Greater Cambridge Local Plan Issues & Options 2020

4.37 ‘Place-making’ – creating and sustaining a positive and distinctive character in an area – is important to the economic success of the Greater Cambridge area, as identified by the CPIER. This is also supported by the NPPF (paragraph 124) which confirms that good design is a key aspect of sustainable development, creates better places in which to live and work and helps make development acceptable to communities. 4.38 The NPPF continues by advising that plans should set out a clear design vision and expectations and design policies should be developed with local communities, so they reflect local aspirations. To provide maximum clarity about design expectations at an early stage, plans or SPDs should use visual tools such as design guides and codes. The Cambridgeshire Quality Charter for Growth sets out core principles of the level of quality to be expected in new developments in Cambridgeshire and the four ‘C’s’ of Community, Connectivity, Climate and Character align well with the four big themes of the emerging Local Plan. This forms a good basis to set out a design vision for the new Local Plan.

5.1 There should be flexibility within the Local Plan to respond to changing housing needs over the Local Plan period. It is important to identify a baseline housing need but there should be scope for further development to come forward if it meets a particular housing need. This would support the Government’s objective of significantly boosting the supply of homes to ensure that a sufficient amount and variety of land can come forward where it is needed and that the needs of groups with specific housing requirements are addressed (NPPF Para. 59). 5.2 Harston is considered a suitable location for further residential development to support an existing rural community. The proposed residential development on Land to the south of Station Road is considered suitable and proportionate in relation to the size of the village. A number of services and facilities are within walking distance of the site including the Harston and Newton County Primary school located opposite the site, a doctor’s surgery, a post office, village hall, public houses and a convenience store. The primary school has capacity for additional pupils. By allocating residential development on the site, this would help to maximise opportunities for sustainable travel and residents would not be overly reliant on using cars to access services. Land to the south of Station Road is therefore considered an appropriate location for a residential site allocation in the Local Plan.

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5.3 To support the Government’s objective of significantly boosting the supply of homes, a sufficient amount and variety of land needs to be identified to meeting housing needs within the Joint Local Plan area. The Cambridge and Peterborough Independent Economic Review (CPIER) (September 2018) suggests that higher housing target numbers are likely to be needed in Cambridgeshire if the potential for higher growth in employment is to be met. 5.4 Housing requirements are minimums, not maximums to stay under at all costs. There is a wellevidenced affordability problem in Greater Cambridge; a greater supply of homes will be part of the solution. “Too many of the people working in Cambridge have commutes that are difficult, long and growing: not out of choice, but necessity due to high housing costs.”1 1 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Industrial Strategy 2019, p13

5.5 There should be flexibility within the Local Plan to respond to changing housing needs over the Local Plan period. Consideration of individual site circumstances and the circumstances of a local area should be taken into account to determine the appropriate type of housing for development sites. Separate housing needs assessments should be used to inform the appropriate size, type and tenure of housing needed for different sections of the community, as set out within the Greater Cambridge Housing Strategy 2019-2023. 5.6 Flexibility will be key to a successful Local Plan; through market housing, low-cost and affordable housing.

5.7 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. 5.8 Health impact assessments on developments of a scale that can deliver meaningful health improvements can create a higher level of built environment in housing developments.

6.1 National Planning Policy advises (paragraph 102) that transport issues should be considered from the earliest stages of plan-making and development proposals so that: a) the potential impacts of development on transport networks can be addressed; b) opportunities from existing or proposed transport infrastructure, and changing transport technology and usage, are realised – for example in relation to the scale, location or density of development that can be accommodated; c) opportunities to promote walking, cycling and public transport use are identified and pursued; d) the environmental impacts of traffic and transport infrastructure can be identified, assessed and taken into account – including appropriate opportunities for avoiding and mitigating any adverse effects, and for net environmental gains; and e) patterns of movement, streets, parking and other transport considerations are integral to the design of schemes and contribute to making high quality places. 6.2 The NPPF continues, at paragraph 103, in stating that the planning system should actively manage patterns of growth in support of the above objectives. “Significant development should 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. This can help to reduce congestion and emissions and improve air quality and public health.” 6.3 It is therefore important for the Local Plan to ensure developments create an environment where accessibility to day to day services and other facilities is easy and a choice of transport modes is available. This will enable the local community to choose the more socially inclusive and sustainable methods of travel. New developments need to be designed so that this can happen from first occupation when habits start to form. 6.4 By locating development in sustainable locations, this inherently reduces the reliance on car use and encourages more sustainable modes of travel, thereby helping to improve air quality. Land to the south of Station Road, Harston is considered a sustainable location for development with access to a number of village services and facilities. 6.5 Land to the south of Station Road, Harston is considered to be a sustainable location to accommodate further residential development and, as set out within the accompanying Transport Appraisal prepared by EAS, the site offers the following transport connections and opportunities for sustainable travel which would help to reduce the need to access the site via polluting vehicles: ● Trip Generation - The number of vehicle trips generated would be imperceptible upon the surrounding highway network; ● Rail Connections - Harston is located in the A10 corridor which is well served by trains and buses. Off-road cycle ways connect the site to Foxton Train station approximately 2.5km to the south. Foxton station has two platforms providing north bound routes to Cambridge and Southbound Routes to London King Cross at half hourly frequencies Monday to Friday and hourly frequencies at weekends. The proximity of this transport interchange makes it readily accessible by active modes of travel, particularly cycling; ● Bus Services - There are bus services which connect Harston to Royston, Melbourn, Shepreth, Foxton, Hauxton, Trumpington park and ride site and Cambridge, as well as national express coach services to Heathrow airport. The nearest active bus stop to the site is located approximately 250m north of the site along the A10 which is served by three routes offering regular services to St Ives and Cambridge; ● Cycle Connections - The A10 is also part of the strategic cycle network between Royston and Cambridge and there are good quality and continuous off-road cycleways along the A10 passing through Harston. To the south, the cycleways extend to Foxton train station, approximately 2.5km from the site. To the north the cycleways extend to Trumpington Park and Ride, approximately 3.9km from the site. Both the station and the park and ride site have cycle parking facilities; ● Footway Improvements - The existing footway on the southern side of Station Road is proposed to be widened to 2.0m to improve pedestrian connectivity and provide safe pedestrian access to the site. Tactile paving will also be added to an existing informal crossing adjacent to the access road assisting crossing to Harston and Newton County Primary school as well as at the site access. The indicative footway improvements and informal crossing points are also indicated on drawing SK01; ● A10 strategic transport corridor – the corridor is due to feature the following numerous transport improvements to deliver a high-quality public transport corridor which will benefit connectivity to Harston by sustainable and active modes of transport including the following: − Improved transport hub at Foxton train station (3km from the site); − Proposed improved transport interchange at Trumpington A10/M11 junction (3.2 km from the site); − Park and Ride site at Hauxton (M11); − Off road cycle links along the A10; and − Walking and cycling links to Melbourn and Bassingbourn village colleges. 6.6 In addition to the above, Harston falls within the ‘Preferred route option’ area of the proposed East-West rail alignment which would deliver faster and improved frequency of trains to Cambridge and in turn to London. 6.7 The site is therefore well located to be within walking distance of the services and facilities in the village thereby reducing the need to travel by car and can promote sustainable travel.

6.8 Jesus College are supportive of the promotion of non-car and active modes of travel and delivering a highly connected, and accessible development by walking, cycling and public transport. As outlined above the A10 strategic transport corridor improvements are considered to be important in the promotion of sustainable travel modes to reduce the reliance on cars in the area.

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7.1 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. 7.2 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. 7.3 Para. 145 of the NPPF allows for the limited infilling of villages provided this does not have a greater impact on the openness of the Green Belt than the existing development. The adopted Local Plan includes for a policy to allow for infilling in the Green Belt. The proposed residential development on Land off Station Road, Harston, is considered appropriate in the context of Para. 145 and would comprise suitable infill development that would extend only as far the existing development line of its neighbouring residential and agricultural properties. The proposed residential development would respect the immediate character and would retain the openness of the Green Belt and purpose of the land to the same extent as existing neighbouring development. Land off Station Road is therefore considered suitable to become a residential site allocation as it would comprise a moderate extension to the village and suitable infill development.

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7.4 The presumption in favour of sustainable development is recognised, however there should be a degree of flexibility in terms of allowing appropriate development outside of the settlement boundaries of villages, in particular, if development meets a particular local business or community need as set out within Para. 84 of the NPPF. Sustainable development in rural areas is also supported under Para 78. of the NPPF, which requires planning policies to identify opportunities for villages to grow and thrive, especially where this will support local services. 7.5 Although Land to the south of Station Road, Harston, is currently located in the Green Belt, it is considered an appropriate location for a residential site allocation as the proposed development would form a moderate extension to the village. The accompanying site concept plan demonstrates that a suitable form and scale of development can be achieved on site without having a detrimental impact on the Green Belt as the development will continue to an existing form of development along Station Road.

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7.6 There should be more flexibility when considering the scale and size of developments that are permitted within village boundaries. The Local Plan currently restricts the amount of development that is permitted in Minor Rural Centres (Policy S/9) to 30 dwellings; in Group Villages (Policy S10) to 8 dwellings and in exceptional circumstances to 15 dwellings; and in Infill Villages (Policy S/11) to 2 dwellings and in exceptional circumstances to 8 dwellings. These policies should not restrict development to a certain number of dwellings and should instead encourage an appropriate density depending on the context of the site that is being considered for development. 7.7 Some sites might be capable of accommodating higher density development which can enable a more sustainable distribution of growth, particularly in the case of some villages within the district which are well connected in terms of being located on key transport corridors with access to rail, bus and cycleway links, thereby making them sustainable locations for development. A more flexible approach towards considering development in villages should therefore be used when allocating development sites and in the determination of planning applications. 7.8 There should also be more flexibility in terms of considering applications which are located outside village boundaries, provided the site is suitable in other terms including its access to transport and village services and provided it is not overly constrained in terms of other environmental designations. For Land to the south of Station Road, Harston, the site is considered to be a suitable location for residential development of approximately 10 dwellings and should therefore become a residential site allocation by extending the village boundary to include the site location. The inclusion of the site would form an appropriate extension to existing development along Station Road and would not have a detrimental impact on the openness of the Green Belt.