Greater Cambridge Local Plan Issues & Options 2020

5.18 The Local Plan should deliver a spatial strategy that connects homes with jobs and ensures that development improves accessibility to good quality public transport, facilities and services and high quality green spaces. 5.19 The Local Plan should also establish a policy framework that allows for innovative ways to deliver ‘affordable housing’ across tenure types. Housing mix policies should also be flexible to allow for the right homes to come forward in the right location. 5.20 Land south of Hattons Road, Longstanton presents an opportunity to deliver development which can contribute to achieving ‘good growth’. The site is located adjacent to a large employment allocation and an open space allocation, and is within walking and cycling distance of a range of services, facilities and public transport modes. Future residents would benefit from easy access to employment, on-site green space, shops and education and community facilities, maximising opportunities for positive influences on their overall health and lifestyle. 5.21 The proposals also seek to deliver affordable housing which would be tenure blind, providing a significant amount of affordable housing in a sustainable location

5.22 This can principally be achieved through the reduced use of polluting vehicles by: ● Locating development where there is good access to active travel, coupled with access to affordable, frequent, reliable and high quality public transport options; ● Better cycle and pedestrian connectivity – achieved by developments directly and through a coordinated s106 infrastructure programme.

6.1 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 paragraph 59).

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6.2 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. 6.3 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

6.7 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. 6.8 The promoters of the site, Peterhouse, is an established institution with experience of promoting and delivering sites for high quality residential development. It is expected that Land south of Hattons Road, Longstanton would come forward in partnership with a delivery partner selected by Peterhouse, 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 Peterhouse’s values and the development of the site would contribute to the delivery of high quality housing across the area.

7.1 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. 7.2 Land south of Hattons Road, Longstanton is ideally located to encourage future residents to use sustainable modes of travel and ensure that trips made by private vehicles are minimised. The Longstanton High Street, with its range of services and facilities is located approximately 150m to the north east of the site whilst Northstowe, which will provide a range of town centre services and facilities is located 1.5km from the site. Furthermore, large employment and open space allocations are located adjacent to the site. The development has also been designed in a manner to encourage walking and cycling to access future resident’s daily needs located in the village centre and beyond. Longstanton Park and Ride is located approximately 1.5km to the north of the site and provides residents with access to a high frequency service between Cambridge and St. Ives. The Park and Ride is within easy cycling distance of the site. Future development proposals could contribute to the upgrading of existing pedestrian and cycle routes and public transport facilities.

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8.1 The presumption in favour of sustainable development is recognised, however there should be a degree of flexibility in policy 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 paragraph 84 of the NPPF. Sustainable development in rural areas is also supported under paragraph 78 of the NPPF, which requires planning policies to identify opportunities for villages to grow and thrive, especially where this will support local services. A degree of flexibility is even more pertinent to villages in the District, which provide access to the facilities and services to encourage more sustainable behaviours.

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8.2 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 eight dwellings and in exceptional circumstances to 15 dwellings; and in Infill Villages (Policy S/11) to two dwellings and in exceptional circumstances to eight 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. Some sites might be capable of accommodating higher density development which can enable a more sustainable distribution of growth, particularly in the case of villages within the District, such as Longstanton, which provide access to a range of services and facilities, thereby making them sustainable locations for development. A more flexible approach towards considering the appropriate scale of development in villages should therefore be used when allocating development sites and in the determination of planning applications. 8.3 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, employment and village services and facilities and provided it is not overly constrained in terms of other environmental designations. 8.4 Land south of Hattons Road, Longstanton is considered to be a suitable location for residential development of up to 150 dwellings and should therefore become a residential site allocation through the extension of the development framework. The inclusion of the site would form an appropriate and logical extension the existing and proposed development in this part of Longstanton.

8.7 The Local Plan should seek to allocate a component of its housing needs towards growth at existing villages. Sustainable development in rural areas is supported under paragraph 78 of the NPPF, which requires planning policies to identify opportunities for villages to grow and thrive, especially where this will support local services. Development within existing villages can help to sustain existing and deliver new facilities and infrastructure, support shops and business uses and meet both the market and affordable housing needs of the local community. However, growth at villages should be in locations which are or can be made sustainable. 8.8 Land south of Hattons Road, Longstanton is considered to be a sustainable location for development and a prime opportunity to grow the village of Longstanton. The development proposals could deliver numerous tangible social, economic and environmental benefits to Longstanton and the local area, including: ● The opportunity to deliver a substantial amount of affordable housing to help meet the needs of Longstanton and the wider District, including the potential to possibly deliver an element of custom and self-build; ● Locating residential development in a sustainable location, within close proximity to existing and proposed services, facilities, infrastructure and employment opportunities. The site is located approximately 150m from the village High Street, located adjacent to allocations for employment development and an extension to the recreation ground and is well within cycling distance of the Longstanton Park and Ride. The site is therefore well placed for future residents to be able to walk and cycle, rather than travel by private car, to meet their daily needs; ● A landowner who wishes to work with the community in order to shape a proposal which meets the needs of and can provide wider benefits to the village; ● Delivery of a substantial amount of open space which would be accessible to new and existing residents and would provide connectivity with the allocated recreation ground extension; ● Supporting Longstanton’s economy, including local shops and services; and ● Enhancing biodiversity levels across the site. The site is predominantly agricultural land and can currently be considered to be of low ecological value. The proposals present an opportunity to deliver a biodiversity net gain of at least 10%.

8.9 Siting development along transport corridors is consistent with paragraph 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. Siting development along transport corridors will also contribute to minimising the use of the private vehicle, promoting low-carbon modes of transport and leading to air quality improvements. Development located along transport corridors also improves wellbeing and inclusivity as new residents will have a range of transport options available in order to access their daily needs. 8.10 Land south of Hattons Road, Longstanton presents an opportunity to locate development along transport corridors as it is located within close proximity to the Longstanton Park and Ride which provides regular services on the Guided Busway to Cambridge and St. Ives. The Park and Ride is accessible from the site by cycling and the proposals could contribute to providing improvement at the Park and Ride, for example increased cycle parking.