Issue - meetings

The Committee received a Section 73 application to remove Condition 5 of C/02/0136/RM (Demolition of existing buildings and erection of non- food retail units and garden centre, Drive thru restaurant with associated servicing, Car Parking, Landscaping, new access and relocation of existing amenity car park (reserved matters - to original application C/99/1121/OP)) - removal of bollard.

The Principal Planner referred to the Amendment Sheet which requested that authority be delegated to officers to submit a Statement of Case to the Planning Inspectorate outlining the recommended position of the City Council on the application following the Applicant’s appeal against the non-determination of the application.

The Committee received a representation in objection to the application from the Cambridge Cycling Campaign:

The representation covered the following issues:

      i.         Objected to the application based on road safety concerns and the conflict with policies in the Cambridge Local Plan (CLP).

    ii.         The Applicant’s goal was to remove a safety measure which would create a rat run between Coldham’s Lane and Newmarket Road, which would create conflict between those who were walking and cycling to use the shops.

   iii.         The image of the bollard which members had been shown did not reflect the current physical position on site.

  iv.         Policy 80c of the Cambridge Local Plan  states that developments with road access, must restrict through access to general motor traffic where appropriate, give high priority to the needs of pedestrians and cyclists including their safety and discourage inappropriate car based links within the network. The access road in front of the retail park is precisely the place where there should not be through access for general motor traffic.

    v.         The Applicant admitted they measured 117 motor vehicles rat-running through the site over a few hours one morning in December. The issue would only get worse when there are tail backs on Newmarket Road or Coldham’s Lane or when the cut through gets added to GPS navigation databases.

  vi.         Speed surveys in February, indicated the majority of drivers exceeded the posted speed limit by a considerable margin.

 vii.         The original rationale for the condition preventing through traffic had not changed and there was no basis for its removal.

viii.         The retail park private road should not be used as a relief road as referred to in the officer’s report, it would put the public’s safety at risk.

  ix.         Asked the Committee to reject the application under Cambridge Local Plan policy 80, asked to see immediate works ordered to reinstate the bollard and that planning enforcement officers were asked to assess costs against the Applicant for the previous non-compliance with the planning condition.

A photograph of the current physical site layout was provided by the Cambridge Cycling Campaign representative to the Principal Planner which he shared with the Committee.

The Delivery Manager advised the Committee:

        i.           That they needed to consider the planning merits of the application rather than seek to punish the Applicant. 

      ii.           The Council’s view would be put to the Planning Inspectorate in its Statement of Case as the Applicant had appealed against the non-determination of the Application. Therefore, the decision on the Application will be taken by the Planning Inspectorate, not the City Council today.

    iii.           There was no evidence to support going against the Officer’s recommendation on highway safety concerns.

The Committee:

A vote on the Officer’s recommendation to express the Council’s approval of the Application to the Planning Inspectorate was lost by 2 votes in favour to 6 against.

Resolved (by 6 votes to 1 and 1 abstention) minded to refuse the Application contrary to the Officer recommendation for the following reason:

The site forms a private car park for the use of customers visiting the retail units within the Cambridge Retail Park. The removal of the bollard encourages rat-running through the site between Coldham’s Lane and Newmarket Road which are two busy roads. This will introduce increased conflict between pedestrian and cycle users of the car park and motor vehicles using the route as a rat-run which will potentially compromise public safety, endangering pedestrians and cyclists, increasing vehicular speeds within the car park and failing to promote sustainable transport modes, cycling and walking. The proposal therefore conflicts with policies 56, 80 and 81 of the Cambridge Local Plan 2018 and paragraph 110 of the NPPF 2019.