Question 47. What do you think about growing our villages?

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. Great Chishill contains a limited range of services including places of worship, a village hall, sports and recreation grounds. The public house closed last year. There is no convenience store. It is considered that it would be beneficial to make Great Chishill more sustainable by providing additional services and facilities in conjunction with development. The form and content of the promoted development at land off Hall Lane in Great Chishill has not been determined at this stage, but it is suggested that the site could deliver market and affordable housing, self-build plots, and housing for older people, a new village hall/community facility, and a convenience store/village shop for the village. The location of these facilities within land owned by Mr Tim Harvey would need to be determined and subject to discussion with the Parish Council. It is considered that additional residents for the village might support the re-opening of the public house. 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 sites such as land off Hall Lane in Great Chishill are allocated to meet the requirement for a mix of sites including small sites that are easily deliverable. As set out in the call for sites submission, there are no significant constraints to development at land off Hall Lane in Great Chishill, and there are numerous potential benefits for the local community. The trees and hedges on the site that contribute to the landscape character would be retained as part of the promoted development, and additional planting would be provided to protect and enhance that character.