The Cambridge sub-region is engaged in one of the most ambitious growth programmes in the UK. The growth strategy set out in the Structure Plan to 2016, and confirmed in the Regional Spatial Strategy to 2021, will see around 60,000 new homes coming forward in the sub-region, with over 73,000 for the county of Cambridgeshire as a whole.
The current Cambridge Sub Regional growth strategy has been carefully devised through successive stages of plan making. It is widely supported as the basis for a step change in the delivery of sustainable new homes and affordable housing and for bolstering the dynamic local economy. It was fully confirmed in the recently-published Regional Spatial Strategy, which considered all the alternatives for growth, including a rejected proposal which was essentially the same as Hanley Grange.
Hanley Grange is in a very poor location for a sustainable development of this nature. The site has no credible public transport link with Cambridge (9.5 miles away) or with other settlements in the M11 corridor. It is adjacent to the major road network, which would tend to attract car-based journeys.
The location is also remote from the main employment and leisure facilities, and will so be home to car borne commuters using the M11 to travel south towards Stansted and London or using local roads north to Cambridge. It follows that its climate change impacts will be severe.
Although there is a railway station within reasonable proximity of the site, access to it would be difficult. The train service is also overstretched currently, and does not provide easy access to the main employment sites in Cambridge. Reliance on local buses is an unacceptable solution, not least as it would still suffer from road congestion issues and particularly in central Cambridge.
There is lack of substance or credibility to the claims being advanced in favour of Hanley Grange in respect of it being "zero carbon", an "energy provider" and "water neutral". These are aspects in which excellence is required for its eco-town status.
There are strong concerns over the potential environmental impact of the scheme in respect of water supply, ecology, landscape, the historic environment and loss of good quality agricultural land. The promoters have yet to consider the potential flood risk posed by the development, the site will drain into the River Cam, and there is currently no evidence to explain how the potentially increased flood risk downstream on Cambridge will be mitigated.
The strength of employment links claimed with the high tech/biotech research sector are strongly challenged and are clearly insignificant in comparison with the overall size of the town. Housing need for workers on the research parks near Hanley Grange is advanced as a major attraction of the development, however evidence suggests that the majority of these workers are young, recently qualified staff, many of whom are on short-term contracts. For convenience and lifestyle reasons, many of these staff live in privately rented accommodation in Cambridge. There is no evidence to suggest that Hanley Grange will change this situation.
Councillor Sian Reid, Executive Councillor for Climate Change & Growth, said:
"Hanley Grange is not wanted or needed. It would be more of an eco-disaster than an eco-town and could have very damaging direct impacts on Cambridge in terms of congestion and flood risk."
For the reasons set out above, Hanley Grange should be dropped as soon as possible.
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