Greater Cambridge Local Plan Preferred Options

Great Shelford Parish Council does not understand the justification for the increase in houses with 10% over the Government’s budget. Though it is understood that Greater Cambridge Shared Planning has said that the Government has under estimated what is needed in the area, it is felt that this is poorly justified, being based on a 5-year-old report that clearly did not take into account recent wide-ranging events such as the Covid pandemic or Brexit.
We are concerned that the plan does not meet the infrastructure needs of the new residents with a lack of health, policing, leisure and other areas not considered which are the fundamental building blocks for society.

Great Shelford Parish Council (GSPC) members have noted the comments in this section but wish to reiterate their comments noted above in the section ‘Vision and Development Strategy’ as they apply to this area too.
GSPC has considerable concerns that all the transport projects currently being considered are being led by separate bodies and do not appear to be coordinated, meaning this area could be flawed. All these areas should be integrated under one plan led by one representative, strategic, democratically accountable authority.
We are particularly concerned that many transport infrastructure projects, such as CSET and East West Rail, are designed to benefit Cambridge City alone, to the detriment of the surrounding villages such as Great Shelford.

GSPC has serious concerns regarding the proposed expansion plans of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus (CBC).

Great Shelford Parish Council is extremely concerned that any further expansion of CBC and related developments threaten the individual, rural and distinct nature of our village. The combination of these plans and the traffic infrastructure plans for the area, including but not limited to CSET and East West Rail, could rapidly see Great Shelford absorbed into Cambridge city. We oppose any plans that increase this threat.

On this basis, we are pleased that the plan called ‘Cambridge South’ by the developers that was linked to CBC and would have overwhelmed the north area of Great Shelford have not been put forward in the First Proposals. (See: http://cambridgesouth.azurewebsites.net). We opposed those plans strongly.

CBC is situated on the edge of very sensitive ecological areas that would be irreparably harmed by further expansion. This includes Nine Wells, the chalk stream of Hobson’s Brook, the edge of the Gog Magog downs and a Scheduled Monument within Great Shelford.

GSPC opposes the proposal to allow CBC to expand further into the green belt up to the boundary with Great Shelford along the A1307 and up to Granhams Road. Indeed, we are opposed to any proposal that would result in green belt land in or around Great Shelford being released for development. Further, we believe that the plans do not meet the requirements for green belt land to be released for development.

South Cambridgeshire has a world-leading cluster of life sciences companies and one of the main characteristics of this cluster is that it is distributed around many of the villages in the region. Notable and successful examples include Babraham, Hinxton, Melbourn and Harston. This means that the benefits and the drawbacks of this development is spread around the region; in particular, it brings quality jobs to villages that may otherwise be struggling for high quality employment and ensures that the resulting transport requirements aren’t concentrated in one small area. There is very little evidence that the continued success of this industry within South Cambridgeshire requires additional expansion of the CBC site.

In addition, the increased expansion of the CBC site can only increase pressure on the local transport network which is already overloaded. The road network is often close to gridlock at times during the day and the bus network is insufficient to cope with demand. Further, we note that the proposed expansion of the CBC site is distant from the planned site of Cambridge South station and the CSET route. Should the expanded site for CBC be allowed, GSPC believes that an alternative busway along the route of the A1307 would better serve CBC whilst minimising the significant ecological damage that CSET would create. It would also be quicker and cheaper to deliver. Schemes such as the light rail concept proposed by Cambridge Connect also demonstrate some attractive aspects that could benefit the whole of the Greater Cambridge Shared Planning area, including villages such as Great Shelford, and should be examined in the context of the draft Local Plan.

Having attended the Drop In provided by the Shared Planning team, holding a joint public meeting with Stapleford Parish Council, GSPC and the residents of both villages, residents have strong feelings on this development which are listed as follows:
• With there only being an allocation of 100 houses, it does not need to take a further 6 hectares from the greenbelt. This should remain greenbelt under all circumstances as it does not meet the requirements of the ‘exceptional circumstances’ of the NPPF.
• The Planning Authority is basing the allocation on the promise of transport initiatives which have not yet been approved, or in some cases, even entered a planning application stage such as CSET.
• There is one access point to this development. With the Highways calculation of 4.5 vehicle movements per day, per dwelling, this is an increase of 450 vehicles onto Mingle Lane every day. This will increase the traffic congestion and pollution already experienced by Great Shelford and Stapleford due to the traffic in the villages already.
• The affordability of houses in the area is already an issue for our local children who wish to stay in the area. The Parish Council cannot see how any of these dwellings would be truly affordable and will instead become homes for those commuting to Cambridge, London, etc.

During its meeting in November, Great Shelford Parish Council declared a climate emergency. With this in mind we wish to ensure that exemplar environmental practices are used from the outset, our biodiversity is protected and our sustainability increased.

Great Shelford Parish Council has a concern that the Planning Authority cannot guarantee this and would welcome comment on how this will be enforced.

Great Shelford Parish Council would expect every new building to be built to net zero standards, for example with solar panels and either ground or air source heat pumps. Not just built to the minimum planning standards of the day (currently 10% renewable). With such a major project, we should be aiming for 22nd century building standards, not early 21st century needs.

According to the Stantec Report, Cambridgeshire is water stressed and already does not have enough water to support the existing community, let alone those proposed (some 40,000+ dwellings). We have a lower average rainfall than parts of Syria in the Middle East, for example. Our unique chalk streams (approximately 85% of the worlds’ 200 chalk streams are in the south of England) have crystal clear water, are a haven for otters, water voles and kingfishers, but are threatened by the ever increasing stress we are putting on them by ongoing development.
SCDC has noted that none of its proposed developments in the new Local Plan can go ahead unless more water is found. We support this position. Indeed, we would encourage all relevant authorities to go further and to ensure that water efficiency measures are introduced even for the existing developments to enable the aquifer to recover within a reasonable timescale.

Great Shelford is already at risk of flooding. Therefore flood plains need to be managed and not built upon.

Members of Great Shelford Parish Council are concerned that the LPA is not looking at this aspect when looking at increasing jobs and growing business. They strongly feel that growth cannot continue indefinitely as there are simply not the resources available, e.g. water.

Though the plan notes the need for biodiversity and green spaces, it contradicts this position by allowing proposals to release areas of green belt for development.

The southern approaches to the City are the last real rural areas around Cambridge following the developments to the north west, north and north east of Cambridge.