2014 Local Plan Found Sound by Planning Inspectors

The BIG news is that the Planning Inspectors examining the 2014 Local Development Plan have given their report and have found that the plan is sound subject to the main modifications. The announcement was made on 3rd September 2018 with publication by South Cambridgeshire District Council of the Inspectors final report and the Appendix that contains the main modifications.

This Local Plan was created during the time that the Conservatives were in charge at the Council and submitted in March 2014 to the Planning Inspectorate for examination. The Secretary of State appointed Laura Graham BSC MA MRTPI as the Inspector from the Planning Inspectorate to carry out an independent examination of the Local Plan. Her task was to establish whether the Local Plan is ‘sound’, taking into account all representations made during public consultations.  She was assisted by an Assistant Inspector,  Alan Wood MSC FRICS  and a Planning Officer  Laura O’Brien.

The plan has now just been passed by the Inspector and holds the record of  taking the longest time – four and a half years – in the history of Local plan examinations. It seems one of the reasons for the length of time taken is that there was significant opposition to some parts of it, especially the policy for creating a new village at Bourn Airfield. If you have been following my blog, you would be aware of the points of contention about that particular strategy.

The fact that the Inspectors have found the plan sound is bitter sweet. On the one hand it is good news for the whole district in that it means that the council’s planning policies can now be given full weight when considering planning applications and it removes the threat of speculative developments from the horizon as the Council now has a good 5.8 year supply of housing land.

On the other hand, it means that Bourn Airfield Development (BAD) will be now be going ahead, despite all the concerns and issues that I and others, especially StopBAD raised during the various consultations and especially during the public hearings in April and July 2017. The Inspector made mention of those concerns in the final report but concluded that there was no reason why those concerns could not be addressed.

For those not aware, the Council, under the Conservatives administration, had not been able to demonstrate that it has a 5 Year Land Supply (5YLS), a requirement by central government. And this was at the same time as it did not have an adopted local plan. Therefore, the Council’s planning policies were considered out of date, and developers took advantage by submitting applications for land that was usually outside village development frameworks, and gaining planning. As a result of this, there were near enough 4000 planning permissions granted during this 5YLS fiasco, most at appeal. These were unplanned and in locations that the Council would otherwise not have granted permission for.

Residents of Highfields Caldecote have seen three big developments granted planning permission, one by the Council’s planning committee, the other two by Planning Inspectors on appeal due to the 5YLS fiasco. A total about 290 houses have been granted planning permission in the village in that time, and will be built out over the next 5 years or so resulting in an increase of nearly 40% in the size of the village.

My Thoughts on the Final Report

Its difficult to know where to start but perhaps the size of the report is a good point. Considering the plan was submitted in March 2014 and the final report released in September 2018, a period of four and a half years (52 month), the 42 page report is rather ….. disappointing to say the least. I was expecting to see a big report or set of reports, with in-depth analysis of the issues raised that had caused so much contention. The modifications report had 152 pages of the text of modifications made to the plan.

Now let’s consider the issue that is of most interest to our Ward.

Bourn Airfield

Paragraphs 76 to 87 on pages 18 to 20 of the report contains the Inspectors findings on Policy SS/6 that allocates the land at Bourn Airfield for a new village. There were two major issues that local residents were concerned about, and which generated the majority of the opposition to the proposal.

Coalescence

The Inspector addressed issue of coalescence in paragraph 81 and 82., stating that development on such a scale would change the character of the area. Of course it will – stating the obvious.

Something else the report also revealed is an assertion that I have made time and again – that the Conservatives intention was to build Cambourne East by stealth – and I was right.  They lied to us all. You just have to see the Inspectors comments in Paragraph 82 – which I have shown edged in blue!

So if it is not intended that Bourn Airfield should be wholly self-contained settlement, it has to rely on its proximity to Cambourne for interaction (paraphrasing the Inspector).

The Inspectors conclusion that “there is a reasonable prospect that a form of development can be achieved” albeit at densities higher than those in some existing villages is no comfort. StopBAD had already done lots of work and submitted a report showing that the development would have to be done at high densities to fit 3,500 into that space. We knew that already. So what else?

Transport

This was the other major bone of contention with the selection of this site and the Inspector addresses this in Paragraphs 83 and 84. The Transport Strategy for Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire (TSCSC) was put together to address the challenges that the two councils would face with the new plan.  It was a series of wishlists and hopes- as I saw it.  Subsequently, the City Deal – renamed Greater Cambridge City Deal now administered by the Greater Cambridge Partnership, was created.  The GCP then proceeded to come up with some sort of plan for the A428 transport corridor which became fondly known as the Cambourne to Cambridge Better Bus Journeys Project.  The busway was the only solution proposed, no expansion of roads to take account of additional car traffic. The idea being that a “modal shift” would take place such that everyone would use public transport instead!

The Inspector concluded that there will be sufficient developer funding from the site to contribute to the off-site transport infrastructure as well as from the GC-City Deal.  She also referred to the work that had been done to date on the project and the £59million of GCP funding allocated.

At the Public examination on the transport issues in July 2017, I informed the Inspector that the new roadworks being carried out on the A428 East at the Girton Interchange was being modified by Highways England(HE), reducing it down to one lane, initially for the construction phase, and then keeping it that way “because their modelling showed the capacity of one lane was sufficient”.  I explained that in the light of the lack of additional road traffic space, it would affect  traffic flow onto the A1303. That came as a surprise to both the Inspector and the Council. The Inspector seemed to accept the Council and Counsel’s assurance that HE was building the road according to the development consent given. We now know for sure that is not the case.

In concluding that there is a reasonable prospect that the scheme will be completed during the plan period, it seems that the Inspector took little account of more recent changes that has seen the Mayor and Combined Authority become the Strategic Transport Authority for the County, and the resulting drama over the last 6 to 8 months.

Conclusion on Bourn Airfield

Its probably best that I let you read it yourself. Here it is

So there we have it!! The Inspector has thrown the ball firmly back into the Council’s playing field to resolve any and all concerns that residents raised about this proposal. And it took four and a half years to get to this point!!

Next Steps

The Local Plan has first to be debated by the Councillors and adopted by at the next Full Council meeting taking place on 27th September 2018.  If councillors vote to adopt it, then it becomes part of the Adopted Policies of the Council. The Cambridge plan will go to their Planning and Transport committee and then for adoption at full council on 18th October.

Whatever happens on 27th September 2018, the road ahead for residents of Highfields Caldecote and Bourn will be a rocky one in the years ahead as we grapple with the legacy that the Conservatives left us with in this part of the district.

I will keep you updated on how this pans out over the coming months.