SOUTH CAMBRIDGESHIRE DISTRICT COUNCIL Minutes of a ...

SOUTH CAMBRIDGESHIRE DISTRICT COUNCIL Minutes of a meeting of the Northstowe Joint Development Control Committee held on Wednesday, 30 July 2014 at 2.00 p.m. PRESENT:

Councillor Tim Wotherspoon (South Cambridgeshire District Council) – Chairman Councillor John Reynolds (Cambridgeshire County Council) – Vice-Chairman

Councillors:

Ian Bates (Cambridgeshire County Council), Brian Burling (South Cambridgeshire District Council), Ed Cearns (Cambridgeshire County Council), Lynda Harford (South Cambridgeshire District Council), David Jenkins (Cambridgeshire County Council), Alex Riley (South Cambridgeshire District Council), Hazel Smith (South Cambridgeshire District Council) and Edd Stonham (South Cambridgeshire District Council)

Officers in attendance for all or part of the meeting: Lois Bowser Northstowe Team Leader Ian Dyer Lead Highways Development Management Engineer Jo Mills Planning and New Communities Director Stephen Reid Senior Planning Lawyer Juliet Richardson Acting Head of Service, Growth and Economy (CCC) Ian Senior Democratic Services Officer 1.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE County Councillor Peter Hudson sent Apologies for Absence. County Councillor Ian Bates acted as substitute.

2.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST Those present referred to the interests declared at the meeting on 26 March 2014, did not add to those declarations, and confirmed that they were considering matters afresh. Those declarations were as follows: Councillor Brian Burling

Non-Pecuniary Interest as a member of Over Parish Council and, as a South Cambridgeshire District Council representative, of Swavesey Internal Drainage Board. Councillor Burling grazes cattle either side of Swavesey Drain and further downstream. Considering the matter afresh.

Councillor Lynda Harford

Non-pecuniary interest as Vice-Chairman of South Cambridgeshire District Council’s Planning Committee.

Councillor David Jenkins

Non-pecuniary Interest as a member of Cambridgeshire County Council and of Histon & Impington Parish Council. Considering the matter afresh.

Northstowe Joint Development Control Committee

Wednesday, 30 July 2014

Councillor John Reynolds

Non-Pecuniary Interest as a member of Cambridgeshire County Council, and Renewables East. Non-pecuniary interest as having been present as an Alternate at the meeting of the Cambridge Fringes Joint Development Control Committee in May 2012 when Design Codes were discussed and agreed. Non-pecuniary interest as a member of the Northstowe Transport Working Group.

Councillor Alex Riley

Disclosable Pecuniary Interest by reason of the proximity of his domestic property to Northstowe. (Councillor Riley has a dispensation allowing him to speak and vote). Non-pecuniary interest as a member of the Northstowe Transport Working Group

Councillor Hazel Smith

Non-pecuniary interest as a member of the Northstowe Transport Working Group

Councillor Edd Stonham

Non-Pecuniary Interest as a member of Histon & Impington Parish Council

Councillor Tim Wotherspoon

Non-Pecuniary Interest as a member of Cottenham Parish Council, Cottenham Village Design Group, Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, Twentieth Century Society, Cambridge Fringes Joint Development Control Committee, and the Old West Internal Drainage Board. Councillor Wotherspoon had publicly endorsed the OWIDB’s representations but stated that, should any new information become apparent about surface water drainage, he would consider it afresh. Considering the matter afresh. Present by invitation at a meeting of Oakington and Westwick Parish Council to give technical advice but not to contribute to the debate or to vote.

Councillor Ian Bates confirmed that she did not have any declarable interests. 3.

MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING The Northstowe Joint Development Control Committee authorised the Chairman to sign the minutes of the meeting held on 25 June 2014 as a correct record.


4.


RESERVED MATTERS SUBMISSION FOR "PRIMARY ROADS AND DEDICATED BUSWAYS" PERTAINING TO S/0388/12/OL OUTLINE PLANNING PERMISSION FOR PHASE 1 OF NORTHSTOWE COMPRISING OF UP TO 1,500 DWELLINGS The Northstowe Joint Development Control Committee considered a report relating to the Reserved Matters submission for the primary roads and dedicated Busway element of planning permission S/0388/12/OL. The Acting Head of Service, Growth and Economy introduced the report by highlighting how well Cambridgeshire County Council, South Cambridgeshire District Council, Gallaghers and others had worked together in developing the report now before Members. Secondary and tertiary routes would be dealt with at a future date, but a key aspect of the current proposal was to facilitate an early start to building the primary school. She added that the proposal endorsed the principle of walking and cycling in Northstowe, represented an exemplar standard for the rest of the development and future sites across the County to adopt, and accorded fully with Policy 11 of the Northstowe Area Action Plan, which stated: “Adequate provision for alternative transport modes will be required to serve all stages of development….. Plan …..There will be a dedicated network of highly accessible, segregated, high quality, safe, direct, connected and convenient rights of way, including cycle, pedestrian and horse riding routes, within Northstowe, connecting with surrounding villages, and the wider rights of way network. These routes will be complemented with quality infrastructure including signing, seating and lighting where appropriate…..007 …..Cycling has the potential to substitute for short car trips, particularly for journeys under 5km. Northstowe presents an opportunity to design at the outset a town where distances to facilities and services are minimised, and accessibility is maximised by walking and cycling. …..The following external rights of way routes are encouraged and should be provided where possible to:  Surrounding villages within a 5km radius including Oakington, Longstanton, Willingham, Rampton, Cottenham, Histon, Impington,Girton, Dry Drayton, Bar Hill, Swavesey and Over;  The National Cycle Network – Route 51 (along the guided Busway);  The wider rights of way network of byways, bridleways, cycleways,footpaths.D6.17 Internal routes will be provided linking the residential areas and main destinations such as the town centre, local centres, schools, employment, open spaces and other services and facilities..... Pl …..Routes will be segregated, high quality, safe, direct, connected and convenient for all users, including the less able, such as partially sighted, hearing impaired, and wheelchair users. These routes will also be complemented with quality infrastructure, such as signing, secure cycle parking, seating and lighting (of a level appropriate to the location)…..” Robin Heydon from the Cambridge Cycling Campaign addressed the meeting. He stressed the importance of providing segregated cycle facilities not just between road



junctions but also at the junctions themselves. Such facilities should be designed for everybody, regardless of their cycling proficiency. Such facilities should give cyclists priority over car drivers but also pedestrians priority over cyclists. Mr. Heydon welcomed the proposals for cycle facilities at ‘Primary-Primary’ junctions as “almost exemplar” but expressed some concern at the ‘Primary-Secondary’ junctions where further consultation was necessary in his view. Committee Members noted that some of the proposals at Northstowe were still awaiting formal statutory backing, Councillor Ed Cearns wondered whether the Committee would be able to revisit this subject once the appropriate legislation was in force. With Mr. Heydon still at the Public Speakers’ table, Members engaged in debate, out of which arose the following points:         

Shared space was not being discussed at this stage Features such as zebra crossings should be considered Width of cycle ways – 5.5 metres or a minimum of three metres with no physical obstacles Painted white lines were an inadequate means of making people safe Cycling standards in Denmark Access to domestic properties across cycle ways There had not been enough time to date to work on detailed proposals for the secondary routes The position of mopeds and electric bicycles in relation to the planned cycle ways Primary junctions were exemplar but secondary junctions were not

The Northstowe Team Leader informed the Committee that the width of cycle ways was flexible at this stage and could be reviewed at a later date. Representatives of Gallagers addressed the meeting and referred to paragraph 5.3 of the report from the Planning and New Communities Director, which stated: “These Reserved Matter proposals for the primary roads and dedicated Busway relate to the general principles of the design elements of the roads including road safety issues, and the functioning and general arrangement of the roads and junctions. The finer technical details such as the exact road markings to be used are matters to be determined under section 38 of the Highways Act 1980 as part of the approval process for the adoption of the roads by the Highway Authority.” They proposed three options for resolving Members’ concerns about the detailed design of the junctions. Members favoured the idea of approving the Reserved Matters application but attaching a suitable Condition. Some Members indicated that they would not support a proposal to delegate consideration of the detail to officers. However, Councillor Lynda Harford stated that such a stance should not be seen as an affront to officers but rather as Members’ aspiration to represent local people in helping to deliver what would be South Cambridgeshire’s first town. Councillor Alex Riley emphasised that Members had concerns with the primary-secondary junctions, and simply wanted an opportunity to vote themselves on the final proposal. The Northstowe Joint Development Control Committee approved the Reserved Matters submission Ref. S/1131/14/RM for ‘primary roads and dedicated Busway’ pertaining to S/0388/12/OL Outline planning permission for phase 1 of Northstowe comprising of up to 1,500 dwellings; a primary school; a mixed-use local centre (including a community building and provision for non-residential institutions, financial and professional services, shops, cafes and restaurants, drinking establishments and hot food takeaways); leisure, community,



residential institutions, cultural, health and employment provision (business, general industry and storage and distribution) including a household recycling centre; formal and informal recreational space and landscaped areas; and infrastructure works including site re-profiling and associated drainage works, foul and surface water pumping stations, two flood attenuation ponds on land east of Hatton’s Road; and associated works including the demolition of existing buildings and structures. This approval was subject to a Condition requiring typical details of the primary/secondary road junctions to include levels and cycle path treatments shall be submitted to and approved by Northstowe Joint Development Control Committee prior to commencement of the works at those primary/secondary junctions. Development shall be carried out in accordance with the approved details. (Reason - In the interests of safety of pedestrians, cyclists and other highway users.) 5.

DATES OF NEXT MEETINGS Members noted that further Northstowe Joint Development Control Committee meetings had been scheduled on the following Wednesdays, with all start times provisionally at 2.00pm:  27 August 2014  24 September 2014  29 October 2014  26 November 2014  28 January 2015  25 February 2015  25 March 2015  29 April 2015 The Democratic Services Officer alerted Members to the possible need to rearrange the meeting in November 2014, depending on whether or not the South Cambridgeshire Local Plan Inquiry was in session that day. The general view was that the meeting should go ahead on that day, even if an alternative venue had to be found. The Meeting ended at 3.45 p.m.

