Greater Cambridge Local Plan Issues & Options 2020

Disagree

Sustainable development is about achieving social, economic and environmental gains, pursued together. Environmental objectives will not be achieved if social and economic objectives are not also achieved. For example, providing insufficient homes in Greater Cambridge would result in housing needs being exported elsewhere, resulting in commuting, much of it by private car, resulting in negative climate change effects. There would also be negative social effects as house prices increase, forcing more people into need of affordable housing. In addition, places where such housing is exported to will experience growing demand for homes, forcing houses prices up, and hence worsening affordability. The economic, environmental and social issues must all be seen as inter-related.

Strongly disagree

We do not believe that issues can be compartmentalised in a way that expresses favour for some over others. We are unable to answer Q7 as the box does not allow comment and requires a ranking which we consider it not possible nor appropriate to make. Such a ranking is the antithesis of the government objective of sustainable development. Environmental objectives will not be achieved if social and economic objectives are not also achieved. For example, providing insufficient homes in Greater Cambridge would result in housing needs being exported elsewhere, resulting in commuting, much of it by private car, resulting in negative climate change effects. There would also be negative social effects as house prices increase, forcing more people into need of affordable housing. In addition, places where such housing is exported to will experience growing demand for homes, forcing houses prices up, and hence worsening affordability. The economic, environmental and social issues must all be seen as inter-related.

The local plan should focus on land use objectives. Delivering a strategy which meets housing and economic needs, which enables people to live and work where they can choose to travel by sustainable modes. The plan should also facilitate large scale renewable energy production. The plan should not include policies which seek to control environmental performance of buildings. That is an issue which the Government is tackling through the Building Regulations, and the Government has already set out a highly ambitious programme for delivering zero carbon homes.

The local plan and the land use planning system needs to be focussed on how it can best address issue of climate change. It cannot deal with all aspects of this issue, many of which are best dealt with through our regimes. The local plan can though have a major impact through locating development in the right locations; ensuring development needs are met so that they are not exported to other locations; and it should focus on ensuring that large scale renewable energy projects are facilitated. It should • Promote patterns of development that enable travel by low-carbon modes such as walking, cycling and public transport. • Encouraging and making better provision for alternatives to the private car • Discouraging our communities from using private cars where possible, and other lifestyle choices that affect the climate. • Measures to support carbon offsetting would be supported, albeit it is unclear why that would or should apply to new development as current developments are already highly energy efficient and new development will soon be zero carbon. • Supporting local and community opportunities for growing food. Existing buildings are a major challenge as many were built under former regimes where the Building Regulations were not as high as they are today. However, it is unclear to us what land use policies might be included which would address this matter. We do not support policies which relate to matters such as construction materials or environmental performance of buildings as those are matters for the building regulations.

No, strongly disagree

It is unclear what the question means by including “extra” measures. Resilience to climate change already features strongly in the design of new buildings and they will be much more resilient to climate change than existing buildings. As new buildings are resilient, then what “extra” measures are required? Adding further measures, and hence costs to new development should not take the place of tackling existing stock, or that will fail society and would run counter to the “polluter pays” principle. A major issue for society is how can existing buildings be made more resilient as the vast majority were built under regulations which are far less stringent than those of today, and many were built in locations in which development would no longer be permitted, for example, as it is vulnerable to flooding.

The planning system is not the silver bullet which will solve climate change. The local plan needs to focus on land use issues, such as the location of development. A major issue facing society is food security and the adaptation of agricultural industry to climate change and an every growing world population. Greater Cambridge, with its strong life sciences sector, is ideally placed to help deliver real scientific and technological changes through the growth of agritech to support food security.

Access to employment and homes are significant factors in terms of healthy communities and tackling social exclusion is providing people with access to decent housing. The local plan should support the economic growth and facilitate the delivery of homes needed to support that economy. The plan should recognise that a wide variety of types and tenures are required and be more open to tenures which support and facilitate home ownership

Very important

It is critical that the local plan supports economic growth. It is important for the local area that such growth is facilitated. It is important for the UK economy. Greater Cambridge is a world leading centre for science and technology and is at the forefront of scientific discoveries and has seen some of the world’s most significant scientific breakthroughs. If solutions are to be found to issues such as climate change, cancer and feeding the world’s ever growing population it is vital that the area’s science and technology based economy is fostered and new and emerging clusters are supported.

It is important that a wide range of employment needs are planned for. The commercial sector is incredibly innovative and changes rapidly. The plan should not be too prescriptive about employment uses in order to enable new clusters to emerge and be supported. There is a clear and present need to plan for and support agritech as an emerging cluster.

The question risks overly simplifying the issue. It implies that there is a choice which the local authorities can make. However, the commercial and business world is highly innovative and rapidly changing. If employment in a knowledge-sector is prevented, that does not mean that investment in other non-knowledge intensive businesses will flourish and take its place. It is more likely that the knowledge businesses will locate elsewhere, probably in continental Europe, that will introduce uncertainty into the market, reduce business confidence, result in less investment in the area and slow economic growth. Greater Cambridge needs to encourage investment in knowledge sectors, which in turn will help support a dynamic economy and encourage other forms of investment. Agritech is a sector which is evolving and has major economic potential, yet there is a particular lack of development opportunities at present for agritech. The local plan should positively plan for new and merging clusters such as agritech, which the area is uniquely placed to foster.