Issue - meetings

To welcome officers from the Greater Cambridge Planning Service who will provide a broad outline of the Greater Cambridge Plan and the formal consultation; how to signpost on how residents and businesses can comment.

This will be followed by a question and answer session.

The Greater Cambridge Local Plan First Proposals consultation can be found on the Greater Cambridge Planning website: https://www.greatercambridgeplanning.org/localplan

The committee received a presentation on the latest local plan consultation.

A member of the public asked: The Cambridge Assessment Site by Parker's Piece/Hills Road currently sits unused. I registered the site as being suitable for a new large concert hall for Cambridge, something that the City Council's Architect formally proposed in 1966 following confirmation by Sir Ivor Jennings QC in a speech in 1962 that the University would stump up 50% of the cost. The site is recommended for removal from the local plan. This is contrary to the commitment in your Indoor Leisure Facilities Strategy 2015-31 which says Cambridge needs a new large concert hall. The existing local plan has no clear site allocated for a concert hall. How do we go about getting this removal struck out? Who in The University is the decision maker who needs to be lobbied.

The planning officer advised that the area was designated for employment use in the adopted local plan.  That site is not likely to come forward from the landowner for such cultural use.  The council will continue to pursue cultural aspects of its planning policy, the well-being topic paper covers this in the current consultation.

The committee welcomed the current consultation and thanked the officers for their presentation.