Comment

Greater Cambridge Local Plan Preferred Options

Representation ID: 59267

Received: 13/12/2021

Respondent: Mr Michael Berkson

Representation Summary:

This masterplan is key to the entire policy.
All development must coordinate in time and space with all the local and regional transport, housing and industrial proposals.
It is essential that there is a comprehensive network of rapid, accessible and cheap public transport provisions both within the Campus and along the feeder routes. No development can be permitted before such a network is operational.
It is doubtful whether the neighbourhood can support the inevitable increase in population, housing and travel. There must be no encroachment into the Green Belt before the existing Campus is fully utilised.

Full text:

I shall try to follow the order of the First Proposals document.
An updated masterplan will be required for the Campus, to improve the overall experience of the site for workers and visitors. This should maximise opportunities to improve the "legibility "of the Campus by providing a network of cycle and pedestrian routes, high quality new public realm and open space, but in particular explore opportunities to enhance connections with the proposed Cambridge South Railway Station.
This masterplan is key to the entire policy and with wider implications for the whole of the surrounding neighbourhood. A proper plan for hospital infrastructure needs to support expected housing and economic growth and the ageing population in the region. The right infrastructure and people capacity in the hospitals is important to enable successful expansion of the biomedical campus but the implications of the masterplan are far wider than just the hospitals. As you say on p 88, the Cambridge Biomedical Campus is of national and international importance. It has a local, regional and national role in providing medical facilities and medical research. It is a key location for the life-sciences and biotechnology cluster of Greater Cambridge. The masterplan must cover the whole Campus and the effects on the surrounding region.
All development must coordinate in both time and space with all the local and regional transport, housing and industrial proposals. For example, you refer to the proposed Cambridge South Railway Station. Network Rail's current proposals will not provide sufficient capacity for the Campus even in the immediate future, never mind the significant expansion envisaged in Policy S/CBC.

You refer to a network of cycle and pedestrian routes, apparently within the Campus. As a cyclist myself, I recognise that there are a significant number of people who cannot use bicycles or even walk easily and they must be provided for.

A major issue is journeying to and from the Campus. A problem with all campus type development is that it tends to generate significant car travel. It is essential that there is a comprehensive network of rapid, accessible and cheap public transport provisions both within the Campus and along the feeder routes. No development can be permitted before such a network is operational. I repeat my comment about the necessity for co-ordination with the various local and regional transport proposals..

I appreciate the national importance of the Campus may justify release of an additional area from the Green Belt but it is not clear whether the neighbourhood can support the inevitable increase in population, housing and travel. I repeat my comment on Policy S/CE that relevant development of the Eastern Quarter will relieve the pressure on the Southern Fringe resulting from expansion of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.

I note your statement on p 60 that it is not proposed to carry forward the Area of Major Change identified in the adopted 2018 Cambridge Local Plan Policy 18: Southern Fringe Areas of Major Change. The safeguards you list on p 86 and pp 88 - 89 are essential and must be vigorously enforced. In particular there must be no encroachment into the Green Belt before the existing Campus is fully utilised.

I do not understand why the adjoining areas of White Hill and Nine Wells are included in the Area of Major Change while remaining within the Green Belt, especially as they are particularly environmentally sensitive.