Agenda, decisions and minutes

Councillors AGREED during the meeting that the special Council meeting to consider the Cambridge Southern Fringe Area Action Plan be rescheduled from 8 April to 21 April, starting at 9.00 a.m.

Councillors AGREED during the meeting that the special Council meeting to consider the Cambridge Southern Fringe Area Action Plan be rescheduled from 8 April to 21 April, starting at 9.00 a.m.

The Chairman welcomed County Councillor John Reynolds and Mr Mark Vigor, Head of Strategic Services at Cambridgeshire County Council, to the meeting.  County Councillor Reynolds thanked the Council for inviting him to the meeting and circulated the County’s comments on the draft Area Action Plan (AAP).  Members were concerned that the paper was tabled at the meeting, which meant that they had no time to give it proper consideration.  Members considered that the County Council had had time to submit comments ahead of this meeting on the information available from the two previous special Council meetings on 1 and 11 February 2005, which had informed the draft AAP.

Following a fifteen-minute adjournment of the meeting to allow Members time to review the County Council’s comments, Council unanimously

To authorise the Chairman to sign the Minutes of the meetings held on 1^st and 11^th February 2005 as correct records. 

The Chairman was authorised to sign the minutes of the meetings held on 1 and 11 February 2005 as correct records, subject to the following amendments:

Attendees (11 February 2005)

Councillors JD Batchelor and Mrs EM Heazell’s names to be added to the attendance list.

Land Drainage (11 February 2005)

Council had agreed that Longstanton Brook be diverted along the proposed Longstanton bypass.  The Planning Policy Manager agreed to amend the Northstowe Area Action Plan to reflect this decision.

Phasing and Implementation (11 February 2005)

Minor typographical errors were corrected.

To receive any declarations of interest from Members on matters arising in this agenda.

The following personal interests were declared:

To consider the attached report on the Northstowe Area Action Plan for submission to the Secretary of State together with the following appendices enclosed separately:

Chapter A: Introduction

Council AGREED Chapter A: Introduction.

Chapter B: Vision and Development Principles

Council AGREED Chapter B: Vision and Development Principles, subject to minor typographical amendments in paragraphs (n) and (o).

Chapter C: The Site and Its Setting

Council AGREED Chapter C: The Site and Its Setting, subject to

·                      Bar Hill being included at C3/a as a distant neighbour; and

·                      Inclusion of plants at C3/b in addition to wildlife.

Chapter D: The Town of Northstowe

D1: The Structure of Northstowe

Council AGREED D1: The Structure of Northstowe.

D2: The Town Centre

Council AGREED D2: The Town Centre, subject to officers reviewing the deadlines for the town centre development.

D3: Local Centres

Council AGREED D3: Local Centres, subject to the review of development thresholds.

D4: Housing

Council AGREED D4: Housing, subject to the inclusion of reference to the Travellers Development Plan Document in this and all other Area Action Plans.

D5: Employment

Council AGREED D5: Employment, subject to the inclusion of reference to live / work units.

D6: Community Facilities, Leisure, Arts and Culture Including Community Development

Council AGREED D6: Community Facilities, Leisure, Art and Culture including Community Development, subject to the inclusion of “good design” in objectives D6/c and D6/e.

D7: Transport

Council AGREED D7: Transport, subject to

·                      Objective D7/c – addition of “highly accessible” before “cycleways”;

·                      Discussions with the emergency services on options for emergency service access; and

·                      Further reference to bus stops being within 400m in high-density areas.

D8: Landscape

Council AGREED D8: Landscape, subject to the following

·                      Para D8.8 – “airport road” to read “airfield road”;

·                      Policy NS/15(b) – add “provided and” before “protected for this purpose” in the 4th line;

·                      Policy NS/16, Green Corridors – link north-south to the country park at Oakington (concept diagram); and

·                      Para D8.11 – clarify in the context of Policy NS/15(c)  ?

D9: Biodiversity

Council AGREED D9: Biodiversity, subject to discussion with the Ecology Officer on whether the enhancement of biodiversity addresses support for protected bird species.

D10: Archaeology and Heritage

Council AGREED D10: Archaeology and Heritage without amendment.

D11: Meeting Recreational Needs

Council AGREED D11: Meeting Recreational Needs, subject to

·                      Para D11.16 – replacement of the last sentence by “There may be potential for some sports provision alongside the Green Corridor”;

·                      Para D11.17 – clarification of wording;

·                      Para D11.22 – amendment, as recognised by officers;

·                      Policy NA/21(c) – add specific reference to cricket;

·                      Policy NS/22(e), golf provision – deletion of first line, to “Provision,”

D12: Land Drainage, Water Conservation, Foul Drainage and Sewage Disposal

Council AGREED D12: Land Drainage, Water Conservation, Foul Drainage and Sewage Disposal, subject to

·                      Chapter heading to be amended to ‘An Integrated Water Strategy’;

·                      Policy NS/23(c) – Addition of heading before this paragraph “Mitigating Flood Risk at Oakington”;

·                      Policy NS/23(d)(i) – addition of “series of” between “a” and “balancing pond”;

·                      Policy NS23/(d)(ii) – addition of wording to urge early action on the new channel;

·                      Policy NS/23(e) – reference to balancing pond to become (a).  Addition of sub-paragraph (b): “a relief channel for Longstanton Brook which  ...  view the full decision text for item 4.

The draft Area Action Plan (AAP) would serve as the basis for the Northstowe Sustainability Appraisal, which would be prepared by consultants and presented to Members as part of the agenda for the 9 May 2005 special meeting of Council.

Chapter A: Introduction

The draft AAP was intended to outline what the Council wanted to achieve with the new town and how it would monitor that achievement.  It had been produced in line with government requirements for the preparation of an AAP. 

Councillor A Riley, local Member for Longstanton, noted that there had been full and detailed discussions at the two previous meetings in February 2005 and commended officers on preparing a document very accurately reflecting all issues previously agreed upon by Council.

Council AGREED Chapter A: Introduction.

Chapter B: Vision and Development Principles

The Development Principles Policy had been created based on the original bullet points suggested at the previous meetings in February 2005, and provided an over-arching policy setting out the key factors for designing the new town.  The policy also required that an overall Masterplan be produced, with local Masterplans for each phase of development, all to ensure the successful realisation of the AAP.

Council AGREED Chapter B: Vision and Development Principles, subject to minor typographical amendments in paragraphs (n) and (o).

Chapter C: The Site and Its Setting

The AAP reflected Council’s 1 February 2005 decision that Site A be the preferred location for Northstowe, and this section addressed specific landscaping and Green Separation issues for areas adjacent to the site, but not within the site itself.  The AAP boundaries had been drawn to cover all land within which would be required for the development, its landscaping and infrastructure.

The Planning Policy Manager suggested Members think of the various Local Development Framework maps as pieces of a jigsaw: no two plans could overlap, thus the Green Belt area to the north of Northstowe was not shown on the AAP maps as it was covered by the District Proposals Map.

The following points were raised:

·                      Cambridgeshire County Council’s school transport policy would mean that children in Oakington and Longstanton would not be eligible for free bus provision to the secondary school proposed in Northstowe so school transport issues (C1.9), restricting school access to footpaths and cycleways, had been addressed properly; and

·                      Old documents referred to Longstanton St Michael, not Longstanton St Michaels or Longstanton St Michael’s.

Council AGREED Chapter C: The Site and Its Setting, subject to

·                      Bar Hill being included at C3/a as a distant neighbour; and

·                      Inclusion of plants at C3/b in addition to wildlife.

Chapter D: The Town of Northstowe

D1: The Structure of Northstowe

These policies referred to the components building up the town of Northstowe, provision of services, facilities and infrastructure, transport and landscape.  The Phasing Policy would direct construction: evidence provided to the Examination in Public had suggested that the only way to meet the required construction rate per annum would be to commence construction in two separate areas.  Developers would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.