Fulbourn Forum for community action
Sent by email:
17 February 2013
Issues and Options 2 Consultation
Planning Policy Team
Cambridge City Council
PO Box 700
Cambridge
CB1 0JH
Dear Sir or Madam,
Responses to Cambridge Local Plan Towards 2031 - Issues and Options 2
Please find attached to this email, responses to the Issues and Options Report 2,
which we trust will be taken into account when you decide, later this year,
which options and sites will be taken forward to the next round. These
responses are for:
Site GB1 Proposed release from Green Belt
Site GB2 Proposed release from Green Belt
Site GB3 Proposed release from Green Belt
Site GB4 Proposed release from Green Belt
We have also responded separately to South Cambridgeshire District Council in
respect of Site GB5. We understand that you will be made aware of this
response by the District Council as this is a joint consultation exercise.
However, if that is not the case, we will forward this to you if wished.
I am writing on behalf of Fulbourn Forum for community action, a local
organization formed after the publication of the Fulbourn Parish Plan and the
resulting Actions, set up to provide a focus for activities and action, not only
around issues of conservation and development, but also to help promote a
resilient and sustainable community. We believe that our responses generally
reflect the majority opinion of the village and reflect the desires outlined in the
Parish Plan. Via our email contact list of 264 local addresses, we have also been
active in encouraging villagers to respond personally to the Report.
In addition to our responses above, there is another issue to which we wish to
draw your attention, even though it was not part of the recent formal public
consultation exercise. This relates to the 2012 Appraisal of the Inner Green Belt
undertaken by Cambridge City Council and, in particular, Zone 3, being land
south of Newmarket Road, north of Fulbourn village and centred around
Teversham. This is identified on the Cambridge City Council map Plan 1 Areas
of Significance to the Green Belt and the Siting of Cambridge. We are very
concerned that this large area of land, which extends past the western edge of
Fulbourn and both sides of the Fulbourn to Teversham Road, has been
designated as being an Area of Lower Importance in respect of its significance
to the Green Belt and to the setting of Cambridge. As outlined in Section 4.2 of
the 2012 Appraisal of the Inner Green Belt document, the main reason for this
designation would appear to be the opinion that this area of low land has a
negligible contribution to the setting of Cambridge as it does not contain
elevated views into the City. However, it is our opinion that this typical fen
edge landscape, with its deep drains, ditches, rivers and susceptibility to
flooding, also forms a distinct edge to the City, being an important historical
and socio-geographical connection to Cambridge’s past. But as important is the
fact that this designation does not fully take into account the purposes of
including land in Green Belts, as stated in the National Planning Policy
Framework, being:
1. To check the unrestricted sprawl of large built-up areas.
2. To prevent neighbouring towns from merging into one another.
3. To assist in safeguarding the countryside from encroachment.
4. To preserve the setting and special character of historic towns.
5. To assist in urban regeneration, by encouraging the recycling of derelict and
other urban land.
Any development in Zone 3 would seriously undermine the first four of these
purposes, potentially surrounding Teversham and joining Fulbourn to both
Teversham and Cambridge. In addition, it seems strange that this designation of
an Area of Lower Importance, seems to contradict the findings of the Summary
Assessment of Green Belt Sites in the Cambridge Local Plan & South
Cambridgeshire Local Plan – Issues and Options 2: Part 1 Joint Consultation. In
Appendix 3, under Broad Location 8: Land East of Gazelle Way, this 21 hectare
site, which forms part of the Zone 3 land, is analysed and the study concludes
that any development proposals would have an
- adverse impact on Green Belt purposes,
- would be distant from existing services and facilities, and
- has very significant archaeology constraints.
We would welcome confirmation that the area of Zone 3 is not being considered
for release from the Green belt for development purposes. Otherwise, as this
issue was not highlighted in the recent exhibitions, we consider that the public
consultation exercise should be re-run, to clearly identify the proposals and to
allow the wider public to make their representations.
Yours sincerely,
Secretary, on behalf of Fulbourn Forum for community action