Greater Cambridge Local Plan Issues & Options 2020

No choices made

Savills (UK) Ltd are instructed by Dean & Dean to make representations to the current Issues and Options consultation stage of the new Greater Cambridge Local Plan. Dean & Dean have land interests in and around the city and consequently feel it is important to make their necessary representations to guide and shape the future planning policies and proposals that will emerge with the new Local Plan covering both administrative area. It is the case that where development should go within the new Greater Cambridge area is a key theme for the Local Plan review. The benefit of a single Local Plan covering both administrative areas of South Cambridgeshire and Cambridge City is that there should be greater flexibility across two areas for any chosen approach and the emergence of a vision which sets aside Local Government boundaries and political differences to ensure that there is a comprehensive planning strategy for the Greater Cambridge area. Certainly it has been the case that there has been a mix of adopted planning strategies for Local Plans for both local authorities over the last 30 years or so. The first Local Plans sought to stimulate growth particularly to the north of the County and to the west and to other more distant towns in particularly those towards the Fens. The intention was to provide a catalyst for growth and to stimulate investment in other more remote locations other than Cambridge. However those policies did not perform as well as anticipated having regard to the growing influence of Cambridge in terms of where people want to live and work, the values of land elsewhere and the increasing commuting patterns that emerged as a result, partly because of affordability and the lack of alternative modes of traffic other than the private motor car which pushed people further away from their place of work. The strategies of dispersal then gave way to a more sustainable approach of recognising that Cambridge would continue to be a focus for development and accordingly large strategic sites on the edge of Cambridge and within the Green Belt where removed from that policy designation and became the focus for a mix of development which continues to perform an important function in accommodating new growth. The strategic allocations now at Bourn Airfield, north of Waterbeach as well as future developments at Marshalls and at North-East Cambridge remain commitments on existing plans and there is no doubt that such areas will continue to accommodate growth over the next plan period up to 2040. The issue is of course what scale of development would be needed over and above these existing commitments. Indeed, there will no doubt be questions about the delivery of developments on such a scale and the need for smaller settlements to address their own local issues in terms of providing housing in the village and sustaining the very services and facilities that characterise those settlements. Recognising that there are a range of options that can form part of any development strategy it is our client’s view that a blended strategy which looks at all of the various options for accommodating growth in and around the City will be one that should emerge within the plan period. Clearly the use of brownfield sites in highly sustainable locations such as Cambridge City will remain the most sustainable locations for growth. However, there is clearly a finite number of sites that the City can bring forward to accommodate growth and thus any new strategy will need to look at new greenfield sites on the basis of a higher growth figure being identified within the Local Plan. As part of any strategy it will be necessary to review in a comprehensive manner the inner and outer boundaries of the Green Belt in the event that strategic land releases can come forward on the edge of the urban area. Whilst it is the case that some villages within the Green Belt may have potential for growth, it is those villages outside Green Belt that should also be a focus for new growth and on land which has little environment impact in the event of much new residential development needing to come forward. It is certainly the case that the villages around the City within South Cambridgeshire have played a very important role in accommodating new development and it is considered that they will continue to do so in the next plan period. Villages with a relatively level of good service and facility base should be considered for develop and in this context our clients have made representations at the relevant Call for Sites Consultation period back in 2019 to promote land on the south side of High Street, Balsham. This village lies beyond the outer boundary of the Green Belt and has a good level of services and facilities which need sustaining. In the circumstances where new residential sites are needing to be found at a scale that are commensurate with village size and scale then our clients land interest in Balsham is entirely appropriate in such a context. Thus a strategy which necessarily has to look at the contribution that villages make to accommodating development within the Greater Cambridge area is vitally important and acknowledges the roles that such settlements play within the rural hinterland. It remains important for all of the villages within South Cambridgeshire to be “sustainable” and if this mean bringing forward new housing locations in settlements such a Balsham which provide new market and affordable housing as well as the potential to assisting in the retention and growth of local services and facilities then this must be considered a key part of a sustainability agenda for a new Local Plan.