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News  »  Have your say on the Cambridge Northern Fringe East area action plan



   Have your say on the Cambridge Northern Fringe East area action plan    21 January, 2015

Cambridge City and South Cambs District councils are considering the regeneration of a large area on the opposite side of the River Cam from Fen Ditton. This extends from Milton Road to the railway, and from the A14 to just beyond the Guided Busway extension, including the St John’s Innovation Centre, the Cambridge Business Park, Chesterton sidings, the former Park and Ride, the golf range, the Nuffield Road industrial estate and Anglian Water’s site.

They envisage a high-quality employment-led mixed-use development that will help meet the long-term growth needs of the Cambridge area. The catalyst for the regeneration will be the new railway station that is due to open in May 2016.

They are working jointly on an Area Action Plan (AAP) to guide and control this development in a comprehensive and co-ordinated manner, and as a first stage have produced an Issues and Options Report which sets out the main issues and presents some options to address them. These range from a low level of development (Option 1) to more comprehensive options (Options 2 to 4), with different approaches to access to and from the station, balance between residential and employment use, links to the wider area, and the future of the Nuffield Road area and the Water Recycling Centre.

Options 1 and 2 would both leave the Water Recycling Centre (sewage works) on its current site, Option 3 involves reconfiguring it onto a smaller site, and in Option 4 it would be completely relocated. The search area for a suitable alternative site is not defined, and many Fen Ditton residents will remember that Honey Hill (off High Ditch Road) was proposed for a similar relocation some years ago. Because of the uncertainty as to the search area this time, the Parish Council is objecting to Option 4; it is also objecting to Option 3 as it is unclear whether or not the smaller site would have sufficient capacity to meet future demands.

The public consultation on this first stage is open until 5pm on Monday 2nd February. As well as the four main options, the survey includes questions on the naming of the new development and the railway station, building styles and heights, lighting, transport links, provision of car and cycle parking, etc. Some of these issues are unlikely to have a direct effect on Fen Ditton but others may do.

To view the report and complete the survey, please click here. As always, the more people who respond, the more representative the survey results will be.

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