Tag: South Cambridgeshire District Council

Northstowe Two approved with affordable provision halved

08:19 Thursday 30th July 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

CHRIS MANN: Another 3,500 homes have been given the go-ahead at Northstowe. The new town is being built between the villages of Oakington and Longstanton in South Cambridgeshire, the ones that were choked with traffic yesterday when the A14 was blocked of course. After lengthy discussions councillors agreed on the planning application for Phase 2 of the new town, and our political reporter Hannah Olsson was at yesterday’s meeting. Good morning.
HANNAH OLSSON: Good morning Chris.
CHRIS MANN: So tell us what’s in Phase 2.
HANNAH OLSSON: Well as well as the 3,500 homes we’ve got two primary schools, a secondary school, the town centre and sports hub, so a really significant part of Northstowe. We’re now at 5,000 homes, with the 1,500 agreed in Phase 1. This is the phase that the Government took over as the developer for last year, putting in their detailed planning application through the Homes and Communities Agency back in August.
CHRIS MANN: This is a long running story. It’s taken ages to get to this point.
HANNAH OLSSON: Yes, and not just yesterday’s six hours. And that’s because councillors wanted to get it right. The ambition is for this to be an exemplar town. That phrase was mentioned a lot yesterday, And throughout discussions some of the issues that came up with Cambourne and Orchard Park were mentioned, with everyone keen to learn from some mistakes that happened there, particularly the community facilities. And it was this aspect that was being signed off yesterday, the so-called 106 agreement in the planning application, which is the amount of money that the developers must guarantee will be spent on things like schools, health centres and community hubs. One of the councillors who spoke at yesterday’s meeting, the Leader of the LibDems on South Cambridgeshire Council Bridget Smith spoke of wanting to avoid it becoming a rurally isolated ghetto, with nowhere for residents to meet or socialise, particularly in the early stages.
CHRIS MANN: OK.
HANNAH OLSSON: So compromises did have to be made. The Council had originally asked for £86 million in investment, but the figure agreed with the Homes and Communities Agency is now £73 million. There’s also a compromise on affordable housing. The South Cambridgeshire policy is for 40% affordable homes, but the HCA said it’s only viable to have 20% of affordable homes at the moment, but this will be reviewed as more houses are built and sold. Some councillors do still have concerns, particularly about the timing of when the facilities are going to be built, but you could audibly hear the sign of relief when it was eventually voted through by all but one of the committee, not least from the man sat next to me, the Chair of Northstowe Joint Development Committee, Tim Wotherspoon.
CHRIS MANN: So Tim, how significant is this?
TIM WOTHERSPOON: oh it’s hugely significant. Yes. We’ve now cleared the way for the first half of the town, the first 5,000 homes to go forward for detailed planning preparation and delivery. It’s a huge step forward for South Cambridgeshire.
CHRIS MANN: OK. Yesterday we saw these villages absolutely jammed with traffic when the A14 was blocked, and some people saying why build them when you’ve got these road problems still going on. What’s your answer to that?
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Inspector calls Local Plan into question

08:08 Wednesday 15th July 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

DOTTY MCLEOD: East Cambridgeshire District Council could launch a review of its Local Plan just two months after it was adopted. Any review would cost up to £145,000 over three years, and see a new wave of public consultations. The Local Plan, we’ve spoken about them so much. You might remember what they are, but just in case, it’s a plan for the future development of a local area. So it decides whether or not any planning applications that are submitted can be given the go-ahead. A report is going to be seen by East Cambridgeshire District Council this week. It says the decision of a Government Inspector to override a planning refusal for 120 homes in Witchford has led to the possibility of a review. In allowing the national developers plans, the Inspector said housing supply plans in East Cambridgeshire were already out of date. Richard Kay handles forward planning on East Cambridgeshire District Council, and we will talk to Richard in just a moment, but first let’s have a word with Sebastian Kindersley, who is the South Cambridgeshire District councillor for Gamlingay, because these kinds of cases have occurred in South Cambridgeshire as well, haven’t they Sebastian?
SEBASTIAN KINDERSLEY: Yes good morning Dotty. I’m afraid it has, almost exactly, where a planning inspector has agreed a number of appeals in Waterbeach in March. And the result of that has been an absolute flood of speculative planning applications from pre-application enquiries, which is rapidly transforming South Cambs. in a way that is unplanned, and actually frankly at the moment unwanted.
DOTTY MCLEOD: And these applications, these speculative applications as you are calling them, they hinge on what?
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Cambridgeshire councils aim to share more services

07:26 Friday 3rd July 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

DOTTY MCLEOD: For some councils in Cambridgeshire. sharing could be a £1.1 million saving. The neighbouring councils in South Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire and Cambridge City are planning to join together some of their services in an effort to save money. Joining me now are not one, but all three of the council Leaders in question, so let’s see how well they do at sharing the airwaves. First of all we’ve got Jason Ablewhite, Executive Leader of Huntingdonshire District Council. Morning Jason.
JASON ABLEWHITE: Good morning. How are you?
DOTTY MCLEOD: Very good thank you. Ray Manning, Leader of South Cambridgeshire District Council. Hello Ray.
RAY MANNING: Hello there.
DOTTY MCLEOD: And Lewis Herbert, who is the Leader of Cambridge City Council. Hello Lewis.
LEWIS HERBERT: Greetings.
DOTTY MCLEOD: So we will start with Jason this morning. Tell us which services you’re looking at sharing.
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Cambridgeshire Local Plan – Inspector calls for more evidence

17:21 Wednesday 1st July 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

CHRIS MANN: People in Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire are to be consulted once more on how the area’s councils can deliver thousands of new houses. Last month a Government inspector said more work must be done on the Local Plan, which maps out long term development for the two districts. Cambridge City and South Cambs will work together to address those concerns. Well let’s find out more from councillor Robert Turner, who is South Cambridgeshire District Council’s Cabinet Member for Planning, who joins me now. Robert, hello.
ROBERT TURNER: Good afternoon Chris, and good afternoon to all your listeners.
CHRIS MANN: So a bit of a slap on the wrist for you guys from these Inspectors. They said that you hadn’t done enough and your ideas were all wrong basically.
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Northstowe development decision against minimum room size

07:08 Tuesday 14th April 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

DOTTY MCLEOD: There are fears that Northstowe’s standing as an exemplar new development is at risk. Efforts to set a minimum standard size of rooms in houses built in Phase I of the development have been turned down by a Government planning inspector. The developers Gallaghers appealed against South Cambridgeshire District Council’s planning conditions for up to 1500 of the first homes to be built. Alex Riley is the Conservative district councillor for Longstanton and is on the Northstowe Joint Development Control Committee. Morning Alex.
ALEX RILEY: Good morning.
DOTTY MCLEOD: So why did you want to have this standard in place?
ALEX RILEY: Well in the UK we now have the situation that we have the smallest room sizes in the whole of Europe, and the terrifying thing is that our room sizes keep getting smaller. And people keep finding that they’ve bought houses that aren’t really fit for purpose. And those of us on the Committee really bought into the idea that we wanted Northstowe to be something special, exemplar is the word that gets bandied about. And we thought well the least we can do is ensure that the rooms are of a decent size.
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Tim Wotherspoon on Northstowe Phase II

07:07 Thursday 26th March 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

DOTTY MCLEOD: It is one of the largest planned new developments in the country. It could become the biggest new town in the country since Milton Keynes. But there’s still a question mark over the future of Northstowe in Cambridgeshire. Councillors met yesterday, but the meeting at South Cambridgeshire District Council was adjourned after more than five hours. Up to 10,000 homes could be built on land between Oakington and Longstanton, just north of the A14. To give you an idea of the size of this planned development, that would be more homes than there are currently in Ely. In a moment we’ll be talking to the councillor in charge of strategic planning at South Cambridgeshire District Council, but first Emma Howgego has been looking back at the history of Northstowe so far.
EMMA HOWGEGO: It was 17 years ago in 1998 that the town of Northstowe was first proposed on the site of Oakington Barracks, which closed down in the mid-1990s. The Government acquired the land and initially turned it into an immigration reception centre, which closed down in 2010. Since then plans to build 10,000 homes and the associated infrastructure have been discussed, debated and adjusted. So where are we now with Northstowe? Well outline planning permission for the north end of the town known as Phase I which includes 1500 homes has already been approved. Clearing work on the site is already underway, and construction work on the infrastructure is due to start on site in the next few weeks. According to the Northstowe website, the first homes will be ready to move into next year. The first primary school opens in September 2016. But that means there are still 8,500 homes that haven’t been given planning permission. That’s where Phase II comes in. This is the big part of the new town, the shops, the town centre, the secondary school and the guided busway extension, along with 3,500 homes. But there is one issue. This stage is reliant on the A14 upgrade going ahead, as Cllr Tim Wotherspoon explained to BBC Radio Cambridgeshire last week.
(TAPE)
TIM WOTHERSPOON: What we’re specifying in the report and you’ll see is the bit between Swavesey and Girton, which is obviously the bit on which Northstowe depends, particularly the new Bar Hill junction. That has to be finished before there are any occupations in Phase II.
(LIVE)
EMMA HOWGEGO: And that is the key point here. Over the years the A14 has been consulted on, approved, then scrapped by the Government, then re-proposed with a toll, the toll was abolished, and it is now at the stage of being consulted on again. And with a General Election just six weeks away, who knows what will happen if a new government comes into power.
DOTTY MCLEOD: Emma Howgego reporting there. Well with me now is Tim Wotherspoon, South Cambridgeshire District Council’s Cabinet member for Strategic Planning. What happened at this meeting yesterday Tim? Why no decision?
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South Cambridgeshire 2020 Vision

17:11 Wednesday 4th February 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

CHRIS MANN: Plans for how South Cambridgeshire District Council’s services will be financed when all Government grant funding ends in five years time have been published this afternoon. The Government grants the Council receives to deliver services will be cut to zero by 2020. With savings in the region of £670,000 needed in this next financial year, that’s 2015/2016, to balance the books, there’s a lot of work to be done. I’m joined in the studio now by Simon Edwards, who is the Deputy Leader of South Cambs District Council. It’s a big ask.
SIMON EDWARDS: It is a big ask Chris, and this budget really is very different to previous budgets, because this one is all about vision, and I like to call it my 2020 Vision. I know it’s an overused phrase, but for the first time we can now see on the horizon of our five year strategy, in 2020 we will have virtually no, in fact we’ll have no revenue support grant from the Government.
CHRIS MANN: I know you said in a statement earlier that you need to innovate and generate your own income. So what ideas have you come up with? Continue reading “South Cambridgeshire 2020 Vision”

Rapid expansion brings challenging issues for Cambridge City Council

17:08 Monday 19th January 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

CHRIS MANN: Cambridge is a tale of two cities, according to a new report. On the plus side, there is the lowest unemployment amongst UK cities, with a booming local economy helped by the best-educated workforce. On the negative side, rising house prices and rents along with falling real wages making life quite a struggle for many. So what can be done? Well earlier I challenged councillor Lewis Herbert, Leader of Cambridge City Council.
(TAPE)
LEWIS HERBERT: Well it’s good news for Cambridge. It demonstrates that we’re up there in terms of prosperity. We’ve added 12,000 jobs in 10 years, and just about 12,000 homes. But it also shows that we’ve got a few challenges Chris. We’ve got great inequality, in the sense that we’ve got falling incomes for quite a lot of our people, and house prices have been really rising. So Cambridge is not without its challenges, but we’ve got a good future, provided we get on top of them.
CHRIS MANN: So it’s a tale of two cities. Who is suffering here, do you think? Who are the people who are losing out? Continue reading “Rapid expansion brings challenging issues for Cambridge City Council”