Question 18. How do you think we can make sure that we achieve safe and inclusive communities when planning new development?

Early provision of community facilities is essential to establish usage. Otherwise early residents go elsewhere and their later neighbours follow. A developer can be slack and delay and cut corners and get away with it. Officers are afraid of upsetting the developer because the reality is that only the developer has the tools and staff to implement community facilities. Enforce s106 agreements!

Remove cars, live closer together, launch shared cars Copenhagen style, and try to make the cycle ways and pedestrian pathways go EVERYWHERE without dangerous bumps and interruption curbs. Make the cycleways obvious. Trumpington was a good opportunity but the cycleways from Long Road are not obvious.

New developments should provide local access to uses which support a diverse demographics and wide range of age groups and the vulnerable to ensure it is offering on-site community initiatives to all local residents. Trumpington South is committed to being a development which is safe and inclusive. The masterplanning of the site will incorporate the objectives of ‘safe by design’. This will include the provision of safe, accessible connected routes which reduce car movements. The development will also provide access to inclusive on site facilities, including secure cycle parking, as well as sharing existing established facilities at Trumpington Meadows.

The plan could incorporate a number of principles into the design of new developments in order to create safe and inclusive communities. Namely, places should be: 1. Creating space that is accessible to all including those with limited mobility or any impairment. This would include creating clearly navigable spaces with street definition, signage and low-curbs. 2. Ensuring indoor and outdoor facilities are provided for local community use. These spaces should be open long hours to accommodate a range of uses and will enable young people to feel safe and as part of their own community. 3. Encourage a range of employment opportunities to reduce inequalities between the highest and lowest earning groups. 4. It is vital that communities are provided with TRULY affordable housing that is proportional and reflective of the cost of housing in Cambridge. Additionally, social housing is critical in creating safe and inclusive communities so provision of a greater amount of social housing than proposed is very important.

Paragraph 61 of the NPPF requires planning policies to address, based on evidence, the size, type and tenure of housing needed for different groups in the community. Affordable housing must be inclusive of the full range of possible tenures as set out within the Glossary at Annex 2 of the NPPF. With affordability being a serious and acute issue within Greater Cambridge and with development having been historically restricted within villages, it is important to ensure that a sufficient supply and breadth of sites are brought forward across the plan area. Development on the site at Horseheath Road, Linton, will provide for a wide range of types and sizes of dwellings across both market and affordable tenures, supporting the vitality and viability of the village.

The key to developing safe and inclusive communities is to ensure that they are located close to services, facilities and employment with safe pedestrian and cycle links. Such provision encourages people to live and work in a location, building a sense of ownership, community and collective responsibility and self-regulation of the space. Any linkages should be attractive, lit and overlooked to avoid opportunities for crime or the fear of crime. To ensure that a diverse community is achieved the Plan will need to make provision for a sensible mix of housing in terms of style and size as well as affordability along with good connectivity to sustainable modes of transport. Investment in services and infrastructure as well as the sustainable location of development is central to creating safe and inclusive communities.

Designing and building Great Places will have knock-on effects for improvement in Biodiversity, Climate Change, Social Inclusion and Health and Well-Being. It's all down to good design guided by some really strong design principles enforced by local authorities. We need to build in a statement of provision of community centres and shops etc into every new development of 50 dwellings or more - and whether existing facilities are sufficient or new ones need to be built. Developers should be made aware that they are building new communities not just buildings. Walking and cycling provision is key to community health. No shared space with motor vehicles. Footpaths ideally separated from bicycles and also FLAT, not with slopes every few metres because of the needs of a car driveway - better to consider the needs of wheelchair users. This can be achieved by having verges between footpaths and roads where a slope can be included.

Good public transport that everyone wants to use, and that everyone can afford to use. Affordability could be achieved through a bus pass system.

You must include more vulnerable people in designing buildings and public spaces. The people usually involved in these designs are white, able, men who do not have the experiences of minorities, women, primary care-givers, and disabilities and cannot understand nor design for their needs. There are great examples of, for example, women-led city designs that have been overwhelmingly better for everyone. Likewise, designing for full accessibility can only enhance the experience for everyone else, so why not make that the standard and embrace that in designs rather than tacking it on awkwardly at the end. Developments can also encourage or discourage crime and more thought should be put into this when creating local plan policies and designing these developments. Having more people cycling and walking can reduce crime as there are more people around and then are more social interactions rather people being separate from each other and the community locked in their metal boxes travelling at high speed from one place to another with no interaction. More from Camcycle: • It is important that planning policies specify that cycling infrastructure and facilities are not treated as afterthoughts – relegated to the shadows of new developments in poor locations and/or with poor lighting. • Cycle parking and cycleways should always be in well-lit and overlooked locations. • To determine if people feel safe, we should reach out to the most vulnerable people in our community to assess safety. • Transport and cycling infrastructure must not just be designed for work commutes but for all types of uses and all types of users.

See 16 above : Good Growth’ - needs to provide a countervailing impetus against the free market forces that will increase spatial social segregation and reduce cohesion across the wider community. We need to guard against perpetuating the homogenization of communities through increasingly unaffordable property values.

• It is important that planning policies specify that cycling infrastructure and facilities are not treated as afterthoughts – communities should be planned around well lighted cycle routes. • To determine if people feel safe, we should reach out to the most vulnerable people in our community to assess safety.

The best way to achieve safe and inclusive communities in new developments is to stop what you are doing now; housing needs to be nearer to jobs and community facilities, not reliant on public transport.

Housing for older people that maintains independence but offers a safety net and incremental care as it is needed should be hugely increased. The model used by Orwell Housing in Suffolk, where they have extra sheltered schemes, is what I have in mind. Independent flats with 24/7 care available on an hourly paid basis as needed. Open to people of all levels of income, with affordable rents. My fatther lives at Sydney Brown Court in Hadeligh and it provides an excellent model.

Ensure that developments include 'active frontages', so that play areas and streets are overlooked. Avoid extensive pedestrianised areas and garage blocks, which are difficult to police and maintain. Ensure adequate and enforceable arrangements for maintenance of unadopted public areas are included in planning agreements. Encourage active frontages and enforceable maintenance agreements.

• It is important that planning policies specify that cycling infrastructure and facilities are not treated as afterthoughts – relegated to the shadows of new developments in poor locations and/or with poor lighting. • Cycle parking and cycleways should always be in well-lit and overlooked locations. • To determine if people feel safe, we should reach out to the most vulnerable people in our community to assess safety. • Transport and cycling infrastructure must not just be designed for work commutes but for all types of uses and all types of users.

Learn from existing projects and best practice both nationally and internationally. Ensure their in input from all levels of the community by actively seeking this.

By making sure there are spaces for all members of communities to use.

Local police stations or outposts and higher levels of community policing.

Section 4.3.3 of the Issues & Options consultation document identifies the factors that are relevant to the creation of safe and inclusive communities. As set out in the response to Question 16, there are substantial affordability issues in Greater Cambridge associated with the high cost of buying and renting housing, and those that cannot afford to live in Cambridge or South Cambridgeshire close to employment opportunities having to endure longer commuting. It is considered that the emerging GCLP should include a development strategy that seeks to meet housing and affordable housing needs and locate housing closer to employment opportunities to reduce in-commuting.

In terms of creating inclusive communities it is critical that there is an appropriate supply and mix of affordable housing. This should include an appropriate mix of affordable rent, shared ownership and Build to Rent schemes. It is important that affordable housing managed by regionally active Housing Association’s. The reason for this is it important that support arrangements are put in place for residents within new communities. bpha has a strong presence in Greater Cambridge. We have a housing management service with our Home Agents providing a single point of contact for all housing management issues from income management, tenancy management and anti-social behaviour. We have a dedicated Home Agent for specified geographic areas managing around 500 units of rental and shared ownership properties. We have a specialist Community Development team to ensure effective integration of new developments. bpha has a specialist Money Advice team who provide debt and benefit advice and will refer or signpost customers for specialist employment support. The Money Advice Team are registered with the FSA to provide this advice. There is a Tenancy Sustainment team who provide support to our more vulnerable customers to sustain their tenancies. They provide specialist support to those persons with mental health issues, learning disabilities and complex needs such as drug and alcohol issues. It is noted that the Local Plan intends to broaden the employment base of Cambridge. Support should be given to enable the local community to engage with the construction industry and the skills required. Investment should made to ensure that residents are given the opportunity to gain employment and skills on development sites.

Put people first.

Section 4.3.3 of the Issues & Options consultation document identifies the factors that are relevant to the creation of safe and inclusive communities. As set out in the response to Question 16, there are substantial affordability issues in Greater Cambridge associated with the high cost of buying and renting housing, and those that cannot afford to live in Cambridge or South Cambridgeshire close to employment opportunities having to endure longer commuting. It is considered that the emerging GCLP should include a development strategy that seeks to meet housing and affordable housing needs and locate housing closer to employment opportunities to reduce in-commuting.

• It is important that planning policies specify that cycling infrastructure and facilities are not treated as afterthoughts – relegated to the shadows of new developments in poor locations and/or with poor lighting. • Cycle parking and cycleways should always be in well-lit and overlooked locations. • To determine if people feel safe, we should reach out to the most vulnerable people in our community to assess safety. • Transport and cycling infrastructure must not just be designed for work commutes but for all types of uses and all types of users.

By having appropriate detailed planning policies and a collaborated approach to phasing of housing and infrastructure.

Diversity of everything, diversity of people planning, diversity of use.. Community spirit fosters safe communities so build with that in mind. What areas are you creating where people from across the community will mix? Is there a pub? Community building projects, even as basic as building a mens shed bring people together with a shared sense of achievement, not everything has to be ready made, or built by a contractor. Ensure that there is sufficient infrastructure in place before allowing development. Think carefully about things like school catchment areas. Histon and Impington have a new school and the catchment area criteria basically mean that those children who live furthest away from the new school which is over a mile from a lot of people will be forced to go to the furthest school from them and those children who live closest to both schools will get free choice over which school they want to go to. It is obvious in the catchment area criteria that this issue exists, it is not fair and could easily be remedied with a simple clause like ‘children closest to the school within the catchment area will take priority over those further away but we would ensure that no child has to travel more than 1 mile to a school’ etc. All these things that impact negatively on people’s lives piss people off about ‘the system’ and development.

The Cambridge Local Plan (2018) sets out that the overall development strategy is to focus the majority of new development in and around the area of Cambridge, creating strong, sustainable, cohesive and inclusive mixed-use communities, making the most of previously developed land and enabling the maximum number of people to access services and facilities locally. Therefore, new development should seek to provide for a range of demographics, age groups and the vulnerable to ensure it is offering a range of community initiatives to al local residents.

Please refer to M&M’s response to question 16.

One simple way to increase the social inclusivity of development is to ensure that it is easy to access for all. In this regard, the Local Plan should support the intensification of development within and around areas of high accessibility by means of public transport. The Station Road, Hills Road CBD is a particularly good example of this. 4.33 Development should also provide safe and efficient means of access by modes of transport other than the private car. This should be achieved by promoting access on foot, cycle and bus and striving to reduce the opportunity for easily accessing developments within a motor vehicle. 4.34 Developments which seek to place the wellbeing of its occupants at the heart of the designer’s brief should be supported. This includes consideration of operational functions and ongoing management of new development. 4.35 Finally, where developments are seeking to deliver wider improvements to the public realm, whether through hard or soft interventions this should be a key consideration of the decisionmaking exercise. Developments must encourage social inclusion and informal interaction.

5.23 First and foremost, to form a spatial strategy that ensures that new development is accessible or can be made accessible. Providing everyone with the opportunity to walk, bus or cycle to jobs, schools, shops, services and social activities. 5.24 Tenure blind development, with flexible housing mix policies to allow for the right homes in the right location. A clearer policy framework to support housing for elderly persons and increasing need for a range of homes and supported living. 5.25 Socially inclusive communities are created by people, but it helps if infrastructure is provided in time for first residents, either as a temporary facility or a smaller version of the final product. Ensure that support systems/management strategies are in place for community infrastructure. In new settlements, community development workers are key to establishing links between people and opening connecting newcomers to the wider environment. 5.26 Build in public realm to all forms of development (housing, employment and leisure) which encourages informal meeting and ‘bumping’ into people.

Section 4.3.3 of the Issues & Options consultation document identifies the factors that are relevant to the creation of safe and inclusive communities. As set out in the response to Question 16, there are substantial affordability issues in Greater Cambridge associated with the high cost of buying and renting housing, and those that cannot afford to live in Cambridge or South Cambridgeshire close to employment opportunities having to endure longer commuting. It is considered that the emerging GCLP should include a development strategy that seeks to meet housing and affordable housing needs and locate housing closer to employment opportunities to reduce in-commuting. The promoted site is located within a reasonable walking and cycling distance of key local facilities, including a convenience store, post office, doctor’s surgery and two local schools (primary and secondary). Within the immediate vicinity of the site, Fen Drayton Road forms part of the Regional Cycle Route 24. In addition, National Cycle Route 51 is located approximately 1.5km north-east of the site and runs alongside the Guided Busway. The route is of a high quality and provides a good link between Swavesey and the nearby destinations of Cambridge and St Ives. Given the overall level of connectivity of the application site via modes such as walking, cycling and public transport, it is considered that use of sustainable travel will be achievable and realistic.