Draft Greater Cambridge Local Plan for consultation

Object

Representation ID: 204707

Received: 30/01/2026

Respondent: Little Abington Parish Council

Legally compliant? No

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? No

Evidence Base and Justification for Allocation
Unnecessary development which is not required or justified by reference to identified need. The Grange Farm site allocation should be removed because there is an additional supply of homes in the Local Plan and an excess capacity onsite proposed at Grange Farm. The need for Grange Farm is not justified.
Alternative sites for development are more appropriate than the Proposed Grange Farm Development. The Cowley Road development having its funding withdrawn and therefore the Grange Farm allocation was used to plug this gap. The Cowley Road development is much more appropriate in context and scale. Peter Freeman supports the Cowley Road Development and says it will over time. It is not a well evidenced and considered site, there are issues that have not been mitigated and it has previously been considered and disregarded. Therefore it is not a justified site currently. The current alternative of the Proposed Grange Farm Development would instead cause irreparable harm to existing settlements, communities, environment and overcapacity infrastructure.
GCSP’s own Housing and Employment Land Availability Assessment (“HELAA”) 2025 in respect of the Proposed Grange Farm Development (site ID115724/116224) lists its overall suitability score for development as “Red”, which is the most negative grading. Other assessments in respect of impacts on “flood risk”, “landscape”, “biodiversity and geodiversity”, “historic environment”, “archaeology”, “accessibility”, “site access”, “transport and roads”, “noise, vibration, odour and light pollution” and “AQMA” (air quality) grade the Proposed Grange Farm Development as either “Red” or “Amber” in each case. The only factor which seems to be considered positively is the economic viability of the site for development – which is not justification to ride roughshod over all these other serious considerations, the conclusion of which is that the site’s overall suitability for development is “Red”.

Object

Representation ID: 208584

Received: 30/01/2026

Respondent: Little Abington Parish Council

Legally compliant? No

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? No

Heritage Impacts
Little Abington (and Great Abington) comprise a “Conservation Area”, as defined by the Town and Country Planning Acts as being "areas of special architectural or historic interest, the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance". There are a material number of designated heritage assets in immediate proximity to the Proposed Grange Farm Development, as well as such development being adjacent to the historic landscapes comprising Little Abington, Great Abington and surrounding areas. The Proposed Grange Farm Development does not “preserve or enhance” those designated heritage assets, nor the appearance of the Conservation Area of Little Abington (and Great Abington), nor the views into or out of them.

Object

Representation ID: 208585

Received: 30/01/2026

Respondent: Little Abington Parish Council

Legally compliant? No

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? No

Scale of Development
In addition, the site cannot accommodate the scale of development proposed. The Proposed Grange Farm Development provides for 6,000 dwellings on a total site which is 210 hectares in size. GCSP’s own “Site Allocations Topic Paper (link here) expects a density around of around 50-55 dwellings per hectare – however, when taking into account that the Proposed Grange Farm Development site also includes a town centre, warehouses (20,000 sqm), offices (15,000 sqm), schools, shops, open and park spaces, and other facilities and amenities, this density may be higher still. In contrast, customary density for even a suburban development of houses (let alone one in a rural setting) would be around 35 dwellings per hectare. Similarly, there is no credible evidence that such new settlements have delivered on-site economic jobs and prosperity.
It should also be noted that the fact that the Proposed Grange Farm Development is sited immediately outside of the Cambridge Green Belt (which is bounded by the A11) is further evidence of inappropriate development on the site. The proposed development is an urban setting set immediately to the east of the green belt, something which is designed to prevent urban sprawl.

Object

Representation ID: 208586

Received: 30/01/2026

Respondent: Little Abington Parish Council

Legally compliant? No

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? No

Transport
The existing saturated road infrastructure would be overwhelmed by the proposed large-scale development at Grange Farm. The A1307 Haverhill to Cambridge corridor is one of the key radial routes into Cambridge and is already saturated. It suffers from heavy congestion during peak periods, particularly at the Cambridge end, at the junction with the A11 and around the village of Linton, leading to significant delays. The proposed new junctions from the Proposed Grange Farm Development onto the A1307 will inevitably represent bottlenecks adding to the current peak time severe delays. Vehicle use from the Proposed Grange Farm Development will also produce additional traffic onto the already overloaded A505 (particularly at the Four Went Ways intersection). In order to circumvent this congestion, drivers will inevitably seek to “rat run” through the villages of Little Abington and Great Abington. This will lead to disruption, congestion, pollution and the very real risk of deaths and serious injury.
Policy S/GF: “Land adjacent to A11 and A1307 at Grange Farm” of the Draft Plan states that “the new settlement will play a critical role extending the Cambridge South East Transport scheme”. This is fundamentally incorrect. The Cambridge South East Transport scheme (the “CSET”) is a key contingency and dependency to any development along the A1307 corridor, not the other way around. It should also be noted that CSET does not have any funding which would allow for its development, therefore (and notwithstanding the other grounds requiring the removal of the Proposed Grange Farm Development from the Draft Plan), it is entirely irrational and illogical to include a development such as the one proposed at Grange Farm, in the Draft Plan where a key contingency of such development is unfunded and undeveloped.

Object

Representation ID: 208587

Received: 30/01/2026

Respondent: Little Abington Parish Council

Legally compliant? No

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? No

Infrastructure
Existing infrastructure in the South Cambridgeshire area, in which the Proposed Grange Farm Development is set, already suffers from overcapacitied and overstrained infrastructure. This is the case across a range of services and utilities, not least in respect of the supply of drinking (potable) water in the area, which is already a major concern even ahead of any large new development such as the Proposed Grange Farm Development.
It is therefore clear from the Draft Plan that there is no definitive and funded plan in place to provide such clean water sources. Until such water sources are determined, detailed, planned, funded and under construction, it is inconceivable to bring forward any development such as the Proposed Grange Farm Development without necessary infrastructural support for it. There is no capacity in the existing system to support such development and therefore pending any such infrastructural development being under construction and on course for near-term delivery, it is inappropriate to bring forward a material housing development such as the Proposed Grange Farm Development. There is material risk of undermining groundwater supplies in the chalk aquifer and damaging the River Granta – meaning that the Proposed Grange Farm Development could not proceed without any form of detailed, independent and verified water supply impact assessment.
Further, the Proposed Grange Farm Development is being put forward without any committed funding or infrastructure required to support the material additional capacity which would be required in respect of police, fire services and healthcare (from emergency ambulances through to primary care practitioners).

Object

Representation ID: 208588

Received: 30/01/2026

Respondent: Little Abington Parish Council

Legally compliant? No

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? No

Development Strategy
The proposed Grange Farm Development is itself outside of the parameters prescribed in the Draft Plan. It is clear from a review of the Policies Map that it has been intentionally drawn in a way designed to manipulate what would otherwise prescribe the protected parameters and auspices of the “defined development extent” of Little Abington so as to prohibit the Proposed Grange Farm Development. It is inconceivable that a development of the scale proposed at Grange Farm, which is 75,000% larger than what the Draft Plan considers appropriate for the category of settlement which the Draft Plan itself prescribes for Little Abington, should proceed in light of this.

Object

Representation ID: 208589

Received: 30/01/2026

Respondent: Little Abington Parish Council

Legally compliant? No

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? No

Scale of Development
The proposal is wholly disproportionate and inappropriate development immediately adjacent to and abutting existing village settlement. The Proposed Grange Farm Development of 6,000 homes is immediately adjacent to the existing villages of Little Abington and Great Abington which, together, encompass some c.500 houses to-date. It would create a contiguous development and entirely subsume, and therefore destroy, existing villages. That immediate adjacency of the proposed development is self-evidently highlighted within the Policies Map set out in the Draft Plan, which shows the Proposed Grange Farm Development directly abutting the “defined development extent” of Little Abington as set out in that Policies Map. A proposed de minimis “new landscape buffer” between the Proposed Grange Farm Development and the A1307 is so small as to be disregarded, especially when considering that the elevation of the Proposed Grange Farm Development is above the A1307 and Little Abington itself. No such protections have been afforded to Little Abington in respect of the Proposed Grange Farm Development. It is therefore inconsistent, unreasonable and irrational to incorporate a proposed development at Grange Farm into the Draft Plan in such a way that is not in line with either plans and developments or other developments and aspects set out in the Draft Plan.

Object

Representation ID: 208590

Received: 30/01/2026

Respondent: Little Abington Parish Council

Legally compliant? No

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? No

Impact on existing communities
The proposed development has in no way taken into account the interests of existing residents and the impact it would have on them. It would turn an existing small village settlement of 1,332 residents (based on 2021 Census data) into a subsidiary of an immediately adjacent and densely populated material new town. This is a fundamentally adverse change that would destroy village life and the self-determined choice of the residents of Little Abington and Great Abington to live in such an environment. The proposed development would destroy the established rural setting of existing villages and dwellings. The South Cambridgeshire landscape is marked by its "necklace of villages" which the Proposed Grange Farm Development would destroy.
The Proposed Grange Farm Development also includes a proposed sewage plant on the border of Little Abington – which would be on the Little Abington ‘side’ of the A1307, not on the side of the Proposed Grange Farm Development. Establishing a sewage facility in close proximity to an existing settlement is open to material objection. Notwithstanding the severe environmental implications, it would cause irreversible detriment to the residents of Little Abington from both odour and visual perspectives.

In this regard, the proposed siting of 12 new gypsy and traveller pitches in close proximity to the existing settlement and residents of Little Abington does not respect those interests, as GSCP is required to do.

Object

Representation ID: 208591

Received: 30/01/2026

Respondent: Little Abington Parish Council

Legally compliant? No

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? No

Noise Pollution
As noted above, the Proposed Grange Farm Development does not represent any form of sustainable development and, in spite of proximity to the research campuses referred to in this response, it will inevitably become a car-based commuter settlement, including with easy access to London to the south. With this will come material levels of noise and air pollution.
In addition to the materially increased noise and air pollution from existing car usage (including through journeys to CSET and on the A11, A1307, A505 and other roads) the Proposed Grange Farm Development will itself contribute to noise pollution and also light pollution. Not only will this have an absolute impact, it will also have a material relative increase on the residents of Little Abington (and Great Abington) who already suffer material light and noise pollution from Granta Park. Adding further to this pollution through the material impact of the Proposed Grange Farm Development is entirely irresponsible of GCSP and marks out the inclusion of such development in the Draft Plan as irrational and ill-considered. Such light and noise pollution in such a rural setting is not something that should be promoted by any local authority, or body representing it.

Object

Representation ID: 208592

Received: 30/01/2026

Respondent: Little Abington Parish Council

Legally compliant? No

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? No

Water / Chalk Streams
Running through Little Abington (and Great Abington) is the River Granta – a protected chalk stream of which there are only 210 in the world. Significant efforts are already being made to support these important ecological environments, with bodies including the Environment Agency and the Wildlife Trust seeking to ensure and enhance such endangered chalk streams.
The fact that the Proposed Grange Farm Development has been included in the Draft Plan without any form of detailed, independent and verified environmental and hydrogeological impact assessment means that such development is lacking credibility. The Proposed Grange Farm Development could not proceed as part of the Draft Plan without such a properly undertaken assessment showing low impact and, even in the case of such low impact, material mitigation. That said, it seems inconceivable that any such properly undertaken assessment would deliver such a conclusion. The damage to the environment from the Proposed Grange Farm Development would be substantial and irreparable.
The Proposed Grange Farm Development will also deliver a material increased flood risk to Little Abington, Great Abington and surrounding land and buildings. The area around Little Abington already encompasses a flood plain, with the River Granta prone to flooding each winter. In turn, this could lead to waste water drains and sewers becoming overwhelmed and resulting in raw sewage flooding out of them – to the severe detriment of existing local residents.
The fact that the Proposed Grange Farm Development is being proposed without any form of detailed, independent and verified flood, water and waste water impact assessment means that such development is lacking credibility.
Even if the Proposed Grange Farm Development were to provide financial contributions for strategic green infrastructure (none of which is identified in the Draft Plan), it is highly unlikely that providers of such infrastructure would be able to acquire land required in appropriate places in a way which could support that development. Instead, the Proposed Grange Farm Development will place substantial and unmitigated additional pressure on proximate relevant sites of special scientific interest, including Wandlebury, Magog Down and other such sites within the proximity of such development (and not just the Roman Road site referred to in the Draft Plan).
In addition, the Proposed Grange Farm Development would clearly be visible from material distances around in all directions. Being situated on top of a hill assures this – and any assertion to the contrary is clearly not grounded in fact. The Proposed Grange Farm Development is on a rising slope, at between 40-70 metres above Ordinance Datum. Building development will then rise above this. On a preliminary topographical analysis, the Proposed Drange Farm Development will be visible from further away than Trumpington, Duxford, Great Chesterford and Bartlow.
The inclusion of the Proposed Grange Farm Development in the Draft Plan without any form of detailed, independent and verified visual impact assessment means that such development is lacking credibility. The Proposed Grange Farm Development could not proceed as part of the Draft Plan without such a properly undertaken assessment showing low impact and, even in the case of such low impact, material mitigation. That said, it seems inconceivable that any such properly undertaken assessment would deliver such a conclusion.
In addition to the above considerations, it is essential to note that the Proposed Grange Farm Development would destroy important agricultural land at a time when such land it is increasingly in short supply and essential to the food security of the United Kingdom. Destroying such agricultural land for a development which has been shown not to be appropriate, required, or sustainable is at the very least irresponsible.