Issue - meetings

Cabinet:

a)    Agreed the North East Cambridge Area Action Plan: Proposed Submission (Regulation 19) (Appendix A1) and Proposed Submission Policies Map (Appendix A2) for future public consultation, contingent upon the separate Development Control Order being undertaken by Anglian Water for the relocation of the Waste Water Treatment Plant being approved; 

b)    Noted the Draft Final Sustainability Report (Appendix B), and Habitats Regulation Assessment (Appendix C) and agree them as supporting documents to the North East Cambridge Area Action Plan: Proposed Submission (Regulation 19) that will also be subject to future public consultation; 

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

a.    Statement of Consultation, including the Councils’ consideration of and responses to representations received to the draft North East Cambridge Area Action Plan (Regulation 18) consultation 2020 (Appendix D); 

b.    Duty to Cooperate Compliance Statement (Appendix E); 

c.    Draft Duty to Cooperate Statement of Common Ground (Appendix F); 

d.    Equalities Impact Assessment (Appendix G); 

e.    Topic papers (Appendix H). 

d)    Agreed the findings of the following background evidence documents prepared by the Councils that have informed the North East Cambridge Area Action Plan: Proposed Submission and are proposed to accompany future public consultation: 

a.    Typologies Study and Development Capacity Assessment (Appendix I1); 

b.    Surface Water Drainage Core Principles (Appendix I2); 

c.    Chronology of the feasibility investigations of redevelopment of the Cambridge Waste Water Treatment Plant (Appendix I3).

e)      Noted the findings of the background evidence documents that have informed the North East Cambridge Area Action Plan: Proposed Submission and are proposed to accompany the public consultation (see Background documents to this report); 

f)     Agreed that any subsequent material amendments be made by the Cambridge Executive Councillor for Planning Policy and Transport in consultation with Chair and Spokes, and by the South Cambridgeshire Lead Member for Planning, both in consultation with the JLPAG; 

g)    Agreed that any subsequent minor amendments and editing changes be delegated to the Joint Director of Planning and Economic in consultation with Cambridge Executive Councillor for Planning Policy and Transport and by the South Cambridgeshire Lead Cabinet Member for Planning.

This decision was first published on Monday 10 January and so the deadline for call-in is 5 pm on Monday 17 January.

Appendix I1: Typologies Study and Development Capacity Assessment had previously been published with two appendices (Appendix A and Appendix B) needing to be updated. This has now been added for completeness whilst the document has been updated and reformatted to reflect editorial changes including compatibility with accessibility requirements.

Cabinet:

a)    Agreed the North East Cambridge Area Action Plan: Proposed Submission (Regulation 19) (Appendix A1) and Proposed Submission Policies Map (Appendix A2) for future public consultation, contingent upon the separate Development Control Order being undertaken by Anglian Water for the relocation of the Waste Water Treatment Plant being approved; 

b)    Noted the Draft Final Sustainability Report (Appendix B), and Habitats Regulation Assessment (Appendix C) and agree them as supporting documents to the North East Cambridge Area Action Plan: Proposed Submission (Regulation 19) that will also be subject to future public consultation; 

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

a.    Statement of Consultation, including the Councils’ consideration of and responses to representations received to the draft North East Cambridge Area Action Plan (Regulation 18) consultation 2020 (Appendix D); 

b.    Duty to Cooperate Compliance Statement (Appendix E); 

c.     Draft Duty to Cooperate Statement of Common Ground (Appendix F); 

d.    Equalities Impact Assessment (Appendix G); 

e.    Topic papers (Appendix H). 

d)    Agreed the findings of the following background evidence documents prepared by the Councils that have informed the North East Cambridge Area Action Plan: Proposed Submission and are proposed to accompany future public consultation: 

a.    Typologies Study and Development Capacity Assessment (Appendix I1); 

b.    Surface Water Drainage Core Principles (Appendix I2); 

c.     Chronology of the feasibility investigations of redevelopment of the Cambridge Waste Water Treatment Plant (Appendix I3).

e)     Noted the findings of the background evidence documents that have informed the North East Cambridge Area Action Plan: Proposed Submission and are proposed to accompany the public consultation (see Background documents to this report); 

f)      Agreed that any subsequent material amendments be made by the Cambridge Executive Councillor for Planning Policy and Transport in consultation with Chair and Spokes, and by the South Cambridgeshire Lead Member for Planning, both in consultation with the JLPAG; 

g)    Agreed that any subsequent minor amendments and editing changes be delegated to the Joint Director of Planning and Economic in consultation with Cambridge Executive Councillor for Planning Policy and Transport and by the South Cambridgeshire Lead Cabinet Member for Planning.

Cabinet received the Proposed Submission for the North East Cambridge Area Action Plan. Councillor Dr. Tumi Hawkins, Lead Cabinet Member for Planning Policy and Delivery introduced the report, thanking the Officers for their work in drafting the proposal, and detailing the sustainable regeneration and investment in the North East of Cambridge over the next twenty years, minimising emissions by encouraging modal shift to public transport. This report was brought to Cabinet following the public consultation in July 2020.

The Leader invited Councillor Judith Rippeth, Vice-Chair of the Scrutiny and Overview Committee to present the comments from their most recent meeting. Councillor Judith Rippeth thanked the Officers for delivering the final report, and the Scrutiny and Governance Adviser for the summary provided for Cabinet. The Committee noted the concerns about the capacity of Milton Country Park being exceeded and noted how this needed to be addressed but welcomed the commitment to the 20% Biodiversity Net Gain. The Joint Director of Planning and Economic Development was invited to respond and said that the AAP had considered the range of open space requirements and sought to strike a balance with the spaces provided on site. Policy in the AAP would provide for contributions to be made off site to meet needs where appropriate but that the proposals for expansion of Milton Country Park were not assured – and for this reason it would not be appropriate to earmark contributions explicitly to this location at this time.

Councillor John Williams, Lead Cabinet Member for Finance, believed that the proposal allowed for a sustainable form of development and should not be delayed, in order to enable the DCO process and subsequently the Greater Cambridge Local Plan to continue on their projected timetables. This in turn would ensure the councils have an up to date development plan for the area and prevent speculative development across the villages and Green Belt as was previously the case before the adoption of the current Local Plan.

Councillor Neil Gough, the Deputy Leader, was supportive of the report, and the proposed enhancements to the area, alongside the broader plans within the Greater Cambridge Local Plan, and access for residents to green, open spaces.

Councillor Brian Milnes, Lead Cabinet Member for Environmental Services and Licencing, mentioned the potential for reducing car traffic as part of the proposal.

Councillor John Batchelor, Lead Cabinet Member for Housing, was pleased with the number of affordable houses that were part of the proposal.

Councillor Dr. Richard Williams asked whether delaying the Area Action Plan at this time would impact the Council’s Five-Year Housing Land Supply, and raised concerns about the water supply for the proposed development, requesting the project be delayed until the Water Management Plan had been published. The Leader invited the Joint Director of Planning and Economic Development to respond. He confirmed that the AAP did not make a contribution to the Five-Year Housing Land Supply but delaying the plan process, may impact upon the Council having an up to date Local Plan  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8

Appendices B to I are available on the Council’s website. Please type into a web browser the following characters (case sensitive) and then press the Enter key.

Your Council and democracy > Meetings and Councillor Information > Meetings

The Scrutiny and Overview Committee considered a report seeking Cabinet support for the Proposed Submission North East Cambridge Area Action Plan (NECAAP) that would establish the policies and proposals advanced by South Cambridgeshire District Council and Cambridge City Council for managing development, regeneration, and investment in North East Cambridge over the next twenty years and beyond. Officers gave a short PowerPoint presentation of the proposals.

Councillor Dr. Claire Daunton was concerned by the lack of any indication of the timeframe for the construction and occupation of the first phase, which incorporated around 4,000 homes. Councillor Daunton also wondered where the alternative site or sites might be If the Development Consent Order failed, and North East Cambridge could not be developed.

Further discussion focussed on six key aspects:

A. Open space on the development and sports provision

While Members broadly welcomed the proposed increased provision of children’s play space and informal open space, Councillor Dr. Richard Williams expressed concern about the inclusion as part of that provision of open space within employment areas.

Committee members agreed that the North East Cambridge development could have a negative impact of neighbouring communities and should be required to provide more open space on-site. Councillor Anna Bradnam (a local Member for Milton and Waterbeach) said that recreation space must be provided on site because Milton was already lacking in the level of recreational facilities needed to meet the demand of its own residents.

Regarding the future use of the existing Milton Waste site, it was suggested that the NECAAP should safeguard a route to this area as it could be used as open space in the future.

B. Milton Country Park

The new community would be located on the opposite side of the A14 to Milton Country Park which currently operated at capacity on several days each year. Councillor Judith Rippeth (a local Member for Milton and Waterbeach) said that the park would be overwhelmed unless provision could be agreed via a Legal Agreement under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 for funding a significant expansion of the park, or of additional informal recreation space at North East Cambridge. Such Section 106 Agreement should also seek to mitigate against any harm to local biodiversity.

It was suggested that a tunnel connecting the development with Milton Country Park should be constructed under the A14. Parkrun had already discontinued use of Milton Country Park because of capacity issues.

C. Connectivity and transport

Committee members regretted that no provision had been made for connecting the development site with the residents and businesses beyond the level crossing on Fen Road by securing a permanent means of crossing the increasingly busy railway tracks. While noting that discussions with Network Rail were ongoing, Members felt that greater urgency was needed. There was a clear need for an additional vehicle access for more than 500 residents and more than 200 staff of businesses in that location.

There was some concern about the amount of parking provision proposed at  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6