Greater Cambridge Local Plan Issues & Options 2020

Land South of Shelford Road, Fulbourn, Cambridge, CB21 5HJ

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To deliver the transformational growth required, the two authorities should be planning for a much greater need than the minimum figure of 40,900 generated by the standard method. As correctly identified by the two authorities in the Issues and Options Consultation Document, the standard method makes no attempt to predict the impact of changing economic circumstances

The first growth option presented above seeks to maximise development in the urban area and the villages inset from the Green Belt. As was demonstrated by the evidence prepared to support the South Cambridgeshire and Cambridge City adopted Local Plans, there is not sufficient land available to meet all the future needs of the areas within existing urban areas. It is clear, based on the Council’s own evidence base, that Option 1 alone will not deliver the level of housing required to meet the needs of the Greater Cambridge Area. Whilst the Council should be seeking to maximise opportunities for delivering housing within existing settlements this should be balanced against the need to protect the authorities existing employments sites and designated open spaces. For these reasons we do not consider that a strategy based solely on Option 1 (Densification of existing urban areas) would be consistent with paragraph 11 of National Planning Policy Framework.

The second growth option proposes using land on the edge of Green Belt not in the green belt. However the only large site on the edge of Cambridge not in the Green Belt is Cambridge Airport. Previous plans had allocated the Airport and other land to the north and south for a major new urban quarter of 10-12,000 new homes and a strategic scale of jobs. When the Councils were preparing the adopted 2018 Local Plans Marshall advised that it had not secured an alternative site and the land would not be available until at least 2031. In May 2019, the Marshall Group announced that it intends to relocate and has identified three possible options (Cranfield, Duxford and Wyton). As is the case with Option 1, a strategy based on Option 2 alone would not deliver all of the authorities’ additional housing requirements. Indeed Marshalls have confirmed that the Cambridge Airport Site would not be available until at least 2031. Given the uncertainties associated with the relocation of Marshalls operations we do not consider that Option 2 would provide the Councils’ with the scope to identify a sufficient supply of deliverable sites to meet the housing requirements over the next 10 years and beyond

The third growth option would create new homes and jobs in extensions on the edge of Cambridge, involving release of land from the Green Belt. With the exception of Marshalls Airport which is not within the Green Belt, the Cambridge Green Belt surrounds Cambridge and incorporates many of South Cambridgeshire’s larger and most sustainable villages, including Fulbourn. 3.7 In sustainability terms there are significant advantages with locating development around the larger villages such as Fulbourn, which are within a relatively short distance of Cambridge City Centre. In comparison to more remote villages outside of the Green Belt, settlements such as Fulbourn are well served by transport infrastructure, including dedicated cycle routes into the City Centre and Cambridge Biomedical Campus, including Addenbrooke’s Hospital. 3.8 As illustrated by the Preliminary Landscape and Visual Appraisal prepared by Pegasus the visibility of the Site, situated on the southern edge of Fulbourn is limited by the adjoining settlement edge, existing landform and established landscape framework of vegetation associated with the agricultural land. In the local landscape context, the site does not extend further west, east or south than the existing settlement pattern, effectively containing any perception of spread that might otherwise arise from development on the Site. A copy of the Preliminary Landscape and Visual Appraisal is provided at Appendix 4 to this Report. 3.9 In terms of visual receptors views of the Site (and potential development) tend to be limited to locations to the east and south/south-east (largely from Cambridge Road and/or Babraham Road) and from these locations will be set against the existing prominent residential edge, consequently minimising perception of the scale of change or addition to the settlement pattern. 3.10 As set out at Section 4 of the Preliminary Landscape and Visual Appraisal there are opportunities for increasing green infrastructure through improved management and diversification of existing hedgerows as well as creating new hedgerows with hedgerow trees. It is considered that, with an appropriate approach to mitigation and the implementation of a robust landscape and green infrastructure strategy, a residentially led masterplan for the wider site area will be physically contained and show clear defensible boundaries. Green infrastructure and open space as part of the proposals can also complement the existing pattern and scale of the local landscape and present an appropriate transition to the wider landscape and that development at this location would be considered acceptable in landscape and visual terms. 3.11 In addition to the landscape considerations set out above, the site is in a highly sustainable location on the main cross road linking the settlements of Fulbourn, Cambridge and Great Shelford. 3.12 Under Policy ST/4 of the previously adopted Core Strategy (January 2007) Fulbourn was identified as a ‘Rural Centre’, by virtue of its superior range of facilities and excellent public transport services to Cambridge. In terms of local amenities there are a number of shops located within a 5 minute walk of the site on School Road including; Cooperative convenience store and Post Office, takeaway restaurant, butchers, beauticians, clothes shop, and a green grocers. There is a further range of services within walking distance of the site including Fulbourn Primary School, Village Library, Community Centre and Health Centre. The Site is also within walking distance of existing bus stops on Cambridge Road, which provides direct services (Citi 1 and Citi 3) to the major local employment destinations such as Capitol Park, ARM, Addenbrookes and the city centre. They also provide routes to Cambridge Station, retail destinations such as Tesco’s and Cambridge. 3.13 In contrast to alternative growth options north of Fulbourn, the Site provides direct access onto Cambridge Road. As a result vehicles travelling towards Cambridge from the Site can avoid passing through the historic core of the village, close to the main services and facilities. From an environmental perspective, the Site will not only minimise additional transport movements through the village centre, but will promote sustainable modes of travel by virtue of its proximity to existing bus stops and dedicated cycle routes. Therefore sequentially the Site is considered the most favourable location for a sustainable extension to Fulbourn. 3.14 Beyond the main urban area of Cambridge, the larger villages within the Green Belt including Fulbourn are the most sustainable settlements with the widest range of services and amenities. For these reasons, Wallace is strongly supportive of Growth Option 3, which offers SCDC and CCC the most flexibility to meet the authorities’ housing requirements, whilst seeking to minimise potential impacts on the environment. 3.15 Similarly to the current spatial strategy in the adopted South Cambridgeshire Local Plan (2018), the fourth growth option seeks to establish a whole new town or village, providing homes, jobs and supporting infrastructure in a new location. Since the NPPF was published in 2012 SCDC has struggled to demonstrate a five year housing land supply. This issue is related to the adoption of a spatial strategy which is significantly reliant on new settlements such as Northstowe to deliver a significant proportion of the Districts housing requirement in the current plan period from 2011 - 2031. 3.16 Between 2011 and 2018 (the first eight years of the plan period for the new South Cambridgeshire Local Plan, adopted in September 2018), the most up to date five year position statement (November 2019) states that 5,866 net additional dwellings have been completed. The average annual delivery rate of 975 dwellings a year has only been achieved once in the plan period (that started in 2011). 3.17 In the last monitoring year (2018-2019), 1,152 net additional dwellings were completed in SCDC. This is an increase compared to the previous monitoring years. Over the previous ten monitoring years, annual net housing completions had been consistently around 600-700 dwellings, except for 2014-2015 in which 867 dwellings were completed. This level of housing completions partly reflects the slowdown in the housing market, but also the significant delays in regards to the delivery of housing at Northstowe. 3.18 Whilst the delivery rate in SCDC increased in the last monitoring year to 1,152 dwellings, a significant proportion of new dwellings completed over the last two monitoring years were not from the large strategic sites such as Northstowe but continued to be on sites outside of development frameworks including on two appeal sites at Waterbeach and on a site on the edge of Great Abington. 3.19 The latest Government announcement on the preferred railway route between Bedford and Cambridge brings key opportunities to plan for large strategic growth, in particular along the A428 corridor. However, given the likely lead in times involved with consenting and building a new railway, the authorities need to ensure that the emerging spatial strategy is not too heavily weighted in favour of Option 4 (New Settlements) but rather builds in sufficient flexibility, including small to medium sized sites around the Rural and Minor Rural Centres that can deliver in the short and medium term

In summary it is expected that the proposed spatial strategy will be an amalgamation of all of the options. However for the reasons stated above, Wallace strongly urges the Councils not to weight the spatial strategy too heavily in favour of the fourth growth option (creation of new settlements). Wallace does not object in principle to the inclusion of a new settlement as part of the development strategy. However, it should also be recognised that due to the significant infrastructure requirements and lead in times associated with new settlements and strategic sites, it is critical that a range of smaller and medium sized sites, such as land off Shelford Road, Fulbourn, are brought into the spatial mix of the Plan.