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.
South West Cambridge - Land north of Barton Road and Land at Grange Farm, Cambridge
151.68
The site comprises agricultural land and includes farm buildings and playing field
N/A
No planning history
Mostly greenfield
The vision for the proposed development is a landscape-led urban extension to Cambridge to be delivered by a consortium of Colleges and the University of Cambridge, all being permanent stakeholders in the local community / economy and seeking to retain a signifcant long-term interest in the project. The aim for the proposed development is to deliver a high quality development with high sustainability standards, delivering a net gain in biodiversity. The consortium is highly committed to such aims and their long-term stewardship of the site will assist in delivering these. The proposed development is anticipated to comprise the following mix of uses: - Between 2,400 and 2,800 dwellings, including market and affordable / social housing with a range of tenures, housing for University and College staff, housing for elderly people (including care) and student accommodation; - community facilities including primary school, community centre, health centre; - neighbourhood centre including supermarket and other shops, services and facilities; - connections to the existing and planned walking, cycling and public transport network in the local area, and a development which places the needs of pedestrians and cyclists ahead of car users; - a comprehensive new green infrastructure network comprising open space and sports pitches, a new country park with potential connections to Coton Countryside Reserve, wildlife areas and biodiversity enhancement, and strategic landscaping; and, - sustainability measures including a water recycling system, district heating system and underground waste collection system.
The benefits of development at land north of Barton Road and to the west of Cambridge, include the following: - the provision of housing and affordable housing for key workers, including but not limited to University and College staff; - the provision of residential accommodation for the elderly, including care provision; - an accessible country park with potential connections to Coton Countryside Reserve offering significant scope for biodiversity enhancement; - delivery of a green 'wedge' of publicly accessible open space providing access from the City to the countryside to the west of Cambridge; - other green infrastructure and strategic landscaping to address visual impact and provide a buffer with the M11 to address noise and air quality impacts; - improvements to walking and cycling routes to encourage travel by non-car modes of transport (which is far more attainable from an edge of Cambridge site than from more distant locations away from the city); - potential to provide land for the Cambourne to Cambridge High Quality Public Transport Corridor, which is a Greater Cambridge Partnership project; - potential to contribute towards the planned for Western Orbital Route, which is a Greater Cambridge Partnership project; - the creation of additional north south public transport and cycle routes, and the provision of connections to existing developments at NW Cambridge, West Cambridge and Addenbrookes/Cambridge Biomedical Campus; - the potential provision of land for park & ride / park & cycle; and - the provision of a new local centre for the west Cambridge area as well as additional health and education infrastructure.
The land north of Barton Road was previously promoted for approximately 1,500 dwellings. The quantum of development proposed at that time was based on the outcome of an illustrative masterplan process. This fed into the previous review of the two Local Plans for the area. Section 3.5 'Compact City - Urban Extension' of the National Infrastructure Commission's (NIC) Final Report (February 2018) references land north of Barton Road and to the west of Cambridge as a prime case study to illustrate the sustainable delivery of an urban extension while maintaining the concept of a compact city. The case study acknowledged the opportunity to deliver a design and landscape-led development to the west of Cambridge, which includes medium and high density development around green wedges providing access to the countryside, in a location which is accessible to the City by walking and cycling. Moreover, the Cambridge & Peterborough Independent Economic Review (CPIER) report (September 2018) identifies in Section 2.3 the benefits of 'fringe growth' allowing large numbers of people who work in the city to be housed not too far from their place of work, with positive effects on well-being. Against this emerging economic background, a revised illustrative masterplan will be prepared for the proposed development to take into account the matters raised in the NIC case study for this site and as touched upon in the CPIER report i.e. a design and landscape-led development, including a substantial green wedge and medium and higher density development. Having regard to development densities achieved on other sites on the periphery of the city, it is considered that a development of around 2,000 dwellngs might be achievable; however, this will need to necessarily flow from the masterplanning process and will not be the driver or starting point. January 2026 Update: 2500 to 2800 residential units
No answer given
No uploaded files for public display
The promoted development includes two vehicular accesses from Barton Road and one vehicular access from Clerk Maxwell Road. The promoted development includes additional access points for connections with existing and proposed public transport routes and with walking and cycling routes.
No answer given
A number of technical documents were prepared for the previous promotion of the site, including an Ecological Appraisal, Initial Landscape & Visual Appraisal, Transport Report, Flood Risk Assessment and Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. The Landscape & Visual Impact Appraisal concluded that, in landscape terms, the land to the north of Barton Road located closer to the existing urban edge is suitable for development. The proposed development will incorporate strategic landscaping and other landscape enhancement measures, alongside open space and recreation facilities. In terms of the Green Belt, the site has only a localised effect on the setting of the City and it does not give rise to any material effect on the coalescence of Cambridge with the outlying villages of Grantchester and Coton and it does not form a significant part of the setting of Cambridge. The Ecological Appraisal of the site concluded that a sensitively designed development can be delivered at the site without significant ecological impacts, subject to implementation of appropriate mitigation measures. A wildlife reserve and country park could be provided as part of the development, either within the site or in the surrounding area to provide ecological enhancement. The promoters of the site are committed to enhancing the site's biodiversity and intend to promote the development having regard to the Nature Tookit as recommended by the Natural Cambridgeshire Local Nature Partnership (LNP). The Transport Report concluded that the location of the site and local transport services available means that future residents of the proposed development would have a wide and realistic choice of travel modes for trips to shopping, work and leisure purposes. It is concluded that in transport terms development at land north of Barton Road would meet appropriate national and local policies aimed at securing sustainable development by reducing both the need to travel by private motor vehicle, and the length of motorised journeys. This provides distinct sustainabilty advantages compared to more dispersed sites, located away from the city of Cambridge The Drainage & Flood Risk Report assessed the extent to which flood risk may be a constraint to development at the site. All of the buildings within the proposed development would take place on land within Flood Zone 1 which equtes to low flood risk areas. There is sufficient land available to include flood storage areas within the proposed development, in order to manage surface water run-off from the site. Any access roads across the flood zones can be designed to Environment Agency requirements to ensure that the roads themselves are safe and do not cause any increase in flood risk by restricting river flow or displacing flood water storage. An Archaeological Desk Based Assessment was prepared for the site to determine the presence/absence of known archaeological sites within the study area and immediate environs, and to assess the potential for archaeological remains surviving within the development site. The possible areas of greatest archaeological potential are the area of Iron Age settlement south of Barton Road, land either side of the Roman Akeman Street, a gravel outcrop adjacent to the Bin Brook, and the higher ground around “Aldermanne Hill” and “The Clint” on the northern and western edges of the site. It was concluded that the impact of the proposed development on any archaeological remains would be off-set by design to preserve those remains in situ or by excavation to preserve by record. There are no constraints to the principle of development at the site. The main conclusions of these reports are unlikely to have altered since they were undertaken. Those reports will nevertheless be updated to support the promotion of the site through the Greater Cambridge Local Plan process and will feed into the preparation of a new masterplan. This will be particularly so in relation to landscaping and biodiversity, whereby the need to protect and enhance the site's natural capital will be an absolute driver for the development. Updated information submitted at Issues & Options stage in February 2020 – see following documents: - Vision Document (David Lock Associates) - Landscape and Visual Appraisal and Green Belt Review (The Landscape Partnership) - Initial Noise Assessment (WSP) - Air Quality Constraints Report (WSP) - Archaeological Desk Based Assessment (Cambridge Archaeological Unit) - Preliminary Ecological Appraisal (The Landscape Partnership) - Flood Risk and Drainage Appraisal (Peter Brett Associates) - Greater Cambridge Housing Trajectory Analysis (Bidwells) - Greater Cambridge Housing Market Economics Analysis (Bidwells) - Initial Heritage Impact Assessment (Bidwells) - Greater Cambridge Housing and Economic Development Needs Assessment (Iceni Projects Ltd) - Transport Technical Note (WSP)
No answer given
The proposed development will need to provide new utilities infrastructure.
The site will need to be released from the Green Belt and allocated for development through the Greater Cambridge Local Plan process before it will be available for development. It is likely that, as with other previous strategic allocations on the edge of Cambridge, there will be a requirement for a supplementary planning document and a masterplan to be prepared, submitted and approved in advance of any planning application for the proposed development at the site. The assessment of site availability reflects the process that will be required, consultation with statutory consultees and the local community, the determination of the outline application and subsequent reserved matters, and the delivery of primary infrastructure.
The landowners within North BRLOG are experienced at promoting land within their ownership for development, and as such it has not been necessary to engage a developer at this stage. The University of Cambridge is managing the delivery of the North West Cambridge development. The development at North West Cambridge and other strategic sites on the edge of Cambridge demonstrate that such sites are attractive to the market. A report was prepared for the previous promotion of the site which demonstrated that urban extension sites on the edge of Cambridge are deliverable and viable, which is typically not the case for strategic sites in other locations including new settlements. In due course the previous report on deliverability and viability will be updated.
There are no legal or landownership constraints to development at the site. The site is promoted by like-minded organisations.
N/a
2027 - 5 years after adoption of Greater Cambridge Local Plan
2035
10 years (at 200 dwellings per annum)
N/a