Greater Cambridge Local Plan Issues & Options 2020

The Issues and Options report identifies that significant infrastructure is being brought forwards in the Greater Cambridge area including East West Rail. Park and Ride is also planned, together with the CAM. New development should be located appropriately to maximise the benefits of investment in this new strategic infrastructure, which has the ability to increase the availability and use of more sustainable modes of transport and thereby address the environment and on quality of life impacts of car use. Local infrastructure such as schools, health facilities and leisure facilities should be key elements of new development if it is to be sustainable and contribute to the creation of robust, mixed-use communities. Such infrastructure is best delivered where its effectiveness is maximised across both existing and new communities. The MGH proposals at North Cambourne would deliver new infrastructure that serves the new community, but also serves the existing community at Cambourne. New residents would benefit from the existing services and facilities provided at Cambourne, with new infrastructure broadening choices. The extension of Cambourne will deliver new options for education, additional community facilities with opportunities for cultural facilities, and a broader leisure offer that could include for example a swimming pool or local cinema. Smaller developments, for example in the surrounding villages, are not able to deliver such opportunities because neither the existing community or the new development provide sufficient critical mass to support them.

The Issues and Options report identifies the ability for national infrastructure such as East West Rail to deliver improvements to road congestion. The announcement of the route for East West Rail, with a proposed rail station at Cambourne, means that there is huge potential to reduce traffic on the local road network. Initial work that MGH has carried out shows that, by growing Cambourne to a size that supports additional community infrastructure and employment, the number of out-commuting trips by car to nearby locations including Cambridge can be substantially reduced. If trips by car are reduced further through the provision of both East West Rail and the CAM, there is potential to deliver more than 5,000 homes at North Cambourne without any increase in road traffic.* *See calculations shown in the MGH Vision for North Cambourne, submitted under separate cover

Utilities will need to be carefully considered alongside new development proposals. As the move to electric cars takes place, the burden on the electricity grid (for vehicle charging) becomes much greater. New developments will need to consider new ways of generating electricity to enhance grid supply. Options currently include geo-thermal heating and photovoltaic cells. Such an investment in new infrastructure can best be achieved on larger, mixed use developments that allow heat to be used efficiently by transfer from employment buildings, which need heat during the day, and homes that require maximum heating during the evenings

Nothing chosen

This option is likely to provide some sustainable options close to Cambridge where jobs services and other facilities are concentrated. However, the potential of the Green Belt to accommodate further growth will be determined by site=-specific considerations including environmental constraints, access to public transport and the ability to integrate with the city. These issues need to be weighed against the impact on the functions of the Green Belt, and a comparison with other options that avoid development of Green Belt land.

No choices made

Question 42. Where should we site new development? 2There needs to be a balanced approach to the location for new development, favouring the most sustainable locations, but also delivering some growth in the villages in order to support existing communities. The most sustainable location for new development is in the centre of Cambridge, on brownfield land. There are however limited opportunities for such development given the scarcity of suitable sites and the existence of constraints such as heritage factors. There may be some opportunity for further sustainable sites to deliver development on the edge of Cambridge, however, the scope for this is limited by Green Belt considerations and environmental constraints. An option that has substantial scope for delivering sustainable growth is locations that are accessible by good public transport, where existing communities and associated services and facilities already exist and where additional growth would provide opportunities to reduce out-commuting. Question 42 asks for a number of locational options to be ranked, but inevitably some sites will have benefits associated with more than one option. Whilst there is an option for ‘Dispersal: New Settlements’, there is no option for the expansion of existing settlements. The MGH proposition is not that North Cambourne is a new settlement; rather it is that North Cambourne is an extension to an existing large settlement. Expansion of an existing settlement of the scale and nature of Cambourne has important potential sustainable benefits including enhancing the choice and range of local services and facilities and thereby reducing the need to travel to surrounding locations to access those services and facilities. The North Cambourne option also offers the sustainability advantages arising from access to public transport options, including: - - East West Rail - Cambridge Autonomous Metro; and - existing bus services with the potential for local Park and Ride. The combination of new and planned public transport infrastructure at Cambourne, and the opportunities to increase self-containment for the existing town, make North Cambourne the most sustainable option for growth during the Plan period. MGH proposes a refinement to the development location options that introduces differentiation in the category of new settlements. The proposed refinement is to identify a preference for new settlements where hey represent an expansion of an existing community, either existing settlements e.g. Cambourne or other established settlements e.g. Waterbeach. This amendment to the sequence ensures account is taken of the availability of already established infrastructure and facilities in the existing neighbouring community and the advantage that this gives in terms of sustainability when compared with the creation of a wholly new and free-standing community.

The answer to this question depends entirely on the nature of the transport corridor and particularly the range of options that exist for sustainable travel within them. In this context the location of North Cambourne is exceptional in terms of the range of sustainable transport options that exist and are planned. The announcement of the favoured route for East West rail to pass by Cambourne means that the town will be able to benefit from a modal shift in journeys from road (by car) to rail. Cambourne will therefore become a more sustainable location both for existing residents and for new development. Cambourne is also to benefit from the proposed Cambridge Autonomous Metro, which could be provided initially as a Park and Ride site, linked to the rail station (by cycle routes and local bus). MGH proposes that the location of Park and Ride in the A428 corridor should now be subject to review to ensure that the selected option reflects the very significant change in circumstances that have arisen since the Scotland Farm location was first selected in 2017. It appears that this option no longer provides maximum benefit in terms of the potential for interchange between public transport services and a location near to Cambourne is to be preferred on this basis.