Greater Cambridge Local Plan: Proposed Submission

Little Wilbraham and Six Mile Bottom Parish Council has engaged with the Local Plan process at each stage. We appreciate the opportunities provided for local communities to contribute and the efforts made to communicate the emerging proposals.

At this crucial stage, however, we wish to draw attention to what we believe is a significant gap in the Plan: the cumulative impact of the major developments proposed to the east of Cambridge on the rural communities immediately beyond them.

Cambridge East, including the present Airport site, Marleigh, Springstead Village, Fulbourn Road and adjoining sites, is considered in the Local Plan as a series of separate developments. In reality, these developments will collectively create a substantial new urban area between Cambridge and the surrounding rural villages. The cumulative consequences should therefore be considered at that same strategic scale.

We support the Plan's ambition that these developments should be well served by public transport and should be green, walkable and well connected, with appropriate local services. We also welcome the specific recognition given to protecting Teversham's identity through an appropriate green buffer.

Our concern is that comparable attention has not been given to the effects of this growth beyond the boundaries of the allocated sites. The surrounding villages will inevitably experience some of the consequences of a very substantial increase in population - particularly additional traffic and pressure on GP and other local services - without necessarily receiving the infrastructure investment associated with the developments themselves.

The Quy interchange illustrates the issue particularly clearly. It serves Newmarket Road, the A1303, A14 and B1102 and is already operating under considerable pressure. Residents of the Wilbrahams, Six Mile Bottom and neighbouring villages regularly experience significant delays. Major development to the west of these communities is likely to add further pressure, both during construction and once the new settlements are occupied. It is not sufficient for each development to consider only the traffic generated within or immediately around its own boundaries: the cumulative effect on the wider road network must also be addressed.

We therefore ask that the Local Plan expressly recognises the wider-area impacts of the eastern expansion of Cambridge and provides a clear mechanism for securing appropriate mitigation. In particular, developer contributions, including where appropriate through section 106 obligations, should be capable of supporting transport, healthcare and other infrastructure outside the immediate development boundaries where there is a demonstrable connection between the development and the additional pressure being created.

This principle should be established at Local Plan level so that cumulative impacts are not overlooked when individual sites subsequently come forward through outline and reserved-matters applications. The strategic consequences of several adjoining developments cannot adequately be addressed if each is considered in isolation. The present draft instead appears to leave uncertain how impacts further east, beyond the city boundary, will be recognised and mitigated.

There is a second, related issue. The Plan makes carefully considered provision for development in larger rural settlements such as Sawston and Linton, but gives much less consideration to the role of smaller rural villages such as Little Wilbraham and Six Mile Bottom. We are not seeking inappropriate expansion. Rather, modest and well-designed development can help sustain smaller villages, support local facilities and maintain viable rural communities while preserving their distinctive character.

As presently drafted, the Plan risks placing our villages in an unsatisfactory position: affected by the consequences of substantial growth immediately to the west, but given little opportunity either to benefit from that growth or to pursue the limited development needed to support their own long-term sustainability.

We have raised these concerns previously. At this stage, we ask that they are addressed explicitly in the Local Plan and, in particular, that:
1. the cumulative effects of the Cambridge East developments on surrounding rural communities are expressly recognised;
2. the Plan provides for appropriate mitigation and infrastructure contributions where those effects extend beyond individual site boundaries; and
3. the role and reasonable development needs of smaller rural villages are given greater recognition.

We would welcome a substantive response explaining how these matters will be addressed as the Local Plan progresses.

Yours faithfully,

Little Wilbraham and Six Mile Bottom Parish Council