Agenda and minutes

No apologies were received.

Name	Item	Interest
Councillor Ward	13/43/DPSSC	Personal: His employer makes the control system for lighting being installed by Cambridgeshire County Council
Councillors Reid & Saunders	13/44/DPSSC	Personal: Member of Cambridge Cycling Campaign

 

To approve the minutes of the meetings of 29^th May 2013 (2.00pm), 29^th May 2013 (5.00pm) and 9^th July 2013.

The minutes of the 29 May 2013 (parts 1 & 2) and 9 June 2013 meetings were approved and signed as a correct record.

No public questions were asked.

Matter for Decision

The City Council, South Cambridgeshire District Council and Cambridgeshire County Council have a history of joint working on planning matters, particularly on plan-making. As part of the duty to cooperate, the three councils have worked collaboratively and in parallel on new local plans and a transport strategy for the Cambridge area. This approach will ensure that cross-boundary issues and relevant wider matters are addressed in a consistent and joined-up manner.

 

The City Council published its Local Plan on 19 July 2013. The document is out for consultation until 30 September 2013. South Cambridgeshire District Council published their Local Plan on 19 July. Their consultation runs from through to 14 October 2013

 

In appraising the South Cambridgeshire Local Plan, the key issue for the City Council is to ensure that South Cambridgeshire’s policies are aligned with those in the City Council’s local plan and the overarching development strategy that the councils have agreed is reflected in the plan.

 

Additionally, South Cambridgeshire District Council also issued their Community Infrastructure Levy Preliminary Draft Charging Schedule. This report includes the suggested representations to the South Cambridgeshire Local Plan and their Community Infrastructure Levy Preliminary Draft Charging Schedule for agreement by Members. Once finalised, these representations will be submitted to South Cambridgeshire District Council in advance of the two consultation deadlines of 14 October 2013 and 30 September 2013.

 

Decision of Executive Councillor for Planning and Climate Change

       i.          Agreed the representations to the South Cambridgeshire Local Plan – Proposed Submission set out in Section 7 of the report and that these are submitted to South Cambridgeshire District Council as Cambridge City Council’s formal response to the consultation.

     ii.          Agreed the representations to the South Cambridgeshire Community Infrastructure Levy Preliminary Draft Charging Schedule set out Section 9 of the Officer’s report and that these are submitted to South Cambridgeshire District Council as Cambridge City Council’s formal response to the consultation.

 

Reason for the Decision

As set out in the Officer’s report.

 

Any Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

Not applicable.

 

Scrutiny Considerations

The Committee received a report from the Principal Planning Officer.

 

The Committee made the following comments in response to the report:

 

       i.          Supported the recommendations in principle, subject to clarifications set out below.

     ii.          Policy SS/1 Orchard Park: Orchard Park needs a high quality building that is appropriate for the location. Asked for the term ‘landmark’ to be used sparingly.

 

In response to Members’ questions the Head of Planning Services and Principal Planning Officer said the following:

 

Policy S/5 Provision of New Jobs and Homes

 

       i.          The South Cambridgeshire District Council (SCDC) Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) listed brownfield sites SCDC had considered.

 

The Principal Planning Officer undertook to respond to Councillor Blencowe’s request for clarification on South Cambridgeshire's development strategy, particularly whether brownfield sites had been assessed in their SHLAA and subsequently allocated in their Local Plan. 

     ii.          Finding suitable sites for development was an issue for all local authorities.

 

Policy SS/4 Cambridge Northern Fringe East and land surrounding the proposed Cambridge Science Park Station

 

   iii.          Undertook to pass on Councillors’ representations regarding ‘appearance’ to appropriate SCDC Officers.

 

 

Proposed Representations on South Cambridgeshire’s Preliminary Draft Charging Schedule (July 2013)

 

   iv.          The council consulted on its own Preliminary Draft Charging Schedule in March/April 2013.  Details regarding Cambridge’s own Draft Charging Schedule, the next stage of development of the Community Infrastructure Levy approach for Cambridge would be taken to 8 October 2013 Environment Scrutiny Committee.

    v.          It was noted that a charging schedule could set out variable rates for the same type of development across a council’s administrative area. However, for Cambridge, a single mid range charging rate, not pitched too high for the lower to mid value charging areas, was considered a more appropriate solution; it better represents the mix and balance of local circumstances within the relatively small overall City area, and the blurring between very localised characteristics and values over short distances.

 

The Committee resolved by 3 votes to 0 to endorse the recommendations.

 

The Executive Councillor approved the recommendations.

 

Conflicts of Interest Declared by the Executive Councillor (and any Dispensations Granted)

No conflicts of interest were declared by the Executive Councillor.

Matter for Decision

The City Council, South Cambridgeshire District Council and Cambridgeshire County Council have a history of joint working on planning matters, particularly on plan-making. As part of the duty to cooperate, the three councils have agreed to work collaboratively and in parallel on new local plans and a transport strategy for the Cambridge area. This approach will ensure that cross-boundary issues and relevant wider matters are addressed in a consistent and joined-up manner.

 

The City Council published its Local Plan on 19 July 2013. On the same day, Cambridgeshire County Council published its Draft Transport Strategy for Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire.

 

In appraising the draft strategy, the key issue for the City Council is to ensure that the draft strategy reflects the strategic transport aspirations for Cambridge and the sub-region, and helps secure the implementation of the City Council and South Cambridgeshire’s local plans.

 

The Officer’s report included representations to the draft Transport

Strategy for Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire (Appendix A) for submission to Cambridgeshire County Council following member steer at Development Plan Scrutiny Sub-Committee.

 

Decision of Executive Councillor for Planning and Climate

Change

Agreed the representations to the Draft Transport Strategy for Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire set out in Appendix A of the Officer’s report, plus amendments from 10 September DPSSC; and that these are submitted to Cambridgeshire County Council as Cambridge City Council’s formal response to the consultation.

 

Reason for the Decision

As set out in the Officer’s report.

 

Any Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

Not applicable.

 

Scrutiny Considerations

The Committee received a report from the Head of Planning Services.

 

The Committee made the following comments in response to the report:

 

       i.          Agreed with statements in ‘1.0 General Comments On The Strategy Document’ that the Transport Strategy was aspirational and required further details regarding deliverability.

     ii.          ‘General Comments In Relation To Cycling’: Strategic routes needed to be gritted and maintained. This applied equally to vehicle, foot and bicycle routes

   iii.          ‘General Comments In Relation To Air Quality, Noise And Nuisance Issues’: The Transport Strategy appeared not to have identified segregated bus routes as originally proposed. The City Council should periodically ask the County Council to review network capacity for bus services.

   iv.          ‘Section 2. The Strategy Approach’: Supported the Low Emission Zone in principle, but sought clarification how car park visitors would be distinguished from other visitors to the area.

    v.          4. The Transport Strategy: The Strategy should set benchmarks for high quality bus routes, such as frequency and predictability.

   vi.          Councillor Blencowe asked if the Committee supported the Core Traffic Scheme extension. The Executive Councillor said he supported the County Council investigating proposals using the normal process and subject to consultation.

 vii.          Councillor Reid said that section 4.30 of the Transport Strategy appeared to be a change of direction regarding on-street parking and controlled parking zones. The policy currently disallowed on-street parking and controlled parking zones, but appeared to consider allowing them in future. The Head of Planning Services undertook to emphasise the need for consultation on these issues. A staged implementation would be desired if schemes were implemented to observe the impact of these measures on city traffic flow.

 

In response to Members’ questions the Head of Planning Services said the following:

 

General Comments In Relation To Cycling

 

       i.          The Cambridge City response was a composite of comments from various officers. The response could be amended to put greater emphasis on public transport to encourage a modal shift away from cars to other forms of public transport (not just bicycles) when visiting Cambridge. In effect to support the County Council encouragement of modal shift.

 

Section 2. The Strategy Approach

 

     ii.          The Head of Planning Services undertook to clarify areas affected by the Low Emission Zone Traffic Management Scheme in the East Area. She said that Low Emission Zone would cover most of the city, but some areas would be exempt, such as arterial routes.

 

4. The Transport Strategy

 

   iii.          Housing developments and growth areas would benefit from planned cycle routes. This could lead to a change in behaviour where people favoured cycling to work instead of driving.

 

5. The High Level Programme/Walking and Cycling

 

   iv.          The Committee agreed nem con to add the following wording:

 

“Could consider the removal of car parking in order to improve the city cycle network on roads such as Lensfield Road, Davy Road and Coleridge Road”.

 

The Head of Planning Services undertook to circulate a copy of the City Council response document showing amendments as tracked changes based on DPSSC comments; for Chair and Spokes sign off prior to submission.

 

The Committee resolved by 3 votes to 0 to endorse the recommendation as amended, subject to review of final response wording by Chair and Spokes.

 

The Executive Councillor approved the recommendation.

 

Conflicts of Interest Declared by the Executive Councillor (and any Dispensations Granted)

No conflicts of interest were declared by the Executive Councillor.