Consultation to shape 5,600-home core of new North East Cambridge district to begin
A two-year programme of consultation over the area at the centre of the new North East Cambridge district is about to begin.
A series of webinars and socially-distanced pop-up roadshows are planned in the coming weeks ahead of a design festival in September.
These will help shape the ‘core site’ of the new district, which is eventually expected to include around 5,600 homes, shops, workplaces and open spaces, along with new education, community and leisure facilities.
Development of it relies on Anglian Water’s proposed relocation of its waste water treatment plant into the green belt at Honey Hill, between Horningsea and Fen Ditton. The wider district as a whole could feature 8,350 homes, with an area action plan being developed by Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council to cover the whole site.
Regeneration specialist U+I and developer TOWN are organising the community consultation, which kicks off with a webinar on February 26, with three more on March 1 and 3.
Concerns over the density of housing on the site and whether sufficient leisure facilities are planned for its future population have already been raised.
Ben Cartwright, development director at U+I, said: “The scale of the opportunity at the core site gives real scope to work with local people and consider how we can promote sustainable living and enhance the wellbeing of future residents.
“Right now, we don’t have detailed plans, but in these early stages instead of asking people about buildings, we want to encourage people to tell us how they would ideally want to live their lives, so we can shape the future of the site together.
“Whilst there is a lot of design work to do, we will work hard to make sure that the core site will be an exemplar and fit for the challenges of the 21st century, enabling sustainable lifestyles, providing space for nature, and helping accelerating the transition to a zero-carbon world.”
Among six values drawn up for the site is that it should be ‘shaped by many’.
Cllr Anna Smith (Lab, Coleridge), the leader of Cambridge City Council, said: “We want to make sure we listen to the voices of as many Cambridge residents as possible. I’m really excited by these plans for community engagement.
“They go much further than a standard consultation exercise, and mean that local people really will get the chance to help make this new development a great place to live.
“There’s a once-in-a-generation opportunity here to work together to create a sustainable, low-carbon liveable neighbourhood, which provides houses people want to live in and much-needed jobs. I urge people to get involved so we can hear as many voices as possible.”
The core site project team expects the design festival in September to be an in-person event that will enable the community to comment on the emerging design work and continue conversations on the new neighbourhood.
Jonny Anstead, director of TOWN, said: “TOWN works collaboratively to create places people love, and that is exactly what we want to do with our second Cambridge project.
“At Marmalade Lane we worked in partnership with future residents to create Cambridge’s first cohousing community and now the core site is a fantastic opportunity for us to apply much of the same thinking at scale. We are taking the time to get this right with a wide-ranging consultation process spanning two years, and ensuring that the local community will have lots of opportunities to be involved.
"At the heart of our vision for this project are three promises: that the core site will support the health, happiness and wellbeing of the people who’ll live, work and spend time here, respect and support the city of Cambridge, and be an exemplar for sustainable 21st-century development.
“We are looking forward to working with local people to create a place that delivers on these promises in coming years.”
John Cormie, group property director of Anglian Water, added: “We are already engaging with local people about the relocation of the waste water treatment plant, and we’re excited to now begin discussions about the huge potential of the site once the relocation is complete.
“We are committed to supporting the project team at every step, and want the community to be involved and feel that they can, and are, helping to shape the area’s future.
“In partnership with Cambridge City Council, we selected U+I and TOWN as master developers, and together we want to ensure that the core site reflects these attributes and all that is special about Cambridge, whilst also creating an ambitious new neighbourhood for the people of Cambridge.”
The launch webinars
- Saturday, February 26 - 10-11.30am
- Tuesday, March 1 - 7-8.30pm
- Tuesday, March 1 - 1-2.30pm
- Thursday, March 3 - 7-8.30pm
Register to attend online or find out more by visiting coresitecambridge.co.uk or calling 01223 656575.
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