The much-delayed South Cambridgeshire Local Plan, approved by the independent Inspector on 3rd September, was given final approval by South Cambs District Council at a Full Council meeting on 27th September.

The Council submitted the Plan – under the Conservative administration – in March 2014 for independent examination; the government's independent inspector took over four years to assess it.

Adoption of the Plan, which is expected to create 22,000 jobs and see 19,500 new homes built by 2031 in South Cambridgeshire, covers the period between now and 2031 and means the Council will use it as the cornerstone in all planning decisions made for the area.

"After 4 and a half years @SouthCambs votes to adopt the Local Plan – 41 for 1 against and 1 abstention.  Well done to all the hard working officers who have succeeded in getting the Council to this point," tweeted Bar Hill County Councillor Lynda Harford - she was closely involved with the Plan when she was a District Councillor.

The Plan contains the key housing sites the Council will be expecting to see developed over the coming years.  Only a proportion of the homes (listed below) at the larger sites would be built by 2031:

• A new town north of Waterbeach – approximately 8,000 to 9,000 homes.
• A new village at Bourn Airfield – approximately 3,500 homes.
• An expansion to Cambourne to the west – planning permission has already been granted for 2,350 homes.
• Homes on land north of Cherry Hinton and west of Teversham – 1,200 homes (420 in South Cambridgeshire. The remaining homes are in Cambridge City).
• Around 900 homes in the better served South Cambridgeshire villages.
• Continue to develop Northstowe – around 10,000 homes.
• Continue to build homes in existing growth sites on the edge of Cambridge (Southern Fringe, Cambridge East, Darwin Green and Eddington).
• Worts Causeway – 430 homes.
• Extension to Cambridge Biomedical Campus to support the growth of this cluster.
• Extension to the Peterhouse Technology Park on Fulbourn Road.

The examination of the Plan was carried out jointly with the plan for Cambridge City Council’s area – also submitted in March 2014.  The Planning Inspectors’ examinations included reviewing evidence supplied by the two Councils, representations of objection and support made during public consultations, site visits and a series of hearings.

“Having this Local Plan in place matters because it sets out where houses should be built in South Cambridgeshire for the next ten or more years," said Councillor Peter Topping, the Conservative Opposition Group Leader.

"It is vital to ensure we do build more houses to provide homes for young families, as well as protecting the very green spaces that make South Cambs an attractive place to move to.

"I’m pleased that the Inspector has endorsed the Conservative intentions in the Local Plan of protecting the green belt and focussing major development on brownfield sites such as airfields, where infrastructure such as schools, roads and surgeries can grow alongside the communities they will serve.

"Some members of the new Liberal Democrat administration at South Cambs were relentless in their criticisms of the Local Plan and the new lead member on planning in particular seems deeply uncomfortable with it.

"If the new Cabinet cannot bury their differences and move forward for the benefit of South Cambridgeshire residents, then our villages will once again be at the mercy of a developers free for all.”

A Full Council meeting for Cambridge City Council is being held on Thursday 18 October when a final decision on their plan will be made.

South Cambridgeshire District Council and Cambridge City Council committed to an early review of the Local Plans as part of the City Deal agreement.  This was also a recommendation of the Planning Inspector.  The review will commence in 2019 with submission for examination in 2022.

• Further information on the Local Plan is somewhere on the SCDC website – this link may help you to find it.

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South Cambridgeshire District Council

T  03450 450 500
F  01954 713 149
E  scdc@scambs.gov.uk
T  @SouthCambs
W www.scambs.gov.uk

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