My South Cambs: Sign in or register News release from 23/11/2021 Plans for North East Cambridge revised following consultation News News Plans for North East Cambridge revised following consultation Fulbourn residents encouraged to participate in village's Neighbourhood Plan consultation Boost for electrical recycling Approval for Northstowe Sports Pavilion November 2021 Planning Committee Residents asked to help shape the future of Greater Cambridge Related Information Proposals for a low carbon development at North East Cambridge have been revised following a major consultation last year, taking on board thousands of comments made by local residents and businesses. The North East Cambridge Area Action Plan, a new planning policy document for the area either side of Milton Road, will now be scrutinised by councillors, who will consider whether it can be published for the next and final round of public consultation. North East Cambridge includes 182 hectares of brownfield land and is a 15-minute cycle ride from Cambridge city centre and has good public transport. Funding from central government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund to relocate the Cambridge Waste Water Treatment Plant enables a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform the area and create a significant new city district for 8,350 new homes and 15,000 additional jobs with supporting facilities and open space. The vision for the new district is for a healthy, inclusive, walkable, low-carbon new city district with a vibrant mix of high-quality homes, workplaces, services and social spaces, fully integrated with surrounding neighbourhoods. The area crosses the boundary between Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire District Councils and the Councils are working closely together to ensure that residents and businesses around the area are informed and involved with how the area develops over the next 20 years. Significant changes to the Area Action Plan have been made following public consultation last year. These include: Building heights have been reduced to four to six storeys generally, with a maximum height of ten storeys. This is a reduction from the proposals in the Draft Area Action Plan, which proposed five to eight storeys generally with a maximum of 13 storeys. Housing densities have reduced across the Area Action Plan area. The average density across the housing areas of the site is now around 100 dwellings per hectare, similar to other developments like Eddington. The densities range from 70 homes per hectare around the edges of the area up to 300 homes per hectare in the District Centre. The amount of commercial (office) floorspace has been reduced by 25% to improve the balance between homes and jobs and to help reduce traffic around the area, whilst the requirement for there to be no overall loss in industrial space remains. The amount of open space provision across the Area Action Plan area now meets the Cambridge City Council informal and children’s play standards in full within the area. The amount of new public open space has increased from 10.4 hectares to 27.6 hectares, and all homes will be within a five-minute walk of an open space. The requirement to increase biodiversity overall (biodiversity net gain) has now increased from 10% to 20% in line with the emerging Greater Cambridge Local Plan policy proposals. The policy notes that achieving this fully on-site may be challenging due to the higher density nature of the site, so will be considered on a case-by-case basis and at least 10% net gain should be on-site. 20% is double the biodiversity net gain now required under the recently passed Environment Act. There will be more shops and community facilities, with an additional local centre to ensure all homes are within a five-minute walk of a Local or District Centre to meet the daily needs of those living and working in the area. Cllr Katie Thornburrow, Executive Councillor for Planning Policy and Transport, Cambridge City Council, said: “We have listened carefully to the thousands of comments we received in our consultation last year and made real changes as a result. We have kept the ambition for a low-carbon, walkable and lively neighbourhood – which you strongly supported – while lowering the heights of buildings and increasing the amount of open space. We are really grateful to everyone who helped by commenting during the consultation and giving us important insight into what you felt would make North East Cambridge a great place to live. We’ll keep listening to residents on this – such as through our North East Cambridge Community Forum which launched early this year.” Cllr Dr Tumi Hawkins (pictured - left), Lead Cabinet member for Planning at South Cambridgeshire District Council, said “North East Cambridge has been identified as a major opportunity for regeneration for many decades, and as a brownfield site with fantastic walking, cycling and public transport links, we want to make sure it delivers on its full potential. We are hugely excited to see this plan come to fruition through the input of residents, businesses and groups around the area. The changes we have made will guide development here to be as green as possible, creating a real neighbourhood where everything you need – shops, community facilities, jobs and open spaces - will be on your doorstep. It will be a fantastic place to live with affordable, beautiful homes, helping meet the housing needs of the next generation.” Over 4,000 comments were received to the public consultation in 2020, and have been considered alongside further research and studies by the Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service which is a partnership between Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire District Councils. The Area Action Plan has been published in its Proposed Submission form, meaning this version is intended to be submitted to the Secretary of State for examination by the independent Planning Inspectorate. It will be now be considered by Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire District councillors through their respective committee processes. Once Councillors have reviewed and commented on the Area Action Plan, they will decide whether to approve it for public consultation ahead of submission to the Secretary of State. However, the Councils are clear that the Plan will only be able to progress to public consultation after the separate Development Consent Order process for the relocation of the Cambridge Waste Water Treatment Plant has concluded. This is because the Area Action Plan is being prepared on the basis that the existing Waste Water Treatment Plant will be relocated off-site, which will enable this new district to come forward, and the Development Consent Order is an important part of showing that our plan can be delivered. The Area Action Plan has been published in its Proposed Submission form for consideration by Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire District councillors through their respective committee processes – starting with the Joint Local Plan Advisory Group. This group will meet on Tuesday 30 November 2021. Related Information North East Cambridge Area Action Plan Coronavirus Contact us Jobs Consultations Latest News 23 Nov Plans for North East Cambridge revised following consultation 17 Nov Fulbourn residents encouraged to participate in village's Neighbourhood Plan consultation 17 Nov Boost for electrical recycling More News Leader's Blog Events Calendar 24 Nov A428 Development Cluster Meeting; 24/11/2021 25 Nov Council; 25/11/2021 - CANCELLED 26 Nov Grants Advisory Committee; 26/11/2021 29 Nov Licensing Committee; 29/11/2021 01 Dec Audit and Corporate Governance Committee; 01/12/2021 More Events Services: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Accessibility | Cookies | Contact us | Emergency contact | Privacy notice | Modern Slavery Statement © 2021 South Cambridgeshire District Council. All rights reserved.