SCDC adopted the latest Local Plan 2018 at its Council meeting yesterday afternoon.

The independent Inspectors appointed to examine the Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire Local Plans have written their Final Reports, published on Monday 3 September 2018.

The Inspectors’ Reports conclude that the Cambridge Local Plan and the South Cambridgeshire Local Planare sound and provide an appropriate basis for the planning of the area, provided that a number of main modifications are made, which are detailed in their reports. None of these directly affect Comberton.

The  plan to deliver 22,000 jobs and 19,500 new homes by 2031 in South Cambridgeshire has been given final approval by SCDC. The plan was approved by councillors at a South Cambridgeshire District Council Full Council meeting on Thursday 27 September after Government inspectors who were independently reviewing the plan, reported that they had found it sound.

Adoption of the Local Plan in South Cambridgeshire today means the Council will now use the plan as the cornerstone in all planning decisions made for the area.

The Plan also contains the key housing sites the Council will be expecting to see developed over the coming years. Only a proportion of the homes (listed below) at the larger sites would be built by 2031:

  • A new town north of Waterbeach – approximately 8,000-9,000 homes
  • A new village at Bourn Airfield – approximately 3,500 homes
  • An expansion to Cambourne to the west – planning permission has already been granted for 2,350 homes
  • Homes on land north of Cherry Hinton and west of Teversham – 1,200 homes (420 in South Cambridgeshire. The remaining homes are in Cambridge City)
  • Around 900 homes in the better served South Cambridgeshire villages
  • Continue to develop Northstowe – around 10,000 homes
  • Continue to build homes in existing growth sites on the edge of Cambridge (Southern Fringe, Cambridge East, Darwin Green and Eddington)

The plans also allow for the extension of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus at Addenbrooke’s Hospital and the Peterhouse Technology Park on Fulbourn Road.

The Council submitted the Local Plan in March 2014 for independent examination and Government Inspectors took over four years to assess it.

  • It includes the Bennell Farm development in Comberton and a new village at Bourn Airfield – approximately 3,500 homes is earmarked for development.
  • Proposals to build 3,500 new homes on this 270-hectare site  – originally a Second World War airfield – have already gone on public display. They include a mixture of housing, two primary schools, a secondary school, shops and sports and leisure facilities.

The examination of the Plan was carried out jointly with the plan for Cambridge City Council’s area. That plan was also submitted in March 2014. The Planning Inspectors’ examinations included reviewing evidence supplied by the two Councils, representations of objection and support made during public consultations, site visits and a series of hearings.

South Cambridgeshire District Council and Cambridge City Council committed to an early review of the Local Plans as part of the City Deal agreement. This was also a recommendation of the Planning Inspector. The review will commence in 2019 with submission for examination in 2022.

see Planning for more information.