SCDC started work on creating a new joint Development Local Plan for Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire. In the past, each council has created its own plan, but this time, it will be a single plan covering the areas of both councils, now called “Greater Cambridge”.
For those asking “why are you making a new Local Plan when you’ve only just adopted one in September 2018?” That is a very valid question. We are doing this now because the Inspector that passed the last Local Plan put it in as a condition. In addition, we will review the 2018 Local Plan during this process and make change if needed.
What is a Local Plan?
The Local Plan affects everyone who lives in the district and determines where we will build houses, roads, jobs, schools, parks, leisure facilities etc. It will also set the policies and standards to which the council will hold developers and homeowners when submitting any application to build anything.
We want to create great places for people to live work, study and play. Bearing in mind how climate change and wellbeing is now at the forefront of discussions generally, we want to make sure that these take centre stage in the future growth of the district. As a council we have pledged to be carbon neutral by 2050 and the local plan will help us toward achieving that goal.
We are at the start of a 4-year plan-making process. We are giving everyone the opportunity to engage and participate in what we think is an exciting project. So please, plan to take full part, so you can help to shape your area as much as possible.
Call For Sites
We have started the new Local Plan process with the “call for sites” and with initial engagement with parishes, residents associations, councillors, agents/developers/landowners to discuss “issues and options”.
The “call for sites” took place in February and March of 2019. It was an opportunity for people to suggest land or areas that might be used for developments in the new Local Plan. The council received over 500 suggestions and the planning policy team are putting them all in a register which will be available publicly later in the process. Of course not all will be useful for the plan, but we won’t know which ones until we select the type of spatial strategy to use in the Local Plan.
Local Plan Issues & Options
The planning team held a series of workshops over the summer. There were eight (8) in all, attended by people from different parts of the community. They are district councillors, other third party organisations, utilities companies, land owners and developers, parishes and residents associations, and businessess. The discussions were lively and very informative. The policy team then collated all the points raised and used these as a starting point for creating the draft ideas document that will be discussed in the forthcoming engagement process.
The points were – what are the issues confronting Greater Cambridge? If money were no object how would we tackle these, what are our options for encouraging businesses but still managing the growth in a way that is sustainable.
What else should we be considering in making the new Local Plan? Traditionally, local plans focussed solely on number of houses and jobs and where to put them. And local infrastructure was an after thought. This time round, it is different
We want to capture the issues of the day – Climate Change, Biodiversity, Wellbeing and Social Inclusion. And to top it all, we want to create Great Places for people to live, work, play and study. How will all these factors affect where we build, how we build and meet the target of housebuilding the Government has set us.
Communications Strategy for Local Plan
As a new administration, we are keen to provide the right opportunities for residents to engage with the plan making process. For me in particular , my experience with the last local plan process was not positive. I feel that my voice and in turn that of my communities, was not heard. So I am keen that others don’t end up feeling the same with this new plan.
Both me and my Cambridge City counterpart, Cllr Katie Thornburrow, are quite keen on getting residents to participate. We especially want to hear from those that would normally not engage. So, the planning policy and communications teams have been working together to come up with a communications strategy for this new Local Plan process.
The communications team created a short explanatory video which you will find at http://bit.ly/GCLPVideo.
In the video, you will hear me and my Cambridge City counterpart Cllr Katie Thornburrow talk about the Local plan and why its important to engage with it. It also features residents, local councillors, and various other interested parties, talking about the Local Plan process.
This is a first for both councils. In addition, and I think more excitingly, the new Local Plan will be in electronic format. It will be a proper online document which will be easy to navigate and be more adaptable to future digital needs. The consultation document itself will be hosted on a dedicated website.
Conclusion
The Local Plan is an important document and it is essential that residents are aware of it and take part at the appropriate stages to help shape the content of the local plan.
Please take time to participate. Both Katie and I would love to hear from you.