Draft Greater Cambridge Local Plan for consultation

The delivery of new and improved healthcare infrastructure is significantly resource intensive. The NHS as a whole is facing significant constraints in terms of the funding needed to deliver healthcare services, and population growth from new housing development adds further pressure to the system. New development should make a proportionate contribution to funding the healthcare needs arising from new development. Health provision is an integral component of sustainable development – access to essential healthcare services promotes good health outcomes and supports the overall social and economic wellbeing of an area.
Residential developments often have very significant impacts in terms of the need for additional primary healthcare provision for future residents. Given health infrastructure’s strategic importance to supporting housing growth and sustainable development, it should be considered at the forefront of priorities for infrastructure delivery. The ability to continually review the healthcare estate, optimise land use, and deliver health services from modern facilities is crucial. The health estate must be supported to develop, modernise, or be protected in line with integrated NHS strategies. Planning policies should enable the delivery of essential healthcare infrastructure and be prepared in consultation with the NHS to ensure they help deliver estate transformation.

The delivery of new healthcare infrastructure is resource intensive, and the NHS faces funding constraints that are exacerbated by population growth from new housing developments. New developments should contribute proportionately to the healthcare needs arising from increased population due to housing growth. Access to essential healthcare services is vital for promoting good health outcomes and supporting the social and economic wellbeing of an area.
Residential developments significantly impact the demand for additional primary healthcare provision for future residents. Healthcare infrastructure should be a priority for infrastructure delivery, given its strategic importance in supporting housing growth and sustainable development. The healthcare estate must be continually reviewed, optimised for land use, and modernised in line with integrated NHS strategies. Planning policies should facilitate the delivery of essential healthcare infrastructure and be developed in consultation with the NHS to aid in estate transformation

The delivery of new and improved healthcare infrastructure is significantly resource intensive. The NHS as a whole is facing significant constraints in terms of the funding needed to deliver healthcare services, and population growth from new housing development adds further pressure to the system. New development should make a proportionate contribution to funding the healthcare needs arising from new development. Health provision is an integral component of sustainable development – access to essential healthcare services promotes good health outcomes and supports the overall social and economic wellbeing of an area.
Residential developments often have very significant impacts in terms of the need for additional primary healthcare provision for future residents. Given health infrastructure’s strategic importance to supporting housing growth and sustainable development, it should be considered at the forefront of priorities for infrastructure delivery. The ability to continually review the healthcare estate, optimize land use, and deliver health services from modern facilities is crucial. The health estate must be supported to develop, modernise, or be protected in line with integrated NHS strategies. Planning policies should enable the delivery of essential healthcare infrastructure and be prepared in consultation with the NHS to ensure they help deliver estate transformation. Similarly emerging site allocation s should plan for future healthcare requirements, but avoid being overly-prescriptive or inflexible, to ensure decisions over the most appropriate and deliverable forms of healthcare mitigation are made at the appropriate stage.

Specifically on Policy S/NEC: (North East Cambridge) – we support the identification of health facilities as a priority under para 4, but request that the term ‘health hub’ (4.d) is re-drafted to ‘Healthcare facility’ to ensure the NHS is able to identify the appropriate form of mitigation for the site, particularly noting uncertainty over timescales for delivery of housing on this site. This better aligns with the wording of other site allocations (e.g S/NWC).

On a wider point, where a site allocation does not make an explicit requirement for an on-site health facility, the specific site allocation wording should include reference to the need for mitigation through financial contributions (for health and other infrastructure) which aligns with the approach being taken through the IDP. This ensures that the to ensure that this is known at the policy stage, and can be considered by developers as they bring schemes forward.
We welcome the engagement with Council Officers during the early stages of plan preparation, and the opportunity to input into the Infrastructure Delivery Plan (process). We note that an additional assessment will be provided by the ICB as part of Stage 2 of the IDP process, which will include more targeted assessment of the key site allocations and overall health infrastructure requirements as part of this process, and would therefore provide more detail to each individual site allocation once this process has concluded.

On a wider point, where a site allocation does not make an explicit requirement for an on-site health facility, the specific site allocation wording should include reference to the need for mitigation through financial contributions (for health and other infrastructure) which aligns with the approach being taken through the IDP. This ensures that the to ensure that this is known at the policy stage, and can be considered by developers as they bring schemes forward.

We welcome the engagement with Council Officers during the early stages of plan preparation, and the opportunity to input into the Infrastructure Delivery Plan (process). We note that an additional assessment will be provided by the ICB as part of Stage 2 of the IDP process, which will include more targeted assessment of the key site allocations and overall health infrastructure requirements as part of this process, and would therefore provide more detail to each individual site allocation once this process has concluded.

On a wider point, where a site allocation does not make an explicit requirement for an on-site health facility, the specific site allocation wording should include reference to the need for mitigation through financial contributions (for health and other infrastructure) which aligns with the approach being taken through the IDP. This ensures that the to ensure that this is known at the policy stage, and can be considered by developers as they bring schemes forward.
We welcome the engagement with Council Officers during the early stages of plan preparation, and the opportunity to input into the Infrastructure Delivery Plan (process). We note that an additional assessment will be provided by the ICB as part of Stage 2 of the IDP process, which will include more targeted assessment of the key site allocations and overall health infrastructure requirements as part of this process, and would therefore provide more detail to each individual site allocation once this process has concluded.

On a wider point, where a site allocation does not make an explicit requirement for an on-site health facility, the specific site allocation wording should include reference to the need for mitigation through financial contributions (for health and other infrastructure) which aligns with the approach being taken through the IDP. This ensures that the to ensure that this is known at the policy stage, and can be considered by developers as they bring schemes forward.
We welcome the engagement with Council Officers during the early stages of plan preparation, and the opportunity to input into the Infrastructure Delivery Plan (process). We note that an additional assessment will be provided by the ICB as part of Stage 2 of the IDP process, which will include more targeted assessment of the key site allocations and overall health infrastructure requirements as part of this process, and would therefore provide more detail to each individual site allocation once this process has concluded.

On a wider point, where a site allocation does not make an explicit requirement for an on-site health facility, the specific site allocation wording should include reference to the need for mitigation through financial contributions (for health and other infrastructure) which aligns with the approach being taken through the IDP. This ensures that the to ensure that this is known at the policy stage, and can be considered by developers as they bring schemes forward.
We welcome the engagement with Council Officers during the early stages of plan preparation, and the opportunity to input into the Infrastructure Delivery Plan (process). We note that an additional assessment will be provided by the ICB as part of Stage 2 of the IDP process, which will include more targeted assessment of the key site allocations and overall health infrastructure requirements as part of this process, and would therefore provide more detail to each individual site allocation once this process has concluded.

On a wider point, where a site allocation does not make an explicit requirement for an on-site health facility, the specific site allocation wording should include reference to the need for mitigation through financial contributions (for health and other infrastructure) which aligns with the approach being taken through the IDP. This ensures that the to ensure that this is known at the policy stage, and can be considered by developers as they bring schemes forward.
We welcome the engagement with Council Officers during the early stages of plan preparation, and the opportunity to input into the Infrastructure Delivery Plan (process). We note that an additional assessment will be provided by the ICB as part of Stage 2 of the IDP process, which will include more targeted assessment of the key site allocations and overall health infrastructure requirements as part of this process, and would therefore provide more detail to each individual site allocation once this process has concluded.