Question 2. Please submit any sites for employment and housing you wish to suggest for allocation in the Local Plan. Provide as much information and supporting evidence as possible.
Land to the west and east of Duxford Road, Whittlesford (refer to accompanying plan ref: 17002_ID03_B)
109.8
No uploaded files for public display
Agricultural land
N/A
N/A
Greenfield
A proposed sustainable residential-led mixed-use development with excellent sustainable connectivity to Cambridge and key employment centres, whilst stitching together the village's existing disparate built form through the provision of connected routes and high quality supporting community and social infrastructure. The proposals could deliver:- * c.1,200 new homes for sale and for rent, including 40% affordable, keyworker, older persons housing and/or a residential care home. * Primary and pre-primary education facilities. * Community, retail, leisure and medical facilities. * Accessible open space and recreation spaces and enhanced biodiversity gain. * Walking and cycling routes within and beyond site including safer links to railway station. * Enhanced social links between existing parts of village through provision of new services, facilities, jobs and open space..
The benefits that could arise from the proposed sustainable residential-led mixed-use comprehensive development are: * the stitching together of the village's existing disparate built form through the provision of connected routes and high quality supporting community and social infrastructure, and form a consolidated and integrated community; * to optimise the opportunities to provide growth in a sustainable location with good and enhanced accessibility to major centres of employment, both existing (Cambridge Science Park and NHS hospitals, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Wellcome Genome Campus and Stansted Airport) and proposed (further expansion of Biomedical Centre and NHS campus); * growth would enable the village to be self-sustaining in terms of its range of services and facilities, and create sufficient critical mass to support a wide range and mix of housing of various types and tenures. * the overall level of benefits would create a much wider range and greater level of benefits than could be delivered by smaller incremental developments scattered throughout the district. * there are exceptional circumstances to justify an amendment to the Green Belt to allow for development at Whittlesford to meet the need for homes and facilities in South Cambridgeshire to support local growth and minimise congestion. The location and presence of Whittlesford Parkway Station provides the opportunity to consolidate the existing settlements into a comprehensive sustainable community without compromising the essential functions of the Green Belt.
Circa 1,200 new homes
No uploaded files for public display
Current access points for farm vehicles. The site is located to the south of Whittlesford Centre and fronts onto Duxford Road, which joins the A505 via a staggered priority junction. Direct vehicular access to the site can be achieved via Duxford Road, details subject to further design work. Secondary access can be provided via Royston Road.
Topographically the Site is a largely flat area, varying by no more than 15m in elevation over c.104ha, and sits at a level consistent with the adjacent roads and settlement to the west, north and south. The highest point is around c.38m AOD located along Duxford Road, from which the land slopes gently away, north and south, over the Site. There are no topographical conditions to prevent development.
The whole of the site lies within Flood Zone 1. There are no known issues relating to contamination that would be likely to affect development of the site. It is anticipated that a suitable engineered sustainable urban drainage design solution can be found to ensure no material changes to the existing hydrological regime (water quality/quantity) to both the River Cam and Middle Moor. There are no statutory designations of International /European value either at, or within 5km of the Site. An Extended Phase 1 Survey was carried out in July 2018 which identified habitats on site to be of low intrinsic value (local level or less) and dominated by arable/poor semi-improved grassland. This is likely to limit the value of species populations/assemblages likely to use the Site, to of only local-level value or less. There are no designated heritage assets within the Site boundaries, although there are several in the wider area including 57 Listed Buildings, 2 Scheduled Ancient Monuments and 1 Registered Park & Garden. Despite the presence of these designated heritage assets in the wider area, there are no 'in principle' archaeological or heritage constraints to the future development of the Site. New development will be sympathetic to the appearance and character of the existing village. Appropriate design and layout will ensure that designated heritage assets in the vicinity will not be adversely affected. The site is of sufficient size to provide a high quality framework of landscaping and green infrastructure, with spacious green buffers to protect and enhance designated heritage assets and their settings. Opportunities exist to deliver a net biodiversity gain to include: - New native tree/shrub/hedgerow planting to enhance the existing boundary network; - Creation of Lowland Meadows-equivalent grassland within informal greenspace, and other ‘wildflower mix’ grassland in formal greenspaces; - Creation of ponds; - Creation of wetland habitats along the River Cam floodplain; - Installation of durable, good-quality bird and bat boxes on or within the walls of new buildings; - Wildlife-sensitive lighting scheme with particular regard to foraging bats; - Appropriate design of SuDS features to increase biodiversity value; - Ongoing management of existing and newly created habitats in accordance with management plan; and - Creation of a circular ‘nature trail’ which includes a walk along part of the River Cam.
All main utilities are available locally but will need to be enhanced to facilitate development of the scale proposed.
Land is available now but in view of the potential scale and capacity of the potential development it would need to be phased over a 10-15 year period.
Market attractiveness would be high because of proximity to existing and potential employment opportunities, access to rail network, strategic road network and other modes of travel, attractive environment and overall level of sustainability. Demand for housing high in this location.
N/A
Not previously allocated
2-3 years following Local Plan allocation, ie c. 2024
2034 - 2039
10-15 years
N/A