Greater Cambridge Local Plan Issues & Options 2020

It is considered that the growth of villages must be part of the development strategy for emerging GCLP, and there is national guidance that supports this approach. Paragraph 78 of the NPPF seeks to promote sustainable development in rural areas and acknowledges that housing can enhance or maintain the vitality of rural communities and support local services. The promoted development at land at Beach Road in Cottenham would support the existing services and facilities in the village. Paragraph 68 acknowledges the role that small and medium sized sites can make towards meeting the housing requirements, and that such sites are often built-out relatively quickly. Small and medium sized sites typically only require limited new physical infrastructure and amendments to the access arrangements. The housing monitoring data from Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire confirms that small and medium sites are delivered quickly i.e. within two to three years. It is considered that small and medium sized sites make a significant contribution towards the short term housing land supply and the five year housing land supply position in Greater Cambridgeshire. Therefore, it is requested that small sized sites such as the land at Beach Road in Cottenham is allocated to meet the requirement for a mix of sites including small sized sites that are easily deliverable. Paragraph 102 of the NPPF expects transport issues to be considered at the earliest stages of plan-making. Those issues include opportunities created by existing or proposed transport infrastructure in terms of the scale, location and density of development, and opportunities to promote walking, cycling and public transport use. Paragraph 103 expects significant development to be focused on locations which are or can be made sustainable. As set out in the response to Qu.37, the promoted development at land at Beach Road in Cottenham would be accessible by walking, cycling and public transport to the services and facilities within the village. Cottenham is connected to Cambridge by frequent bus services. There is a shared use path between Cottenham and Histon. As set out in the call for sites submissions, there are no significant constraints to development at Beach Road in Cottenham. The site is not in the Green Belt. The site is within Flood Zone 1 which means it has a low probability of flooding, and the promoted development would include an appropriate drainage strategy to manage surface water drainage. The site is not located within the setting of any listed buildings or scheduled ancient monuments and is not within a designated conservation area. The Ecological Appraisal of the site demonstrated that the site is not sensitive in terms of protected habitats or species, and the promoted development would provide ecological enhancements that would ensure that a biodiversity net gain would be delivered. A Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment has been prepared for the site, which demonstrated that development can be integrated onto the site at this location and is supported from a landscape and visual perspective. Additional planting in the form of trees and hedging has been introduced along the site boundaries to provide further enclosure and to integrate the proposals into the surroundings. Any views of any future development would therefore be highly localised to the immediate setting of Beach Road and Long Drove.

No choices made

It is considered that in reality the development strategy for emerging GCLP will be based on a combination of spatial distribution options, including development at the more sustainable villages. The scale of development that occurs at individual villages will depend on the level of services and facilities. Cottenham is an example of a settlement that could accommodate additional development, as explained in the call for sites submission.