Greater Cambridge Local Plan Issues & Options 2020

Agree

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 our client strongly supports the need for a new Greater Cambridge Local Plan covering the districts of South Cambridgeshire and Cambridge City. For a number of years, there were clear political differences between the two authorities and the presence of an administrative boundary tightly drawn around the edge of Cambridge meant that the planning policies guiding the growth of the urban area were effectively controlled by another authority in terms of peripheral growth. The move to create one Local Plan for the urban area and the rural area surrounding it makes common sense in the circumstances where the character of home, work and commuting have no relevance to local authority boundaries . The whole geographical area operates as one unit and is entirely appropriate that planning policies are formulated to address a development strategy that copes with growth in and out of the city. The need for a new Local Plan in any case is set out within the 2018 Local Plans for both the City and the district and places the onus on them to provide a Submission version of the plan by summer 2022. A Call for Sites consultation period was undertaken in 2019 to which our clients made submissions in terms of promoting land south of High Street in Balsham. We hope the Council will be in a position to critically analyse all of the submissions with regards to setting out a framework for a new development strategy to cope with growth in and around the Cambridge area. In terms of the end date of the Local Plan, the combined authorities non-spatial strategy end date is for 2050 which is some 30 years from now and where in our view, significant changes to national and planning policies are bound to have taken place which will affect significant parts of any new spatial strategy. Certainly the experiences of planning in and around the Cambridge area which have moved from policies of dispersal in the early 1990’s to ones of more sustainable concentration on the edge of Cambridge and removal of the Green Belt reflects the changing needs, demands and circumstances which have fluctuated in a much shorter period of time. Consequently there is concern that moving the Local Plan period out to 2050 provides no realistic strategic direction having regard to these external factors. Consequently, we support an end date of 2040 which is consistent with National Planning Policy which states that development plans should look ahead at least 15 years from the point of adoption.

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. In the circumstances where Cambridge City Council, South Cambridgeshire District Council and the County Council are committed to achieve net zero carbon by 2050 then it is essential that policies are put in place within any new Local Plan to seek to meet this target. It is accepted that new zero carbon by this 2050 is a challenging target and consequently policies within any new Local Plan will only be part of a wider local/national and international strategy to address the impact of climate change. In the circumstances where the Councils are committed to achieving net zero carbon adjective, then one of the key issues that can affect climate change is the process of movement and the means by which people move in and around the Greater Cambridge area. Consequently, the development strategy that will emerge, together with an infrastructural programme that can come forward as part of any strategy, will significantly influence patterns of movement. At another level, changes to building regulations and other planning policy approaches to achieve net zero carbon are likely to form part of any new Local Plan strategy and consequently it is important that clear objectives are set out from the outset given the implications for design changes and the costs of development in circumstances where the environmental costs of meeting climate remain challenging and which continues to affect the development industry in the short-term.

Yes, strongly agree

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. One of the key functions of a new Local Plan for the Greater Cambridge area is to identify the number of new homes required in the area over the plan period, identify an appropriate strategy for locating those homes and identify specific locations for new residential development. Recent changes to National Planning Policy include a new way of calculating the number of homes needed to meet the needs of the area (the “Standard Method”) which serves to identify a minimum figure within the Local Plan. It is the case that current work indicates a need for some 40,900 homes for the suggested plan period of 2017-2040 but it is clear that such information and data would need to be updated as time moves forward but it is certainly the case that by the time a Submission version of a new local plan is prepared then the Councils will have had to agree to an appropriate figure to be inserted into the plan. One of the weaknesses and current criticisms of the “Standard Method” is that it does not aim to predict changing economic circumstances or other external factors and thus it remains only aa starting point for Local Plan projections. Certainly there is a vision within National Planning Policy Guidance which allows local planning authorities to make provision for more homes that the Standard Method produced figures and we would certainly advocate this position being taken by the local planning authorities as it relates to the new Greater Cambridge Local Plan. This is certainly the case when Cambridge continues to be an area for growth. It more than punches its weight within the national economy and the success of job growth, investment and a high standard of living are all characteristics of an area that has an enviable track record of having the capability to grow and attract new investment, jobs and people. Clearly, there will continue to be challenges for new growth since it is imperative that the very attributes that Cambridge can demonstrate in terms of living and working in the area are the same attributes that it needs to protect when assimilating significant new growth - when significant areas of new growth particularly on the edge of the Cambridge urban area have been taken out of the Green Belt for new strategic development, it is our view that this has not harmed the environmental qualities that Cambridge continues to possess i.e. at attractive historic core with easy access to the surrounding landscape from the built up areas in and around Cambridge. The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Independent Economic Review (CPIER) has identified a vision of doubling the total economic input of the combined authority area over a 25 period. In the circumstances where all of the relevant Councils have signed up to the devolution deal to create the Combined Authority then they have also committed themselves to promoting policies which supports this level of economic growth. It follows that such economic growth places great weight on the needs and requirements for a new housing market and consequently the CPIER now looks at an indicative total of 66,700 homes in the plan period from 2017-2040. The implications of looking at the higher figure for the time period in Greater Cambridge means that effectively the identification of a further 30,000 homes coming forward. It remains the case that Cambridge must adapt and change to growth in the circumstances where the City provides a focus for new investment whilst remaining a significantly attractive place to live and work. Consequently we support higher growth figures on the basis for the need to supply a range of new housing to cope perceived economic growth that is anticipated up to 2040 and the commitments that Local Authorities have already made in terms of the local and national economies and where Cambridge remains an important and vital component part.