Greater Cambridge Local Plan Issues & Options 2020

Nothing chosen

Savills (UK) Limited act on behalf of TTP Group Plc in respect of their land interests in and around Melbourn within South Cambridgeshire and consider it entirely appropriate to be responding to the Council’s current Issues and Options Consultation in the form of “The First Conversation”. In terms of the response to the above question, there is no doubt that Cambridge continues to make a significant contribution to the national economy. Indeed it is fair to say that the City and surrounding area is synonymous with the focus on high technology sector with the University and many of the spin out companies becoming world leaders in innovation. It is entirely appropriate that the very attributes and credentials for growth that Cambridge can display and foster, are the same characteristics that form a platform for the Greater Cambridge area to exploit and focus upon in terms of accelerated economic growth. Indeed it is the case that the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Independent Economic Review (CPIER) reported in 2018 that recent employment growth had been faster than previously forecast and they have considered future scenarios that suggest a doubling of the economic growth over the next 25 years. The consequence of such growth and its impact on the Greater Cambridge area should not be underestimated and clearly such significant growth in one sector needs commensurate growth in the other i.e. new housing, including affordable and accessible housing for people to rent and buy. Any local plan for the Greater Cambridge area must accordingly plan for significant economic growth and investment. The Plan must importantly ensure that growth comes forward in parallel with the appropriate infrastructure to ensure that the very real benefits associated with economic wealth are not diluted by problems of accessibility, cost and efficiency. Such new grown will necessarily be a mix of new investment coming into the area through new companies and firms moving into the Greater Cambridgeshire area as well as the expansion of existing successful companies and groups such as TTP Group Plc. The investment that TTP have made into the Melbourn Science Park is substantial and the real benefits accruing from such investment not only extend to the employees of the business but importantly also to the village, its residents and visitors. For example the granting of the extension to the Melbourn Science Park by some 100,000 sq ft has generated a substantial amount of money to be put into Melbourn Hub in the village which reflects the very real well established relationship that the company has developed over many years with the local area. In the context of TTP and a strategy of investing in the expansion of its businesses, it is entirely appropriate that policies within the new Local Plan should provide the necessary flexibility to allow firms and organisations to expand their businesses whether these are within the urban area, in the villages or in the countryside. The test is whether the development proposals for expansion can address the necessary development management policies and in such a context, the presumption should be in the favour of expansion proposals having regard to the Council’s agenda for economic growth within the plan period. TTP play a major role within the local economy in Greater Cambridge. Their commitment and investment to local businesses and the resulting relationship with local people is at the cornerstone of the business and it is entirely appropriate that local planning authorities to continue to support proposals for economic growth on the basis that all planning considerations for local, expansion of businesses can be satisfactorily addressed.