Greater Cambridge Local Plan Issues & Options 2020

Nothing chosen

4. As outlined within the Local Plan Issues and Options document, the future Local Plan must aim to ensure sustainable development. In order to achieve this, competing priorities and issues need to be balanced. Greater Cambridge Planning has grouped these into the following themes: - Climate Change; - Biodiversity and Green Spaces; - Wellbeing and Social Inclusion; and - Great Places. 5. Our client agrees with these ‘big themes’ that have been proposed for the Local Plan, in particular ‘Climate Change’ and how the plan should contribute to achieving net zero carbon. Chapter 14 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) focuses on “Meeting the challenge of climate change, flooding and coastal change”. “The planning system should support the transition to a low carbon future in a changing climate, taking full account of flood risk and coastal change. It should help to: shape places in ways that contribute to radical reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, minimise vulnerability and improve resilience; encourage the reuse of existing resources, including the conversion of existing buildings; and support renewable and low carbon energy and associated infrastructure.” Paragraph 148 – NPPF, 2019 6. On the 21st February 2019, Cambridge City Council declared a ‘climate emergency’ and called on the Government, industry and regulators to implement the necessary changes to enable Cambridge and the rest of the UK to reach net zero carbon by 2030. 7. South Cambridgeshire District Council has also declared a Climate Emergency and its newly published Business Plan (2019-2024) pledges to help cut emission from transport which accounts for around 50% of the District’s emissions. One of the measures the Council will use to deliver this goal is “to make sure homes and jobs are close together or can be accessed by good walking, cycling and public transport links”. 8. Our client, Roger Hart Farms Ltd feels passionately about the need to address Climate Change. It is agreed that this is one of the most important factors to our future and as such should be a key consideration in the preparation of the new Local Plan. To that end they have already utilised permitted development legislation to re-use their redundant agricultural buildings capable of conversion, which is consistent with reusing existing resources in the NPPF as set out above. 9. Consistent with the objectives set out in SCDC’s Business Plan our client’s sites are within walking and cycling distance from village amenities, including the railway station. 10. The development of our client’s sites which are currently in private use would enhance social inclusion and contribute towards wellbeing by providing Meldreth with additional affordable and private housing at an appropriate scale of development having regard to the villages’ own housing needs survey and its location on a north-south railway line. 11. As part of the Call for Sites submission, it is proposed that Land to the North of Kneesworth Road, Meldreth could accommodate not only up to 20 dwellings but also be used for the re-provision of the currently private allotments from Fenny Lane Farm. This site is also promoted as a potential key worker/affordable led allocation which could assist with Social Inclusion in an area where housing costs are prohibitively high. In order for this site to be brought forward, it would need to do so alongside our client’s nearby land at the other three sites in the submission. 12. As well as offering the means to address issues relating to the threat of Climate Change, we believe that our client’s sites can help address the themes of Green Spaces, Wellbeing and Social Inclusion and Great Places. The re-provision of the existing allotments as public allotments and their expansion to meet the level of demand within the village is supported by the current allotment holders. This would ensure the future of an amenity which promotes wellbeing and social inclusion as well as the means to grow food sustainably within the village. 13. It is considered that the four sites previously promoted through the Call for Sites exercise reflect the themes and aims of the emerging Local Plan.

15. According to the NPPF, the Planning Practice Guidance and the Planning Inspector’s Report on the South Cambridgeshire Local Plan (2018), the Greater Cambridge Local Plan should meet housing needs through the development of small scale sites, such as those put forward by our client as well as large strategic sites. 16. The NPPF states in paragraph 68 that “Small and medium sized sites can make an important contribution to meeting the housing requirement of an area, and are often built-out relatively quickly.” 17. This can be achieved by allocating a higher amount of small to medium sized sites, rather than large strategic allocations. Additionally, the Planning Practice Guidance identifies the need to consider a range of sites for development, including small scale sites in villages and towns. Furthermore, allocation of smaller sites supports South Cambridgeshire District Council’s wish to support local Small and Medium Enterprises for reasons of the local economy and journeys to work. Our client is pleased that a local building firm is currently carrying out the conversion of the permitted development barns south of the land North of Fenny Lane.

Somewhat flexible

18. Flexibility should be given to the development of jobs and homes on the edges of villages, within sustainable locations. 19. As stated within the Issues and Options document at paragraph 5.2.5, the currently adopted 2018 South Cambridgeshire Local Plan sets a development framework for each village, outside which development is restricted. 20. In addition, villages within the Local Plan 2018 have been categorised according to their ‘sustainability’. Meldreth is categorised as a ‘Group Village’, along with 32 other villages. However, of the 32 group villages, Meldreth is clearly one of the four most sustainable and therefore has the ability to take a suitable quantum of housing growth as part of the emerging Local Plan. It is not considered that Meldreth’s current position in the existing settlement hierarchy reflects its potential to be a sustainable location for growth. 21. Our client encourages the next Local Plan to re-examine the approach currently taken to village growth and explore the re-grouping of village categories and flexibility on the scale of development within newer more specific village groups. Table 1 below shows a list of the villages included within Policy S/10: Group Villages of the South Cambridgeshire Local Plan 2018 and analyses the facilities provided within these villages. 22. It is clear that the villages included within Policy S/10 vary significantly in terms of the services provided. Only three of the villages included have a railway station (Meldreth, Foxton and Shepreth). Therefore, it can be argued that these three villages are significantly more sustainable than those that do not have a station. Of these, Meldreth is the one of the three situated most closely to Melbourn, which is designated as a Minor Rural Centre. There is no school bus from Meldreth to Melbourn Village College because the College is walking distance for Meldreth students. Both Foxton and Shepreth are not within walking distance to a Secondary School. 23. Furthermore, a number of group villages are situated within the Green Belt. Sequentially, in accordance with national policy, Green Belt boundaries should only be altered in exceptional circumstances (NPPF paragraph 136). This should be considered as a key factor when selecting villages for growth as part of the new Local Plan. 24. Meldreth, not only benefits from a train line, with a fast and regular service to Cambridge and Kings Cross, but it is also situated outside of the Green Belt. It also has a number of services, including a public house, primary school, post office and village store, farm shop, village hall and community room, take-away, hairdressers, recreation ground, tennis courts and bowls green. Table 1: Services and Facilities within Group Villages at Policy S/10 of the South Cambridgeshire Local Plan 2018. 25. The Local Plan should be more flexible in particular at focusing development at the edge of the villages contained within Policy S/10 that rank higher in terms of sustainability. It would be our recommendation that a new village group is provided within the Local Plan than encompasses the less sustainable Minor Rural Centres and more sustainable Group Villages and allows for a higher level of development. Villages such as Meldreth, highlighted green within the above table would be recommended for inclusion within such a village group due its location outside the Green Belt and its location being adjacent to Melbourn, its provision of a train station and the availability of a good level of services. These all contribute to Meldreth meriting a higher score in terms of sustainability. 26. Furthermore, the Local Plan should allow for more flexibility in allowing the development of sites that directly abut the development boundary of a village that are within areas of the countryside beyond the Green Belt. 27. The new Local Plan should be more flexible in its approach towards redundant agricultural sites on the edges of towns and villages and should be viewed with the same merits as previously developed land both outside and within the settlement boundary. The sites put forward by our client include ‘Land North of Fenny Lane Farm’ which comprises a redundant agricultural yard with redundant agricultural buildings. The buildings are no longer suitable for modern agricultural practices. It is important to note that redevelopment of the farmyard will not reduce the number of people employed in our client’s farming operation. The site is very well visually enclosed by the existing redundant buildings and development could be implemented without harming the countryside. 28. The New Local Plan should also be more flexible in the housing mix allowed to be allocated beyond the village framework. Current limits on the development of small infill sites in Group villages (fewer than ten dwellings) means that on sites currently allowed, no affordable housing needs to be included as part of the application. Affordable housing delivery is critical to meeting the overall housing demands in South Cambridgeshire. A relaxation of the village framework and of the size of development permitted would lead to policy compliant affordable housing and therefore a healthier housing mix in a sustainable location.

32. Our client strongly supports suitable growth within villages, particularly the villages located in the most sustainable locations. Meldreth is one such of these villages. 33. The focus on growing our villages throughout the District would help sustain existing facilities and infrastructure within them and assist in diversifying their population. In order to help sustain existing facilities and infrastructure within villages, it is key that they are grown by increasing housing numbers and diversifying the housing mix. It is important to ensure that existing businesses within the villages are able to stay open and provide services not only for the village in which they are located, but also for smaller infill Villages, many of which rely on the services within and adjacent to larger settlements. 34. Sustainably located villages such as Meldreth are ideally located and of a size to accommodate a suitable proportion of housing growth. While the opportunities afforded to commuters of Meldreth’s railway station offering travel both to London and to Cambridge (and beyond), it is also key to the prospects of young residents from Meldreth and the surrounding villages who attend sixth form education in Cambridge. Owing to so few of our local secondary schools having sixth forms of their own – and this includes Melbourn Village College – affordable transport for students to study in Cambridge is essential. 35. More importantly, the NPPF (2019) at Paragraph 68 requires, through development plans and brownfield registers, for Local Authorities to accommodate at least 10% of sites of no larger than 1 hectare in size to ensure housing requirements in an area can be met and built-out relatively quickly. Three of the four sites submitted by our client in Meldreth as part of the Call for Sites exercise are under a hectare in size and therefore would meet this requirement. 36. To ensure supply is maintained, local planning authorities are also required to monitor the progress in building out of sites, to comply with the housing delivery test. Currently, the supply of housing in South Cambridgeshire is only marginally above the 5-year requirement (5.05 years – Appeal Reference APP/W0530/W/19/3220761) and the Government’s recently published housing delivery figures for 2019 indicate delivery to be at 95%, which is below the government target. 37. In addition to this, the current Local Plan 2018 for both South Cambridgeshire and Cambridge City includes allocations for two new settlements at Waterbeach and Bourn Airfield as well as the continued development of Northstowe. 38. However, these larger growth sites will only be delivered later on in the plan period and as acknowledged within the Inspectors Report of the South Cambridgeshire Local Plan (2018), there is ‘no requirement for these sites to deliver housing in the early years of the plan period and consequently there will be an opportunity to review progress through the preparation of a joint local plan.’ 39. The Council will also be aware of the recent outcome of the Uttlesford Local Plan Examination, where the Inspector was concerned that an overreliance had been placed on the development of three new garden communities and that insufficient smaller sites had been identified throughout the rural area to ensure that a 5-year supply could be maintained. 40. In recent years, South Cambridgeshire have focused development in larger villages and towns, of Cambridge City. This approach is supported up to a point, but it is critical that medium-sized villages such as Meldreth take some development. In recent years many villages across the Greater Cambridge area have lost vital services, such as shops which have closed, public houses have been converted into residential properties and bus services have been reduced. Meldreth is fortunate in this regard and has maintained a number of its key services and transport options. Now with much improved broadband connectivity and a significant increase in home working and ability to shop online, many of the historic barriers to sustainability in rural areas and villages are now reduced. 41. It is therefore important to enable modest, appropriately-sized extensions to villages so that the remaining services can be supported and to enable much needed new market and affordable housing to be provided.

42. Focusing growth along transport corridors is strongly supported. 43. Focusing homes and jobs along key public transport corridors and around transport hubs extending out from Cambridge could be achieved by focusing growth around the towns and villages located along these routes, particularly those further from Cambridge City Centre and not within the Green Belt. Siting development along these corridors would capitalise on improved connectivity and transport networks that are currently the focus of the Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP). The GCP are developing a number of transport infrastructure projects around the City of Cambridge to ease congestion, make it easier for people to travel and keep the Greater Cambridge area well connected. Such schemes include a proposed South West Travel Hub at Junction 11 of the M11, to further improve park and ride facilities and improve cycle links to the City Centre, and a Travel Hub in Foxton to encourage more people to use public transport and the existing rail service. Both are along the commuting route on the A10 north from Meldreth. The Greenways cycling routes will serve the locality from the centre of Cambridge and plans are also well-progressed for a cycling route from Melbourn to Royston. 44. The proposed Cambridge South Station, will further enhance the sustainability of Meldreth, in that it will provide direct and quick access from Meldreth to Addenbrookes Medical Campus and the sixth form colleges at Long Road. 45. Paragraph 5.3.6 of the Issues and Options document addresses that one of the challenges that may impact the approach to developing along transport corridors, would be that many locations along transport corridors are within the Green Belt, and as such could have implications that fundamentally change the nature of Cambridge. Table 1 shown above, portrays that there are a number of Group Villages including Meldreth which are either not located within the Green Belt or abut the Green Belt to one side. Foxton, Shepreth and Meldreth are villages within the District that are located on the railway line from Cambridge to London and are not located within the Green Belt and are capable of sustaining additional growth.

46. It is our view that S/10 of the South Cambridgeshire Local Plan 2018 is restrictive to enabling development to villages that are considered sustainable with suitable transport links and not within the Green Belt.

47. As stated within the response provided at Question 40 and further to our above response to Question 49, the new Local Plan needs to be more flexible in its approach to the settlement hierarchy. A new village group should be provided and include the less sustainable Minor Rural Centres and more sustainable Group Villages and allow for a higher level of development than is currently allowed in Group Villages.

No choices made

Response to Question 42 29. Our client considers that new development should be located strategically within the District, on sites that are considered to be both sustainable, suitable and deliverable. Therefore, our client believes these options should not be ranked by those most and least preferred and instead should be considered on the merit of their respective location and sustainability. 30. Fundamentally, new development should aim to address problems within the South Cambridgeshire and Cambridge City areas, such as providing for anticipated economic growth, concentrating housing near public transport and reducing congestion and traffic within and around Cambridge City Centre. It is not considered that further major allocations within and on the edge of Cambridge City will address congestion. 31. It is considered that growth should be focused along key transport corridors and within villages that have a train station and are situated outside of the Green Belt. It is also very important that a number of smaller and medium sites are allocated that can be delivered in the short term without the need for substantial infrastructure requirements.

No choices made

Response to Question 7 14. All the big themes are important towards achieving sustainability and our client is reluctant to give greater weight to any one over the other. As the NPPF states, the purpose of the planning system is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development and should ‘meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’.