Agenda, decisions and minutes

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

Councillor JD Batchelor as an elected Cambridgeshire County Councillor.

As the owner of Girton Farm, Councillor EW Bullman declared a personal and prejudicial interest in representations 10701 and 10697, which concerned Girton Farm. Councillor Bullman took no part in any discussion of these representations.

Councillor BR Burling declared a personal interest as an owner of green belt land in Over and Willingham.

Councillor SM Edwards declared a personal interest as a lessee of land in Oakington Green Belt.

Councillor SGM Kindersley as an elected Cambridgeshire County Councillor.

Councillor RMA Manning declared a personal interest as a resident and landowner in Willingham and a landowner in Over.

Councillor JPR Orme declared a personal interest as he receives a pension from Bayer Crop Science.

Councillor NIC Wright declared a personal interest as a friend of the proprietors of the following businesses: JW Burgess & Son, Mailer & Sharp and Cambourne Land.

Consultation With Local Authorities and Statutory Bodies

Council AGREED that Councillor Dr DR Bard, planning and economic development portfolio holder, should write to all parish council chairman informing them of the consultation process regarding the Local Development Framework.

Green Separation

Council AGREED that the policy on Green Separation at Longstanton should be discussed at the Council meeting on 18^th November as part of the Northstowe Area Action Plan.

Housing Provision

Meeting Local Housing Needs

Council           

AGREED        to defer discussion on the definition of “local needs” to the Council meeting on 9^th December, to ensure that affordable housing was built for the benefit of local residents.

Rural Settlements

Bar Hill

Council AGREED, with the support of the two local members, to re-designate Bar Hill from a Rural Centre, to a Minor Rural Centre.

Histon and Impington

A vote was taken and by 21 votes to 7, Council REJECTED the proposal to re-designate Histon and Impington from a Rural Centre to an In-fill Only settlement.

Phasing and Delivery

Council AGREED to add the words “and necessary infrastructure” to the end of the 2^nd sentence in paragraph 3.2.

Monitoring

Council AGREED to amend the last sentence of paragraph 4.11 on page 572 to read:

“Villages are at the bottom of the sequence and no shortfall within or on the edge of Cambridge will be made up through new allocations in villages in South Cambridgeshire.”

Development Principles

Council AGREED to delete paragraph 3.7 relating to health impact assessment because there is no certainty that an individual website will continue for the whole of the life of the plan.

Green Belt

Council

AGREED       to suspend a decision on the exact boundaries of the green belt at Willingham and at Sawston, pending a meeting involving representatives from the Council and the relevant parish councils.

House Size

Council

AGREED             to defer this matter to Council’s meeting on 9^th December 2005.

Horsiculture

Council

AGREED             to defer this matter to Council’s meeting on 9^th December 2005.

New Employment Development

A vote was taken and by 14 votes to 5, with 1 abstention, Council, in the interests of flexibility,

AGREED        to remove the words “high technology” from final sector on the list of clusters included in policy ET/3.

Farm Diversification

It was AGREED to insert the word “business” in between the words “farm” and “plan” in the fifth paragraph of policy ET/10. It was also AGREED to change paragraph 6.25 to require the submission of a farm business plan.

Renewable Energy

Council

AGREED        that a more detailed definition of “climate proofing” be included at the Council meeting on 9^th December 2005. 

The word “power” was inserted after the word “wind” on paragraph 8.11 on page 694.

Historic Landscapes

Council

AGREED        that the Whole Way footpath should be included in the list of landscape features in paragraph 9.1 on page 715.

Concern was expressed regarding the decision not to designate the frontage Council

AGREED        to defer to Council’s meeting on 9^th December 2005  ...  view the full decision text for item 2.

The Planning Policy Manager reminded Council that the Core Strategy / Development Control Policies / Sites Specific Policies Development Plan Documents had been considered in Spring 2005 and Members’ views had been incorporated into the report before them. He advised Members to only consider the recommended amendments highlighted in the appendices. It was noted that the amount of paperwork allowed Members to note the context of the suggested amendments and there were relatively few changes to consider.

It was understood that the Development Plan Documents (DPDs) would be submitted to the Secretary of State in January 2006. An appointed inspector would examine all the objections. The submission of the DPDs will be subject to public participation for 6 weeks. This will ensure that the public have an opportunity to put their views to the inspector. However it was important that Members considered and agreed the responses to representations received.

Consultation With Local Authorities and Statutory Bodies

Council agreed that Councillor Dr DR Bard, planning and economic development portfolio holder, should write to all parish council chairman informing them of the consultation process regarding the Local Development Framework.

The Principal Planning Officer (Housing) stated that in the interests of joined-up government and partnership, the Local Development Framework had been sent to local authorities and other partners. The Planning Policy Manager confirmed that the Council had consulted with the statutory bodies. It was understood that statutory bodies had been consulted before the drafting of the preferred options, at the Preferred Options stage, and then again at the Pre-Submission Public Participation stage.

Green Separation

Council agreed that the policy on Green Separation at Longstanton should be discussed at the Council meeting on 18^th November as part of the Northstowe Area Action Plan.

Site For Sewage Works

Council expressed disappointment that despite requests from this authority and from Cambridgeshire Horizons, Anglia Water had not yet determined a new site for their sewage works at Cambridge Northern Fringe East.

Representations on New Development

The Planning Policy Manager explained that representations had been received on the Barton Road development and on possible development close to Duxford. Representations had also been received regarding the size and location of Northstowe. A large number of representations asserted that the development was not sustainable. Housing allocations in villages that had gained planning permission had been removed from the Site Specific Policies, as these were now existing commitments.

Housing Provision

The Principal Planning Officer (Housing) introduced this section by stating that the Council had received a number of representations regarding the lack of housing. She concluded that although the total number of houses up to 2016 was 300 short of the 20,000 target, it was expected that this shortfall would be made up by construction elsewhere in the District, such as in the north west of Cambridge and at the site of Cambridge Airport. It was understood that the 20,000 target had taken into account the potential 700 house shortfall at Northstowe by 2016.

Council noted an apparent disparity between  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.