Draft North East Cambridge Area Action Plan

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the North East Cambridge Area Action Plan as the Local Transport Authority. We agree that the AAP is right to identify the significant risks to the transport network if the North East Cambridge Development were to generate extra car trips, and therefore to aim not to increase traffic levels on the Milton or King’s Hedges Roads. We note that the proposed policies to manage this risk include the following: i. provision of walking and cycling infrastructure, including connectivity though new bridges and underpasses; ii. provision of innovative public transport, including MRT/MAAS models and safeguarding land for a CAM stop and portal iii. a car trip budget that requires existing developments on the site and elsewhere to reduce car use from current levels in absolute terms iv. parking standards within the AAP area that would potentially allow up to 4,000 spaces for residents’ cars v. measures to deter car use including the avoidance of through routes and speed restrictions vi. last mile delivery options. Overall, these ambitions are consistent with the Local Transport Plan’s aim of promoting attractive alternatives to private car use in order to reduce congestion and contribute to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. The measures to achieve the AAP’s aims are, however, described in very general terms. In particular, it is not yet clear: a) what the measures to reduce car use by existing businesses and residents, including those outside the AAP area, would be and therefore how likely they are to be effective; b) how the proposed infrastructure and public transport provision would be funded; c) what the degree of confidence in achieving the trip budget is; and d) what contingencies would need to be built into the eventual development consent for the AAP area if the trip budget were to go off trajectory once development had begun. Clearly, if the aim of keeping to zero the net traffic impact on the Milton and Kings Hedges Roads is not met, wider LTP objectives for congestion in Cambridge, and the road network, particularly around the Milton Roundabout and the A10, may be called into question. The Combined Authority also has a statutory responsibility for planning, and subsidising where appropriate, public transport to serve the AAP area. We would therefore be grateful if the Greater Cambridge Planning Service would engage with the Combined Authority to explore these issues further as the AAP is further developed.