Full text:
Policy S/DS: Development Strategy
These representations are submitted by Quy Tech Ltd, on behalf of the landowners and are made with reference to a potential employment land allocation at Quy Tech, a 165-ha site in Stow-cum-Quy.
The Site is promoted for the development of a campus based mid-tech facility, not only providing important contemporary employment accommodation but also bespoke complementary housing and ancillary facilities. All with the wider ability to be self-powered by the site’s own solar farm.
These representations are accompanied by an Economic Assessment (hereby submitted) of the economic aspirations of the draft Greater Cambridge Local Plan. This concludes that:
• The need for employment, and especially knowledge-intensive employment, is much greater than that identified and allocated for in the draft Local Plan.
• The identified needs do not reflect new and emerging trends.
• The conclusions drawn are primarily quantitative i.e. simple floorspace figures, without qualitative assessment of the location, nature and setting of accommodation needed. Fundamentally, this work fails to recognise the growing need for campus based contemporary commercial floorspace.
A Vision Document (hereby submitted) for the Site also accompanies these representations. The document sets out how proposals for the Site can come forward and the strength of connectivity to the Cambridge East development i.e. Marleigh and the proposals for the airport, the nearby Newmarket Road Travel Hub and Cambridge North train station.
The Site is recommended for allocation in the Greater Cambridge Local Plan on this basis.
We object to the employment allocations as listed in draft policy S/DS. The plan is too conservative; the growth rates are not sufficiently ambitions and there is a need to identify additional sites for employment development. This is critical if both Government aspirations for the area and Greater Cambridge’s own vision to ‘encourage a flourishing, dynamic and mixed economy in Greater Cambridge which includes a wide range of jobs, while maintaining our area's global reputation for education, research and innovation’ are to be realised.
Policy S/DS confirms that sites on the edge of Cambridge will be prioritised as locations for meeting the need for jobs and homes in Greater Cambridge, outside the Cambridge urban area. Opportunities are not however identified within this hierarchy.
There is a complete failure to recognise the direction of growth towards the east of Cambridge and the opportunity this area presents. Further development to the east offers the potential to build on already committed growth in this area including the allocations at Cambridge East, notably areas such as Marleigh and Springstead Village which are already built out and occupied.
The failure to recognise the east of Cambridge as a wider gateway opportunity, with the necessary infrastructure and connectivity in place, to sustain greater levels of economic and residential growth represents a wasted opportunity.
This Site is just 250m north of the Cambridge East allocation and ideally located to connect into and complement the new development at Marleigh and that proposed for Cambridge Airport. In terms of wider connectivity, the Site has direct access to the A14, whilst the Cambridge East development, Newmarket Road travel hub and Cambridge North are all directly accessible from the Site by standalone foot and cycle routes.
Additionally, no site in Greater Cambridge has been identified to provide a new campus-based employment facility able to offer complementary facilities, such as housing targeted to the needs of the employment operators. This represents a lost opportunity. It is unclear how policy aims to meet the Greater Cambridge Vision to maintain Cambridge’s global reputation without such forward thinking, innovative proposals able to tap into contemporary commercial needs.
Need for additional sites:
We are extremely concerned that the economic forecasts of the draft Greater Cambridge Local Plan are not as ambitious as they should be and do not match up to the Governments aspirations for the area. As a result, too few sites are allocated for employment development.
We consider that Greater Cambridge should look again at the evidence which underpins the economic strategy, should adopt more proactive and positive scenarios for growth and should support more economic development on sites such as the opportunity presented at Quy Tech.
East Cambridge:
It is clear that R&D as a sector has a long tradition of growth in and around Cambridge. This growth remains strong and is an important contributor to not only the local and regional economy but also the whole of the UK. It is vital therefore, that the right quantum of new development is identified, but also that it is in the right places, and can support a range of occupiers.
There is a clear shortage of large-scale office, R&D, and mid-tech space in the eastern Cambridge corridor. Industrial and light industrial provision is similarly constrained, with few options for units above 50,000 sq. ft. The Site at Quy Tech represents a development opportunity well located to bring forward, high-quality space to meet these unmet needs. An economic assessment accompanies these representations that makes clear this position.
Quy Tech has the benefit of being on the edge of Cambridge and as such being prioritised as a suitable location for growth, outside of the Cambridge built up area. In terms of wider connectivity, the Site has direct access to the A14, whilst the Cambridge East development, Newmarket Road travel hub and Cambridge North are all directly accessible from the Site by standalone foot and cycle routes.
Currently the employment allocations as listed at Policy S/DS: Development Strategy are predominantly to the north (Waterbeach) the North West (off the A14) and the South (Cambridge Bio Medical Campus and Wellcome Genome Campus).
To the east, there is limited employment allocations given the proposed housing growth. Quy Tech is ideally located to support the growth of the existing Cambridge East allocation. Much of the northern phase of the allocation (the Marleigh development) is now built out including the development of foot and cycle ways to connect to Low Fen Drove which directly accesses the Quy Tech Site, approximately 250 m to the north.
Quy Tech offers the unique opportunity therefore to provide a campus led mid-tech employment floorspace that is fully integrated into the wider aspirations for Cambridge East aspirations, as is evidenced in the accompanying Vision Document. This should be recognised through Policy S/DS: Development Strategy.
Campus led mid-tech accommodation:
It is evident that the growth scenarios for establishing need for employment floorspace are derived principally from quantitative modelling. Little regard has been had to the bespoke nature of the accommodation, facilities and locations required by the innovative operators that Greater Cambridge is keen to attract.
The ‘update’ to the EHEU is fundamentally based on a market report from some 6 years ago, in 2020. The draft Greater Cambridge Local Plan is reliant therefore on market trends that are already outdated. Over and above the quantity of development aspired to in the draft Local Plan we have significant concerns that the nature of development sought does not accurately reflect current commercial needs and is not aligned with the vision to ‘encourage a flourishing, dynamic and mixed economy in Greater Cambridge which includes a wide range of jobs, while maintaining our area's global reputation for education, research and innovation’.
Specifically, the EHEU fails to appropriately reflect more recent mid-tech trends such as bespoke office/lab enabled on Site production and distribution, as demanded by newly forming and ‘spin-out’ business in the KI sector. In qualitative terms, there is insufficient consideration, in the EHEU, and Greater Cambridge Local Plan, of the nature and location of property stock likely to be sought by such operators. This position is explored fully in the accompanying Economic Assessment submitted in support of these representations.
Whilst the Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton is specifically referenced in the 2020 Employment Land and Economic Development Evidence Study no further work appears to have been done to identify the benefits of campus-based space i.e. the benefit of providing complimentary facilities, such as short lease housing for visiting global researchers etc.
It is evident that none of the other employment land allocations identified in the plan specifically target a campus based mid tech offering, able to offer the complementary facilities needed to attract global operators. We object to Policy S/DS: Development Strategy on this basis.
Campuses are crucial for the UK's economy, fostering innovation, driving growth in high-tech sectors (like life sciences, AI, space), creating high-value jobs, attracting investment, and strengthening collaboration between universities, businesses, and government, essentially acting as regional innovation hubs that anchor talent and boost productivity in the knowledge economy.
Campuses are at the forefront of delivering:
• Economic growth and innovation
• Facilitating Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing
• Talent Attraction and Development
• Sustainability and Future-Proofing
• Creating a "Sense of Place"
Quy Tech offers the unique opportunity to create a campus that prioritises mid-tech facilities, requiring adaptable floorplates to cater to hybrid occupiers and the flexibility of office, lab, and light manufacturing capabilities. It is then proposed that the Site can be supplemented by a proportion of office / R&D space with supporting amenities.
It is proposed Quy Tech comprises not only employment accommodation, but bespoke housing able to complement the employment uses i.e. short term leases to attract global researchers, and other wider ancillary facilities demanded by innovative and global operators. Without a new multi-facetted campus facility able to provide this breadth of offer the draft policy simply won’t attract the innovative sectors of the economy it is seeking. Furthermore, Quy Tech offers the opportunity for this new floorspace to be self-powered through an on site solar farm. A completely self-sufficient and sustainable approach to energy requirements.
It requires forward thinking, proactive policy that responds to market demands to provide the necessary conditions to attract future innovative businesses not reliance simply on past trends and historic economic growth rates. Cambridge East, and namely Quy Tech, provide the perfect environment in which to bring forward the necessary employment multi-faceted campus facility.
The allocation of Quy Tech, focusing on the mid-tech sector will help position the east of Cambridge to attract advanced engineering, technology and life science firms which is currently unable to do. Quy Tech can leverage proximity to the A14 and its access to both Newmarket Road travel hub and Cambridge North Train Station to enhance connectivity credentials whilst ensuring that it aligns with regional economic objectives and complements major allocations such as Northeast Cambridge and Cambridge East.
Additionally, Quy Tech offers real potential to underpin wider growth aspirations to the east of Cambridge with the ability to integrate with, through strong physical linkages, and support both the residential and employment uses to come forward as part of the Cambridge East allocations. In this respect the Site would both help promote and sustain the City’s innovative global reputation whilst also supporting sustainable growth and in so doing respond positively to the development vision as set out through the draft Plan.
We object to Policy S/DS: Development Strategy and think it unsound. There is a need to identify additional sites for employment development in Greater Cambridge. Despite the clear direction of growth towards the east of Cambridge, it is underrepresented in terms of allocations as set out at draft Policy S/DS and as such policy fails to build on already committed growth in this area including the allocations at Cambridge East, notably areas such as Marleigh, Cambridge Airport and Springstead Village.
Further we object to Policy S/DS failure to allocate land for a new campus led employment development and acknowledge the benefit bespoke housing aimed at employment users and ancillary facilities such a development would bring in attracting innovative and global operators to Cambridge. This represents a significant lost opportunity for the local economy as the plan is currently drafted.
It is strongly recommended that the opportunity presented at Quy Tech is considered in this context.
