Cambridge  City Council has published its draft Local Plan, which sets the framework for future development in the city, and now is the time to give your views on it, for the government Planning Inspectorate to consider.

By law, local authorities must set a Local Plan for their areas, stipulating what kind of development can take place where. It covers employment and leisure facilities as well as housing, so it very much determines where people live and work and how they get about.  It is the master document against which individual planning applications are assessed, and incorporates local planning policies. For example, an important policy this time round is special protection for pubs, to preserve pubs as community facilities.

This Wednesday 28th August, there will be an exhibition on the options for the Cambridge Local Plan in the Hall at the Queen Emma Primary School, Gunhild Way, 2.30-7.30pm. You can also comment on line on the Council’s website set up for this purpose: http://cambridge.jdi-consult.net/ldf/

Cambridgeshire County Council‘s Transport Plan will also be on display. There will be officers from both councils to talk to.

Even if you have already commented on the Cambridge Local Plan, please do so again, as these comments will be considered by the government inspector when he or she assesses the validity of the Council’s proposals.

In this area,some sites have already been identified by the City Council as unsuitable, eg CC911, land between Babraham Road and Fulbourn Road. However, there are proposals to take land near Wort’s Causeway out of the green belt so it can be used for housing – over 500 housing units between two sites. Many hundreds of people have commented, expressing concerns about the impact on the infrastructure that so many new houses would have. Building there would have a major impact on traffic movements, and could also compromise the viability of the Park & Ride service, affecting transport beyond the local area.

Many would miss the green space, and resist the encroachment of more building on what is now countryside. Building here would spoil a lovely approach to the Gogs and the Roman Road, and there are implications for wildlife, especially birds.

Local residents fighting to preserve the green belt have joined  forces with campaigners from other areas to set up a petition against incursions into the green belt. You can see and sign this on line on their new website created for the campaign and launched last week: http://greenbeltsos.wordpress.com/. It has garnered over 400 signatures already.

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