Greater Cambridge Local Plan Issues & Options 2020
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Results for Mactaggart & Mickel search
New searchAgricultural
N/A
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Greenfield
Mixed use development to include residential, retail, community uses, rural travel hub, employment, public open space and associated infrastructure.
Market and affordable housing; rural travel hub connecting Papworth Everard to Cambourne and beyond; off-road cycle path connecting to Cambourne; community facilities; extensive green infrastructure incl. sports pitches, allotments, areas of play.
1,500 units and Employment uses and floorspaces to be confirmed.
Not Specified.
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Suitable access into the site can be gained from Ermine Street/ the existing roundabout. Please refer to Vision Document (February 2020) https://rapleys.sharefile .com/ds37827bb5c114917a.
Please refer to Vision Document (February 2020) https://rapleys.sharefile .com/ds37827bb5c114917a. 2025: Submission of site masterplan.
The entire site lies within Flood Zone 1. Surface water flooding cross the site and can be accommodated within the masterplan for the site. Please refer to Vision Document (February 2020) https://rapleys.sharefile .com/ds37827bb5c114917a.
Pylons traverse the far northern part of the site and can be retained in situ within the green infrastructure proposals. Please refer to Vision Document (February 2020) https://rapleys.sharefile .com/ds37827bb5c114917a.
Pylons traverse the far northern part of the site and can be retained in situ within the green infrastructure proposals. Please refer to Vision Document (February 2020) https://rapleys.sharefile .com/ds37827bb5c114917a.
Site is controlled by Mactaggart and Mickel Homes (homebuilder and land promoter) under a promotion agreement.
The site is adjacent to a popular settlement and is within a strong housing market area. Site is located along strategic growth corridor and is suitable for development. Site has a promotion agreement.
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2022-23
2027
4-5 Years
N/A
While the Localism Act places a duty on public bodies to co-operate on planning issues across boundaries, it is also important that the Greater Cambridge authorities engage in open, positive and proactive discussions with all relevant stakeholders and parties that have land and other strategic interests within the plan-area that will have a material role to play in meeting Planned objectives. This includes engagement that goes beyond the boundaries of Regulation 18 and 19 consultations. M&M supports the ethos of open and proactive engagement and welcome the opportunity to engage with the authorities and stakeholders throughout the plan preparation process. More intense and creative engagement at this early stage will facilitate proper analysis of all issues and opportunities that will shape the spatial strategy in the next plan period.
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The NPPF (2019) states that strategic policies should look ahead over a minimum 15-year period from adoption (paragraph 22). The NPPF also distinguishes between ‘strategic’ and ‘local’ policies. In doing so it confirms, at paragraph 20, that strategic policies should set out an overall strategy for the pattern, scale and quality of development, and make sufficient provision for housing; employment; retail and leisure; infrastructure; community facilities and conservation and enhancement of the natural, built and historic environment. In the interests of a comprehensive, sustainable and long term approach to plan-making (supported by the plan led system) there are compelling reasons to extend the GCLP Plan period to 2050; to align with the growth period envisaged by the Oxford-Cambridge Arc; and to secure a step change in infrastructure delivery. The NPPF (paragraph 33) requires policies in local plans to be reviewed at least once every five years to assess whether they need updating. An important component of the review process is to consider changing circumstances affecting the area, or any relevant changes in national policy. In the interests of keeping the plan up to date, the review process should be proportionate, and focused tightly on supporting and justifying the policies concerned. The authorities should not rely on the five-year plan review to deliver the fundamental strategic objectives of the Arc in the period to 2050. This principal issue should be addressed and examined fully now as part of a comprehensive process to facilitate the necessary step change in long-term strategic planning that will help to transform the way in which Greater Cambridge functions and secure a long-terms sustainable development strategy for the sub-region. Regarding the Local Plan start date, the PPG makes clear that strategic plan-making authorities will need to calculate their local housing need figure at the start of the plan-making process. This Issues and Options consultation marks the beginning of the Local Plan process and thus it follows that the plan period should also start in 2020.
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The five cross boundary issues highlighted within the consultation document are supported in principle; however, economic growth, employment and jobs should be added to reflect the overarching objectives for the Oxford-Cambridge Arc. Delivery of new homes and infrastructure; and in particular transport and social infrastructure, will be critical in achieving the wider objectives and priorities of Government, the Combined Authority and the Greater Cambridge authorities. When assessing housing need, it is important that the needs of all communities are considered and addressed; including particularly those in need of affordable housing; those wishing to access the housing market for the first time; those wishing to rent; and the provision of homes for an ageing population. It is noted that the various Local Plans and strategies informing the future direction of growth and investment across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough are at different stages of preparation. There is a risk, therefore, that the wider strategic objectives for the entire area, encompassing the Combined Authority, will not be achieved as a consequence of disjointed plan-making. For example, as matters stand the Local Transport Plan is being prepared in advance of the Non-Statutory Spatial Framework and the constituent Local Plans, meaning that transport infrastructure for strategic housing and economic growth is not being planned for or prioritised in a coordinated way. The strategies for growth across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough must be approached in a comprehensive fashion and with an open mind to ensure that all possible growth scenarios can be explored, tested and developed to achieve (or indeed exceed) the ambitious strategic housing and economic growth ambitions for that Arc envisaged by Government.
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Consistent with the NPPF, the bedrock for the Local Plan should be the three strands of sustainable development: an economic objective; a social objective and an environmental objective. The three aspects must be balanced to ensure that sustainable development is truly achieved. In the context of the Oxford-Cambridge Arc, the ‘Big Themes’ should focus on the new homes, jobs, transport and infrastructure required to achieve the significant growth ambitions envisaged for Greater Cambridge. The consultation document states that the Big Themes will influence how homes, jobs and infrastructure are planned, and draw on the feedback received from Councillors, communities and businesses. However, the purpose of the ‘Big Themes’ and how they will influence the spatial strategy, and resulting distribution of new homes, jobs and infrastructure has not been clarified. The Big Themes as drafted focus heavily on the environmental and social objectives without balancing the key economic objectives that will inevitably drive where and how much development should be planned for. While the environmental and social themes set out are important considerations in plan-making, the importance of identifying enough new homes, jobs, transport and infrastructure in the right places should be accounted for.
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RESPONSE TO QUESTION 7 - For the reasons described in M&M’s response to Question 6, the Big Themes cannot be ranked at this stage as they do not properly reflect all strands of sustainable development.
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The preparation of the Local Plan provides a platform to deliver a positive vision for the future of Greater Cambridge and a framework for addressing housing needs and other economic, social and environmental priorities in a sustainable way. M&M is fully cognisant of the challenge that faces existing and future generations in the battle against climate change; and understands the imperative to deliver solutions that safeguard the environment for future generations. Important in this regard is the need to look forward, to think laterally and creatively, and to encourage flexibility and innovation in future living, working and commuting patterns. In order to help achieve the Councils’ carbon targets by 2050 the Local Plan Spatial Strategy should focus on delivering new homes and jobs along strategic infrastructure corridors, building on and utilising to its full potential the significant investment that will be made to deliver sustainable modes of transport. The Local Plan should encourage active travel by locating development in close proximity to the new sustainable transport networks that will be delivered, enabling people of all ages and backgrounds to embrace the wide range of sustainable transport methods available to them. The creation of a network of cycle, pedestrian and public transport corridors and development that facilitates the use of new technologies will help to deliver the Councils’ wider climate objectives. The spatial strategy should not focus only on ensuring that large-scale planned new communities are made sustainable, there should also be a drive to improve the accessibility and sustainability of existing settlements that may not currently benefit from the availability of easily accessible sustainable connections to the urban areas. Opportunities to improve the accessibility and sustainability of Greater Cambridge’s more rural communities through the delivery of development and new infrastructure will necessarily be an important factor in achieving the Councils’ carbon targets. In an area with a large rural population spread across a hierarchy of settlements the strategy should not lose sight of the fact that to be effective a comprehensive sustainable development strategy must be wide ranging and all encompassing. Accordingly development that can fund sustainable travel improvements within the rural localities should not be overlooked.. Important in this regard is the need to ensure that existing villages and settlements within South Cambridgeshire are not sidelined and that the Local Plan policies are framed positively to help support existing as well as future communities. While the economic vision for the Oxford to Cambridge Arc extends to 2050 it is important to not dismiss the importance of delivering sustainable new hew homes, jobs, and infrastructure in the short term: Ensuring the right number of homes throughout the plan period are available. The standard of homes, both new and existing, will also be a contributing factor. The emergence of the Government’s New Homes Standard will see a step change in the way that new homes are designed and operated without reliance on traditional fossil fuel heating systems. New development that further embeds sustainability, for example through the incorporation of electric charging facilities, should also be encouraged – where those facilities can also benefit existing households. The proposed Rural Travel Hub on Crow’s Nest Farm is intended to deliver this objective - providing a place where people living in Papworth Everard can pick up public transport services, use a car club vehicle (electric), charge electric vehicles or have access to an ebike. Consultation with key stakeholders and the development industry via the Local Plan (and other Council strategies) is crucial to secure a joined up and coordinated approach to new development across Greater Cambridge. This should be implemented without delay to ensure that the Council’s overarching objective to tackle climate change can be put in to practice as soon as possible. M&M welcome the opportunity to engage with the Councils and their partners in the preparation of this Local Plan, and to input to the actions proposed to address Climate Change. Crucial in this regard is the identification of deliverable solutions that can be embedded into the local policies and objectives taken forward by the Councils. While the Local Plan policies should be aspirational, technical considerations and viability must not be overlooked. Testing of evidence, both in terms of viability and deliverability, should be begin at an early stage and refreshed throughout the Local Plan preparation to ensure that the Spatial Strategy is not undermined.
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The NPPF, paragraph 149, states that Plans should take a proactive approach to mitigating and adapting to climate change, considering the long-term implications for flood risk, coastal change, water supply, biodiversity and landscapes, and the risk of overheating from rising temperatures. Policies should support appropriate measures to ensure the future resilience of communities and infrastructure to climate change impacts, such as providing space for physical protection measures, or making provision for the possible future relocation of vulnerable development and infrastructure. Paragraph 150 of the NPPF states that local requirements for the sustainability of buildings should reflect the Government’s policy for national technical standards. The effect of the March 2015 Written Ministerial Statement (and Deregulation Act in 2015) was such that Local Plans could not require new dwellings to comply with energy efficiency standards exceeding those in building regulations. The Government’s Future Homes Standard will set the benchmark for minimum environmental standards for all new housing, including a commitment to removing traditional fossil fuel heating systems, from 2025. The Government’s recent National Design Guide (2019) (NDG) also sets out guidance that encourages design that responds to the impacts of climate change: including measures to achieve: mitigation, primarily by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and minimising embodied energy; and adaptation to anticipated events, such as rising temperatures and the increasing risk of flooding. The NDG sets out the energy hierarchy as follows: 1. Reducing the need for energy; 2. Energy efficiency; 3. Maximising the potential for energy supply from decentralised, low carbon and renewable energy sources, including community-led initiatives; and then 4. Efficiently using fossil fuels from clean technologies. While additional measures to achieve extra climate adaptation and resilience are no doubt aspirational, national standards do not ‘require’ extra climate adaptation and resilience features to be incorporated into new developments. Each development should be considered on its own merits, having full regard to all environmental, social and economic factors that influence their deliverability; and the energy hierarchy outlined above. It should also be recognised that extra climate adaptation and resilience features are only a component of a much wider pool of initiatives that can be used to adapt to a low or zero carbon future. A step change in the way that people travel and live their lives will, for example, be a significant factor in achieving future carbon targets. As is the case for all Local Plan policies, the importance of viability should not be overlooked. Before embarking on restrictive policy requirements of any kind the Councils should first ensure that such features have been tested robustly, are deliverable, and do not prevent the delivery of sustainable development.
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