Decisions

Purpose

 

1.    The purpose of this report is to note the decision record by the Joint Director of Planning and Economic Development which set out the results of the referendum on the Foxton Neighbourhood Plan and under delegated powers to formally make the Foxton Neighbourhood Plan as it was a successful referendum.

 

Background

 

2.    The Foxton Neighbourhood Area was designated on 17 November 2015.

 

3.    Officers provided informal comments on earlier drafts of the Neighbourhood Plan ahead of the formal pre-submission consultation process and recognise the hard work that those on the steering group of the neighbourhood plan have put into preparing the Plan. This group has strived to ensure that the whole village had an opportunity to have an input into the final Plan.

 

4.    A Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) screening was undertaken on a draft version of the Neighbourhood Plan, and a screening determination was published in June 2019.

 

5.    Pre-submission public consultation on the draft Neighbourhood Plan was undertaken by the Parish Council from 15 May to 26 June 2019. Officers provided a formal response to the consultation, providing constructive comments about the Neighbourhood Plan to assist the neighbourhood plan group with finalising the Neighbourhood Plan. Officers met with the steering group to discuss these comments and the submitted Plan took most of them into account.

 

6.    On 10 February 2020, Foxton Parish Council submitted their Neighbourhood Plan to SCDC. Officers confirmed, as set out in the Legal Compliance Check for the Neighbourhood Plan that the submitted version of the Neighbourhood Plan and its accompanying supporting documents complied with all the relevant statutory requirements at this stage of plan making. Public consultation on the submitted Neighbourhood Plan was begun on 10 March 2020. However, this consultation had to be suspended due to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and the restrictions this imposed on how we could meet the national regulatory requirements regarding neighbourhood plan consultations.

 

7.    As the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic continued into the autumn of 2020 we had to consider how we could adapt our public consultations on neighbourhood plans to ensure everyone’s safety whilst still complying with then current national regulations. To ensure this we decided that anyone wishing to inspect a hard copy of neighbourhood plan documents out for consultation would be able to request a copy by contacting the Planning Policy Team.  Our Statement of Community Involvement was updated to reflect this change in how we make documents available to the public for inspection. We therefore were able to resume the consultation on the Foxton Neighbourhood Plan from 12 January until 23 February 2021.

 

8.    Officers, in conjunction with Foxton Parish Council, appointed an independent examiner to consider this Neighbourhood Plan. The examiner appointed to undertake the examination of a Neighbourhood Plan: must be independent of both the District Council and Parish Council; cannot be the same examiner that undertakes a health check of the Neighbourhood Plan; and must not have any interest in any land that may be affected by the Neighbourhood Plan. The examiner appointed was Andrew Freeman of Intelligent Plans and Examinations (IPe)  On 24 February 2021 the Neighbourhood Plan , its accompanying supporting documents and all comments submitted during the public consultation on the submission version of the Neighbourhood Plan were  provided to the examiner with a request for him to carry out the examination on the Neighbourhood Plan. .

 

9.     The examiner issued a clarification note on 2 March which both SCDC and the Parish Council responded to by 12 March 2021.

 

10. The Examiner’s Report was received on 20 April 2021. The examiner in his report concluded that subject to a series of recommended modifications the Foxton Neighbourhood Plan met all the necessary legal requirements and should proceed to referendum. He also recommended that the referendum should be held within the neighbourhood area only.

 

11. Officers, in conjunction with Foxton Parish Council, reviewed the examiner’s conclusions and recommended modifications, and agreed each of the recommended modifications considered necessary by the examiner for the Neighbourhood Plan to meet the Basic Conditions. Additional non-material modifications to the Neighbourhood Plan were also made by officers and agreed with Foxton Parish Council. A ‘Referendum’ version of the Foxton Neighbourhood Plan was prepared including these modifications.

 

12. The joint Director for Planning and Economic Development having consulted with the Planning Lead Member agreed in May 2021 the Referendum version of the Foxton Neighbourhood Plan and that this plan should proceed to a referendum.

 

13. A referendum date was set for 22 July 2021.

 

14. A referendum on the ‘making’ (adoption) of the Foxton Neighbourhood Plan was held on 22 July 2021. Voters were asked “Do you want South Cambridgeshire District Council to use the neighbourhood plan for Foxton to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?” The results were declared as follows:

·         Yes votes: 315 (96.33%)

·         No votes: 12 (3.67%)

·         Turnout: 31.62%

 

Considerations

 

15. If a Neighbourhood Plan is successful at referendum as a result of more people voting ‘yes’ than ‘no’, the Neighbourhood Plan becomes part of the development plan for the area (National Planning Practice Guidance, Paragraph: 064, Reference ID: 41-064-20170728), and all planning decisions in the neighbourhood area will be made in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. The formal ‘making’ (adoption) of the Neighbourhood Plan does not happen until SCDC’s full Council are asked to do this at a meeting following the referendum.

 

16. Following a successful referendum, SCDC has limited options in how to respond. National planning legislation requires that the Council ‘makes’ (adopts) the Neighbourhood Plan, unless the making of the Neighbourhood Plan would breach or is otherwise incompatible with EU or human rights obligations.

 

17.The Foxton Neighbourhood Plan was successful at its referendum as more than half of those that voted were in favour of SCDC using the Neighbourhood Plan to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area. The Council is therefore required to ‘make’ the Neighbourhood Plan, unless the making of the Neighbourhood Plan would breach or is otherwise incompatible with EU or human rights obligations, which is one of the ‘Basic Conditions’ set out in national planning regulations that all Neighbourhood Plans must meet.

 

18. Officers have assessed whether the Foxton Neighbourhood Plan meets the ‘Basic Condition’ that the Neighbourhood Plan does not breach, and is otherwise compatible with, EU and human rights obligations at various stages during the preparation of the Neighbourhood Plan. Officers consider that the ‘making’ of the Foxton Neighbourhood Plan does not breach, and is otherwise compatible with, EU and human rights obligations (see Appendix 2). The Joint Director agrees with this view. 

 

19. The Referendum version of the Foxton Neighbourhood Plan is included in Appendix 1 of this report. Officers will work with Foxton Parish Council to update this to become the ‘made’ Neighbourhood Plan once it is formally agreed by the Council to make the Foxton Neighbourhood Plan. This will involve minor (non-material) amendments to the Plan to reflect its new status. These amendments will be agreed by the Joint Director for Planning and Economic Development. Such amendments will not impact on the Basic Conditions nor materially impact the policies of the Plan.

 

Timescales and Next Steps

 

20. National planning regulations also set out that where a Neighbourhood Plan is successful at referendum it should be ‘made’ within 8 weeks.  After the successful referendum for the Foxton Neighbourhood Plan the next SCDC’s meeting of Council is on the 23^rd September 2021. This is 9 weeks after the date of the referendum, and we must formally decide whether to make the plan within 8 weeks of the referendum. The Joint Director for Planning and Economic Development, in consultation with the Lead Cabinet Member for Planning, has considered how the Council should proceed following the referendum.  Where a Neighbourhood Plan has been successful at referendum and should therefore proceed to being formally ‘made’ (adopted) by the Council, Cabinet agreed at its meeting on 26 July 2018 that the Joint Director for Planning and Economic Development has delegated authority to make the recommendation to Council, in consultation with the Lead Cabinet Member for Planning.

 

21. The Joint Director for Planning and Economic Development has recommended that the decision to make the Foxton Neighbourhood Plan should be taken. In the interests of making the Foxton Neighbourhood Plan at the earliest opportunity and in order to meet the requirement that the decision to make the Neighbourhood Plan take place within 8 weeks of the successful referendum, since it is impractical to hold a meeting of the Council within this time, the decision is to be taken by to the Chief Executive under delegated powers. This delegated authority for the chief executive to make such a decision is in the Constitution under part 3, table 7, scheme of delegation, para 4.4. “The Chief Executive . . . may exercise any power or function, which is in law capable of delegation . . . where necessary in order for the Council to continue to carry out its functions”. The decision of the Chief Executive will be reported to the Council at its next meeting in September

 

22. Once the Chief Executive has made (adopted) the Foxton Neighbourhood Plan under delegated powers, officers will publish the decision to ‘make’ (adopt) the Neighbourhood Plan and send notifications to the necessary people and organisations as required by national planning regulations. The decision of the Chief Executive will be reported to the Council at its next meeting.

 

23. Once formally ‘made’ (adopted) the Foxton Neighbourhood Plan will form part of the development plan for South Cambridgeshire, and all planning decisions in the neighbourhood area will need to be made in accordance with the Neighbourhood Plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise.

 

Implications

 

24. In the writing of this report, taking into account financial, legal, staffing, risk management, equality and diversity, climate change, community safety and any other key issues, the following implications have been considered:

 

25. Financial: the costs of the examination and referendum have to be initially met by SCDC. However, the Council can claim a £20,000 government grant per Neighbourhood Plan once it has been successful through the examination and a referendum date set. Due to the coronavirus pandemic the government amended these rules to allow a council to submit their claim once a decision has been made that a plan can go forward to referendum.This must be claimed in the next set period within the financial year. The claim has not yet been made for the Foxton Neighbourhood Plan

 

26. Legal: where a Neighbourhood Plan has been successful at referendum and should therefore proceed to being formally ‘made’ (adopted) by the Council, the Joint Director for Planning and Economic Development has delegated authority to make the recommendation to Council, in consultation with the Lead Member for Planning (as agreed by Cabinet at its meeting on 26 July 2018). Following a successful referendum, national planning legislation requires that the Council ‘makes’ (adopts) the Neighbourhood Plan, unless the making of the Neighbourhood Plan would breach or is otherwise incompatible with EU or human rights obligations.

 

27. National regulations also require the Council to decide whether to make a neighbourhood plan within 8 weeks of a successful referendum. There is a 9-week gap between the Foxton NP referendum and the next meeting of the Council in September. Advice from the legal team is that the decision may be made by the Chief Executive under delegated powers. This decision would then be reported to the next meeting of the Council which is in September.  

 

28.Staffing: the responsibilities associated with delivering neighbourhood planning are being undertaken within the existing resources of the Planning Policy Team, drawing upon the expertise of other staff as required.

 

29.Equality and Diversity: these issues have been considered in the preparation of the Neighbourhood Plan, as to meet the Basic Conditions a Neighbourhood Plan must not breach, and is otherwise compatible with, EU obligations, including Human Rights. The Examiner in his report is satisfied that the submitted Plan has had regard to the fundamental rights and freedoms guaranteed under the European Convention on Human Rights and that it complies with the Human Rights Act. There is no evidence that has been submitted to suggest otherwise.

 

That the Chief Executive

a)    notes the Decision Record of the Joint Director of Planning and Economic Development which set out the results of the referendum on the Foxton Neighbourhood Plan and

b)     under delegated powers ‘makes’ (adopt) the Foxton Neighbourhood Plan.  This decision will be reported to the next meeting of the council.

c)    Delegates to the Joint Director of Planning and Economic Development in liaison with the Lead Cabinet Member for Planning and the Parish Council Chair, the making of minor non material changes and updates to the Referendum version of the Neighbourhood Plan (Appendix 1) to enable preparation of a final made (adopted) Foxton Neighbourhood Plan.

 

Submission of the transport and Works Act Application was made on 18 June 2021. The Council is required to provide a formal view on the proposals by 2^nd August 2021

Cabinet:

 

Endorsed the draft formal response in Appendix 1 of this report and gave authority to Joint Director for Planning and Economic Development in consultation with the Deputy Leader and Lead Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Transport and Lead Cabinet Member for Transformation and Projects to make minor amendments to the consultation response as appropriate.

Consultation commenced on 23^rd June 2021 on the next phase of design for the water treatment works. The Council has been invited to express its views on the consultation proposals.

Cabinet:

 

Endorsed the approach set out this report and gave authority to Joint Director of Planning and Economic Development in consultation with the Deputy Leader and Lead Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Transport and Lead Cabinet Member for Transformation and Projects to amend the draft response to make reference to any additional issues that may be identified from the ongoing consultation process and to submit the response on behalf of the Council.

Cabinet will be asked to agree the name of the new town at Waterbeach after being presented with a summary report by the developers following a period of consultation.

Cabinet:

 

Noted the developers’ consultation report at Appendix A, affirmed the developers’ consultation process and agreed the outcomes of the developer-led consultation which concludes that “Waterbeach” should be the name of the new settlement in Waterbeach Parish, and that this will be inclusive of the existing village.

Submission of the Development Consent Order to the Planning Inspectorate was on 26 February 2021. It was formally accepted by the Inspectorate on 24 March 2021. It is anticipated that the Local Impact Report will need to be submitted in the first or second week of August.

Cabinet:

 

a)    Endorsed the approach set out in this report and gave delegated authority to the Joint Director of Planning and Economic Development in consultation with the Lead Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Transport and Lead Cabinet Member for Transformation and Projects  to review and amend the response contained within the Local Impact Report, Written representations and Statement of Common Ground in response to further information that may be forthcoming from the scheme promoters.

b)    Requested the Leader of the Council to write to the Secretary of State for Transport, regarding the consultation process to date and the current engagement on the project.

All planning applications for Caldecote considered by the Planning Committee since May 2003. For individual reports, please click on the ‘Meetings’ tab above. For further details on all Caldecote planning applications, please visit our Planning Applications Database and select Caldecote from the drop-down list of parishes.

By five votes to four, the Planning Committee approved the application subject to the Conditions set out in the report from the Joint Director of Planning and Economic Development.

All planning applications for Comberton considered by the Planning Committee since May 2003. For individual reports, please click on the ‘Meetings’ tab above. For further details on all Comberton planning applications, please visit our Planning Applications Database and select Comberton from the drop-down list of parishes.

The Planning Committee unanimously voted to agree that a Certificate of Lawfulness be granted under Section 192 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended) for the construction of a concrete base for the siting of a caravan within an existing residential planning unit, erection of two-metre high gates and boundary fence and construction of a permeable gravel parking area.

All planning applications for Waterbeach considered by the Planning Committee since May 2003. For individual reports, please click on the ‘Meetings’ tab above. For further details on all Waterbeach planning applications, please visit our Planning Applications Database and select Waterbeach from the drop-down list of parishes

By seven votes to two, the Planning Committee approved the application subject to the Conditions and Informatives set out in the report from the Joint Director of Planning and Economic Development.

All planning applications for Toft considered by the Planning Committee since May 2003. For individual reports, please click on the ‘Meetings’ tab above. For further details on all Toft planning applications, please visit our Planning Applications Database and select Toft from the drop-down list of parishes

By eight votes to two, the Planning cttee refused the application contrary to the recommendation in the report from the Joint Director of Planning and Economic Development. Members agreed that the refusal should be based on

 

1.    The failure to demonstrate that Comberton can sustain an additional convenience food store and that it would not impact on the viability of other convenience stores providing a similar offering in the village: the proposal is therefore contrary to policies E/21 (Retail hierarchy) and E/22 (Applications for new retail development) of the South Cambridgeshire Local Plan 2018; and

 

2.    A significant adverse impact on highway safety because of the proposed store’s location opposite Comberton Village College and the lack of a safe crossing point.

Purpose

 

1.    The purpose of this report is to set out the results of the referendum on the Foxton Neighbourhood Plan and make a recommendation to Chief Executive on whether the Neighbourhood Plan should be formally made (adopted) by South Cambridgeshire District Council (SCDC).

 

Background

 

2.    The Foxton Neighbourhood Area was designated on 17 November 2015.

 

3.    Officers provided informal comments on earlier drafts of the Neighbourhood Plan ahead of the formal pre-submission consultation process and recognise the hard work that those on the steering group of the neighbourhood plan have put into preparing the Plan. This group has strived to ensure that the whole village had an opportunity to have an input into the final Plan.

 

4.    A Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) screening was undertaken on a draft version of the Neighbourhood Plan, and a screening determination was published in June 2019.

 

5.    Pre-submission public consultation on the draft Neighbourhood Plan was undertaken by the Parish Council from 15 May to 26 June 2019. Officers provided a formal response to the consultation, providing constructive comments about the Neighbourhood Plan to assist the neighbourhood plan group with finalising the Neighbourhood Plan. Officers met with the steering group to discuss these comments and the submitted Plan took most of them into account.

 

6.    On 10 February 2020, Foxton Parish Council submitted their Neighbourhood Plan to SCDC. Officers confirmed, as set out in the Legal Compliance Check for the Neighbourhood Plan that the submitted version of the Neighbourhood Plan and its accompanying supporting documents complied with all the relevant statutory requirements at this stage of plan making. Public consultation on the submitted Neighbourhood Plan was begun on 10 March 2020. However, this consultation had to be suspended due to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and the restrictions this imposed on how we could meet the national regulatory requirements regarding neighbourhood plan consultations.

 

7.    As the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic continued into the autumn of 2020 we had to consider how we could adapt our public consultations on neighbourhood plans to ensure everyone’s safety whilst still complying with then current national regulations. To ensure this we decided that anyone wishing to inspect a hard copy of neighbourhood plan documents out for consultation would be able to request a copy by contacting the Planning Policy Team.  Our Statement of Community Involvement was updated to reflect this change in how we make documents available to the public for inspection. We therefore were able to resume the consultation on the Foxton Neighbourhood Plan from 12 January until 23 February 2021.

 

8.    Officers, in conjunction with Foxton Parish Council, appointed an independent examiner to consider this Neighbourhood Plan. The examiner appointed to undertake the examination of a Neighbourhood Plan: must be independent of both the District Council and Parish Council; cannot be the same examiner that undertakes a health check of the Neighbourhood Plan; and must not have any interest in any land that may be affected by the Neighbourhood Plan. The examiner appointed was Andrew Freeman of Intelligent Plans and Examinations (IPe)  On 24 February 2021 the Neighbourhood Plan , its accompanying supporting documents and all comments submitted during the public consultation on the submission version of the Neighbourhood Plan were  provided to the examiner with a request for him to carry out the examination on the Neighbourhood Plan. .

 

9.     The examiner issued a clarification note on 2 March which both SCDC and the Parish Council responded to by 12 March 2021.

 

10. The Examiner’s Report was received on 20 April 2021. The examiner in his report concluded that subject to a series of recommended modifications the Foxton Neighbourhood Plan met all the necessary legal requirements and should proceed to referendum. He also recommended that the referendum should be held within the neighbourhood area only.

 

11. Officers, in conjunction with Foxton Parish Council, reviewed the examiner’s conclusions and recommended modifications, and agreed each of the recommended modifications considered necessary by the examiner for the Neighbourhood Plan to meet the Basic Conditions. Additional non-material modifications to the Neighbourhood Plan were also made by officers and agreed with Foxton Parish Council. A ‘Referendum’ version of the Foxton Neighbourhood Plan was prepared including these modifications.

 

12. The joint Director for Planning and Economic Development having consulted with the Planning Lead Member agreed in May 2021 the Referendum version of the Foxton Neighbourhood Plan and that this plan should proceed to a referendum.

 

13. A referendum date was set for 22 July 2021.

 

14. A referendum on the ‘making’ (adoption) of the Foxton Neighbourhood Plan was held on 22 July 2021. Voters were asked “Do you want South Cambridgeshire District Council to use the neighbourhood plan for Foxton to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?” The results were declared as follows:

·         Yes votes: 315 (96.33%)

·         No votes: 12 (3.67%)

·         Turnout: 31.62%

 

Considerations

 

15. If a Neighbourhood Plan is successful at referendum as a result of more people voting ‘yes’ than ‘no’, the Neighbourhood Plan becomes part of the development plan for the area (National Planning Practice Guidance, Paragraph: 064, Reference ID: 41-064-20170728), and all planning decisions in the neighbourhood area will be made in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. The formal ‘making’ (adoption) of the Neighbourhood Plan does not happen until SCDC’s full Council are asked to do this at a meeting following the referendum.

 

16. Following a successful referendum, SCDC has limited options in how to respond. National planning legislation requires that the Council ‘makes’ (adopts) the Neighbourhood Plan, unless the making of the Neighbourhood Plan would breach or is otherwise incompatible with EU or human rights obligations.

 

17.The Foxton Neighbourhood Plan was successful at its referendum as more than half of those that voted were in favour of SCDC using the Neighbourhood Plan to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area. The Council is therefore required to ‘make’ the Neighbourhood Plan, unless the making of the Neighbourhood Plan would breach or is otherwise incompatible with EU or human rights obligations, which is one of the ‘Basic Conditions’ set out in national planning regulations that all Neighbourhood Plans must meet.

 

18. Officers have assessed whether the Foxton Neighbourhood Plan meets the ‘Basic Condition’ that the Neighbourhood Plan does not breach, and is otherwise compatible with, EU and human rights obligations at various stages during the preparation of the Neighbourhood Plan. Officers consider that the ‘making’ of the Foxton Neighbourhood Plan does not breach, and is otherwise compatible with, EU and human rights obligations (see Appendix 2). 

 

19. The Referendum version of the Foxton Neighbourhood Plan is included in Appendix 1 of this report. Officers will work with Foxton Parish Council to update this to become the ‘made’ Neighbourhood Plan once it is formally agreed by the Council to make the Foxton Neighbourhood Plan. This will involve minor (non-material) amendments to the Plan to reflect its new status. These amendments will be agreed by the joint Director for Planning and Economic Development. Such amendments will not impact on the Basic Conditions nor materially impact the policies of the Plan.

 

Timescales

 

20. National planning regulations also set out that where a Neighbourhood Plan is successful at referendum it should be ‘made’ within 8 weeks.  After the successful referendum for the Foxton Neighbourhood Plan the next SCDC’s meeting of Council is on the 23^rd September 2021. As this is more than 8 weeks after the date of the referendum, and as SCDC and Foxton Parish Council are keen to take the first opportunity to make the Foxton Neighbourhood Plan as it was a successful referendum vote, the decision whether to make the Foxton Neighbourhood Plan is to be taken by the Chief Executive under delegated powers (Constitution Part 3 – Table 7: Scheme of Delegation, paragraph 3.4, Chief Executive’s General Delegated Power: “The Chief Executive . . . may exercise any power or function, which is in law capable of delegation . . . where necessary in order for the Council to continue to carry out its functions”). This decision will be reported to the Council at its next meeting in September.

 

Next Steps

 

Once this decision has been agreed and published, the Chief Executive will be asked to ‘make’ (adopt) the Foxton Neighbourhood Plan under delegated powers. Once the Neighbourhood Plan is formally ‘made’ (adopted) by virtue of the Chief Executive’s decision, officers will publish the decision to ‘make’ (adopt) the Neighbourhood Plan and send notifications to the necessary people and organisations as required by national planning regulations. The decision of the Chief Executive will be reported to the Council at its next meeting.

 

21. Once formally ‘made’ (adopted) the Foxton Neighbourhood Plan will form part of the development plan for South Cambridgeshire, and all planning decisions in the neighbourhood area will need to be made in accordance with the Neighbourhood Plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise.

 

Implications

 

22. In the writing of this report, taking into account financial, legal, staffing, risk management, equality and diversity, climate change, community safety and any other key issues, the following implications have been considered:

 

23. Financial: the costs of the examination and referendum have to be initially met by SCDC. However, the Council can claim a £20,000 government grant per Neighbourhood Plan once it has been successful through the examination and a referendum date set. Due to the coronavirus pandemic the government amended these rules to allow a council to submit their claim once a decision has been made that a plan can go forward to referendum.This must be claimed in the next set period within the financial year. The claim has not yet been made for the Foxton Neighbourhood Plan

 

24. Legal: where a Neighbourhood Plan has been successful at referendum and should therefore proceed to being formally ‘made’ (adopted) by the Council, the Joint Director for Planning and Economic Development has delegated authority to make the recommendation to Council, in consultation with the Lead Member for Planning (as agreed by Cabinet at its meeting on 26 July 2018). Following a successful referendum, national planning legislation requires that the Council ‘makes’ (adopts) the Neighbourhood Plan, unless the making of the Neighbourhood Plan would breach or is otherwise incompatible with EU or human rights obligations.

 

25. National regulations also require the Council to decide whether to make a neighbourhood plan within 8 weeks of a successful referendum. There is a 9-week gap between the Foxton NP referendum and the next meeting of the Council in September. Advice from the legal team is that the decision may be made by the Chief Executive under delegated powers. This decision would then be reported to the next meeting of the Council which is in September.  

 

26.Staffing: the responsibilities associated with delivering neighbourhood planning are being undertaken within the existing resources of the Planning Policy Team, drawing upon the expertise of other staff as required.

 

27.Equality and Diversity: these issues have been considered in the preparation of the Neighbourhood Plan, as to meet the Basic Conditions a Neighbourhood Plan must not breach, and is otherwise compatible with, EU obligations, including Human Rights. The Examiner in his report is satisfied that the submitted Plan has had regard to the fundamental rights and freedoms guaranteed under the European Convention on Human Rights and that it complies with the Human Rights Act. There is no evidence that has been submitted to suggest otherwise.

 

That the Joint Director for Planning and Economic Development, having consulted with the Lead Member for Planning, recommends the Chief Executive notes the results of the referendum on the Foxton Neighbourhood Plan and under delegated powers ‘makes’ (adopt) the Foxton Neighbourhood Plan.  This decision will be reported to the next meeting of the Council. 

Purpose
To agree the response to the Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) Consultation currently being undertaken by Cambridgeshire County Council. It is proposed to be a joint response with Cambridge City Council.

 

The consultation material is available online: https://consultcambs.uk.engagementhq.com/ccc-local-cycling-and-walking-infrastructure-plan-consultation-2021

 

The deadline for comments is 27 July 2021.

 

Background

The Cambridgeshire Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) forms part of the Government's aim to increase walking and cycling, particularly to school, in the UK by 2025, as outlined in the first Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (2017). 

 

The Department for Transport advised that local authorities who have plans will be well placed to make the case for future investment.

 

LCWIPs are a new approach to identifying cycling and walking improvements required at the local level. They should enable a long-term approach to developing local cycling and walking networks, ideally over a 10 year period and should:

 

• identify cycling and walking infrastructure improvements for future investment in the

  short, medium and long term

• ensure that consideration is given to cycling and walking within both local planning and

  transport policies and strategies

• make the case for future funding for walking and cycling infrastructure

 

The aim is to build on the already high levels of cycling in Cambridge and to spread the cycling culture out to the rest of the County whilst encouraging more walking by improving journeys in town centres and to schools and employment areas. Walking and cycling routes to transport hubs are particularly important and feature strongly in the routes proposed for improvement.

 

The LCWIP is split into two sections Cycling and Walking and addresses the following: 

 

Cycling

 

All of the trips from the 2011 Census Data were mapped, establishing the cycling distance for each trip.

 

These were analysed using a propensity to cycle tool, which established that peak distance for cycling is 2km, majority between 1km and 5km.

 

The modelling factored in future growth and planned developments.

 

The number of additional people cycling was divided by the distance of any proposed scheme to calculate the value of each proposed scheme (for comparative purposes).

 

The report provides a list of most highly scoring links - translated into routes. Additional routes were added to fill gaps identified from planning and transport strategies (this includes Active Travel trial schemes in response to Covid-19).

 

Appendix 1 shows the mapped routes for each district – the existing network as well as planned and funded schemes

 

The design of routes will refer to current guidance and acknowledge constraints of land, landscape, heritage, drainage and local priorities – with an ambition to exceed standards where possible particularly where forecast to be high levels of usage. In urban areas, where space is more constrained, there may be a focus on reducing traffic and speeds.

 

Appendix 2 outlines the prioritisation matrix. In South Cambs the top three schemes include Girton to Cambridge, Cambourne to Cambridge, Sawston – Whittlesford – Whittlesford Parkway / Duxford.

 

Walking

 

Identified schemes from County Council’s Transport Investment Plan (TIP). Many routes overlap with cycleways.

 

Appendix 4 includes maps of proposed priority walking routes and core zones – for Cambridge and Cambourne

 

The focus is on making routes safer, more pleasant and attractive. The rural area takes into account Rights of Way improvement Plan (2016).

 

Appendix 5 includes an audit of routes by Sustrans.

 

Appendix 6 outlines walking prioritisation matrices.

 

 

Main Issues:

The LCWIP builds on the Local Transport Plan 2020 – a strategy of investing in world-class walking and cycling facilities, which will create sustainable travel opportunities, reduce traffic flows and improve air quality through encouraging people to walk or cycle rather than drive for shorter journeys. The LCWIP should also help with delivering the outcome of the GCP Citizen’s’ Assembly on Transport, which included encouraging cycling and walking.

 

The LCWIP is a tool for securing funding from Government for cycling and walking improvements. Although, given the already high levels of cycling within Greater Cambridge and the Government’s scoring methodology it is uncertain how successful Cambridgeshire would be.

 

The LCWIP acknowledges Cambridge City Council’s Making Spaces for People work. The modelling factored in future population growth in committed planned developments, and the LCWIP acknowledges significant trip generators outside central area such as the Biomedical Campus, West Cambridge and Science Park. It shows routes to secondary schools and colleges outside city centre and trip generators include neighbourhood centres (e.g. Chesterton and Cherry Hinton High Streets).

 

The report provides a list of most highly scoring links - translated into routes. Additional routes were added to fill gaps identified from planning and transport strategies. In South Cambs the top three schemes include Girton to Cambridge, Cambourne to Cambridge, Sawston – Whittlesford – Whittlesford Parkway / Duxford. 

 

Due to the methodology used, which relies on Census 2011 data and the propensity to cycle (using 2km as a benchmark), the report outcomes are Cambridge-centric and fail to consider the greater range provided by electric cycles. This does not reflect local strategies and aspirations which seek to improve the village to village connectivity in the rural area and first and last mile trips to travel hubs including local bus stops and/or connectivity into planned routes such as GCP Greenways.

 

It is anticipated the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority will undertake a refresh of the Local Transport Plan later in the year, which will provide the Council an opportunity to comment on the future transport strategy.

 

 

Proposed response points:

That the Council support the principle and purpose of the LCWIP, intended as it is to improve cycling and walking across the County over the next 10 years. 

 

Urge the County to give careful attention to the many detailed comments being made on the draft LCWIP by the public, cycling and walking organisations, parish councils, residents’ associations and developers.

 

That the LCWIP should state as a matter of principle that it will have careful regard to, and seek to enable the implementation of, development proposals included in adopted plans (including Local Plans, Area Action Plans and Neighbourhood Plans). 

 

The Councils urge the County Council to engage the public, cycling and walking organisations, parish councils, residents’ associations and developers through the route options and detailed design process.

 

The Councils support that the design of new cycle routes will have regard to current guidance, especially the Department for Transport’s LTN 1/20 Cycle Infrastructure Design (DfT) and ‘Gear Change’ document (2020) as well as considering the Sustrans Handbook for Cycle Friendly Design and LTN 1/12 Shared Use Routes for Pedestrians and Cyclists.

 

The Council has some points of clarification and comments on the detail contained within the LCWIP for example to ensure consistency with the Councils adopted and emerging plans and strategies.

That the Joint Director for Planning and Economic Development and Lead Member for Strategic Planning and Transport agree the proposed response to the LCWIP Consultation.

 

A parallel decision is being considered by Cambridge City Council to be agreed by 2 August, and delegated authority is given to the Joint Director for Planning and Economic Development to agree any minor amendments to the response agreed by the City Council that are consistent with the response.

Council Agreed the following motion.

 

This Council recognises that the minutes relating to private meetings of this Council and its Committees can be made available to the public if the grounds for exclusion of the meeting no longer apply. This Council recognises the importance of openness and transparency and will share the minutes of meetings wherever possible in accordance with the provisions of the law and the constraints of commercial confidentiality.

Council Agreed the following motion:

 

This Council

 

• believes planning works best when local communities are empowered to work together with developers to shape local areas and deliver new homes that are affordable to live in;

 

• asks the Leader of the Council to call on the Government to protect the right of communities to have a voice on individual planning applications; and to ensure that any changes to the S106 system lead to an increase in the supply of affordable housing.

 

Council

 

Endorsed      the replacement of Councillor Peter McDonald by Councillor Henry Batchelor as the Council-nominated member on the Investment Partnerships Boards.

Council

 

Agreed           To receive the Ermine Street Business Plan for the period 2020/2021 to 2029/2030 for information.

Council Agreed that

 

A)       A new parish boundary between Sawston and Babraham (as proposed by Sawston Parish Council) be adopted (as presented at Appendix A).

 

B)       A formal request be made to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) to realign the district council ward boundary between Duxford and Sawston wards so that they remain aligned with the new parish boundary.

This Motion was withdrawn.