Cambridge Ahead has submitted a response to the Greater Cambridge Draft Local Plan to 2045 (Regulation 18), published for consultation by the Greater Cambridge Shared Planning service.

Our response welcomes the underlying vision of good growth, building on previous Local Plans for the area and balancing an ambition to support the internationally significant innovation economy with a need to increase the quality of everyday life for all in our communities.

The draft Greater Cambridge Local Plan is available here

Key messages advocated by Cambridge Ahead in our response are:

  • Welcoming the acknowledgement of the need for different housing types and tenures, meeting the needs of different communities – particularly those put forward by our Young Advisory Committee
  • Supporting the use of robust local data to inform economic modelling and recognising the effort to work with the grain of the clustering nature of the innovation economy
  • Supporting planned over-provision for commercial space and housing. If economic performance is higher and infrastructure constraints are overcome, this is welcome flexibility
  • Emphasising the importance of the innovation infrastructure that underpins growth
  • Highlighting that the dependence on infrastructure delivered by other bodies, particularly transport, emphasises the importance of system-wide alignment to unlock this growth
  • Asking for greater flexibility on densification, to high design and environmental standards, which would strengthen the draft Plan’s performance against its objectives and underpin key quality of life factors – such as access to public transport, public services and amenities
  • Welcoming efforts to provide for “whole economy” needs, through a balanced provision of commercial space, notably in mid-tech and logistics
  • Encouraging further consideration and an open and strategic approach to grey belt assessment which may uncover further opportunities

 

Cambridge Ahead looks forward to continuing to engage constructively with partners as the Local Plan progresses, to help ensure it delivers good growth, higher living standards and long-term competitiveness for the Cambridge city region.