Agenda item

Documents attached separately

Matter for Decision

 

Decision of Executive Councillor for Planning Policy and Transport

 

     i.        Agreed that the Report on Consultation (Appendix A), the

          Proposed Modifications (Appendix B) and the supplement to the Sustainability Appraisal Addendum (Appendix E), subject   to any changes recommended by the Development Plan       Scrutiny Sub- Committee, be submitted for consideration by           Full Council on 23 March 2016 and approved for submission to the Inspectors examining the Local Plan.

    ii.        Agreed that the documents attached to the committee report as Appendices F to J are noted and submitted as part of the evidence base for the Local Plan;

   iii.        Agreed that delegated authority be given to the Director of

          Environment to make any subsequent minor amendments      and editing changes, in consultation with the Executive   Councillor for Planning Policy and Transport, the Chair and      Spokesperson of the Environment Committee.

 

Reason for the Decision

As set out in the Officer’s report.

 

Any Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

Not applicable.

 

Scrutiny Considerations

 

Councillor Hipkin addressed the Committee regarding the Local Plan. The following comments were made:

 

     i.        Expressed admiration for the work that Officers had undertaken as the process had not been without considerable challenges.

    ii.        Hoped that all political groups on the Council would continue to be united during this process.

   iii.        At a meeting of the Joint Strategic Transport Spatial Planning Group held earlier that day the location of housing allocations in Cambridge had been questioned and it had been stressed how important it was to defend the City’s Green Belt.

  iv.        The compact character of the city appeared to be under threat and hoped that the Inspectors would be convinced by the argument that suggested settlements beyond the green belt was the most positive direction to take. 

   v.        Queried what was meant by ‘market signals’ and what these signals would be.

  vi.        Questioned if building additional houses in the city would bring house prices down as house prices continued to escalate faster than the rest of the country.

 vii.        The Council’s housing strategy on affordable housing would continue to be undermined if the successful applications that developers were making based on viability continued.

 

The Committee received a report from the Planning Policy Manager.

 

The report followed on from the consultation on proposed modifications to the Cambridge Local Plan and South Cambridgeshire Local Plan held between 2 December 2015 and 25 January 2016. Any new proposed modifications considered necessary in response to issues raised during the consultation were identified as shown in Appendix A (Proposed Modifications - Report on Consultation March 2016) of the Officer’s report.

 

The report identified the number of representations received to each proposed modification and provided a summary of the key issues raised, and the Councils’ assessment. Both Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council had assessed the representations and key issues for each modification and topic area and taken the appropriate action to:

a)   carry forward the proposed modification as consulted on;

b)   carry forward the proposed modification with amendments, and/or; 

c)   include a new proposed modification. 

 

The proposed modifications to the Cambridge Local Plan, recommended for submission to the Local Plan Inspectors were contained in Appendix B of the Officer’s report.

 

In response to the Committee’s questions, Officers made the following statements:

 

     i.        With regards to Appendix I of the Officer’s report, the A428 study was separate to the City Deal project and had been produced to demonstrate the concerns raised by the Inspectors. The study is part of demonstrating that the overall strategy is sustainable and could be delivered.  

    ii.        In terms of market signals, this was one area that the Inspectors had advised the Council undertake further work on. Examples include house prices amongst other data.

   iii.        With regards to the planning guidance relating to student accommodation, lessons had been learnt from the Mill Road public inquiry.

  iv.        There have been a high number of planning applications for studio flats rather than cluster units for student accommodation which had been difficult to address through the Local Plan 2006 and the National Planning Policy Guidance.

   v.        The Council’s student accommodation study would focus on the type of accommodation, the type of student that would be recruited and the cost of new accommodation. It  would cover a wide range of factors, including provision of amenity space, cycle parking and disabled parking

  vi.        Recognised the concerns raised with regards to the time-scale taking to finalise and adopt the Local Plan.

 vii.        Officers would confirm that Cherry Hinton Residents’ Association was consulted directly and which members of the residents’ association were directly consulted.  

viii.        The transport assessment had been updated to include the Cherry Hinton access road from Coldham’s Lane and Cherry Hinton Road. There were no proposals for access to be taken through the existing residential development south of the allocation and reference to the new spine road had been included in the proposed modifications.

  ix.        Additional wording could be included to detail the acess arrangement for the spine road further in consultation with the Executive Councillor for Planning Policy and Transport, the Chair and Spokesperson of Development Plan Scrutiny Sub-Committee.

   x.        Noted the comments regarding the lack of public consultation on the transport assessment.

  xi.        A comprehensive master-plan would be undertaken for land north of the Cherry Hinton but currently this did not include Hatherdene Close as it is in separate land ownership.

 

The Committee resolved unanimously 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.