Greater Cambridge Local Plan Preferred Options

Savills (UK) Ltd are instructed by their client, Brockton Everlast, to make necessary and relevant representations to the emerging Greater Cambridge Local Plan which has been published at Regulation 18 stage. This new Local Plan will be the first joint Local Plan prepared by Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire District Council and reflects the strong symbiotic relationship between the built-up area of the City and the surrounding rural settlements. The two administrative areas effectively act as one planning unit since the City acts as a focus for many living within South Cambridgeshire who look to Cambridge for their daily employment, retail, leisure and recreation needs. The new Local Plan consequently has to acknowledge the characteristics within this wide geographic area and acknowledge the very real development pressures that pertain within and around Cambridge.

As such, a development strategy that acknowledges the role of Cambridge as the focus for growth needs to be a key integral part of any new plan and in such a context it is vital that land as a scarce resource is fully assessed to ensure that best use is made of such areas within such a sustainable location.

Brockton Everlast is a property investment company formed back in 2006 and more recently has acquired significant new land holdings at Cambridge Science Park and on the western and eastern side of Milton Road, all of which fall within that area identified as North East Cambridge and which is the subject of an emerging Area Action Plan.

The publication of the Greater Cambridge Local Plan – First Proposals places significant weight on North East Cambridge to deliver significant number of new jobs, homes and community infrastructure in the plan period up to 2041 and in such a context it is entirely appropriate that Brockton continue to work with the Councils to deliver such sites as part of the strategic approach within this new Local Plan.

This is consistent with national planning policy (paragraphs 81 and 82 of the NPPF) which requires local plans to support economic growth and productivity and in such a context the Council is proposing the “medium” level of jobs (58,500 jobs) to represent the objectively assessed need for jobs in Greater Cambridge for the plan period to 2041.

These new jobs are likely to come forward within the following employment clusters:

• Life sciences (Including healthcare, biotechnology and biomedical activities)
• Information Technology and communications (ICT)
• Professional services
• High-tech/advanced manufacturing

The above sectors are not exclusive since many other types of industry, together with the agriculture and tourism sectors play an important role to ensure a variety of jobs and services for local people.

The land at North East Cambridge( and including land controlled by our clients) will play an absolutely critical part of the delivery of new jobs and homes and reflects the need for any development strategy for the Greater Cambridge area to identify an approach which looks firstly at the densification of existing urban areas – the primary location of development within the urban area is at North East Cambridge.

This is the major brownfield site within Cambridge urban area which has been taken forward separately via an Area Action Plan. The whole area has clear potential to accommodate significant redevelopment having regard to its access to services, facilities, public transport links, established employment hubs and the main commercial and retail centres, resulting in positive benefits in terms of health, climate change mitigation, air quality, economy and employment.

It is this concentration of development in this part of the urban area that represents fewer environmental impacts on the wider greater Cambridge area.

The acknowledgement that the NEC will play a key part in the delivery of homes and jobs is supported and in this context the policy direction is for a higher density development in order to achieve the vision of a compact, walkable and mixed-use City district. As a major landowner within North East Cambridge, Brockton Everlast will be bringing forward new development sites to help deliver the policies and proposals within the emerging Local Plan and the emerging Area Action Plan. It is noted that prior to Brockton securing its new ownerships off Milton Road, the previous landowners had not submitted the new floorspace figures to reflect the redevelopment potential of those sites and consequently the Councils will need to acknowledge that higher employment figures may well be achieved as a result of new redevelopment proposals on those sites.