North West Cambridge Area Action Plan

Information about the North West Cambridge Area Action Plan
 
House being built

Consultation on Inspectors' Larger Site Option

To view information about the additional round of consultation that was carried out on the Inspectors' Larger Site Option, please select the link below:

To view details of the Independent Examination of the North West Cambridge Area Action Plan, please select the link below:

Background to growth

The Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Structure Plan (2003) identified a number of locations on the edge of Cambridge for development to 2016 and beyond. One of the locations identified is land between Madingley Road and Huntingdon Road.

The development of this sector will be predominantly for Cambridge University related uses, including key worker housing for university staff, student housing new faculty buildings and research facilities.

The Area Action Plan

In order to guide this development, we are working with South Cambridgeshire District Council to prepare an Area Action Plan

Following on from Issues and Options Consultation in 2006 and the Preferred Options Consultation in 2007, the two councils agreed the Submission Draft Area Action Plan, which was submitted to the secretary of state on 19 May 2008 for an independent public examination.

To view the councils' responses to the comments made on the Preferred Options Consultation, please follow the link the the Preferred Options Response Committee Report.

A number of changes were made to the Submission Draft Area Action Plan as a result of consultation on the Preferred Options, particularly to ensure the development is as sustainable as possible.

These included modest refinements to the outer part of the site boundary that increase the site area but remain consistent with the objectives of the Area Action Plan, in particular the need to retain a green foreground setting to Cambridge consistent with the purposes of the green belt.

The Submission Draft Area Action Plan was made available for a six-week period of public consultation from 19 May until 30 June 2008. Please see the Formal Notice of Consultation for further details of this consultation.

The Submission Draft Area Action Plan

To find out more about the report you can:

  • Follow the link to the Submission Draft Area Action Plan to view the online. You will also be able to view the comments received to the consultation;
  • Download a PDF of the Submission Draft Area Action Plan (PDF, 1,216 Kbytes)
  • Purchase a copy of the document for £10 (not including postage and packing) from either Planning Reception at Cambridge City Council (Tel: 01223 457200) or from South Cambridgeshire District Council (Tel: 01954 713183);

The Sustainability Appraisal

The Submission Draft Area Action Plan was subject to a Sustainability Appraisal. This is to ensure that the policies and proposals contained within the Area Action Plan can be considered in light of information on their social, environmental and economic impacts. The Sustainability Appraisal was also made available for public comment at the same time as consultation on the Submission Draft Area Action Plan.

To find out more about the Sustainability Appraisal you can either:

  • View the document online by selecting the link to the interactive version of the Sustainability Appraisal. You will also be able to view the comments received to the consultation;
  • Download a PDF version of the Sustainability Appraisal (PDF, 3,068 Kbytes);
  • Purchase of copy of the Sustainability Appraisal for £10 (not including postage and packing) from Environment and Planning Reception at Cambridge City Council (Tel: 01223 457200)

Both the Submission Draft Area Action Plan and Sustainability Appraisal were made available for consultation for a six-week period between the 19 May to the 30 June 2008.

Representations Made to the Submission Draft Area Action Plan

The Councils received 507 duly made representations to the Submission Draft Area Action Plan during the six-week period of consultation. Of these 117 were in support of the Plan and 390 were in objection to the Plan. The Councils have prepared a Precis of Issues, which summarises the main issues raised within these representations and also provides a summary of all of the representations received. To view this document, please select the link below:

You can also view the full representations received to the consultation using our online consultation system. To use this system, please select on the link below, which will allow you to view the Area Action Plan chapter by chapter (please note that a highlighted pencil icon next to the sections of the plan indicates that representations have been made to that section).

Alternatively hard copies of the representations can also be viewed by request at Planning Reception in the Guildhall, Cambridge (Tel: 01223 457200).

Supporting documents

A number of supporting documents have also been produced in order to assist in the preparation of the Submission Draft Area Action Plan. These are as follows:

The following supporting documents are also available to purchase from us, the costs of which are outlined below. Please note that these prices do not include postage and packing. To purchase a copy of any of the documents, please contact the Environment and Planning Reception on 01223 457200.

  • Statement of Compliance and Self Assessment of Soundness, £5
  • North West Cambridge Area Action Plan Green Belt Landscape Study, £5
  • Cambridge North West Transport Strategy (appendices provided on CD), £10
  • Site Footprint Assessment, £15
  • Site Footprint Assessment Supplementary Paper, £5
  • Huntingdon Road Junction Study, £5
  • Land Budget Paper, £5
  • Climate Change and Sustainable Design and Construction Paper, £5
  • North West Issues & Options Report, £10
  • Issues & Options Interim Sustainability Appraisal, £5
  • North West Cambridge Preferred Options Report Volumes 1 and 2, £15
  • Scoping Report Addendum, £5
  • Habitats Directive Assessment, £10

Please note that the community strategies are only available online.

Objection Sites Consultation

Following on from consultation on the Submission Draft Area Action Plan, a number of objections were made to the document that put forward additional, amended or alternative sites for development.  For example, representations were made that sought to increase the extent of the development footprint of the site.  These sites were referred to as "Objection Sites".

Consultation on these Objection Sites took place between the 8th September and the 20th October 2008.  To view the Objection Sites document, please follow the link to our online consultation system.  All representations received to the Objection Sites consultation have been passed onto the Inspectors examining the Area Action Plan.

Independent Examination

The North West Cambridge Area Action Plan will be subject to an Independent Examination, which is conducted by Inspectors appointed by the Planning Inspectorate to consider the 'soundness' of the plan and any objections. The Inspectors will subsequently produce a report, which may include changes to the plan to meet objections and other matters. These changes would be binding on the councils, who could then proceed to statutory adoption, currently scheduled for July 2009.

A pre-hearing meeting conducted by an inspector took place on 9 September 2008 at The Guildhall, Cambridge. This meeting set out the arrangements for the Examination sessions, the majority of which took place between late November and December 2008.  A further Examination session was carried out on the 27th January relating to transport.  There is to be a further Examination session in relation to the recent consultation on the Inspectors' Larger Site Option on the 9th June 2009 at the Guildhall, Cambridge.  For further details regarding pre-hearing meeting and the Examination process, please see the Examinations page .

For further information on the Area Action Plan, please contact our planning policy team at:
Telephone 01223 457200
Fax 01223 457109
Email policysurveys@cambridge.gov.uk
Or write to us at: Planning Policy, Environment and Planning, Cambridge City Council, The Guildhall, Cambridge CB2 3QJ

Alternatively, you can also contact the planning policy team at South Cambridgeshire Disrict Council on:
Telephone 01954 713183
Fax 01954 713152
Email ldf@scambs.gov.uk
Or write to: Planning Policy, South Cambridgeshire District Council, South Cambridgeshire Hall, Cambourne Business Park, Cambourne, Cambridge CB3 6EA

Last updated: Wednesday, April 29, 2009