10. Infrastructure and Delivery
INFRASTRUCTURE
10.1 The CNFE area will continue to provide major infrastructure serving the Greater Cambridge area, with the proposed new railway station, relocation of the aggregates rail head, and three of the four spatial options see the Water Recycling Centre remain in the area.
10.2 The options all propose considerable amounts of new development that will create additional demands for physical and social infrastructure. The delivery of new or improved infrastructure and services to support the new development will be an important element in ensuring the appropriate and sustainable implementation of the AAP.
10.3 It will also be important to ensure that infrastructure is available when it is needed, to safeguard against adverse impacts and meet the needs of new workers, residents and those travelling through the area.
10.4 To facilitate the redevelopment, the AAP will provide guidance on infrastructure needed to support the area. It will also require further work to support planning applications, where work is more appropriately tailored to specific development proposals.
10.5 Infrastructure provision will be funded through a number of sources. When planning permission is granted for new development, the Councils can secure contributions from developers towards a range of infrastructure, for example, school places, affordable housing and open spaces. Infrastructure funded by the development industry will occur either through legal agreements known as ‘planning obligations’ or the emerging Community Infrastructure Levy, a tariff-based charge. Other sources of funding, such as the Councils’ capital programmes, service providers’ investment programmes, and Government grants, will also be important.
(10) Question 46
Do you support or object to the Councils’ views on Infrastructure, and why?
DELIVERY
10.6 The delivery of regeneration of the CNFE area will be complex due to the variety and nature of uses and there being a number of different landowners and lease arrangements. The Greater Cambridge Councils have a history of partnership working. Regeneration within CNFE will require a highly co-ordinated, pro-active and consistent effort by the Councils working closely with landowners and development promoters to bring forward this area successfully. In addition, substantial investment will be required from private sector partners and the public sector.
10.7 Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council are preparing the AAP in their capacity as planning authorities and Cambridgeshire County Council is assisting the process as a key stakeholder.
10.8 Cambridge City Council also owns significant parts of the area, as well as having regeneration and community development roles. The roles of planning authority and landowner are quite separate.
10.9 The CNFE area is in multiple ownerships and is unlikely to come forward as one phase. It will therefore need to be developed in a series of phases, potentially in the short, medium, and longer term.
10.10 The AAP will need to address the challenge of securing the delivery and benefits of the full preferred option whilst allowing early phases of the development, particularly to provide a vibrant area around the gateway to Cambridge provided by the proposed new railway station, which is due to open in 2016. This will need to ensure that early phases of development that may be easier to deliver do not take disproportionate values out of the area. The development framework/masterplan will need to be accompanied by a comprehensive Implementation and Phasing Strategy covering the whole CNFE area.
PHASING AND DELIVERY APPROACH:
PROPOSED OPTIONS:
Option A - The AAP will provide a sufficiently detailed development framework for the whole area with appropriate apportionment of infrastructure requirements across the area identified. This will enable individual phases of redevelopment to come forward within that overall framework with their own more detailed masterplan. The AAP will ensure that individual phases will make appropriate contributions to meet the needs of development at all stages of implementation.
Option B - The AAP will require the planning application for the first phase of development to provide a masterplan for the whole AAP area. This will ensure that there is a sufficiently detailed development framework for the whole area to enable appropriate apportionment of infrastructure requirements across the area to be identified. This will enable individual phases of redevelopment to come forward within that overall framework with their own more detailed masterplan. The AAP will ensure that individual phases will make appropriate contributions to meet the needs of development at all stages of implementation.
(8) Question 47a
Do you support or object to the proposed Option A on phasing and delivery approach, and why?
(11) Question 47b
Do you support or object to the proposed Option B on phasing and delivery approach, and why?
PLAN MONITORING
10.11 Monitoring provides information on how well the AAP policy is performing, the delivery of development and impacts on the environment. Monitoring helps the local planning authorities to assess whether the Plan remains sound or whether adjustments need to be made in order to meet the Plan's objectives. The AAP will include indicators that will help the Councils to assess the success of implementing its policies and proposals. Targets will be set according to the policies that are included in the AAP. The results will be included in the Councils’ Annual Monitoring Reports (AMR), both for each Council’s area and for the development as a whole.
(7) Question 48
Do you have any comments on Plan Monitoring?
ANY OTHER COMMENTS
10.12 This is your opportunity to tell us what you want CNFE to be like in 2031 and beyond, and other issues related to the AAP that we have not already covered.
(18) Question 49
Do you have any other comments about the CNFE area and/or Area Action Plan? If you wish to make suggestions, please provide your comments.
