Greater Cambridge Local Plan Preferred Options

Whilst we support the Shared Planning Service’s approach to increase the amount of growth anticipated within the region, over and above the minimum identified by the standard methodology, we believe that the level of economic growth that is anticipated in the plan period is far greater than allowed for.
Both the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Devolution Deal and the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Independent Economic Review both indicate higher levels of growth should be planned for the Greater Cambridge area in the next plan period.
Furthermore, the Oxford-Cambridge Arc ambition is to create 1,000,000 jobs before 2050, this needs to be considered in more depth. The Greater Cambridge Area has a key role to play in creating these jobs and this should be factored in when analysing the anticipated economic growth of the area.

Alongside the growth of the Cambridge Urban Area and on the edge of the City, the First Proposals document states that Greater Cambridge wants to make “the most of their existing and planned public transport links to Cambridge and other centres.” Relying on planned transport projects will leave the Plan vulnerable to challenge and exposed at a late stage of the process if delivery of these projects is delayed. We believe more focus should be given to growth around existing infrastructure such as the railway line to the south west of Cambridge which links existing communities into London and Cambridge.
The Shared Planning Service should do more analysis on this sustainable transport corridor. In particular, Meldreth and Melbourn (considered together) form an extremely sustainable area to live and work and travel sustainably to other central areas for work and leisure.
The Shared Planning Service should look at existing settlements and make sure that development helps to increase natural organic growth of these settlements. It should be seen as an opportunity to increase the viability of smaller settlements by locating growth within the existing communities rather than focusing the majority of all growth numbers to relatively new communities on greenfield land surrounding Cambridge.
By not allocating significant growth in the areas such as Meldreth/ Melbourn, Greater Cambridge are missing an opportunity to harness the existing qualities of existing communities.

We support the Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service’s vision to minimise carbon emissions and reduce the reliance on the private car. The spatial area is fortunate to have existing railway infrastructure, particularly in the south and south west of the city of Cambridge which connects the villages into the city and also into London and now beyond to Gatwick and Brighton. These sustainable transport corridors should form strategic areas for growth. However, we believe one corridor for sustainable growth has been neglected to be given adequate consideration and this is the south west corridor connecting villages of Melbourn/Meldreth, Foxton, Shepreth etc into London and Cambridge. This area also benefits from the GCP Melbourn Greenway project which will connect the villages to several transport hubs and railway stations by Active Travel means.

If the Councils’ want to decrease climate impacts and increase the quality of everyday life for all communities, the Shared Planning Service should give greater weight than is currently being considered to the sustainability of existing locations and settlements such as Meldreth/Melbourn, which has the existing sustainable infrastructure. This is a more sustainable, and more deliverable option, than relying on growth around new infrastructure projects which still are to be decided or proven to be deliverable.