Greater Cambridge Local Plan Preferred Options

We are concerned that the proposed employment and housing strategy does not fulfil the areas economic potential and as a consequence will have negative, economic, environmental and social impacts.

It is considered that the ‘medium plus’ growth option makes insufficient upward adjustments to the housing requirement (from Section Id.2a of the Planning Practice Guidance) to take into account growth strategies, strategic infrastructure improvements and housing affordability in Greater Cambridge. The ‘medium plus’ growth option also does not reflect the anticipated growth aspirations of the Oxford to Cambridge Arc Spatial Framework, or that the economic success of Greater Cambridge is of national significance.

It is suggested that the emerging GCLP should have selected the higher growth level option to support economic growth, address housing affordability, and reduce in-commuting.

We support the need for a strategy to locate development where travel can be minimised. It is also important to recognise that villages have social and economic needs, in order to meet their affordable housing needs and provide a sense of community, to support their local shops, schools and community facilities. Further consideration needs to be given to some limited growth at sustainable villages which can support those settlements and deliver early in the plan period. Foxton is one such village where supporting some limited growth will support the local village but in a location which is accessible by public transport (train) to key destinations.

the approach to the scale of development in villages needs revisiting. the approach cocntrols teh size of individual developments, but not the overall scale of development at a village. for example, in a Minor Rural Centre, 2 schemes of 29 dwellings is acceptable, but one of 31 is not. there is no logic or justification for such an arbitrary approach to the scale of development of individual sites.

the approach to the scale of development in villages needs revisiting. the approach controls the size of individual developments, but not the overall scale of development at a village. for example, in a Minor Rural Centre, 2 schemes of 29 dwellings are acceptable, but one of 31 is not. there is no logic or justification for such an arbitrary approach to the scale of development of individual sites.

Hill do not object to the principle of settlement boundaries being defined around villages. However, the existing defined settlement boundaries for most villages in South Cambridgeshire have remained largely unchanged since the Local Plan 2004. The settlement boundaries were adjusted in some cases to take into account allocations at some villages through the Site Specific Allocations DPD 2010 and the South Cambridgeshire Local Plan 2018.

At Foxton, the settlement boundary should be amended to include land off Station road as shown on site 40159 of the Call for Sites

It is considered that the growth of the more sustainable villages should be part of the development strategy for emerging GCLP, and particularly those villages that contain a good range of services and facilities, are accessible by a range of modes of transport, and where there is an identified need for affordable housing for those with a local connection to the village. Foxton falls within this category.

Paragraph 79 of the NPPF seeks to promote sustainable development in rural areas and acknowledges that housing can enhance or maintain the vitality of rural communities and support local services. The promoted development at Station Road, Foxton would support the existing services and facilities in the village.

Paragraph 69 acknowledges the role that small and medium sized sites can make towards meeting the housing requirements, and that such sites are often built-out relatively quickly. Small and medium sized sites typically only require limited new physical infrastructure and amendments to the access arrangements. The housing monitoring data from Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire confirms that small and medium sites are delivered quickly i.e. within two to three years. It is considered that small and medium sized sites make a significant contribution towards the short term housing land supply and the five year housing land supply position in Greater Cambridgeshire. It is requested that land st Station Road, Foxton is allocated to meet the requirement for a mix of sites including those that are easily deliverable.

Paragraph 104 of the NPPF expects transport issues to be considered at the earliest stages of plan-making. Those issues include opportunities created by existing or proposed transport infrastructure in terms of the scale, location and density of development, and opportunities to promote walking, cycling and public transport use. Foxton is a sustainable location in transport terms, and additional development in this location would be consistent with Paragraph 104.