South Cambs District Council recently commenced a consultation on the modifications to the Local Plan as requested by the Planning Inspector. The main area in the modifications is the new designation of Local Green Space.
The Parish Council (with the support of the developers and District Council) had tried to get a large number of open spaces designated as Local Green Spaces (LGS), but the Planning Inspector was concerned that too large an area was being designated and was looking at removing most of them throughout the district. The Parish Council and District Council argued the point and were able to get agreement that 8 out of the 19 sites within Cambourne put forward should be LGS’s, some of the other sites have been designated as Protected Village Amenity Area which has its own protection against development.
SC-MM268g and SC-MM268h (the western valley between Great and Upper Cambourne) were two of the areas removed as these had not been developed as a country park/ golf course yet and were of an excessive size. The two largest areas are not down to be developed and have planning condition on them from the 950 extra dwellings consent that states that if the area is not developed as a golf course (they have been struggling to get anyone interested in opening a new course on the site) it has to be laid out as a Country Park (this will be transferred to the Parish Council’s ownership).
These area’s like all the other areas are or will be in the ownership of the Parish Council or the Wildlife Trust. In the transfers we are prevented from using it for any other purpose without consent for at least 25 years and in some cases 80 years.
The new Local Plan will start to be reviewed in 2019 and the Parish Council can try and get the LGS’s extended to further areas as part of the review and would not request any designated areas to be removed.
