Policy 10d: Station Approach

Comment

Representation ID: 54507

Received: 05/10/2020

Respondent: Cambridge Cycling Campaign

We support replacing the ground level station car park with a multi-storey car barn and improving the approach to and arrival experience at the station. Onward journeys by cycle should be obvious and convenient. The ‘attractive, safe and generous pedestrian and cycling provision linking the Waterbeach Greenway and the Chisholm Trail’ should include a clear, wide and accessible link across Fen Road and we recommend that the level crossing is closed to motor traffic with an alternative road bridge across the railway further north. The station must have plenty of secure, high-quality cycle parking for a variety of types of cycle as well as a hub for a cycle hire or share scheme. The existing station cycle park suffers terribly from theft and vandalism and solutions must be found for these problems.

Comment

Representation ID: 55677

Received: 02/10/2020

Respondent: St John's College

Agent: Savills

Neutral:
The broad rationale for the distribution of centres is understood. The Cowley Road Neighbourhood Centre (Policy 10e) is indicated to be partly on land owned by St John’s College. Whilst there are longer term plans for the redevelopment of parts of St John’s Innovation Park, further clarification and discussion is required as to how it is anticipated that the “small amount of ancillary retail space would extend the local centre over Cowley Road” into St John’s Innovation Park would be accommodated in advance of any redevelopment.

Object

Representation ID: 55733

Received: 05/10/2020

Respondent: Brookgate

Agent: Bidwells

Policy 10d sets out more detailed policy guidance for the Station Approach Local
Centre, including acceptable land uses, indicative development capacity, phasing
and development and design requirements.
The extent of the land parcel for the Station Approach Local Centre is not clear
from Figure 24 but Brookgate broadly support the proposed land uses and
indicative development capacities set out in Policy 10d, with the exception of the
100m2 for community and cultural uses.
The next phase at Cambridge North is proposing to include for a Specialist Maths
School of 200 pupils (opening with 100 initially). The Government has committed to
having a 16-19 maths school in every region, 11 in total. The Department for
Education (DfE), through the Learning Alliance, has identified the Cambridge North
site as an ideal location for this, due to regional accessibility and wider economy
and skills concentration.
The inclusion of a Maths School is compatible and complimentary to the other uses
being brought forward in the wider allocation and will not affect the ability to bring
forward wider residential and commercial development.
LocatED is an Arms-Length Body to the Department for Education. It is responsible
for buying and developing sites in England to help deliver much needed new school
places for thousands of children. It was commissioned to identify and acquire a site
within Cambridge to facilitate the school, of c.2,450 sq m.
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An extensive site search was undertaken originally in 2017 and a follow up search
in 2018/20 which demonstrated the challenges of land availability and suitability. In
2020, further to this review search (which identified 16 sites), a shortlist of four sites
was drawn up. A high level discussion was then held in March 2020 between
LocatED’s Jacqueline Nixon and the Assistant Director of Planning at GCP
(Sharon Brown) to discuss the four shortlisted sites. The Cambridge North site was
then chosen as the most suitable.
The site is the most sustainably located of all of the sites appraised as part of the
site search. This is due to its proximity to Cambridge North Station and busway
interchange. Maths Schools are expected to have regional accessibility and
therefore this is an optimum location for accessibility and sustainability
Policy 10d therefore needs to recognise the potential to accommodate a Specialist
Maths School within the Local Centre of circa 2,450 sq. m.
Brookgate, in dialogue and agreement with Network Rail, also support the
requirement for the existing station car park to be re-provided in a more efficient
multi-storey car barn as part of a mixed-use higher density development proposal.
This will be included in a future phase of Cambridge North and will involve dialogue
with Network Rail, the Train Operating Company (TOC) and Cambridgeshire
County Council as appropriate throughout the design and planning process.
Policy 10d states that development proposals should consider taking the First
Public Drain overflow out of its culvert which extends into ‘the Knuckle’ (the area
around the bend in Cowley Road) and flows through to Chesterton Fen.
5.15 The FPD overflow is culverted where it crosses the Cambridge North site.
The FPD has already been diverted (and retained in a culvert) as part of the
Cambridge North Station project. Brookgate do not consider it appropriate to carry
out further works on this drainage asset. The culverted section of the FPD through
the Cambridge North site is quite deep and any proposals to ‘open up’ a section of
the drain would be difficult to achieve without steep sided slopes and would
inevitably lead to H&S and maintenance issues in perpetuity. Brookgate is
supportive of introducing ‘soft’ SUDS across the whole of the NEC site and to
provide visual ‘clues’ to how surface water is managed through the introduction of
swales, water bodies and rain gardens. However as discussed above given the
practical issues with the existing FPD diversion we do not consider it appropriate to
‘open up’ this section of the drain.
Policy 10d states that a new public open space (Station Place) along Station
Approach should be provided to create an informal space which offers
opportunities for people to dwell and interact. Brookgate are broadly supportive of
this although the exact siting and quantum of space will need to be determined as
part of the future design and planning process.
The Policy also states that the development and design requirements for the
Station Approach Local Centre includes safeguarding land to accommodate the
CAM (including interim construction site) adjacent to Cambridge North Station to
facilitate a transport hub. Brookgate would welcome discussions with all
stakeholders to understand the extent and scope of land safeguarded in the
context of existing/future development in this area.

Comment

Representation ID: 56059

Received: 05/10/2020

Respondent: Department for Education

Please see letter attached

Policy 10d: Station Approach
20. Cambridge Maths School was approved as a Free School project in 2017 It will
be operated by The Learning Alliance Trust and be a specialist 6th form of 200
pupils (opening with 100 initially).
21. LocatED is an Arms-Length Body to the Department for Education. It is
responsible for buying and developing sites in England to help deliver much
needed new school places for thousands of children.
22. LocatED was commissioned to identify and acquire a site within Cambridge to
facilitate the school, of c.2,450 sq m. An extensive site search was undertaken
originally in 2017 and a follow up search in 2018/20 which demonstrated the
challenges of land availability and suitability.
23. The first site search identified eight potential sites of which only one was worthy
of further consideration. This was the Cambridge North Brookgate site. The
other sites were not suitable for a number of reasons; they were either not close
enough to Cambridge or Cambridge North train station or they were discounted
as they were too small for the requirement. LocatED carried out a new site
search in May 2019 to see if any new sites had come to the market. In total this
site search produced 16 potential sites. These were mostly vacant office
buildings that LocatED thought may be able to accommodate the maths school.
However, office agents in Cambridge confirmed that commercial landlords did
not wish for a maths school to occupy their space This is because landlords
were conscious that by letting part of an office to a school, it may act as a
disincentive to other traditional office users who may have been interested in
occupying the rest of the property. This is despite the age of the students.
Furthermore, the location of the office units also played a part in some of these
sites not being suitable.
24. In 2020, further to this review search (which identified 16 sites), a shortlist of
four sites was drawn up. A high level discussion was then held in March 2020
between LocatED’s Jacqueline Nixon and the Assistant Director of Planning at
GCP (Sharon Brown) to discuss the four shortlisted sites. In relation to the
discussion of those sites, as well as further due diligence, the site (Land to the
east of Cowley Road, Cambridge CB4 0AE) was considered to be the most
suitable. The site forms part of a consortium-led development known as Station
Approach, owned by the Chesterton Partnership (Network Rail, DB Schenker
and Brookgate).
25. LocatED and Brookgate have been working together in relation to the relevant
landholding, to bring forward a mixed-use development. There is an agreement
with LocatED and Brookgate as the landowner to bring forward Cambridge
Maths School as part of the overall development, with a planning application
anticipated for submission by December 2020.
26. There are no constraints or policy conflicts arising from the identified site.