Greater Cambridge Local Plan Issues & Options 2020

7.7 Local Plan policies can require a high standard of design for new residential development, leading from Government policy and guidance. Appropriately worded design policies should require a high quality design for new dwellings. This could include sustainable design principles including measures to improve the energy efficiency of new homes, water saving measures, use of efficient insultation material and heating systems, the reduction and recycling of construction materials, provision of appropriate amenity space and accessibility. Policy should not be prescriptive for precisely how it will be accomplished, it can set a policy-level, but developers should be able to use a host of options to achieve the target. 7.8 The promoter of the site, Trinity College, is an established institution with experience of promoting and delivering sites for high quality residential development. It is expected that the Gas Field would come forward in partnership with a delivery partner selected by the College, to ensure that a high quality scheme and homes are delivered. The Council’s ambition for the Local Plan to ensure that high quality developments and homes are delivered aligns with the College’s values and the development of the site would contribute to the delivery of high quality housing across the area.

8.1 This can principally be achieved through locating new development in locations which have good access to sustainable modes of transport. New development should be located to take advantage of existing or planned transport infrastructure and should be designed in a manner which encourages the take up of active modes of travel. 8.2 Gas Field, Madingley Road is well located for access to public transport connections. Madingley Road Park and Ride is adjacent to the site and offers regular bus services into Cambridge. There are also two bus stops adjacent to the site on Madingley Road (services 8, Citi 4, H X3) offering regular services into and out of Cambridge. Junction 13 of the M11 is also next to the site. 8.3 Land at the Gas Field, Madingley Road is an ideal example of a site that has the opportunity to accommodate additional growth and encourage a shift away from car use and towards more sustainable modes of transport due to its connections to public transport access and walking and cycling connections.

Nothing chosen

9.1 As part of the preparation of the Local Plan, a review of the Green Belt should be undertaken to assess whether land currently within the Cambridge Green Belt still serves the five purposes of the Green Belt as set out in paragraph 134 of the NPPF. Where land does not serve these five purposes or the fundamental aim of Green Belt policy, which is to prevent urban sprawl by keeping land permanently open (NPPF paragraph 133), the Green Belt boundaries should be altered by the Local Plan accordingly. 9.2 Furthermore, Green Belt land that no longer serves the five purposes and is in locations which facilitate more sustainable patterns of development, for example, land within close proximity to public transport corridors or adjacent to some of the larger villages in the District, should be released to contribute to reducing climate impacts in preference for less sustainable locations that happen to be outside of the Green Belt. 9.3 The Gas Field, Madingley Road is located within the Green Belt, however, the site shows some discrepancies with Green Belt policy and its essential quality of openness including the following: ● The increasing built form to this part of Cambridge, east of the M11, and surrounding mature planting provides an opportunity to reconsider the Green Belt boundary in this location; ● The site should not be assessed in isolation, the Green Belt review should also consider the Eddington development to the north and the West Cambridge University site to the south which creates an enclosed area of built development. The eastern side of the site which adjoins Madingley Road Park and Ride has a stronger connection to the surrounding built form which lessens its contribution to the Green Belt; ● The site is not located between villages nor does it contribute to the separation of settlements; ● The site, due to its location and scale, is not considered to relate to the contribution of the Green Belt to the setting and character of Cambridge. 9.4 The site potentially no longer contributes to the fundamental aim of Green Belt policy nor the five purposes of the Green Belt. As such, it is strongly recommended that a full Green Belt review is undertaken and that the site’s contribution to each purpose of the Green Belt is assessed. 9.5 Notwithstanding the need for a Green Belt review, given the initial findings above, the site’s location and the existing surrounding built form, it is considered that the site: ● Does not check the unrestricted sprawl of large built-up areas – it is largely surrounded by built development including the Eddington development to the site and enclosed by the M11 to the west. The removal of the site from the Green Belt would therefore not lead to unrestricted sprawl; ● Does not prevent neighbouring towns merging into one another – the site is not located between towns or villages. The surrounding area is already segregated by the M11. The removal of the site from the Green Belt would not result in the coalescence of adjoining settlements; ● Does not contribute to safeguarding the countryside from encroachment – as set out above, the site is surrounded by built development and whilst located outside of the development framework and is not considered to encroach on the countryside that is beyond the settlement pattern; and ● Does not preserve the setting and special character of a historic area – the site is not within or near to a Conservation Area. Due to its location and scale, the site is not considered to relate to the contribution of the Green Belt to the setting and character of Cambridge. 9.6 It is important that any retained Green Belt serves a Green Belt purpose in order to have a robust Green Belt. A Green Belt review should be undertaken, to assess whether the current Green Belt boundary is enduring and includes defensible boundaries. Where it does not, then the Local Plan process must take the opportunity to review and amend; such as with the Gas Field, Madingley Road. 9.7 The Local Plan should be focussed on providing sustainable development in the most appropriate locations. To prioritise the four big themes will result in some development impacts. 9.8 Notwithstanding the underlying purposes of the Green Belt (Para. 134 of the NPPF), where it can be demonstrated that appropriate development can be brought forward in the Green Belt, sites should be considered within the context of their individual circumstances. Applications should be considered in the contact of Para. 136 of the NPPF including an assessment as to whether it can be demonstrated that a proposed development would bring substantial benefits, outweighing the loss of Green Belt land and thereby demonstrate exceptional circumstances needed to justify Green Belt release. In accordance with Para. 138, Green Belt boundaries should be reviewed to reflect the need to promote sustainable patterns of development. If the release of Green Belt can facilitate more sustainable patterns of development, particularly if the land has been previously developed or is well-served by public transport, there should be policy provision to allow for a consideration of this in order to determine Green Belt planning applications within the emerging Local Plan. 9.9 The Gas Field, Madingley Road should be permanently released from the Green Belt to allow for sustainable employment or residential development to come forward on the site, whilst providing enhancements in biodiversity on site by preserving the western side of the site for net gain and biodiversity enhancements.

9.11 On appropriate sites, the release of Green Belt land is likely to be necessary to deliver the growth that is needed to achieve economic targets including doubling GVA in Cambridgeshire over 25 years. Development of the Gas Field is considered appropriate given the built context of the site to the east of the M11. The site is located in an employment cluster, has access to public transport and is in a locality which is already set to have improved pedestrian and cyclist access

9.12 Development is best suited to being located along transport corridors to promote sustainable development. 9.13 Trinity College supports the principle of siting development along transport corridors, in accordance with Para. 103 of the NPPF which encourages development to be focused on locations which are or can be made sustainable, through limiting the need to travel and offering a genuine choice of transport modes. 9.14 The Gas Field, Madingley Road is located in a sustainable location with public transport connections that offers sustainable and active modes of transport. Madingley Road Park and Ride is adjacent to the site and offers regular bus services into Cambridge. There are also two bus stops adjacent to the site on Madingley Road (services 8, Citi 4, H X3) offering regular services into and out of Cambridge. Junction 13 of the M11 is also next to the site. Various cycleway and pedestrian access improvements are proposed for Madingley Road as part of an open consultation, including a new toucan crossing for pedestrians and cyclists at Madingley Road Park and Ride, additional bus stops and the widening of footways and additional cycle lanes which would improve connectivity to the site and the surrounding area.

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Agree

3.1 Agree. 3.2 The proposed Local Plan period up to 2040 is considered appropriate and to accord with the requirements set out within the NPPF for local authorities to identify a sufficient supply and mix of sites between years 1-15 of the plan (Para 67).

Agree

4.1 Agree. 4.2 The four big themes for the Local Plan are considered suitable and all are considered to be important in the consideration of the spatial distribution of growth in the district, and for the determination of planning applications. The four big themes will generate a new way of planning, this may require a different way to make decisions; to allow other impacts to happen in order to achieve these four priorities. The Local Plan policy framework will need to allow for a clear planning balance to take place to assess and prioritise impacts.

4.4 The increased focus on climate change is welcomed. Climate change policy and good practice is changing quickly, and the plan will need to build in suitable flexibility to accommodate these changes within the lifetime of the plan. Climate change scenarios predict extensive changes by 2050, much of which is dependent on government and human action so there is substantial uncertainty over outcomes. 4.5 A needlessly stringent policy may inadvertently impede progress towards later years in the plan, or undermine results by not allowing for site-specific refinement. For example, policy for electric vehicle charging points should be sufficiently flexible to accommodate that quickly changing technology, as well the current grid challenges in implemented EV charging places. Energy policies should include flexibility for changing legislation, and technology, as well as the opportunity to refine a plan-wide policy for site specifics. As the Zero Carbon Futures Symposium Report (2019) submitted within the evidence base notes on page 10: where targets are too limited, and without consideration of project contexts, policy can drive dysfunctional behaviour such as photovoltaic solar panels being installed on North facing roofs merely to achieve policy compliance not to produce effective carbon reductions. 4.6 Allowing for changing technologies and approaches should also help with viability as technology and approaches improve and are more widely adopted, thereby reducing costs. Escalating targets and policies may be able to accommodate these changes, while providing clarity to developers on the costs of development over time. 4.7 The local plan Sustainability Appraisal (SA) should address variable climate change scenarios, as we would expect that different climate changes scenarios will be of interest at examination. Lack of rigorous assessment of these scenarios in the SA is could lead to the plan being found unsound.

4.8 Greater Cambridge is a leading local authority on climate change policy, such as through the early declaration of a climate change emergency and also through the newly adopted Sustainable Development SPD. This leadership should continue, as it is central to the sustainable development of Cambridge, leading to better development for humans, the environment, and for economic development. It should be borne in mind that Cambridge's knowledge economy increasingly demands high sustainability standards: sustainability, health and wellbeing, with climate change at the heart, is a key part of continuing Cambridge's economic development. This should remain a priority as part of a policy framework the recognises climate change as a key part of sustainable development across social, environmental and economic objectives.