Landscape Appraisal for Cambridge South East CEG Cambridge South East November 2011 CEG Cambridge South East November 2011 Quality Assurance Site name: Cambridge South East Client name: CEG Type of report: Landscape Appraisal Prepared by: Helen Thompson CMLI MRTPI AIEMA Signed Date _____________________________________________________ Reviewed by: Rob Hopwood BA (Hons) BTP MRTPI Signed _____________________________________________________ Date _____________________________________________________ CEG Cambridge South East November 2011 Table of Contents 1 BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................... 1 2 BASELINE CONDITIONS .................................................................................................... 6 3 EXPANSION OF SETTLEMENT AT THE URBAN EDGE ................................................. 18 4 CAPACITY OF THE SITE .................................................................................................. 23 5 ANALYSIS OF SENSITIVITY............................................................................................. 29 6 OPPORTUNITIES .............................................................................................................. 32 7 CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................................. 36 CEG Cambridge South East November 2011 1 BACKGROUND 1.1 Bidwells has been instructed by Commercial Estates Group Ltd to prepare base line evidence to ascertain the capacity of the landscape to support development to the south east of Cambridge as a pre-requisite to inform the areas which could be developed without detriment to the landscape. 1.2 CEG has an option for development on the land known as Cambridge South East illustrated in Figure 1. The site is currently being promoted for development and a previous submission was made to the East of England Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) Review in 2009 as a strategic location for mixed use development. 1.3 Cambridgeshire County Council (CCC) owns land to the south and south east of Cambridge, shown on Figure 1. The Babraham Road Park and Ride site is located within this tract of land. The Park and Ride is considered to be near or at capacity, and it is the aspiration of CCC to extend the Park and Ride facility whilst at the same time helping to meet the requirement for new homes in the area by developing some of the land in CCC's ownership. 1.4 Considering the two areas together allows a strategic vision for the south east quadrant of Cambridge through which considerable environmental improvements to this edge of Cambridge could be achieved to the benefit of local people. With better pedestrian and cycle access as well as the potential for a road link between Fulbourn Road and Cherry Hinton Road/Babraham Road Park and Ride site, by-passing the Cherry Hinton Road junction with Queen Edith's Way and the narrow Limekiln Road, and enhancements to biodiversity and landscape, a number of substantial benefits can be brought forward through strategic development to the south east of Cambridge. 1.5 The area under consideration for the purposes of this report goes beyond the immediate landholdings described above so that the context of the site and surroundings can be assessed. It should also be noted that CCC owns land to the south and south east of Addenbrooke's hospital. Whilst this land is not proposed for further development, it does allow further opportunities for access links to the wider network. The area considered to ascertain the general context approximates to the area depicted in the plans. 1.6 The key issues are: Green Belt; the capacity of the land to accept development; development zones and boundaries; landscape treatments, linkages and integration; and 1 CEG Cambridge South East November 2011 sustainable forms of development. 1.7 The purpose of this study is to: review, understand and set out the context of the site; assess the landscape capacity which refers to the degree to which a particular landscape type can accommodate change without significant effect on character; and show the area of appropriate development which would not be detrimental to the character of the area, and how this could be linked to the City and bring forward a number of benefits. Planning Policy Context 1.8 Planning Policy Guidance notes (PPGs) and Planning Policy Statements (PPSs) set out the Government's policies on different aspects of planning. The following are particularly relevant. 1.9 Planning Policy Statement 1 (PPS1): Delivering Sustainable Development (2005) sets out overarching planning policies for the delivery of sustainable development through the planning system. 1.10 Planning Policy Guidance 2 (PPG2): Green Belts. This states the general intentions of the Green Belt Policy, including its contribution to sustainable patterns of urban development and indicates the Green Belt to have five distinct purposes, namely to: check the unrestricted sprawl of large built-up areas; prevent neighbouring towns from merging into one another; assist in safeguarding the countryside from encroachment; preserve the setting and special character of historic towns; and assist in urban regeneration, by encouraging the recycling of derelict and other urban land. 1.11 Planning Policy Statement 3 (PPS3): Housing (2011) sets out the Government's intentions to ensure the delivery and affordability of housing, including ensuring high standards of design. PPS3 requires that 'deliverable' sites should be identified. The criteria for assessing the deliverability of sites (Paragraph 54) are that sites must be 'available', 'suitable' and 'achievable'. The site is available. This report looks in detail at the landscape issues and landscape capacity of the site and the opportunities which can be brought forward through development and shows the site is suitable to be considered for development. There is reasonable prospect that development could be delivered on this site within a relatively short time span in planning terms. 2 CEG Cambridge South East November 2011 1.12 Planning Policy Guidance 13 (PPG13): Transport (2011). The Government aims to deliver an integrated transport policy between different types of transport with policies for the environment and land use planning to bring about benefits for education, health and wealth creation. The objectives are to promote sustainable transport choices for people, promote accessibility to jobs and reduce the need to travel, especially by car. It proposes that housing should be accommodated principally within existing urban areas and at locations which are highly accessible by public transport, walking and cycling. The site is at the edge of an urban area and is, and will be, highly accessible. In addition, development will bring forward non-vehicular links which will enable access to the wider countryside. 1.13 Planning Policy Statement 25 (PPS25): Development and Flood Risk (2010). The aims are to ensure that flood risk is taken into account at all stages in the planning process to avoid inappropriate development in areas at risk of flooding. The Environment Agency Flood Map shows that the site lies outside the extent of extreme flood where the chance of flooding events is 0.1% (or 1 in 1000) or less. East of England Plan 1.14 Whilst emerging government policy will require the abolition of Regional Spatial Strategies, some principles in the East of England plan remain valid. 1.15 The approach to housing development in the adopted RSS for the Cambridge Sub-Region is sequential and focused on Cambridge in the following order of preference: In the built up area of Cambridge, subject to considerations of environmental capacity; On the periphery of the built up area of Cambridge on land released from the Green Belt following the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Structure Plan 2003 and through the Cambridge Local Plan and development plan documents prepared by the local planning authorities; At the new settlement of Northstowe, linked to the guided bus way; and On land within or on the peripheries of the Sub-Region's market towns and within Key Service Centres (or on the peripheries of Key Service Centres, mainly limited to existing communities) where such development would contribute to the social and economic needs of the community. 1.16 The sequential approach is based on sustainability principles, and therefore the second option of housing on the periphery of Cambridge is highly sustainable. 3 CEG Cambridge South East November 2011 1.17 Previous to the RSS, the Regional Planning Guidance (RPG), along with the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Structure Plan 2003, aimed to provide for sustainable patterns of development to accommodate necessary growth in the Sub-Region with a better balance between employment and housing focused on Cambridge and its surrounding area. The RPG put in place planning policy for the review and release of land from the Green Belt which was followed through by the Structure Plan Policies P9/2b and P9/2c with the detail of Green Belt release and revised boundaries coming through in the Cambridge City Local Plan 2006, with the same principle that development on the edge of Cambridge is highly sustainable. 1.18 The site is currently in the Green Belt. The adopted RSS (paragraph 13.12), states that the extent of the Green Belt may need to be revisited in the review of the RSS. The Cambridgeshire Development Study (2009) has been undertaken