Local Plan review: Issues and Options consultation

The Local Plan is used to guide decisions on matters ranging from the location of housing, schools, parks and open spaces to the design requirements of new buildings. Policies in the Local Plan are used when decisions on planning applications are made.

The current Local Plan for Cambridge was adopted in 2006 and it is now time to review it. The issues and options consultation marked the start of the process: a public consultation was held, asking the public for their views on the issues and options that should be covered in the Local Plan.

Issues and options report

The Issues and Options Report [PDF, 33MB] was prepared and asked the public to comment on key issues that had been identified, and for views on our suggested policy options and how to address them.

It also provided the public with an opportunity to suggest any issues that they felt should be addressed, comment on which of the options they thought were the most appropriate, or tell us about any other options that they may have thought of.

If you would like a brief overview of the report, we also created a summary document [PDF, 3MB] as a short guide to the document.

Consultation

The consultation was open for six weeks, from 15 June to 27 July 2012 and included the issues and options consultation and a sustainability appraisal consultation. We received an astounding 11,000 comments. You can now view these comments online.

Consultation documents

A full list of the consultation documents can be viewed below.

Printed copies of the documents can be purchased from the customer service centre:

Issues and Options Report: £18 (£21.50 including postage)
Summary document: £3.50 (£6 including postage)
Sustainability Appraisal: £8.50 (£12 including postage)

Exhibitions

A series of exhibitions were also held throughout the city for people wishing to ask any questions, raise any comments or talk to the officers involved in the production of the Issues and Options Report and its sustainability appraisal. Dates and venues of when these exhibitions were held are listed below.

19 June, 3 to 8pm at West Cambridge Sports Pavilion
23 June, 10am to 3pm at Meadows Community Centre
26 June, 3 to 8pm at Barnwell Baptist Church
30 June, 10am to 3pm at Trumpington Village Hall
3 July, 3.30 to 8pm at Cherry Hinton Village Centre
4 July, 10am to 8pm at the Guildhall
7 July at the Big Weekend
10 July, 3 to 8pm at Brown’s Field Community Centre
13 July, 4 to 8pm at Newnham Croft Primary School
14 July, 1 to 5pm at Ross Street Community Centre
16 July, 10am to 8pm at the Guildhall
25 July, midday to 2pm at Addenbrooke’s

What happens next?

We analysed and considered all your responses, using them to refine the policies that will be included in the Local Plan.

The next stage was the Issues and Options 2 consultation. To find out more, visit the Issues and Options 2 page.

Cambridge City Council