Draft Sawston Village Design Statement SPD

Dear Cllr Hawkins
RE: Village Design Guide SPD Consultations for Caldecote, Fulbourn, Gamlingay, Over, Papworth Everard, Sawston and Swavesey
We are Cambridge's largest civic society run by local people who are passionate about where they live, and interested in making places more attractive, enjoyable and distinctive. Working with our members, supporters and volunteers we:
* Manage green spaces and historic buildings in and around the city for people and nature
* Champion high quality planning and the sustainable development of Cambridge and its surrounds
* Run a successful education and events programme teaching people of all ages about local heritage

Cambridge Past, Present & Future have spoken with a representative from one of the villages involved in this process and as a result, CambridgePPF is confident that the views of local residents has been considered and we support the process that has been carried out to draft these SPDs.
We believe that these will be valuable in influencing, for the better, the design of any future developments in and around these settlements. We therefore support these village SPDs.
We would like to make one general comment that would apply to all village design SPDs, relating to green infrastructure. The need to connect green infrastructure within the villages is very important if we are to nneet aspirations to halt the loss of biodiversity and ideally see a net-gain.
This means making sure that new developments are laid out in such a way that they do not sever green infrastructure and ideally, they help to connect it. This includes "private" spaces such as gardens as well as public spaces such as parks and verges. We would recommend that the principle of retaining or enhancing the connectivity of habitats within and adjacent to the villages is incorporated into these SPDs.