Land - for possible building on II

Here is a more detailed update on the planning process that will be working its way through South Cambridgeshire District Council over the next three years.

In the past SCDC and the Government agreed a housing target of 21,000 houses by 2016, based on the then prospects for the economic growth of our region.

Time has moved on, and SCDC and the Government is now looking at the period 2017–2031. There are two parts to the analysis

1. To decide how many new houses will be needed, called the “Housing Needs Assessment”.

This process started earlier this year and will last to Summer 2012, when the findings will be put out to public consultation. Obviously, the analysis has to be based on sound projections, forecasts and evidence, and cannot be arbitrary, and it can be challenged if it is not rigorous enough.

2. To decide where those houses should go, called the “Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment”.

That process started in June, when landowners and developers were invited to put their land forward, called the “Call for Sites”. On 28 September, SCDC published the details. There are sites spread across South Cambridgeshire, and include some of the land previously known as Hanley Grange, as well sites at Heathfield and Whittlesford.

SCDC will now take about 9 months to consider these sites. It will publish (in Summer 2012) an “Issues & Options” paper for public consultation. For example, the options might be:

(a) to focus on more new towns a few miles away from Cambridge; or

(b) to expand out from the edge of Cambridge; or

(c) to locate developments in existing villages; or

(d) a combination of those, or something completely different.

For each option, the list of sites that have been put forward will be ranked in order of suitability, according to ‘best practice’ guidelines published by Central Government. Each entry on the list will also specify the number of houses that can fit on the site.

The ‘Issues & Options’ paper will be subject to public consultation and, afterwards, a vote of the 57 elected Councillors at SCDC.

Then, when the chosen option is known, and when the Housing Needs Assessment is finished (so there is a decision on how many houses SCDC needs), the planners will (in general) approve development on the necessary number of sites to reach that number, starting from the top of the relevant list, and working down until the required amount is reached.

Please appreciate that this note is just a very brief summary of the very complicated process of drawing up our area’s next “Local Development Framework”. Full details are here.