EAST CAMBRIDGESHIRE DISTRICT COUNCIL Local Development Framework Core Strategy Development Plan Document Adopted October 2009 EAST CAMBRIDGESHIRE DISTRICT COUNCIL Local Development Framework Annual Monitoring Report 2007/08 December 2008 EAST CAMBRIDGESHIRE DISTRICT COUNCIL Local Development Framework Proposals Map Development Plan Document Adopted October 2009 Foreword ategy East Cambridgeshire is an attractive place, offering a good quality of life for local people, a range of employment opportunities, and good services and facilities.The district has experienced rapid growth in recent years, with more people coming to live and work here. The key challenge for the District Council is to manage this growth in the best possible way in the future, making sure that new development is properly planned for and is supported by appropriate services and infrastructure. We idgeshire Core Str also need to ensure that the unique character and environment of East Cambridgeshire is protected, and that we respond to challenges such as the need for affordable housing, providing a better range of employment opportunities, regenerating our town centres, tackling high levels of out-commuting, and addressing threats from flood risk and climate change. East Cambr The District Council is in the process of preparing a new Plan for the district, known as the ‘Local Development Framework’ (or LDF). The LDF will help the District Council to meet these challenges, and provide a framework to guide the growth of the district up to the year 2025. The process of preparing this statutory plan is a long one, and we have spent time over the last few years consulting the public and local organisations on the important issues which need to be addressed, commissioning expert studies, and considering existing evidence. The Core Strategy will be one of the key documents in the LDF, and has been formally approved by Government.The Core Strategy sets out a clear vision for the future of the district, and identifies how, where and when new development will take place in East Cambridgeshire up to the year 2025. It also includes a range of ‘development control’ policies which will be used for assessing planning applications.This vision and strategy will inform the selection of specific sites for development, which will be identified in other LDF documents which are due to be produced in 2009/10. I would like to thank everyone who contributed to the development of the Core Strategy. The District Council is committed to making East Cambridgeshire a better place to live and work, and this Plan should help to ensure that growth in the district is managed in a sustainable way. Councillor Peter Moakes Chair of Strategic Development Committee East Cambridgeshire District Council East Cambr Core Strategy Development Plan Document idgeshire Core Str 1 Introduction 5 1.1 The Local Development Framework 5 1.2 The purpose of this document 5 ategy 1.3 Preparation of the Core Strategy 6 1.4 Key issues and influences 8 2 Core Strategy 11 2.1 Overview 11 2.2 Spatial portrait 11 2.3 Spatial vision and objectives 15 2.4 Core policies 18 2.4.1 CS1 - Spatial strategy 18 2.4.2 CS2 - Housing 21 2.4.3 CS3 - Gypsy and traveller sites and sites for travelling showpeople 28 2.4.4 CS4 - Employment 31 2.4.5 CS5 - Retail and town centre uses 37 2.4.6 CS6 - Environment 40 2.4.7 CS7 - Infrastructure 42 2.4.8 CS8 - Access 44 2.4.9 Key diagram 46 2.5 Town strategies 47 2.5.1 CS9 - Ely 47 2.5.2 CS10 - Soham 50 2.5.3 CS11 - Littleport 52 3 Development Control Policies 55 3.1 Introduction 55 3.2 Housing 56 3.2.1 H1 - Housing mix and type 56 3.2.2 H2 - Density 57 3.2.3 H3 - Affordable housing 58 3.2.4 H4 - Affordable housing exceptions 61 ategy 3.2.5 H5 - Dwellings for rural workers 62 3.2.6 H6 - Residential care homes 64 3.2.7 H7 - Mobile home and residential caravan parks 65 3.2.8 H8 - Alterations or replacement of dwellings in the countryside 66 idgeshire Core Str 3.3 Employment 67 3.3.1 EC1 - Retention of employment sites 67 East Cambr 3.3.2 EC2 - Extensions to existing businesses in the countryside 68 3.3.3 EC3 - Non-residential re-use or replacement of buildings in the countryside 68 3.3.4 EC4 - Residential re-use of buildings in the countryside 70 3.3.5 EC5 - Farm diversification 70 3.3.6 EC6 - New employment buildings on the edge of settlements 72 3.3.7 EC7 - Horse racing 72 3.3.8 EC8 - Tourist facilities and visitor attractions 73 3.3.9 EC9 - Tourist accommodation 74 3.3.10 EC10 - Holiday and seasonal occupancy conditions 76 3.4 Services and infrastructure 78 3.4.1 S1 - Location of retail and town centre uses 78 3.4.2 S2 - Retail uses in town centres 80 3.4.3 S3 - Retaining community facilities and open space 81 3.4.4 S4 - Developer contributions 82 3.4.5 S5 - Telecommunications 84 3.4.6 S6 - Transport impact 85 3.4.7 S7 - Parking provision 86 3.5 Environment 88 3.5.1 EN1 - Landscape and settlement character 88 3.5.2 EN2 - Design 89 3.5.3 EN3 - Sustainable construction and energy efficiency 93 3.5.4 EN4 - Renewable energy 93 3.5.5 EN5 - Historic conservation 95 3.5.6 EN6 - Biodiversity and geology 98 East Cambr 3.5.7 EN7 - Flood risk 101 3.5.8 EN8 - Pollution 104 idgeshire Core Str 3.5.9 EN9 - Green Belt 107 4 Infrastructure, implementation and monitoring 109 4.1 Introduction 109 4.2 Infrastructure requirements and constraints 109 ategy 4.3 Implementation 116 4.4 Monitoring 124 Appendices 1 Schedule of Local Plan policies to be replaced 138 2 Housing supply and trajectory 155 a) Sources of housing supply 155 b) Housing trajectory 158 c) Housing source data 161 d) Previously developed land trajectory 179 3 Parking standards 182 4 Glossary 187 5 Natural and cultural sites 196 1 Introduction ategy 1.1 The Local Development Framework 1.1.1 East Cambridgeshire District Council is preparing a new ‘Local Development Framework’ to guide the growth of the district to 2025. The Local Development Framework (LDF) will consist of a series of policy documents which will eventually replace the East Cambridgeshire idgeshire Core Str District Local Plan (adopted in 2000). The Council is required by Government to produce a new LDF – as established in the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. 1.1.2 This document concerns the strategy at the heart of the new plan - the ‘Core Strategy’. The East Cambr Core Strategy is one of the key documents which will form part of the new LDF. The Core Strategy will set out the Council’s spatial vision for the future, and a series of policies to deliver that vision and guide new development. Once adopted, the Core Strategy will replace a number of the saved policies in the District Local Plan – details of which policies will be replaced is set out in Appendix 1. 1.1.3 The documents that will comprise the East Cambridgeshire LDF are listed below (according to the Council's Local Development Scheme 2008). In addition to the Core Strategy, there will be 2 LDF documents which will allocate specific sites for new development. All of the LDF documents will need to be in conformity with the Core Strategy. Further details of the LDF documents and the timetable for their preparation are set out in the Council’s Local Development Scheme (see the Council’s website at www.eastcambs.gov.uk). It should be noted that the Local Development Scheme may be updated periodically, with the agreement of the Government Office, in order to provide accurate information on LDF production. Core Strategy Development Plan Document (including Development Control policies) Site Allocations Development Plan Document (allocating specific sites for development) Gypsy and Traveller Sites Development Plan Document (allocating specific sites for development) Proposals Map (showing the areas where the policies and allocations will apply) A series of Supplementary Planning Documents (supplementing and supporting the policies and allocations in the main LDF documents) 1.2 The purpose of this document 1.2.1 This Core Strategy has been prepared following earlier consultation with the public and key stakeholders on the key issues the Plan should address, and different policy choices. Details of the preparation process are set out in section 1.4 below. 1.2.2 The Core Strategy document sets out the spatial vision for the district up to the year 2025, and the spatial objectives and strategic policies to deliver that vision. The document also includes a set of Development Control Policies which will be used in assessing planning applications. 5 1.2.3 A Proposals Map has also been published alongside the Core Strategy (see separate document). The Proposals Map shows the areas where policies will apply. East Cambr 1.2.4 A number of supporting documents have also been prepared to support the Core Strategy, as listed below. These documents are available on the Council’s website at www.eastcambs.gov.uk, or can be obtained by phoning the Council’s Forward Planning team on 01353 665555. idgeshire Core Str Sustainability Appraisal report – providing information on the economic, environmental and social impact of the policy approaches. Statement of Consultation – setting out how community and stakeholders were involved in the production of the Core Strategy, and how views have been taken into account. ategy 1.2.5 The district contains a number of European Nature Conservation Sites (Special Areas of Conservation, Special Protection Areas and RAMSAR sites), and the Council is therefore required under EU legislation to separately assess the potential effects of the Core Strategy on these sites.