Issue - meetings

Greater Cambridge Local Plan

Meeting: 06/10/2021 - Weekly Bulletin (Item 8.)

Greater Cambridge Local Plan: Preferred Options (Regulation 18) - For consultation

Cabinet:

 

a)    Agreed the Greater Cambridge Local Plan: First Proposals (preferred options) (Regulation 18) (Appendix A) for public consultation;

b)    Noted the First Proposals Sustainability Appraisal (Appendix B) and Habitats Regulations Assessment (Appendix C) and agree them as supporting documents to the First Proposals that will also be subject to public consultation;

c)    Agreed the following supporting documents to the public consultation:

·         Topic papers for each theme (Appendix D)

·         Statement of Consultation, including the Councils’ consideration of and responses to representations received to the Issues and Options consultation 2020 (Appendix E);

·         Duty to Cooperate Statement of Compliance (Appendix F);

·         Draft Duty to Cooperate Statement of Common Ground (attached at Appendix G)

·         Equalities Impact Assessment (Appendix H);

d)    Agreed the findings of the following background document that has informed the First Proposals and is proposed to accompany the public consultation:

·         Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (Appendix I and errata at appendix J);

e)    Noted the findings of the following background documents that have informed the First Proposals and are proposed to accompany the public consultation (see Background documents to this report):

·         Greater Cambridge Local Plan: First Conversation (issues and options) (Regulation 18) data release published September 2020

·         Interim Evidence published in November 2020

·         New Evidence published August 2021;

f)     Agreed that any subsequent material amendments be made by the Lead Member for Planning Policy in Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council, in consultation with respective Chairs and Spokes;

g)    Agreed that any subsequent minor amendments and editing changes that do not materially affect the content be delegated to the Joint Director of Planning and Economic Development in consultation with the Lead Member for Planning Policy in Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council, in consultation with respective Chairs and Spokes.

 

This decision was first published on 1 October and so the deadline for call-in is 5 pm on Friday 8 October.


Meeting: 01/10/2021 - Cabinet (Item 9)

9 Greater Cambridge Local Plan: Preferred Options (Regulation 19) - For consultation pdf icon PDF 388 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

Cabinet:

 

a)    Agreed the Greater Cambridge Local Plan: First Proposals (preferred options) (Regulation 18) (Appendix A) for public consultation;

b)    Noted the First Proposals Sustainability Appraisal (Appendix B) and Habitats Regulations Assessment (Appendix C) and agree them as supporting documents to the First Proposals that will also be subject to public consultation;

c)    Agreed the following supporting documents to the public consultation:

·       Topic papers for each theme (Appendix D)

·       Statement of Consultation, including the Councils’ consideration of and responses to representations received to the Issues and Options consultation 2020 (Appendix E);

·       Duty to Cooperate Statement of Compliance (Appendix F);

·       Draft Duty to Cooperate Statement of Common Ground (attached at Appendix G)

·       Equalities Impact Assessment (Appendix H);

d)    Agreed the findings of the following background document that has informed the First Proposals and is proposed to accompany the public consultation:

·       Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (Appendix I and errata at appendix J);

e)    Noted the findings of the following background documents that have informed the First Proposals and are proposed to accompany the public consultation (see Background documents to this report):

·       Greater Cambridge Local Plan: First Conversation (issues and options) (Regulation 18) data release published September 2020

·       Interim Evidence published in November 2020

·       New Evidence published August 2021;

f)      Agreed that any subsequent material amendments be made by the Lead Member for Planning Policy in Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council, in consultation with respective Chairs and Spokes;

g)    Agreed that any subsequent minor amendments and editing changes that do not materially affect the content be delegated to the Joint Director of Planning and Economic Development in consultation with the Lead Member for Planning Policy in Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council, in consultation with respective Chairs and Spokes.

Minutes:

Cabinet received the Greater Cambridge Local Plan: Preferred Options consultation. Councillor Dr. Tumi Hawkins, Lead Cabinet Member for Planning Policy and Delivery, introduced the First Proposals document, mentioning the importance of providing homes for local residents.

 

The Leader invited Councillor Judith Rippeth, Vice-Chair of the Scrutiny and Overview Committee, to present the committee’s report, supporting the First Proposals including policy proposals which would seek to increase electric vehicle charging points.

 

Councillor Pippa Heylings, Chair of the Climate and Environment Advisory Committee, was invited to present the committee’s report, and noted issues including biodiversity net gain and the access to green spaces.

 

Councillor John Batchelor, Lead Cabinet Member for Housing issued support for the consultation document, mentioning the increasing requirement of affordable housing.

 

Councillor Dr. Richard Williams mentioned his comments from the Scrutiny and Overview Committee, and the impact of the housing and employment methodology. Councillor Dr. Tumi Hawkins acknowledged his comments and said a response to his questions would be provided.

 

Councillor Heather Williams requested that the list of consultation questions be made available to all Parish Councils, and also that the colour coding of the some of the maps within the reports include a key as it was causing confusion. The Lead Cabinet Member responded that the document would be made more accessible and that all Parish Councils would be provided with a list.

 

Councillor Anna Bradnam, Chair of the Council provided wording that she had referenced at the Scrutiny and Overview Committee regarding flood resilience, and the Lead Cabinet Member responded that it would be included.

 

Councillor Nigel Cathcart supported the plan and was pleased there was an emphasis on residents having access to open green spaces.

 

Councillor Brian Milnes, Lead Cabinet Member for Environmental Services and Licencing, referenced issues regarding the availability of water resources, and highlighted the water demands of agriculture. The Joint Director said that the Council would continue to work with local partners regarding water availability.

 

Councillor Neil Gough, the deputy leader, summarised the discussion, and thanked Officers for their work on the project.

 

The Leader closed the discussion, thanked Councillor Dr. Tumi Hawkins for her leadership, and the Officers for their work on the local plan, then Cabinet:

 

a)    Agreed the Greater Cambridge Local Plan: First Proposals (preferred options) (Regulation 18) (Appendix A) for public consultation;

b)    Noted the First Proposals Sustainability Appraisal (Appendix B) and Habitats Regulations Assessment (Appendix C) and agree them as supporting documents to the First Proposals that will also be subject to public consultation;

c)    Agreed the following supporting documents to the public consultation:

·       Topic papers for each theme (Appendix D)

·       Statement of Consultation, including the Councils’ consideration of and responses to representations received to the Issues and Options consultation 2020 (Appendix E);

·       Duty to Cooperate Statement of Compliance (Appendix F);

·       Draft Duty to Cooperate Statement of Common Ground (attached at Appendix G)

·       Equalities Impact Assessment (Appendix H);

d)    Agreed the findings of the following background document that has informed the First Proposals and is proposed to accompany  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9


Meeting: 21/09/2021 - Climate and Environment Advisory Committee (Item 2)

2 Greater Cambridge Local Plan - Preferred Options (Regulation 18) - For Consultation pdf icon PDF 388 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Climate and Environment Advisory Committee endorsed comments made during the Scrutiny and Overview Committee meeting immediately before its own meeting. It strongly supported the net zero carbon measures included in the First Proposals and welcomed comments made during the Scrutiny and Overview Committee meeting about flooding and water resilience.

 

Councillor Paul Bearpark referred to Section 3.1 of Appendix A (Climate Change) and suggested that the Info Graphic would benefit from citing a source. At Section 3.7 (Infrastructure), Councillor Bearpark referred to Policy I/ST on Sustainable transport and connectivity. He requested that the draft Local Plan should frame the Policy around the spatial configuration of development sites, drawing on innovative design and best practice. Councillor Bridget Smith, in attendance as Leader of the Council, urged the Committee to recognise that sustainable travel, such as cycling, should be available throughout the District, and cycle paths should link all South Cambridgeshire villages together.

 

Regarding Policy BG/GI (Green Infrastructure), Councillor Dr. Martin Cahn noted that the area specific Strategic Initiatives did not include the Boulder Clay area in the South East of South Cambridgeshire as a location for woodland expansion and wildlife enhancements. In response, officers confirmed that the Green Infrastructure opportunities mapping included several district wide initiatives.

 

Speaking via video link, Councillor Pippa Heylings referred to Policy BG/EO (Providing and enhancing open spaces). Councillor Heylings suggested that the Local Plan should consider minimum distances people need to travel to access green infrastructure and open space.

 

Councillor Geoff Harvey stated that Policy GP/CC (Adapting heritage assets to climate change), should not be less enabling for owners of Listed Buildings than the current policy.

 

The Climate and Environment Advisory Committee recommended that the following changes be made to the First Proposals Plan and supporting documents prior to public consultation:

 

1.    For the infographic at the start of the Climate Change Theme, consider citing the source of the data; and

 

2.    For Policy CC/FM: Flooding and integrated water management, strengthen the policy to include additional wording to require that the risk of flooding in the area is not increased because of new development (Councillor Anna Bradnam and Councillor Pippa Heylings to provide proposed wording for consideration).


Meeting: 21/09/2021 - Scrutiny and Overview Committee (Item 5)

5 Greater Cambridge Local Plan: Preferred Options (Regulation 18) - For consultation pdf icon PDF 194 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Scrutiny and Overview Committee received a presentation from officers, and considered a report seeking its comments on the proposed content of, and the participation and communication strategy for, the next formal round of consultation for the Greater Cambridge Local Plan, being prepared jointly with Cambridge City Council, and a mirror of this report was also being considered by the City Council.

 

The Committee considered the report under five themed headings, namely:

 

  • Housing and jobs numbers, and overall strategy
  • Site allocations
  • Green Belt
  • Environmental impacts
  • Infrastructure implications

 

Members accepted though that these categories were for ease of process only and were not rigid or stand-alone. The Scrutiny and Overview Committee supported the recommendations in the officers’ report and made the following comments in response to the First Proposals and supporting documents.

 

Councillor Dr. Tumi Hawkins was in attendance.

 

Homes and jobs numbers and overall strategy

 

Committee members

 

·       noted the uncertainties and therefore judgement involved in identifying how many jobs had actually been provided and in forecasting future jobs growth.

·       queried the approach taken in identifying the most likely forecast, noting the relative differences for Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire.

·       asked whether different household sizes, including trends over time, had been taken into account.

  • asked if COVID impacts had been taken into account when gathering housing needs and employment evidence.
  • Regarding the Sustainability Appraisal of growth options, one member queried why the medium growth scenario has been preferred, given that it was not the best performing of the identified growth options.
  • queried whether there was a risk of the Council providing more houses than were needed bearing in mind the buffer that had been applied to the housing need figure informing the number of homes being planned for.
  • asked that it be made explicit how many homes were being proposed in the administrative districts of Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire, while recognising that it would be a Greater Cambridge Local Plan.
  • queried the distribution of allocations between Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire when compared with the distribution of the identified housing need.
  • asked for further clarity about the number of homes included in the South Cambridgeshire Local Plan 2018, and the homes permitted in addition to this which were now included in the committed supply.
  • Queried the criteria for defining windfall sites
  • queried whether there was robust evidence justifying reliance on large scale infrastructure schemes with uncertainty of the timing of delivery, including East West Rail and Cambourne to Cambridge.

 

Councillor Dr. Tumi Hawkins made the following responses to the above points, supplemented by additional officer advice for specific questions:

  • the Councils had taken a thorough approach to examining employment forecasting. COVID impacts are being seen on the ground - future evidence reviews would address these impacts.
  • The Sustainability Appraisal was an important part of the evidence base. The Sustainability Appraisal of the strategic spatial options highlighted differences for growth and spatial scenarios but also identified uncertainties, depending on how that growth was met. The First Proposals sought to locate growth in sustainable  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5