Agenda item

Masterplan Review, West Cambridge Site, south of Madingley Road

 

The pre application proposal is for a masterplan review to inform a new outline planning application for the West Cambridge Campus, at Land south of Madingley Road.  The site is a major new development for the University of Cambridge for academic and commercial research, totalling 66 ha in area.   The proposed densified West Cambridge development would have a total floorspace of 500,280 sq m (by 2031).  This is broken down into 257,900sqm academic and 210,386 sqm commercial floorspace.  Phase 1 (2021) would provide 284,310 sq m, composed of 167,159 sq m of academic floorspace and 92,386 sq m of commercial floorspace.

The extant 1999 masterplan has been partially implemented. This related to a scheme of 248,272 sq m floorspace in total.  The principal roads through the site have been implemented along with numerous key buildings and the East and West Forums.

The West Cambridge campus has been slow to develop, and issues identified as a result of this include remoteness, isolation, lack of social facilities, high car dependency and little ‘sense of place’.  Car parking dominates the site and severs the public realm from buildings. The site suffers from a lack of facilities, although the sports centre has helped start to readdress this issue over the last 18 months.

 

Key Points from Developer Presentation

 

University’s Vision is for a world class, well connected development which benefits the Cambridge and United Kingdom economy.

Physical Sciences and Technology – West Cambridge will be a premier location.

Key Phase 1 – first major moves to implement the new masterplan explained, this includes relocation of the Cavendish Laboratory.

Transport Assessment Work – to date explained.  Initial modelling based on the Cambridge Sub Regional Model (CSRM) was carried out which helped identify the study area and provided further data.

Transport strategy for Cambridge and the wider sub-region, including the implications arising from the emerging City Deal projects is changing and strategic solutions will be needed to address issues in the future.

Mitigation - Uncertainty of when strategic transport mitigation will come forward relative to the indicative phasing assumptions for the build out of this development up to 2031.

Adaptive Phased Approach proposed to be used to assess the transport impacts of the development.  It is a pragmatic solution to allow the development to come forward. This has previously been used on Alconbury and at Ebbsfleet, Sheffield sub-region although not previously on any Cambridge schemes.

Process: Key Phases approach – will allow a reassessment of the development to reflect the current situation in future on a phased basis.

Open, Transparent, flexible and deliverable – strategy which can be responsive to future transport initiatives in the wider region.

Car parking – proportion of car parking reduced in key phase 1 compared to the approved outline.

Private Car Journeys – University Team advise it will be significantly reduced through the Transport Strategy and secured through the site-wide Travel Plan.

Enhanced Connectivity – bus routes to the station and orbital routes to be significantly improved.

Public transport and cycling improvements - to reflect where people will live.  This work is currently ongoing.

Programme update – submission intended later in spring 2016.

 

Member Questions/Comments

 

a)   North West Cambridge Development (NWCD) to the north is a mixed use scheme which has inherent benefits.  Why is residential accommodation not provided in this proposal?

 

-      University needs to balance a range of needs and priorities.  NWCD addresses large scale need for housing.

-      Providing a critical mass of residential accommodation at West Cambridge would compromise the overall strategy, potentially including that of academic needs.

-      The goal for West Cambridge is as a premier location for physical sciences.  Institutes which will occupy the new masterplan will have substantial footprint requirements and the floorspace proposed is needed to satisfy this demand.

-      A shared facilities hub is proposed in the first phase of development which will provide amenity and activity on campus.

-      The University is committed to a shared facilities strategy to encourage activity and wider placemaking objectives.

 

b)   Is the balance of academic and commercial development correct?

 

-      The outline application allows for a level of commercial development suitable to create an ‘address’ for the site to be competitive with other clusters nationally and globally.

-      The outline permission will allow for a greater proportion of academic development to come forward if the University’s intentions for commercial research change in the future.

-      The application will however test the ‘worse case’ scenario in terms of transport impact.

 

c)   City Deal jobs assumptions do not appear to reflect current proposals for West Cambridge.  Does the scheme rely on City Deal transport enhancements?

 

-      Proposals for West Cambridge were put forward before Cambridge City Deal.

-      The emerging Local Plan assumes densification at West Cambridge with the amount of development to be determined through development management.

-      The phased adaptive approach allows flexibility to respond to City Deal initiatives in the future.

-      The transport strategy for West Cambridge does not rely on City Deal proposals being delivered.

 

d)   The proposals are a major intensification of the existing campus.  The final scheme will provide approximately 4,300 car parking spaces generating additional trips /traffic movements which will need to be accommodated on Madingley Road.  Existing University institutes in the City centre relocating to West Cambridge are likely to be backfilled with other development.  What is the material migration required?

 

-      It is accepted that backfilling of existing sites means that the new proposals are not impact neutral in traffic generation terms.

-      Phase 1 of the West Cambridge development will mitigate through alternative travel modes embedded in the transport strategy.

-      The University is working hard on its wider estate portfolio to discourage people from driving into Cambridge.

-      Park and cycle will be enhanced.

-      CSRM work was helpful in understanding how trips redistribute on the network.  Impact on local links need to be carefully examined.

 

e)   Cycle improvements appear to rely on existing routes /routes secured through the original outline permission which are inadequate for the purposes of the extent of uplift proposed by the new application.  Does the revised masterplan not require more ambitious plans for delivering cyclists into the City?

 

-      It is agreed that cycle routes into the City are not currently attractive and will need to be improved as part of the overall transport strategy and travel plan.

-      Cycle streets will be explored through the mitigation proposals.

-      Grange Road could be a key focus.

-      Mitigation proposals will be shared with Members at a later session.

 

f)     Links to the NWCD and to the north to the station are of fundamental importance.  How will connectivity be enhanced?

 

-      Options for increasing cycle and pedestrian connectivity to NWCD are being explored.  There are options at High Cross.

-      Cycle bridge or tunnel options are possible, although there are functional and placemaking constraints to need to be properly considered.

-      Staggering of the recently installed Toucan crossings is noted and the impact on continuity of flow for pedestrians either side of Madingley Road. 

 

g)   What are the ‘other’ uses proposed?

 

-      The other uses relate to the non-academic and commercial floorspace.

-      These include the sports centre, shared facilities hub, nursery, retail space and energy centre.

 

h)   How will bus services be improved?

 

-      Discussions are planned with the bus operators in the near future.

-      The Uni 4 service, a requirement of the extant masterplan, will be enhanced in terms of its route and frequency of service.

-      Frequency of bus services will increase as the development is built out.

-      Good quality public transport improvements will be provided based on postcode data of where people live.

-      Enhanced connectivity both to the station(s) is intended.

 

i)     What is the intended approach to car park charging?

 

-      The University’s corporate car parking strategy is currently under review.

-      West Cambridge will accord with the estate wide strategy when it is agreed. This could potentially include charging.

 

j)     What is the percentage of car parking proposed for this development as a proportion of the overall University estate.

 

-      This information was not available at the meeting. 

-      The developer team to provide a follow up note.