Successful development of this important area will require a project big enough to provide the critical mass necessary to drive a complex scheme forward in an ambitious and coherent manner. Anything less will, in the long-term, provide only a hotch potch of commercial uses with a scattering of residential units insufficient to provide a successful community. Whilst the objectives listed are all worthy in themselves, they need strengthening to reflect the scale and density of development necessary to attract momentum behind the project. In particular, they should include specific goals about key issues such as:
* To achieve the relocation of the water treatment plant, or to redevelop onsite within a smaller footprint.
* To provide substantial new employment opportunities, as well as the relocation of existing ones where appropriate.
* To provide residential development on a sufficient scale - and of a suitable type - to create a vibrant and highly sustainable modern urban community.
* To open up additional areas for development (eg east of the railway line) and to provide opportunities for denser utilisation and regeneration (eg the Science Park).
* To create connectivity between the area and the Science Park, the city centre, the north-east and east of Cambridge, as well as villages such as Milton, Histon/Impington and beyond.
* To enable the preparation of a detailed master plan, appropriately phased and continuously updated, which retains a clear vision and underpins the redevelopment of the overall area. This includes the integration of denser developments, thereby improving prospects for viability and associated quality