Draft Greater Cambridge Local Plan for consultation

These representations are submitted on behalf of Jaynic Properties Ltd (Jaynic) in support of land allocated (draft Policy S/RRA/SCS) at Land South of Cambridge Services, A14 for employment development.

The site is available and deliverable. A Vision Document is submitted alongside these representations which confirms that Jaynic’s development proposals will deliver the policy aspirations for the site, as set out through the draft Greater Cambridge Local Plan.

A letter of support from Extra Motorway Service Area Group (Extra) evidencing the critical need for additional HGV lorry parking is also attached to these representations.

Draft Policy S/JH: New Jobs and Homes is supported.

Draft Policy S/JH of the Draft Local Plan sets out the Council’s strategic aspirations for New Jobs and Homes in Greater Cambridge. The plan seeks the provision of an additional 73,300 jobs to ‘support Greater Cambridge’s knowledge intensive sectors and also provides a diverse range of local jobs’ to meet an objectively assessed need. Over the plan period, draft Policy S/JH identifies need for:

• 302,600 sqm offices and 600,000 sqm of Research and Development (R&D) space
• 317,000 sqm of industrial / warehousing (use classes B2/B8).

These figures are derived from the Greater Cambridge Employment and Housing Evidence update (2025), which is informed by preceding assessments including the Greater Cambridge Employment and Housing Evidence Update 2023 and the Greater Cambridge Employment Land and Economic Development Evidence Study 2020. This work confirms that there remains strong demand for new industrial (Use class B2 and B8) floorspace in Greater Cambridge. The need for these uses is also confirmed in the Greater Cambridge Warehouse and Industrial Space Needs assessment (March 2025) which form part of the draft Local Plan’s evidence base.

The evidence base to the draft Local Plan has continually identified strong demand for industrial (Use class B2 and B8) floorspace. The confirmation of this demand in policy in the draft Greater Cambridge Local Plan is strongly welcomed.

The identification of need for 317,000 sqm of industrial / warehousing (use classes B2/B8) is supported.

Policy S/DS: Development Strategy

These representations are submitted on behalf of Jaynic Properties Ltd (Jaynic) in support of land allocated (draft Policy S/RRA/SCS) at Land South of Cambridge Services, A14 for employment development.

The site is available and deliverable. A Vision Document is submitted alongside these representations which confirms that Jaynic’s development proposals will deliver the policy aspirations for the site, as set out through the draft Greater Cambridge Local Plan.

A letter of support from Extra Motorway Service Area Group (Extra) evidencing the critical need for additional HGV lorry parking is also attached to these representations.

The Development Strategy as set out at draft Policy S/DS: Development Strategy is supported.

We note that the appropriate number of sites have been allocated to meet the identified need. This is supported.

Draft Policy S/DS: Development Strategy, sets out the proposed strategy for the pattern, scale and design quality of places created in Greater Cambridge, for the plan period to 2045 and beyond. It sets out where the homes and jobs identified in S/JH: New Jobs and Homes should be provided to meet the vision and strategic priorities of the Local Plan.

The draft policy is informed by the Greater Cambridge Warehouse and Industrial Space Needs Assessment (2025). Relevant to the site, Land south of Cambridge Services, the report confirms:

Manufacturing: Optimally, new sites for expanding or new businesses would be readily commutable to Cambridge. Bar Hill / Buckingway Business Park offer the current prime locations albeit are primarily car commutable. Some expansion of existing locations could be considered alongside the need for new investment location(s).

Distribution: Junctions on the A14, M11 and potentially A428 provide the optimum locations for meeting business to business and business to consumer deliveries supporting the Cambridge population and business supply chains. The current proposal at J24 A14 is unlikely to be sufficient to meet the scale of demand anticipated, so revisiting / expanding this and considering a secondary location is recommended. It may be preferable to have two locations brought forward simultaneously to improve occupier choice and competitiveness. Anticipated demand for this type of space is substantial and could form two 10-15 ha (additional) parcels or one larger site.

Final mile distribution: Delivery operators, mostly third party, are seeking locations close to the A14 (such as Buckingway Business Park or Bar Hill), where there is also an available local workforce, and the A428 is also viewed as increasingly attractive given upgrades and A1 connectivity.

The proposed development strategy makes clear that Greater Cambridge’s intention is to plan for a greater amount of employment floorspace than associated with the identified need. Sufficient sites have been identified therefore to meet the needs identified.


As per commentary in the Warehouse and Industrial Needs Assessment (2025) two sites are allocated for industrial development along the A14. Land south of Cambridge Services and Land at Slate Hall Farm, Barr Hill (draft Policy S/RRA/SHF). No additional sites along this stretch of the A14 are allocated for industrial/commercial development at this time.

It is noted that the Greater Cambridge Warehouse and Industrial Space Needs Assessment (2025) concludes that two locations along the A14, in the vicinity of Barr Hill, is sufficient to provide occupier choice and competitiveness. The need for the allocation of additional sites in this location has not been identified.

Within this context it is envisaged that this site will offer a range of new employment opportunities, bringing forward approximately 90,000 sq m of employment floorspace for industrial and warehousing uses. This will help meet the identified employment need and support the occupational requirements of the local economy; together with providing additional lorry parking to alleviate the critical local shortage. This element of the Development Strategy is supported.

The allocation of land south of Cambridge Services for employment development, plus one other site, along the A14 is strongly supported.

Policy S/RRA/SCS: Land to the south of Cambridge Services, A14.

Draft Policy S/RRA/SCS: Land to the south of Cambridge Services, A14 is supported.

These representations are submitted on behalf of Jaynic Properties Limited (Jaynic) in support of land allocated (draft Policy S/RRA/SCS) at Land South of Cambridge Services, A14 for employment development.

Acknowledgement of the sites suitability for employment development is welcomed. This submission is accompanied by a Vision Document that substantiates the vision for the site having regard to the draft Policy for the site. The details hereby submitted confirm the availability and the deliverability of the site for the development aspirations set out through draft Policy S/RRA/SCS.

A letter of support from Extra Motorway Service Area Group (Extra) evidencing the critical need for additional HGV lorry parking is also attached to these representations.

Jaynic promotes land through the planning system for residential and employment use and develops high quality business space. With a particular focus on East Anglia, they are one of the most active developers in the region, having physically implemented 15 major phases of enabling infrastructure and completed over 3 million square feet of warehousing and office development.

Jaynic are working with the landowners, the Pearson family, and in collaboration with University of Cambridge, to realise the policy aspirations for the site. The site is available for the development of employment floorspace.

The vision for Land to the south of Cambridge Services is for a high quality (Class B2 or Class B8) use, in a strategic convenient and accessible location alongside the A14. The location has potential to provide development to support the needs of Greater Cambridge and the local economic area. In addition, the proposals will:

• Directly contribute towards alleviating the existing critical shortage of HGV parking spaces. There is also the opportunity to provide improvements to HGV circulation around Cambridge Services with a design that reduces the prospect of inertia between vehicles accessing and HGV’s exiting the site, which periodically leads to traffic waiting at the roundabout at the site entrance.

• Preserve the existing landscape features and establish a strong, well-landscaped buffer to the countryside edges to help reduce the visual impact of new buildings from the wider landscape.

• Improve pedestrian and cycle connections between the new development and the local area, including the existing Cambridge Services and the A14 footpath, encouraging the use of sustainable transport options:

• Incorporate, in the construction and design of the new buildings, strategies to ensure the development is as sustainable as possible, through the promotion of energy, waste, and resource efficiency.

• Make use of otherwise poor-quality land to ensure an overall biodiversity net gain.

It is the aim of both Jaynic, as the developer, and the landowners that development of the site will have begun on site within the next five years, as Greater Cambridge envisage.

In order to understand the technical constraints of the Site, the expert technical team has undertaken a series of technical studies and surveys. Details of these are set out in full in the accompanying Vision Document.

This includes a landscape and visual analysis of the site where views of the Site have been assessed from roads, public rights of way and nearby residences. For road users along the A14 and Boxworth Road, the Site has low-sensitivity with short-duration views and is well screened by a dense landscape buffer and existing development to the north. Views from nearby residential receptors are largely screened by topography and existing vegetation, however there would be moderate adverse effects on some views from nearby Public Rights of Way, in particular Bridleway 150/1. These effects would be mitigated by a proposed 25m-wide landscape buffer around the site perimeter.

Policy also requires any development proposals to be supported by an appropriate archaeological assessment. Oxford Archaeology have undertaken an archaeological desk-based assessment for the development. Whilst there have already been excavations onsite, further geophysical surveys and trial trenching will be carried across the site to confirm the presence, condition and significance of any remains. This will inform the extent of mitigation required for future development.

In summary, the technical work undertaken has raised no constraints that could prejudice delivery of the site. It is considered that any impacts can be appropriately mitigated. The work has been carried out to confirm that development as sought through draft Policy S/RRA/SCS is deliverable.

The draft Policy requires the delivery of additional lorry parking with associated facilities. Supporting text identifies that this is needed to address an identified need for overnight lorry parking provision in this area.

We would highlight that the need for lorry parking improvements on the site is now critical. This therefore forms a key element of Jaynic’s proposals for the site and Jaynic are working with Extra Motorway Service Area Group (the owners of Cambridge Services) accordingly. Extra Motorway Service Area Group have confirmed to Greater Cambridge directly their support for draft Policy S/RRA/SCS on the basis of significant need for Cambridge Services to provide additional HGV parking spaces to meet current and future demand in this location. We reaffirm the key details driving this support within these representations.

Cambridge Services has recently been upgraded to include additional HGV and car parking areas. The current level of parking on site is set out below:

• 132 HGV Parking Spaces;
• 525 Car / LGV spaces (of which 20 are Disabled Driver spaces);
• 24 Coaches; and
• 12 Caravans.

Since the A14 scheme was completed, the facility has experienced significant growth in HGV parking. Whilst the most recent improvement scheme was designed to accommodate expected flows, demand already exceeds capacity at nights when the demand for lorry parking peaks.

The Lorry Parking Demand Assessment (LPDA) was published by the Department for Transport (DfT) in August 2024 and was prepared to provide National Highways with an assessment of lorry parking demand on or close to the SRN. The study shows that there is high off-site HGV parking demand on the A14 in the East of England, with ‘critically utilised’ lorry parks found on the M6/A14 between Birmingham and Cambridge.

Cambridge Services are identified in this work as having 93% lorry park utilisation and thus the need for additional capacity ‘critical.’ Indeed, Extra’s own data suggests that there are occasions where peak lorry parking demand at the Services is close to 200 spaces, well in excess of existing HGV parking provision on the site. There is a clear need for additional parking spaces.

There is evidence of HGVs having to park on the public highway when the site is at capacity and driver time limits prevent travelling further to the next MSA. The shortage of parking provision is also beginning to cause concerns both in terms of vehicle parking within the facility in non-HGV parking areas, but also evidence of HGVs parking on the slip roads.

The site currently caters for up to 40,000 vehicles per week, of which nearly 4,000 are HGV movements. This is significant in the context of existing flows on the A14 and accounts for nearly 10% of all movements on the A14 daily. The level of demand and usage of any MSA is directly related to the level of traffic using the network it serves. Based on the National Highways application for the A14 improvement scheme the traffic flows past the site on the A14 are forecast to increase to 106,000 by 2035. This equates to an increase of around 30% from the current flows and therefore weekday average HGVs passing the site could increase to as much as 27,000 per day based on the AAWT figure.

The importance of Service Areas is clearly set out in paragraphs 74 and 79 of Circular 01/2022. The Circular sets out a minimum requirements in relation to HGV parking requirements based on the HGV flows on the SRN that it serves. Whilst this was previously set at 0.5% of the daily HGV & coaches within Circular 02/2013, the new Circular refers to a figure of 1% in areas where there is an “identified need”. With regard to ‘identified need’, Cambridge Services was shown to be operating with ‘critical’ levels of utilisation when the study was undertaken in 2023. On this basis, and taking into account the first-hand experience on site, the higher figure of 1% is appropriate here.

Based on the 2024 peak month recorded AADT HGV flows on the A14 included within the Needs Assessment, there is an existing requirement for 186 HGV spaces at the services. In the future, this would increase to around 242 spaces taking into account the growth predicted by NH as part of the work undertaken for the A14 improvement scheme.

The Draft Local Plan makes an allowance for an additional 150 lorry parking spaces which if provided would bring the total at the Services to 282 (132 existing plus 150 additional). This would be sufficient to accommodate the 242 spaces derived above in relation to forecast growth and would be equivalent to approximately 86% utilisation. Based on the LPDA, this would still correspond to a ‘critical’ level of utilisation and therefore further expansion of the facilities may be required in the future.”

In addition to the benefits identified above, the expansion space created by the proposed allocation incorporating land to the east would also allow a redesign of the traffic flows around the Services, which would help to reduce the potential conflict between cars and HGVs, which can at times lead to traffic backing-up on the roundabout.

The need to alleviate existing pressure on Cambridge Services through the provision of new lorry parking is current, as is the evidenced demand for new employment floorspace.

The timeline for submission of a planning application needs to be considered in this context. Any formal details submitted to Greater Cambridge ahead of the formal adoption of the Local Plan will further substantiate the deliverability of development proposals that meet with draft Policy aspirations.

The continued allocation of the site through Draft Policy S/RRA/SCS: Land to the south of Cambridge Services, A14 is strongly supported and the delivery of the site to meet existing employment floorspace needs and delivery of much needed additional HGV parking spaces is greatly welcomed.

Policy S/RRA/SCS: Land to the south of Cambridge Services, A14.

Draft Policy S/RRA/SCS: Land to the south of Cambridge Services, A14 is supported.

These representations are submitted on behalf of Jaynic Properties Limited (Jaynic) in support of land allocated (draft Policy S/RRA/SCS) at Land South of Cambridge Services, A14 for employment development.

Acknowledgement of the sites suitability for employment development is welcomed. This submission is accompanied by a Vision Document that substantiates the vision for the site having regard to the draft Policy for the site. The details hereby submitted confirm the availability and the deliverability of the site for the development aspirations set out through draft Policy S/RRA/SCS.

A letter of support from Extra Motorway Service Area Group (Extra) evidencing the critical need for additional HGV lorry parking is also attached to these representations.

Jaynic promotes land through the planning system for residential and employment use and develops high quality business space. With a particular focus on East Anglia, they are one of the most active developers in the region, having physically implemented 15 major phases of enabling infrastructure and completed over 3 million square feet of warehousing and office development.

Jaynic are working with the landowners, the Pearson family, and in collaboration with University of Cambridge, to realise the policy aspirations for the site. The site is available for the development of employment floorspace.

The vision for Land to the south of Cambridge Services is for a high quality (Class B2 or Class B8) use, in a strategic convenient and accessible location alongside the A14. The location has potential to provide development to support the needs of Greater Cambridge and the local economic area. In addition, the proposals will:

• Directly contribute towards alleviating the existing critical shortage of HGV parking spaces. There is also the opportunity to provide improvements to HGV circulation around Cambridge Services with a design that reduces the prospect of inertia between vehicles accessing and HGV’s exiting the site, which periodically leads to traffic waiting at the roundabout at the site entrance.

• Preserve the existing landscape features and establish a strong, well-landscaped buffer to the countryside edges to help reduce the visual impact of new buildings from the wider landscape.

• Improve pedestrian and cycle connections between the new development and the local area, including the existing Cambridge Services and the A14 footpath, encouraging the use of sustainable transport options:

• Incorporate, in the construction and design of the new buildings, strategies to ensure the development is as sustainable as possible, through the promotion of energy, waste, and resource efficiency.

• Make use of otherwise poor-quality land to ensure an overall biodiversity net gain.

It is the aim of both Jaynic, as the developer, and the landowners that development of the site will have begun on site within the next five years, as Greater Cambridge envisage.

In order to understand the technical constraints of the Site, the expert technical team has undertaken a series of technical studies and surveys. Details of these are set out in full in the accompanying Vision Document.

This includes a landscape and visual analysis of the site where views of the Site have been assessed from roads, public rights of way and nearby residences. For road users along the A14 and Boxworth Road, the Site has low-sensitivity with short-duration views and is well screened by a dense landscape buffer and existing development to the north. Views from nearby residential receptors are largely screened by topography and existing vegetation, however there would be moderate adverse effects on some views from nearby Public Rights of Way, in particular Bridleway 150/1. These effects would be mitigated by a proposed 25m-wide landscape buffer around the site perimeter.

Policy also requires any development proposals to be supported by an appropriate archaeological assessment. Oxford Archaeology have undertaken an archaeological desk-based assessment for the development. Whilst there have already been excavations onsite, further geophysical surveys and trial trenching will be carried across the site to confirm the presence, condition and significance of any remains. This will inform the extent of mitigation required for future development.

In summary, the technical work undertaken has raised no constraints that could prejudice delivery of the site. It is considered that any impacts can be appropriately mitigated. The work has been carried out to confirm that development as sought through draft Policy S/RRA/SCS is deliverable.

The draft Policy requires the delivery of additional lorry parking with associated facilities. Supporting text identifies that this is needed to address an identified need for overnight lorry parking provision in this area.

We would highlight that the need for lorry parking improvements on the site is now critical. This therefore forms a key element of Jaynic’s proposals for the site and Jaynic are working with Extra Motorway Service Area Group (the owners of Cambridge Services) accordingly. Extra Motorway Service Area Group have confirmed to Greater Cambridge directly their support for draft Policy S/RRA/SCS on the basis of significant need for Cambridge Services to provide additional HGV parking spaces to meet current and future demand in this location. We reaffirm the key details driving this support within these representations.

Cambridge Services has recently been upgraded to include additional HGV and car parking areas. The current level of parking on site is set out below:

• 132 HGV Parking Spaces;
• 525 Car / LGV spaces (of which 20 are Disabled Driver spaces);
• 24 Coaches; and
• 12 Caravans.

Since the A14 scheme was completed, the facility has experienced significant growth in HGV parking. Whilst the most recent improvement scheme was designed to accommodate expected flows, demand already exceeds capacity at nights when the demand for lorry parking peaks.

The Lorry Parking Demand Assessment (LPDA) was published by the Department for Transport (DfT) in August 2024 and was prepared to provide National Highways with an assessment of lorry parking demand on or close to the SRN. The study shows that there is high off-site HGV parking demand on the A14 in the East of England, with ‘critically utilised’ lorry parks found on the M6/A14 between Birmingham and Cambridge.

Cambridge Services are identified in this work as having 93% lorry park utilisation and thus the need for additional capacity ‘critical.’ Indeed, Extra’s own data suggests that there are occasions where peak lorry parking demand at the Services is close to 200 spaces, well in excess of existing HGV parking provision on the site. There is a clear need for additional parking spaces.

There is evidence of HGVs having to park on the public highway when the site is at capacity and driver time limits prevent travelling further to the next MSA. The shortage of parking provision is also beginning to cause concerns both in terms of vehicle parking within the facility in non-HGV parking areas, but also evidence of HGVs parking on the slip roads.

The site currently caters for up to 40,000 vehicles per week, of which nearly 4,000 are HGV movements. This is significant in the context of existing flows on the A14 and accounts for nearly 10% of all movements on the A14 daily. The level of demand and usage of any MSA is directly related to the level of traffic using the network it serves. Based on the National Highways application for the A14 improvement scheme the traffic flows past the site on the A14 are forecast to increase to 106,000 by 2035. This equates to an increase of around 30% from the current flows and therefore weekday average HGVs passing the site could increase to as much as 27,000 per day based on the AAWT figure.

The importance of Service Areas is clearly set out in paragraphs 74 and 79 of Circular 01/2022. The Circular sets out a minimum requirements in relation to HGV parking requirements based on the HGV flows on the SRN that it serves. Whilst this was previously set at 0.5% of the daily HGV & coaches within Circular 02/2013, the new Circular refers to a figure of 1% in areas where there is an “identified need”. With regard to ‘identified need’, Cambridge Services was shown to be operating with ‘critical’ levels of utilisation when the study was undertaken in 2023. On this basis, and taking into account the first-hand experience on site, the higher figure of 1% is appropriate here.

Based on the 2024 peak month recorded AADT HGV flows on the A14 included within the Needs Assessment, there is an existing requirement for 186 HGV spaces at the services. In the future, this would increase to around 242 spaces taking into account the growth predicted by NH as part of the work undertaken for the A14 improvement scheme.

The Draft Local Plan makes an allowance for an additional 150 lorry parking spaces which if provided would bring the total at the Services to 282 (132 existing plus 150 additional). This would be sufficient to accommodate the 242 spaces derived above in relation to forecast growth and would be equivalent to approximately 86% utilisation. Based on the LPDA, this would still correspond to a ‘critical’ level of utilisation and therefore further expansion of the facilities may be required in the future.”

In addition to the benefits identified above, the expansion space created by the proposed allocation incorporating land to the east would also allow a redesign of the traffic flows around the Services, which would help to reduce the potential conflict between cars and HGVs, which can at times lead to traffic backing-up on the roundabout.

The need to alleviate existing pressure on Cambridge Services through the provision of new lorry parking is current, as is the evidenced demand for new employment floorspace.

The timeline for submission of a planning application needs to be considered in this context. Any formal details submitted to Greater Cambridge ahead of the formal adoption of the Local Plan will further substantiate the deliverability of development proposals that meet with draft Policy aspirations.

The continued allocation of the site through Draft Policy S/RRA/SCS: Land to the south of Cambridge Services, A14 is strongly supported and the delivery of the site to meet existing employment floorspace needs and delivery of much needed additional HGV parking spaces is greatly welcomed.

Policy BG/BG: Biodiversity

These representations are submitted on behalf of Jaynic Properties Ltd (Jaynic) in support of land allocated (draft Policy S/RRA/SCS) at Land South of Cambridge Services, A14 for employment development.

The site is available and deliverable. A Vision Document is submitted alongside these representations which confirm that Jaynic’s development proposals will deliver the policy aspirations for the site, as set out through the draft Greater Cambridge Local Plan.

A letter of support from Extra Motorway Service Area Group (Extra) evidencing the critical need for additional HGV lorry parking is also attached to these representations.

The statutory requirement is that developments provide a minimum of 10% Biodiversity Net Gain. This is made clear in draft Policy BG/BG: Biodiversity.

Jaynic are committed to delivering 10% in their development of Land at Cambridge Services and aspire to achieve enhancements greater than this. It is not considered that 20% is an appropriate baseline requirement.

We object to the requirement in draft Policy BG/BG that development must provide a minimum 20% biodiversity net gain.

The statutory requirement is that developments provide a minimum of 10% Biodiversity Net Gain. This is made clear in draft Policy BG/BG: Biodiversity.

Jaynic are committed to delivering 10% in their development of Land at Cambridge Services and aspire to achieve enhancements greater than this. It is not considered that 20% is an appropriate baseline requirement.

We object to the requirement in draft Policy BG/BG that development must provide a minimum 20% biodiversity net gain.

Policy BG/BG: Biodiversity

These representations are submitted on behalf of Jaynic Properties Ltd (Jaynic) in support of land allocated (draft Policy S/RRA/SCS) at Land South of Cambridge Services, A14 for employment development.

The site is available and deliverable. A Vision Document is submitted alongside these representations which confirm that Jaynic’s development proposals will deliver the policy aspirations for the site, as set out through the draft Greater Cambridge Local Plan.

A letter of support from Extra Motorway Service Area Group (Extra) evidencing the critical need for additional HGV lorry parking is also attached to these representations.

The statutory requirement is that developments provide a minimum of 10% Biodiversity Net Gain. This is made clear in draft Policy BG/BG: Biodiversity.

Jaynic are committed to delivering 10% in their development of Land at Cambridge Services and aspire to achieve enhancements greater than this. It is not considered that 20% is an appropriate baseline requirement.

We object to the requirement in draft Policy BG/BG that development must provide a minimum 20% biodiversity net gain.