Draft Greater Cambridge Local Plan for consultation

More housing and employment allocations in the rural area are required to ensure the retention of village vitality and local services. To fully support the rural area and develop a sound spatial strategy with a mixture of deliverable and suitable rural allocations, Land to the South of Station Road, Harston (ref: 115742) should be identified as an allocation for residential development in the Plan, under Policy S/RRA.

Jesus College object to Policy S/RRA.

Whilst Jesus College support the principle of policy S/RRA in allocating sites for housing and employment in the rural area, the Draft Plan makes very few additional allocations in the rural area and Jesus College objects to this approach. This approach threatens the vitality of villages within the rural area and on the edge of Cambridge and stifles opportunities for further growth and supporting local services. As such, as referred to in representations to Policy S/DS, the Development Strategy should include for further allocations in the rural area to ensure that a sound spatial strategy is developed and delivered.

Sustainable development in rural areas makes an important contribution to ensuring the vitality of villages and supporting existing rural services and facilities. This approach is supported by the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which at paragraph 83 states that to promote sustainable development in rural areas, housing should be located where it will enhance or maintain the vitality of rural communities. Planning policies should identify opportunities for villages to grow and thrive, especially where this will support local services.

Notwithstanding this clear direction in national policy, the Draft Local Plan makes very few additional allocations in the rural area. This approach threatens the vitality of villages within the rural area and stifles opportunities for further growth and supporting local services. The allocation of additional small sites in the rural area will also help to ensure that the housing supply for the Local Plan is balanced and robust, reducing the reliance on strategic sites and the limited allocations in villages.

The ability of new development to support rural communities is especially important given the loss of rural services experienced in recent years. The impact of these service losses on rural communities is accentuated when considering pre-existing low service levels compared to better served, urban areas.

The approach of directing some growth to the villages should also take account of existing and proposed public transport improvements. With reference to Harston, whilst it is a relatively small village, it benefits from being within the A10 corridor, plus close proximity to further facilities and services available in nearby villages.

To fully support the rural area and develop a sound spatial strategy with a mixture of deliverable and suitable rural allocations, Land to the south of Station Road, Harston should be identified as an allocation for residential development in the Plan, under Policy S/RRA.

Harston is considered a suitable location for further residential development to support an existing rural community. The site is considered to represent a sustainable location for development which will help to meet the housing needs of Greater Cambridge in the next Local Plan period. With the right design, including a suitable layout and design concept, the proposed development on the site could be accommodated without having a significant impact on the surrounding heritage context of the site or landscape setting.

The land is considered to be available, achievable and suitable and the development proposals will bring a number of tangible social, economic and environmental benefits to support the delivery of a sound and sustainable spatial strategy as part of the Local Plan, including:

Representing appropriate development in the Green Belt and effective use of sustainable, Grey Belt land;

Development in a sustainable location with good transport links north into Cambridge via the A10;

Close proximity to existing services including primary school; doctors surgery;

Development between existing built development;

Development within Flood zone 1;

Access to local green space;

Contributions to affordable housing in accordance with Local Plan Policy;

Improved transport hub at Foxton railway station (3km from the site);

Proposed improved transport interchange at Trumpington A10/M11 junction (3.2 km from the site);

Park and ride site at Hauxton;

Off road cycle links along the A10; and

Walking and cycling links to Melbourn and Bassingbourn Village Colleges.

The Protected Open Spaces Review (2025) requires updating with site visits to better understand the specific context and landscape character.

Jesus College object to Policy GP/LC.

Policy GP/LC states that Important Countryside Frontages are “identified on the Policies Map and are in village where land with a strong countryside character either:

a) Penetrates or sweeps into the built-up area providing a significant connection between the built environment and the surrounding rural area; or

b) Provides an important rural break between two nearby but detached parts of a development framework”

Policy GP/LC advises that planning permission for development would be refused if it would compromise these purposes.

The Great Places Topic Paper (2025) states that a Protected Open Spaces Review (2025) was a desk-based review which demonstrated that the open spaces identified for protection are reasoned and justified by meeting the relevant policy criteria. The Protected Open Spaces Review (2025) is then provided in Appendix 2 of the Biodiversity and Green Spaces Topic Paper (2025). The Review states that the criteria used to determine whether a site should warrant designation as an Important Countryside Frontage (ICF) consisted of two tests;

The first test asked whether it was land on a frontage with a strong countryside character that provides an important rural break between two nearby but detached parts of the defined development extent.

The second test asked whether the frontage allows land with a strong countryside character to penetrate or sweep into the built-up area providing a significant connection between the street scene and the surrounding rural area.

If a site scored green to at least one of the two tests, the conditions to be designated as an ICF was met.

Jesus College question the robustness of the Protected Open Spaces Review (2025) being only a desk-based review and considers a more detailed assessment is needed that includes a site visit to understand the site specific context and landscape character. This should be undertaken to inform the preparation of the Regulation 19 consultation of the Plan.