Greater Cambridge Local Plan Issues & Options 2020

• New developments must have a safe, convenient and high-quality cycling network for all abilities that connects every home, business and public transport stop. • Every child should be able to easily access their schools, local parks, and friends' homes by foot or bike. Parents should feel safe and confident that, once their children reach a suitable age, they can allow them to walk or cycle on their own in the community. • Cycling, including mobility aids, should always be the quickest and most convenient transport option for local journeys within new developments, • It must not be more convenient to drive through the new development for short journeys than cycle. Driving routes on new sites should be less convenient, circuitous and directed towards the exterior of the site away from where people live and gather. • Making walking and cycling accessible for people with mobility issues will enable many more people to improve their physical health through active travel and improve their mental health and wellbeing by reducing isolation. • New developments must be designed to prevent parking on pavements • High-quality cycle parking must be provided with all buildings as well as space for mobility scooters and charging facilities. • Better rubbish management should ensure bins don't litter the landscape and block paths. • Priority over side roads must be given to people walking and cycling. • Junctions must be designed to enable people of all abilities to cycle safely through them. • The Local Plan must acknowledge that cycles are also mobility aids for many people. There should never be any situation where 'cyclist dismount' signs are installed. • The NHS recommends 150 minutes of cardiovascular exercise per week for adults to maintain health into old age. New developments which are planned with cycling as a priority will make this easy for people to achieve by being able to cycle as a means of transport.

• We can achieve enormous improvements in air quality transitioning away from car dependency towards very high levels of cycling and walking. • Transport Assessments must demonstrate how developments will improve and maintain air quality. • Clean Air Zones CAZ should be extended into housing areas • Developments should be designed so that there is minimal car traffic near homes, schools, and places where people gather. In existing developments, traffic management should be introduced to remove and minimise car traffic. • Electric cars will still lead to significant pollution from tyres, road wear and brakes and will not resolve the issue of congestion or road danger. The Tree Canopy should be doubled to counteract the particulate damage. • Any electric car charging infrastructure that is provided in new and existing developments must not undermine walking and cycling accessibility. Charging points for mobility scooters must be available. • HGVs and non-local transport vehicles should be prohibited in the CAZ housing areas.

The very qualities of life and environment that have made Cambridge unique don't scale. That same human scale that makes Cambridge a success i vulnerable. Ever increasing growth makes the city a victim of its own success. The city centre should be pedestrianized. HGVs and large buses banned. The maintenance of buildings should be upgraded, There is room for more greenery and improved footpaths. The river Cam is slowly dying and concerns have been raised about the impact of over-abstraction on the River Cam, still large deverlopments keep getting approvals.

Quality of life is Cambridges secret. The city's historic open spaces and its river engender a feeling of shared enjoyment and ownership. This vibe is reflected in town and gown life. • We should reduce car parking and car traffic in our historic spaces and provide more room for people walking and cycling. • Fewer cars and more walking and cycling will result in less air pollution, noise, road danger and erosion and damage to our historic buildings and areas. • Cycling is part of Cambridge culture and is what people expect to see when they come and visit our city and region. • Reallocating space from roads and cars to walking and cycling will make our cities and villages more accessible and pleasant places to spend time.

Environmentally. the changes of heating systems are vital. The Central Heating System such as built in Eddington is recommendable. Solarpanels and renewable energy is a must, insulation of walls and windows can be improved with new techniques. Reduce cement in the constructions and replace by sustainable wood. Reduction in leaks for water and upgrade sewer systems. • New developments must follow design standards for high-quality cycling and walking infrastructure that is accessible for people of all ages and abilities. • The design of new developments must be led by a requirement to achieve a fully-permeable, high-quality, first-class cycling and walking network, including safe and attractive surroundings, along with direct and convenient public transport routes. • Where new developments or changes touch existing cycle routes, those cycle routes must be protected and must maintain their quality, priority and accessibility. If diverted, the diversion must be of high-quality and fully accessible to people of all abilities throughout the construction process. Any damage to the original cycle route must be fixed once it is reopened. • Cycling infrastructure should be separate from walking facilities. Walking, cycling and motor vehicles all have significantly different speeds and must not be mixed together – this is unsatisfactory (and unsafe) for all modes. See Parkin "Designing for Cycle traffic" https://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/isbn/9780727763495

Neither important nor unimportant

Ever increasing growth makes the city a victim of its own success. The benefits seem questionable, the costs are obvious. The cumulative impact of current growth ambitions must be evidence assessed before credible decisions can be made.

• Businesses and industrial spaces need to be connected to the high-quality cycling network, as well as public transport, in order to ensure that people have the opportunity to get to work without driving. • New developments should always include some space for adaptable businesses and light industrial uses, in order to provide employment in the community that is easily accessed on foot or bike, and a healthy mix of activities in new developments. • The Local Plan must not allow car-dependent 'dormitory estates' where everyone is forced to travel long distances to access everyday activities like jobs, schools, surgeries and shopping.

• Businesses and industrial spaces need to be connected to the high-quality cycling network, as well as public transport, in order to ensure that people have the opportunity to get to work without driving. • New developments should always include some space for adaptable businesses and light industrial uses, in order to provide employment in the community that is easily accessed on foot or bike, and a healthy mix of activities in new developments. • The Local Plan must not allow car-dependent 'dormitory estates' where everyone is forced to travel long distances to access everyday activities like jobs, schools, surgeries and shopping. Absolutely no employment site should be developed or expanded in any location before sustainable transport links have been established. Cycling, bus and train links must be there before a single employee starts work and forms the habit of driving a car to work.

Very flexible

• We should be very flexible about the uses we allow in our city, town, district, local and village centres. Communities should provide a diverse range of employment, shopping, leisure and educational opportunities as close as reasonably possible to homes to enable shorter and more sustainable journeys. • The Local Plan should embrace the notion of 'compact development' that reduces the distance that people have to travel for typical everyday needs, keeping them within easy cycling reach.

Why do we have a planning committee if they don't have a set of modern, updated standards to follow? Don't you have well qualified staff employees that can follow the evolution and progress internationally? Their proposals should be openly scrutinized and adopted and threafter followed. • Poor standards of cycle parking prevent people from cycling. Accessible, high-quality, secure and plentiful cycle parking is a critical element of high-standard housing and will enable more people to cycle regularly. • Good cycle parking is a factor in house buying and renting decisions. • Cycle parking standards must be updated to increase the number of cycle parking spaces required for developments, and the design standards have to be updated with modern, inclusive cycle parking specifications. • Cycle parking policies must be absolutely clear about the need for accessible cycle stands that can be used by people of all abilities and specific about the design and installation requirements. • There must be a proportion of cycle stands that are suitable for cargo cycles, tricycles, adapted cycles and recumbents. • Vertical and semi-vertical cycle parking racks must be absolutely prohibited. • Two-tier racks must not be allowed for residential uses, and must be accompanied by a suitable proportion of Sheffield stands in non-residential uses for people who cannot use the two-tier racks. • Cycle parking should never be referred to as 'cycle storage', because 'parking' implies frequent usage and 'storage' does not; we want the design of cycle parking to be as convenient as possible in order to enable frequent usage. • Cycle parking should be at least as close to entry doors as any car parking. Convenience for everyday usage is paramount.