Issue details

Purpose

1.    The purpose of this report is:

(a)  To agree the Statement of Consultation (Appendix 1 of this decision) on the Greater Cambridge Housing Trajectory and Five-Year Housing Land Supply document including a summary of representations and the Councils’ responses, and consequential and other necessary modifications.

(b)  To agree the final Greater Cambridge Housing Trajectory and Five Year Housing Land Supply – Main Document and Annex (Appendices 2 and 3 of this decision) to be published on the Councils’ websites. The Greater Cambridge housing trajectory and five year housing land supply calculations have been prepared jointly with Cambridge City Council, consistent with the adopted Local Plans.

(c)  To delegate any further minor editing changes to the Statement of Consultation and Greater Cambridge Housing Trajectory and Five Year Housing Land Supply – Main Document and Annex to the Joint Director for Planning and Economic Development where they are technical matters.

2.    In January 2019, Cabinet agreed that the Greater Cambridge housing trajectory and five year supply calculations would be agreed by the Cabinet Member for Planning via a decision outside of a meeting (together with the Executive Member for Planning Policy at Cambridge City Council).

Greater Cambridge Housing Trajectory and Five Year Housing Land Supply

3.    The government through national planning policy requires that all local planning authorities identify sufficient deliverable sites to deliver a minimum of five years worth of housing against their housing requirement, as set out in their Local Plans. The Greater Cambridge housing trajectory is used by Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council to calculate their five-year housing land supply and also to demonstrate that anticipated housing delivery will meet or exceed their housing requirement.

4.    The approach to considering the five-year housing land supply for Greater Cambridge is set out in Policy 3 of the Cambridge Local Plan 2018 and Policy S/12 of the South Cambridgeshire Local Plan 2018. The Inspectors that examined both Local Plans confirmed that the five-year supply should be calculated on the basis of a joint housing trajectory for Greater Cambridge reflecting the joint development strategy across the two Local Plans, using a 20% buffer and the Liverpool methodology.

5.    The Councils have prepared the Greater Cambridge housing trajectory and five-year supply calculations based on national planning policy and guidance for housing trajectories, five- year supply calculations and Annual Position Statements. Although their document is not an Annual Position Statement, the Councils have sought to apply all the requirements and expectations for the preparation of an Annual Position Statement, including by engaging with landowners, developers and agents, and undertaking wider public consultation.

6.    The Greater Cambridge housing trajectory and five-year housing land supply calculations show that jointly for Greater Cambridge, the Councils can demonstrate a five-year housing land supply, using the Liverpool methodology and 20% buffer. The Councils jointly have 5.3 years of housing land supply for the 2019-2024 five-year period. The Councils have taken a robust and conservative approach to assessing the deliverability and / or developability of each of the sites in the Greater Cambridge housing trajectory, and therefore it is likely that the five-year housing land supply for Greater Cambridge is in practice greater.

7.    National planning policy and guidance sets out the circumstances where planning policies should be considered out of date when making decisions on planning applications, and this includes where the Council cannot demonstrate a five-year housing land supply. On the basis of the five year supply calculations in the Greater Cambridge Housing Trajectory and Five Year Housing Land Supply – Main Document (which is Appendix 2 of this decision), this does not apply to Cambridge or South Cambridgeshire, as the Councils can demonstrate a five year supply, and decisions should therefore be made in accordance with the up to date development plans adopted in 2018.

8.    Together, the Local Plans set a housing requirement of 33,500 homes between 2011 and 2031 for Greater Cambridge. The housing trajectory shows that 38,402 dwellings are expected to be delivered between 2011 and 2031, and that anticipated housing delivery within each Council’s area is more than its respective housing requirement.

Public Consultation

9.    Through the public consultation on the Greater Cambridge Housing Trajectory and Five Year Housing Land Supply – Main Document and Annex, 205 representations were received, of which 5 were in support (2.4%), 117 were objecting (57.1%), and 83 had comments (40.5%). The representations were made by 25 respondents. All the representations can be read in full using the Councils’ consultation system.

10. The main issues raised through the representations received were: 

o   the definition of deliverable and what constitutes clear evidence for a site can be considered as deliverable; 

o   the claimed marginality of the Councils’ five-year housing land supply and the reasons for the reduction compared to previous calculations; 

o   what sites can be included in the five-year supply calculations and whether sites can be introduced after the base date for the five-year period;  

o   the methodology to be used for calculating the five-year housing land supply;  

o   the deliverability of 36 named sites; 

o   the approach used to develop typical assumptions for lead-in times and build-out rates; and the approach used to develop lapse rates; and 

o   the forecast housing delivery from the windfall allowance. 

11. Alongside the representations received during the public consultation, the Councils are aware of comments on their housing trajectory and five year housing land supply calculations made by Bidwells (on behalf of Countryside Properties) and RPS (on behalf of Abbey Properties Cambridgeshire Limited) submitted as part of their statements of case for two planning appeals in Melbourn and Over. These comments have been considered alongside the representations received during the public consultation. 

12. The Statement of Consultation (Appendix 1 of this decision) provides a summary of representations received, the Councils’ assessment of the issues raised, and where necessary any modifications to the Greater Cambridge Housing Trajectory and Five Year Housing Land Supply – Main Document or Annex. The Councils have also identified any factual updates that have been made to the Main Document and / or Annex. 

Next Steps

Once agreed by Cabinet Member for Planning at South Cambridgeshire District Council and the Executive Member for Planning Policy at Cambridge City Council, the final Greater Cambridge Housing Trajectory and Five Year Housing Land Supply – Main Document and Annex (November 2019) will be published on both Councils’ websites.