that can effectively serve the diversity which new development will seek to nurture. Local churches are and will be core providers of a wide range of public services and have a gold standard in supporting all ages, stages and people from differing backgrounds (families, youth, debt help, supporting the deprived, bringing together the most diverse groups of people).

On a personal note. As a clergy person of the Church of England in the diocese of Ely I have been deployed to serve the more deprived communities of East Chesterton bringing the value of social inclusion and the bringing of diverse groups together. We have no regular building of our own in East Chesterton and looking ahead it would be valuable to bring this into the discussion of planning now. As key stake-holders in the social, mental, relational and spiritual capital of the
area and are keen to be involved in the process in any way as things develop.

The continuous growing population needs to have a vast range of facilties for people including; health care, recreational and educational facilities for all age groups. The plans currently do not have a local secondary educational establishment which is a basic aminity within a local area. Due to the large quantities of houses being built if a secondary school is not built within this new proposal this will put a great demand on the secondary schools serving the local area leading to overcrowded class sizes. Therefore, I feel that it is necessary for another secondary school to meet the demands of the population and ensure that the children within the local area have access to an outstanding education as supply equals demand.

My comments are in line with many other very concerned local residents:

I thoroughly support the development of social housing and affordable housing for local families and hope that the majority of housing will be for these people.

The Proposed Development will be Very Big - The population will be similar to that of Ely so it is a lot bigger than, say, Orchard Park. It is also planned to include high rise development and no limit has yet been put as to how high this will be.

Traffic Congestion - The top of Milton Road sometimes hits gridlock as it is, so the extra traffic does not bear thinking about. The planners have many worthy ideas to minimise car use on the development, but these are unproven. I am concerned about vehicle access to this site - there should be vehicle access from the A14 junction to take pressure off the Cowley Road and Fen Road access.

How does this development fit in with the Mayor's plan and the Ely to Cambridge Transport Study?

No Mention of CAM Metro - One year ago the mayor's consultants published indicative maps showing their proposed underground metro linking with Cambridge North/Science Park. How will this fit in with the new development?

Facilities - If insufficient facilities are developed there will be an impact locally. It has already been decided not to build a secondary school and to absorb the new pupils into existing schools. With such a large development, a new secondary school will be needed.

The Edges of the Development - The development borders on to disadvantaged parts of the city and it is not clear that these areas will be upgraded to deal with the new demands.

Developers and Implementation - We have seen how the Central Rail Station area has been developed and changed drastically from the original plans. Brookgate are the same developers for this new site. We don't want a duplicate of the CB1 area and the broken promises they were given.

A genuinely mixed-use development this size (cf Q8) should include community facilities, such as a community centre or church building, that can host a range of activities and regular meetings including faith communities, family, and youth activities. The nearest existing provision would be Browns Fields community centre, the church of St. George, and the Shirley school, all of which have busy programmes already, are not very near the area, and are not particularly large facilities.

This also offers scope for health-related activities such as Pilates classes (cf Q13) and community-identity activities (cf Q12).

If there is a retail and/or business district, then an integrated café such as Arbury Community Centre hosts could be both a community benefit (cf Q35) and for employment training for disadvantages residents.

If there are concerns about council funding for this then an external non-profit such as the Church of England should be considered.

Q 2. Is the proposed boundary the most appropriate?

No. The proposed boundary should include the area to the East of the railway line, along Fen Road.

This area has suffered for years from a range of well-known social and related problems. Closure of the level crossing would require that part of Fen Road to be connected to the northern end of Milton Road, or directly to the Milton Road/A14 junction with a bridge over the railway line.

Q 3. Have the physical characteristics of the area been correctly identified

No. There is no mention of the lack of Secondary Schools, and those matrked onb the map are incorrectly positioned.

Q 11. Are there particular land uses that should be accommodated?

Yes, there should be a Secondary School and as much as possible of the area between the railway line and the river should be designated as a Riverside Country park

Q 15. Should clusters of taller buildings for part of the design

Not without very specific constraints on height. Six storeys should be set as an absolute limit.

Q 17. Explore delivery of a cycling and pedestrian bridge over the railway line?

Yes, certainly, but there should also be a new road and bridge to link with Fen Road so that the level crossing can be closed

Q 20. and 21. a and b
No I do not agree with proposals to include low levels of car parking. They will cause the surrounding residential streets to be swamped with displaced cars belonging to residents of the proposed new development.
Car parking provision should be close to one parking space per residential unit. Until adequate public transport is provided it is not feasible to reduce the number of car parking spaces on the Science Park.

Q. 24. Green space
The provision of adequate green space must be explicit, controlled by the City Council and not delegated to developers.

I strongly support combination of all of the proposed elements and rigorous enforcement on developers.

Q. 27. Trip budget and reduction of car use
This can only be affective where a proper system of public transport is in place. That means something other than buses, for example a tram, or if a proper tram cannot be achieved then the 'CAM'. Buses, especially conventional diesel buses, do not provide a viable, sustainable or attractive alternative to cars.
The integration of the AAP with a tramway or CAM is an essential prerequisite. The guided busway in its present form is almost completely irrelevant to what is proposed, other than for a small number of trips from Northstowe, Histon/Impington and Darwin Green/Eddington to the Science Park.

Q. 28. Low and reduced car parking ?
No, see above

Qs. 29 and 30
Yes, cycle parking must be prioritised and made obligatory

Q. 33 Innovative connections between Cambridge North and the Science Park
The guided busway is not adequate or attractive. A tram or CAM is needed.

Q. 37 Industrial uses to be retained?

Existing light industrial uses should be moved next to the A14, facilitated by a new road connection along the top of the site connecting to Milton Road on the A 14 junction. That could include the bus depot. Railway sidings should also be retained for future needs.
Q. 38 Mix of dwelling sizes
Yes, a mix of sizes, and family units should be included. That is essential to achieve a balanced stable community

Q. 39, 40,41 Housing for essential local workers
Yes, certainly. Absolutely vital and should be adhered to and enforced. No side deals for substitution with student accommodation etc.

Q. 43 HMO?
I am not at all convinced by this, so without further detail, no.

Qs 44- 46 PRS
I recommend involving a local housing association.

Q. 51 and 53 and 54
The highest/best local and national standards should be applied, so that no compromises are made away from the largest possible internal space, best direct access to private amenity space, and highest standards of accessibility.

Q. 55
There must be adequate provision for independent retail, which should be prioritised over national chains. There is no need to attempt to duplicate city centre/other major leisure and retail provision.

Q. 57
Use the Trumpington/Eddington models for community centre/library/medical. Include a secondary school. Faiths should be given proper allocation of space.

Q. 59 Space provision: Quality and functionality not quantity
No. Adequate quantity is essential, see above re riverside park.

Q. 67 Net gain in biodiversity ?
Go to Eddington for methods. Appoint an ecology chief for the area from the start.

Q.69 Underground waste system
Yes, again use the Eddington example.

Q. 84 Any other comments
The AAP proposals have evolved into a massive addition to the urban fringe of Cambridge.
There is no acceptable reason why residential building density and height need to be imposed on a scale that is out of character with the rest of Cambridge, on a site which will be visible from various places including the historic and invaluable riverside, parts of the city and Chesterton, and Fen Ditton.
If excessive height and density is the only basis on which funding can be obtained to move the Sewage Works, then it would be better to leave the Sewage Works where it is until an appropriate alternative approach can be found to redevelopment that is not alien to Cambridge.

I'm surprised to see that there is very little mention of schooling. I would like to know what the plans are for building a secondary school in the area, as the suggested numbers of homes and the projected shortage of secondary school places in the coming years make it a clear necessity.

Without a school on the site, children will have to travel quite a distance off site each day, probably by car, and this seems to go against the laudable aim of this site to provide 'excellent neighbourhood facilities', inclusive social benefits for all, and an environmentally friendly place to live.

I have answered a subsection of the questions in the NECAAP in support of the following overall proposal:

I believe a "fast train" service is needed between Cambridge North,Cambridge and the proposed Cambridge South station. To do this would require the level crossing to be shut permanently.
There is also the issue of public safety to cyclists and pedestrians using the new cycle link from Newmarket Road to North Cambridge station, there is a considerable increase in cyclist using Fen Road to access Moss Bank to the new station, this is a very dangerous road and the new bridge to link to Moss Bank where cyclist an pedestrians have to cross Fen Road will increase that DANGER CONSIDERLY.
I have seen a number of accidents and near misses to cyclist using the Fen Road, closing the crossing will ensure that traffic along that stretch of Fen Road will be reduced by over 90% making it a very safe environment for everyone.

This plan makes it essential that communities and businesses North of the level crossing should be connected by high quality walking and cycling links to Chesterton, bypassing the level crossing; it also crucially requires a road link over the railway into the new development. This further has the benefit of integrating new and old communities and businesses and giving existing communities access to the facilities at the new development and onto Milton Road and the A14.

All of this would give the best chance of the development realising the ambition of being green and sustainable without generating extra car traffic across Cambridge for those who don't end up working on site.

Chesterton Fen (the area bounded by the railway, the A14, and the river) has a very different character to the rest of the AAP area and forms part of the Green Belt, so I do not agree with the area's inclusion in the AAP area. However, AAP developments will increase railway traffic over the level crossing which is the only access to the area, causing additional social isolation for already marginalised communities. The AAP must provide for alternative access to Fen Road east of the level crossing to mitigate the negative effects of the AAP on adjoining areas.

This would extend the benefits of the scheme to this area by providing access to new facilities that will come from the new development. This in turn allows greater transport provision along the railway corridor via the closing of the level crossing, allowing more trains to run more frequently.

Q4: No, you have missed the constraint of the active level crossing, which limit the capacity of rail traffic through Cambridge North. In context this is particularly important for journeys across Cambridge, but limits the capacity in general.

This is also relevant to 4.19 - air quality will be affected if residents are forced to use cars to get to work, due to insufficient rail capacity. You cannot assume all residents living within the NECAAP will work within the NECAAP.

Q5: I believe that better connections to the Chesterton Fen area would support the inclusion objective you have identified. This is particularly relevant to objective 5: "NEC will integrate with surrounding communities, spreading the benefits it delivers to surrounding areas."

Q7: I suggest you include permeability for walking and cycling though the business park.

Q11: Sports, Arts, Community spaces, particularly those open in the evening.

Q17: I believe this bridge should also include road traffic and be capable of taking heavy goods vehicles.

Q25: High quality walking and cycling access from the Milton end of Fen Road to both Chesterton and the NECAAP area, to safely bypass the level crossing.

Q27: We support increasing capacity on the railway to reduce car dependence.

Q37: I specifically do not wish to have existing business sites pushed out of the area, as their location allows them to thrive.

Q50: I believe provision should be made for travellers within the site. Specifically travellers settled within housing require good access to their existing community, and this necessitates a road link (see answer to question 17).

Q57: Laundrette facilities should be included. Pooling facilities like this supports low-carbon living and helps support those who may not have access to washing machines.

Q70: OBJECT

Q71: Relocation within the area should be investigated in order to allow close integration with existing communities.

Q75, 76: SUPPORT

Q83: It is vital the needs of existing traveller communities in the area are considered under the Equality Act. Better connectivity to the AAP area must be compulsory in order to prevent these communities being further disadvantaged.