lq-westley-green

East Cambridgeshire Local Plan - Single Issue Review May 2021

Mon, 19 Jul 2021 17:11:34 GMT

These representations have been prep ared by Barton Willmore on behalf of L&Q Estates and Hill Residential in response to East Cambridgeshire Local Plan – Single Issue Review Stage 1 Consultation (May 2021).

Download and read the full PDF document HERE

Hill and L&Q Estates to promote landmark 550 hectare ‘Garden City’ community in Cambridgeshire

Tue, 09 Feb 2021 16:29:35 GMT

The Hill Group and L&Q Estates today announce a maiden joint venture to promote a new community founded on the ‘Garden City’ principles, Westley Green, which comprises o ver 550 hectares (over 1,350 acres) of strategic land beyond the green belt, to the east of Cambridge.

The two leading development and place-making specialists were carefully selected by the landowner to promote this landmark scheme to the emerging Greater Cambridge and East Cambridgeshire Local Plans. If successful, the collaboration will then deliver strategic infrastructure, employment uses and multiple phases of new homes both themselves and through the wider market.

Andy Hill, CEO of the Hill Group, commented: “Westley Green is one of the largest strategic land opportunities to come to market in recent times and we are delighted to have been entrusted to progress it by the landowner. It has the opportunity to become a blueprint for sustainable living, providing low carbon, high quality housing and state-of-the-art infrastructure, whilst generating a wealth of vital employment and investment opportunities. We are very much looking forward to working with L&Q Estates, the Cambridge local authorities and surrounding communities to shape Westley Green into a positive legacy for the region.”

Ian Hardwick, managing director at L&Q Estates, said: “We have vast experience in steering projects of this nature through from conception to completion. Westley Green is unique by virtue of it being in one single ownership, which will serve to simplify delivery and enable us to create a truly exceptional new settlement. Key to our success is our willing and pro-active attitude to engaging with the communities in which we operate, and this will be no different. This is our first joint venture with Hill and Westley Green has the potential to be an exceptional development for residents and businesses.”

Craig Luttman, Deputy Group Director of Development and Sales at L&Q, explained: “Westley Green is a major step forward in our expansion into Cambridgeshire, accompanying 800 homes that are already planned on sites such as Darwin Green. Partnerships like this – involving like-minded organisations with a long-term commitment to sustainable growth and building beautiful places – underpin our group-wide plans to help tackle the housing crisis.

“It’s early days yet, but this project represents a major opportunity to bring investment and homes to the area, and we’re excited to see it progress.”

Located close to the hamlet of Six Mile Bottom, between Cambridge and Newmarket, the proposed sustainable new community will seek to build upon the Garden City principles, with an overarching focus on wellbeing, quality of life and placing nature at the heart of design.

All parties are striving towards the inclusion of significant on-site employment facilities, as well as flexi and co-working spaces, which could focus on Cambridge’s already established science, technology and agri-tech industries. The partnership is also exploring connecting to the Cambridgeshire Autonomous Metro (CAM) system and autonomous vehicle travel between the neighbourhoods in order to reduce car use.

With the potential to deliver up to 8,500 homes, there is a collective ambition to prioritise imaginative and beautiful architectural design, with an emphasis on creating genuinely affordable and low carbon housing. The supporting community facilities would seek to include schools, sporting facilities, playgrounds, shops and supermarkets and a wealth of public parkland and green open spaces.

Building on the region’s green credentials, this new community could also provide a comprehensive green infrastructure network, with net biodiversity gains that use zero-carbon and energy-positive technology alongside potential on-site energy generation.

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Sustainability Appraisal Review - Six Mile Bottom Estate

Tue, 06 Oct 2020 12:19:21 GMT

This representation provides the results of a review of the Sustainability Appraisal (SA) documents published in this consultation. A small number of points of possible weaknesses in the SA reports are identified, including the need for the options set out in the Issues and Options Report to all be further developed and assessed before any are dismissed. As SA is an iterative process, we advise that subsequent stages of the SA address these points to ensure a robust assessment and local plan.

Download and read the full PDF document HERE

Vision Document - Six Mile Bottom Estate

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 08:48:11 GMT

A balanced living and working community will be at the heart of
decision making.

SMB is the collective vision of L&Q Estates and Hill Residential Ltd (Hill) for the Six Mile Bottom Estate. The estate straddles the East Cambridgeshire and South Cambridgeshire Districts, lies approximately 8 miles to the east of Cambridge, 6 miles south west of Newmarket and 18 miles south of Ely. The site is ideally placed to meet the economic and housing needs of Greater Cambridge and East Cambridgeshire, to help spread the benefits of the Greater Cambridge economy, and to support the Cambridge to Norwich tech corridor. Whilst the site can contribute to both Greater Cambridge’s and East Cambridgeshire’s economic and housing needs, this document supports our response to the Greater Cambridge

local plan and is therefore tailored to that.

Ultimately, the vision is about establishing a long-term strategic approach to growth in a highly-sustainable location. More than this, theproposal meets the specific needs of the Greater Cambridge area and its growing population. Proposals will address emerging lifestyles,

economic, energy and mobility requirements and will fully-embrace national and local grandchallenges of the future. This document sets a framework for which future decisions can be made. The framework is deliberately conceptual in its application and accompanied by a series of 'rules' that do not seek to pre-determine a final outcome but serve to set the tone and general direction of future growth choices.

The aspiration is to provide placemaking infrastructure that will facilitate the emergence of a sustainable modern new living and working

community.

Download and r ead the full PDF document HERE

Greater Cambridge Housing Needs - Six Mile Bottom

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 08:48:10 GMT

SUMMARY
Bidwells LLP has reviewed the Objectively Assessed Need (OAN) for housing and employment in Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire District (“Greater Cambridge”) to inform the Issues and Options consultation for the emerging Greater Cambridge Local Plan.

However, a full OAN for housing has not been undertaken at this point in time due to methodological and timing issues that would render such work out of date. It is more appropriate to wait until later in 2020 when there is more certainty about the Standard Methodology and the latest household projections have been published.

Given the strength of the Greater Cambridge economy, it is more appropriate to use projections of employment to give an assessment of the magnitude of housing that will be needed in the plan period. We have considered the economic growth projections of the East of England Forecasting Model (EEFM) and work by the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Independent Economic Commission (CPIEC).

EEFM models both employment growth and housing demand.

The model uses past-household formation rates suggests some 36,700 dwellings would be required by 2041; however, this model output is limited in its use as it does not take into account employment-led housing demand which would increase the housing need.

EEFM suggests job growth of 34,400 between 2018 and 2041. However, this is likely to be a significant under estimation, given its starting point for jobs in 2018 (200,0000) was already exceeded in 2017 (215,000 jobs), as recorded by the ONS Annual Population Survey.

The model suggests net in-commuting of +43,200 by 2041, but this is likely to already have been reached (Annual Population Survey records net in-commuting in 2019 of 44,000 workers). Furthermore, the decline in resident working age population means net commuting is likely to grow at a faster rate than anticipated by this model.

CPIEC undertook research into the economic performance and potential of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough economy reporting, its findings in an Interim Report and Final Report (CPIER) which have informed this paper. Its detailed research into local companies indicate official statistics have historically under reported employment growth in the last five years, suggesting growth rates of 3.3% compared to ONS rates of 2.4% and EEFM rates 1.7%. CPIEC suggests this has led to a potential backlog of housing delivery given targets, concluding that delivery in the decade to 2018 has fallen short by just under 10,000 homes in C&P.

CPIEC modelled four employment growth scenarios, not to forecast future growth but to model the potential impacts on growth in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. Employment growth in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough ranged from c100,000- 400,000 jobs between 2020 and 2041.

The lowest growth scenario modelled a continuation of current local plan growth assumptions, which effects business costs and eventually reducing employment. In the case of Cambridge these kick-in quickly, pegging employment back to current levels by 2051.

Model option 4 (short term employment growth rate, returning to longer growth rate - which is thought by CPIEC to be the most realistic), suggests employment in Cambridge and South Cambridge will reach c.175,000 in each district by ?. An increase of c.135,000 jobs since 2017 (215,000 jobs) in Greater Cambridge. This is significantly higher than the 34,400 jobs projected by the EEFM model.

There is very little capacity in the current workforce to undertake these jobs given high levels of employment among the economically activity, low unemployment and declining part-time work among residents.

The number of jobs per resident has been growing steadily in both districts for many years, such that economic growth in the region is reliant on in-commuting. All industrial sectors must rely on in-commuting and broadly speaking lower paid occupations have fewer residents per job. This reflects worsening housing affordability, particularly for lower earners. This highlights the need for more affordable accommodation.

These pressures are changing people’s attitudes to housing, particularly in Cambridge, where occupiers are willing to forego internal and external space in lieu of not being car reliant, although people still expect gardens and parking in villages.

To conclude, the need for housing in Greater Cambridge is largely driven by employment growth which is necessary to meet the target of doubling GVA by 2041. Further work is required to determine which growth predictions are most appropriate, it is clear from CPIECs research that the quantum of land for housing needs to be significantly above that currently planned for in the Local Plans.

Download and read the full PDF document HERE

lq-westley-green

East Cambridgeshire Local Plan - Single Issue Review May 2021

These representations have been prep ared by Barton Willmore on behalf of L&Q Estates and Hill Residential in response to East Cambridgeshire Local Plan – Single Issue Review Stage 1 Consultation (May 2021).

Hill and L&Q Estates to promote landmark 550 hectare ‘Garden City’ community in Cambridgeshire

Sustainability Appraisal Review - Six Mile Bottom Estate

Vision Document - Six Mile Bottom Estate

A balanced living and working community will be at the heart of decision making.

Greater Cambridge Housing Needs - Six Mile Bottom

A balanced living and working community will be at the heart of
decision making.