LDF changes

Written: 27/06/06

On Monday night Milton Parish Council is holding a planning meeting. Item 6 on the agenda is Local Development Framework - Objection Sites and Site Allocation Policies.

Sounds like pretty dry stuff but it's important. When determining planning applications SCDC has to refer to the planning policies for the area. This makes sense and avoids piecemeal development but it does mean that it's important to be aware of what's being proposed in these documents and to object if you're not happy.

This has now happened from the developers' side of the fence with four parties asking for changes in Milton Parish. The parish council is now being asked for comments.

You can find the complete list for South Cambridgeshire here.

The ones affecting Milton Parish are as follows (click on the links for the SCDC pages with maps and links to the representations from developers) with my summary and thoughts below. If you have views on these you might like to let your parish councillors know before Monday, or come along to the meeting ...
 

89: Milton, Chesterton Fen
  * 89.1: Mixed Use

Cambridge City Council want pretty much the whole of Milton Detached all the way to the river to be zoned for use in the redevelopment of Chesterton Sidings, Cowley Road P&R etc. They are suggesting that Milton Detached might be used to provide the recreational space and also employment opportunities needed by the new development.

This would of course free up more land on the original site for development as houses which would increase the value of that site. But the issue for Milton PC is that there is potential for conflict with the current residents of Milton Detached, who are largely settled travellers. I suspect that they are going to be a tad annoyed that after years of being told they can't use the land for what they want as it's Green Belt the City now propose to use it for other purposes.

I wonder if the City's long term thinking is that this change of use would also squeeze the travellers out of Milton Detached (see also 92. below).
 

90: Milton, Land South of Butts Lane and West of the A10
  * 90.1: Recreation

Bideawhile Ltd want the whole of the area bordered by the land fill, A10 and Butt Lane to be re-zoned for "Development Sports Village with Football Centre of Excellence/Academy as well facilities for other sports". Although this sounds superficially attractive there is an underlying agenda here. Bideawhile own the freehold to Cambridge United's stadium off Newmarket Road. They came to see Milton PC in January to talk about moving Cambridge United out to this site and it would be naïve to think that this "Sports Village" wouldn't end up including a new stadium for Cambridge United's use for matches at weekends and some weekday evenings.

The affect of this on the western side of the village and on Butt Lane residents can't be underestimated. As an amateur astronomer the one that concerns me most is massive light pollution but supporters coming to Milton for a beer or three and then weaving up Butt Lane for the match should be "interesting" too. In Cambridge we now have bouncers at The Wrestlers (the nearest pub) every time there's a home match.

How this fits in with the development of some of that area as a Park and Ride site is interesting too ...
 

91: Milton, Land between A14 and Milton
  * 91.1: Employment

This is the field opposite Tesco. It's in the Green Belt so can't be developed and unsurprisingly Turnstone, who appear to either own it or act for the owners currently, want it to be "brought within the village framework and allocated as an 'opportunity site'. This would enable the site to be developed by way of any combination of a range of commercial uses, [...]"

Although I'm not sure we've ever had a formal application for a development there because of its Green Belt status, parish councillors have always expressed severe doubts about development on that site, not least as there's no safe way of adding yet another exit from the "Tesco" roundabout.
 

92: Milton, Land north of Fen Road
  * 92.1: Residential

This is a small area at the City end of Milton Detached between Fen Road and the railway line just inside the SCDC boundary. I think it's currently industrial use however the SCDC 2004 Local Plan allocates it for traveller sites. Cambridge City Council Property & Building Services want it allocated for residential development instead.

If you read their full arguments they're saying that they (the City) have considered and rejected this site as a traveller site ... so that's all right then.
 

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