SOUTH CAMBRIDGESHIRE DISTRICT COUNCIL. Joint Planning Directors / Principal Planning Manager, South Cambridgeshire District Council

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1 SOUTH CAMBRIDGESHIRE DISTRICT COUNCIL REPORT TO: Cambridge City Fringes Joint Committee 28 September 2009 AUTHOR/S: Joint Planning Directors / Principal Planning Manager, South Cambridgeshire District Council Purpose JOINT PLANNING ARRANGEMENTS PLAN-MAKING 1. To agree the first round of plans to be prepared, the funding and working arrangements for the Cambridge City Fringes Joint Committee. Executive Summary 2. This background paper for the first meeting of the Committee includes the Local Development Scheme which must be submitted to the Secretary of State by 1 January 2010 which seeks the Committee s agreement to the preparation of an Area Action Plan for the Chesterton Sidings / Cowley Road area of Cambridge which will assist the delivery of Chesterton Station and an up to date planning framework for this new gateway to Cambridge. The report also addresses the issue of plans prepared by the Committee s parent authorities and advises that because the areas under the jurisdiction of the Committee are so small that it should only be invited to comment where such plans contain site specific proposals, not where they concern matters of wider strategy for their parent authorities remain best place to comment. Background 3. At the instigation of the Department of Communities and Local Government, South Cambridgeshire District Council, Cambridge City Council and Cambridgeshire County Council agreed to the establishment of the Cambridge City Fringes Joint Committee which will be the local planning authority as far as plan-making is concerned for three cross boundary locations on the edge of Cambridge: The University land between Huntingdon Road and Madingley Road (North West Cambridge) Cambridge Airport, land north of Newmarket Road and land north of Cherry Hinton (Cambridge East) Land bounded by the A14, Kings Lynn railway, former St Ives railway line and A10 / Cowley Road (old A10) (Cambridge Northern Fringe East). 4. The joint plan making committee was established by Order of Parliament on 1 July 2009 under the provisions of section 29 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act A copy of the Parliamentary Order for the establishment of the Committee and the Local Agreement detailing its working arrangements are attached as Appendices 1 and 2.

2 Budget and running costs 6. The Cambridge City Fringes Joint Committee is the third joint planning committee to be established, the other two being established under the provisions of Section 101 of the Local Government Act 1972 dealing with planning applications for major development areas on the edge of the City and at Northstowe. 7. As a consequence of the establishment of these joint committee, the Department of Communities and Local Government (CLG) has made available to Cambridgeshire Horizons revenue funding of 1,400,000 ( 700,000 each for the S101 and S29 Committees). Those monies are for implementation purposes not necessarily related to the direct working of the committees. The three Councils are responsible for paying the administration costs of the Committee and for this purpose the administration of the Committee will pass annually between the three Councils. 8. Unlike the two S101 Committees, the S29 Committee requires a budget for its plan-making activities. The Department of Communities and Local Government (CLG) has therefore taken into account the running costs of the Cambridge City Joint Fringes Committee in determining revenue funding paid to Cambridgeshire Horizons. These costs are in the order of 110,000 annually but can be varied according to the needs of the Committee in any particular year and the most appropriate means of funding them. 9. The activities for which the S29 Committee will require a budget to create a Development Plan Document (DPD) include: The evidence base where consultants expertise is required Document printing Publicity and public consultation Examination Inspector s costs Programme officers costs Staffing 10. The Order provides for secondments of officers to work on the DPDs and other plans prepared under the auspices of the Committee. 11. Such formal arrangements should not be necessary. Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council have already prepared two Joint Area Action Plans by making their officers available as necessary and it is proposed that this approach should continue. Whilst Cambridgeshire County Council has not formally been a part of the preparation of those joint plans it has made its officers available for transport, education provision and other county matters. 12. The Committee will receive advice agreed by the three heads of service and presented by the head of service from the Council administering the Committee for the first year this will be South Cambridgeshire. Local Development Scheme 13. The Parliamentary Order requires the Committee to submit a Local Development Scheme to the Secretary of State not later than 1 January The Local Development Scheme will set out a three-year timetable for the

3 preparation of DPDs within the area over which the Committee has jurisdiction. 14. Because the Committee is the sole local planning authority (for plan-making) for the areas over which it has jurisdiction, it will also have sole responsibility for the preparation of any other planning policy material such as Supplementary Planning Documents. Current Planning Policies 15. The areas under the jurisdiction of the Committee are also covered by districtwide policies and proposals for which the parent authorities remain the Local Planning Authority, e.g., Core Strategies. Two of the three areas for which the Cambridge City Fringes Joint Committee is responsible already have or will have recently adopted Joint Area Action Plans specifically for the area covered by the Committee Cambridge East and North West Cambridge. 16. Cambridge Northern Fringe East is currently covered by policies in the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Waste Local Plan 2003 and the Cambridge Local Plan 2006 as well as the South Cambridgeshire Core Strategy, Development Control Policies DPD and the shortly to be adopted South Cambridgeshire Site Specific Policies DPD (Chesterton Sidings). Specific proposals for Cambridge Northern Fringe East are: A. Cambridgeshire Structure Plan Saved policy P9/9 proposes a railway station and rapid transit interchange at Chesterton Sidings. B. Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Waste Local Plan A number of policies with the effect of identifying the Anglian Water Site, Cowley Road / Chesterton Sidings as an area of search for a major waste management facility and household waste recycling centre. C. Cambridge Local Plan Saved Cambridge Local Plan policy 9/6 allocates land at Cambridge Northern Fringe East for residential led development, giving an indicative housing capacity of 2,300 dwellings. This policy also includes the proposal for a new railway station allowing an interchange with the Cambridgeshire Guided Bus. 20. In order to enable this approach, the County Council have previously sought to look for an alternative site for the Waste Water Treatment Works (WWTW) through the emerging Minerals & Waste LDF and identified Honey Hill (approximately 2.25 km [1.5 miles] to the east on the north side of the A14) in the 2007 Preferred Options consultation. However, this raised a significant number of objections. 21. This, along with growing concerns over the viability and deliverability of the WWTW led to Cambridgeshire Horizons on behalf of Cambridgeshire County Council, Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council, and in partnership with Network Rail and Anglian Water commissioning Roger Tym and Partners at the end of 2007 to examine the deliverability and viability of residential and employment led development options for the area.

4 22. The key findings of the study included the following: Comprehensive redevelopment of the whole site for housing would not be viable within the foreseeable future without substantial public funding. This is due to a number of factors, predominantly the 130 million cost of relocating the WWTW and the operational needs of Network Rail for stabling to accommodate planned growth in rail services. As the WWTW will be retained in its current location and rail uses are present, housing-led development on the remainder of the site is not considered viable. Redevelopment of parts of the site for employment uses has been found to be deliverable. An office development has been suggested for the area around the proposed new Chesterton Station, together with employment / depot uses adjacent to Cowley Road. Further work on detailed options need to be carried out before final plans are created. 23. In light of these findings, the City Council's Development Plan Steering Group (DPSG) agreed on 13 May 2008 that a mixed use employment led approach at CNFE should be taken forward as part of the spatial strategy for the emerging Core Strategy which will form part of the Local Development Framework for the City. 24. Whilst the loss of housing capacity is serious, it is a loss of housing potential rather than of a deliverable housing site and PPS3 emphasises that we can only take account of deliverable sites to meet our housing targets. In addition the 2007 Employment Land Review study identified the need for more office and light industrial employment based allocations in the City and some of this need could be partially met in this area. 25. The County Council's Cabinet agreed on 15 April 2008 that the relocation of the WWTW would not form part of the emerging Minerals and Waste LDF. The practical effect of this decision being to increase certainty that the WWTW will remain on its existing site with appropriate improvements to capacity and environmental performance to service the expansion of Cambridge. 26. Given the above, most of the proposals in the Minerals & Waste Local Plan 2003 and the Cambridge Local Plan 2006 are not viable and / or are not capable of being delivered and the land within Cambridge City Council therefore requires a new planning framework to replace the proposals in the Cambridge Local Plan and ensure the co-ordination of future development in this area. D. South Cambridgeshire Site Specific Policies DPD Land at Chesterton Sidings is safeguarded for the development of a railway station and interchange facility and the Council will use its powers under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 to secure financial contributions at an appropriate level towards the development of the railway station and interchange facility. 28. This policy is up to date and takes account of Network Rail s recent decision to retain part of Chesterton Sidings for train stabling. The supporting text in the Site Specific Policies DPD provides a succinct update on the planning status for the whole of the Cambridge Northern Fringe East as follows:

5 Structure Plan saved policy P8/10 and the Local Transport Plan propose the development of a rail station and interchange facility at Chesterton Sidings to provide a high quality interchange between all modes, including with the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway. Planning obligation contributions towards the cost of the railway station and interchange will be sought at a level proportional to the benefit of the mitigation of road traffic for developments which would be served by a new railway station at Chesterton Sidings. Not all the land at Chesterton Sidings will be required for the railway station and public transport interchange. Some of the remaining land will be used by Network Rail for train stabling and at least until the completion of the planned upgrade to the A14 trunk road for the delivery of aggregates and the manufacture of coated roadstone. Even with these uses present at the Sidings there will be land to the rear of the Cambridge Business Park available for redevelopment in the short term. Chesterton Sidings forms part of a larger area of land with development potential which includes land north of Cowley Road within Cambridge City. The redevelopment potential of this and other land has been investigated on a number of occasions but found to be unviable or undeliverable. Now that the future of much of Chesterton Sidings has been determined by Network Rail s decision to retain land for train stabling a new planning framework for the development of this area will be required. This will be produced jointly with Cambridge City Council and Cambridgeshire County Council, and agreed through the Cambridge Fringes Joint Planning Policy Committee. Central to the policy will remain a multimodal transport interchange. A new planning framework 29. A question for the Committee at this time is whether a new planning framework should have the weight of the Development Plan or whether a Supplementary Planning Document for example to give effect to a new Masterplan for the area would suffice. 30. Whilst the South Cambridgeshire Site Specific Policies DPD provides a basis for a Supplementary Planning Document to provide more detail as to how its policies would be implemented, the Cambridge Local Plan does not. For this reason if a new planning framework for Cambridge Northern Fringe East is to have any material weight in future planning decisions it needs to be prepared as an Area Action Plan. A draft Local Development Scheme is attached at Appendix 3. This scheme will need to be submitted to the Department for Communities and Local Government by 1 January 2010 to secure continued funding. 31. The need for an Area Action Plan stems primarily from the impetus for the early provision of the new mainline railway station at Chesterton Sidings. This proposal has secured monies through the Regional Funding Allocation. In addition, Growth Area funds have already been spent opening up this area for development including the relocation of the former Cowley Road Park & Ride site to Butt Lane Milton, upgrading the A10 / A14 interchange, upgrading Milton Road and upgrading the Milton Road / Cowley Road junction to provide

6 additional highway capacity for development at Cambridge Northern Fringe East. 32. Other uses on Chesterton Sidings including train stabling and two rail heads for aggregate deliveries as well as a concrete batching plant create real challenges for the provision of an attractive station environment. Not all of the sidings are needed for these purposes and there will be surplus land available for development. Discussions with Anglia Water suggest that there could also be development land adjoining the railway line at the rear of the Waste Water Treatment Works. Other land is available in Cowley Road under the control of Cambridge City Council. Preliminary exploration of issues with Network Rail and Anglia Water have revealed a new degree of flexibility which enables the exploration of options for improving the access to a new railway station possibly by removing industrial traffic from Cowley Road. Proposals also need to be explored for linking the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway to the new Chesterton Station to create a multi-modal interchange serving the northern side of Cambridge 33. Other possible uses which have been suggested for the available development land in Cowley Road and at Chesterton Sidings include employment development, the relocation of the City Council s depot from Mill Road, a Community Stadium, the relocation of Cambridge City football club and bus parking. These and any other candidate uses can be investigated during the preparation of an Area Action Plan. 34. Previous plans for this area have tended to be over ambitious and have foundered primarily for viability reasons. The need now is to produce a plan which is capable of being delivered to secure the early delivery of the railway station and the creation of a suitable gateway of development to this new approach to the City. 35. Officers of the 3 Councils together with representatives of Anglia Water and Network rail began work began in June on this new planning framework for the Cowley Road / Chesterton Sidings area which can now be brought under the auspices of the Joint Committee. Minerals and waste 36. The County Council has transferred its Mineral and Waste plan-making powers to the Committee. However, the County Council is at an advanced stage in preparing a Minerals & Waste Core Strategy and a Minerals & Waste Site Specific Policies DPD, the objective being to submit these DPDs to the Secretary of State in July The scope of the Committee s plan-making powers are however limited by the following clause in the Local Agreement: Any plans or policies applying, in whole or in part, to an area wider than the designated area will be prepared by the local authority for that area. 37. The Minerals & Waste Core Strategy inevitably remains the responsibility of the County Council. Because the County Council s Local Development Scheme proposes that the Site Specific Policies DPD will be a county-wide plan, it too remains the responsibility of the County Council and can contain development proposals within the area covered by the Committee. There will however also be instances where a parent authority is preparing a plan

7 which has site specific proposals within the Committee s jurisdiction which will fall to the Committee to determine the location. Planning obligations 38. It is already known that S106 contributions will be sought at an appropriate level from developments which will benefit from the provision of a station at Chesterton Sidings. Planning obligations may be necessary for other parts of the planning framework and will be necessary for development in the two other areas under the jurisdiction of the committee. However, work will be necessary to itemize and set the levels of any such contributions. 39. South Cambridgeshire and Cambridge City Council have already agreed to join together to commission consultants to prepare Local Investment Frameworks for the two districts. This will provide the evidence base that identifies the necessary social, physical and green infrastructure to ensure sustainable communities are delivered and provide the basis for calculating planning obligation contributions however they are collected. Planning obligation monies are both likely to be collected from within the areas covered by the Committee as well as being spent there. There is therefore a clear link between the plan-making responsibilities of the Committee and the wider plan-making responsibilities of the parent authorities. Plans affecting the Fringes Committee Area 40. As a Local Planning Authority in its own right, the Committee would normally expect to be consulted on plans being prepared by neighbouring Local Planning Authorities. In the specific case of this Committee, it covers very small areas and its neighbouring Local Planning Authorities are the parent Councils who will be consulting each other on emerging plans in any event. There is therefore a real danger of unnecessary bureaucracy and duplication which will add very little to plan-making but will add to administration and running costs as well as draw unnecessarily on member and officer time. This is likely to be the case particularly where the parent Councils are preparing district-wide policies which do not have site specific implications for the Committees jurisdiction. Officers advice is that the Committee be advised of plans in preparation by their parent authorities on a forward plan together with advice whether the Committee should respond to consultation. There are also likely to be practical difficulties where members of the Committee will be invited to form a view as an individual consultee who will be invited to later form a view when the parent authority makes a decision with the benefit of all the consultation results. 41. The agenda for this meeting includes items on the Minerals and Waste DPD being prepared by the County Council and the Gypsy & Travellers DPD being prepared by South Cambridgeshire District Council. These items are on this first agenda of the Committee because the members have not yet been invited to decide whether the Committee needs to be consulted.

8 Recommendations 42. The Committee is recommended to agree: (a) The preparation of a Cambridge Northern Fringe East Area Action Plan and the submission of a corresponding Local Development Scheme; (b) That the Committee will be advised of consultations being carried out by its parent local planning authorities and will decide on a case by case basis whether the Committee wishes to be consulted. Background Papers: the background papers are attached as appendices to the report. Contact Officer: Keith Miles Planning Policy Manager Telephone: (01954)