Our villages, our future, our say:

Regulation 14 Consultation on the draft Neighbourhood Plan

A draft of the Stapleford and Great Shelford Neighbourhood Plan is now in place and we’d like to know what you think about it. To do this, Stapleford and Great Shelford Parish Councils are running what, in formal planning terms, is known as a ‘Regulation 14 Consultation’.

What is this all about?

Neighbourhood planning gives communities a role in the development and future of their local area. The Stapleford and Great Shelford Neighbourhood Plan does precisely this for our villages. Its vision and planning policies have been co-created by residents and parish councillors and shaped by the community – the people who know and love this area best.

Our 20 planning policies will ultimately carry the same weight as those in South Cambridgeshire District Council’s 2018 Local Plan and will be used when reviewing all planning applications, big and small, coming forward in our area. They span six broad planning topics:

housing and the built environment
our rural setting and landscape
climate change and biodiversity
community amenities and infrastructure
active travel and traffic management
countryside access and enhancement.

What’s happening now?

In previous community consultations, you told us what’s important to you. We listened and learnt; where we hadn’t got things quite right, we tweaked them; and we commissioned (with grant funding) a lot of research. The outcome is a full draft of our Neighbourhood Plan and an extensive evidence base.

Regulation 14 Consultation is now an opportunity for the local community to review and comment on this draft and its supporting documents before it is submitted to Greater Cambridge Shared Planning for independent examination.

Why should I take part?

Our villages and surrounding countryside are under enormous pressure. We cannot stop development but, at a time of great change across our region, a Neighbourhood Plan allows us to say what we want and need from growth. This, then, is your chance to shape where you live and/or work for the better.

How do I take part?

From 11 March 2024, you can view the draft Neighbourhood Plan and its supporting documents at www.greatshelfordparishcouncil.gov.uk/SGSNPlan or read paper copies at Great Shelford Library.

Then let us know what you think by completing the online feedback form (preferred), or by collecting and returning a paper copy at Great Shelford Library, or by writing to:

Executive Officer, PO Box 1492, Cambridge, CB1 0YQ
executiveofficer@greatshelfordparishcouncil.gov.uk.

If for any reason you cannot access the materials or need a copy delivered to your home, call 01223 616622 or email the Executive Officer.

You may comment on as much or as little of the draft Neighbourhood Plan and its supporting documents as you wish.

When is this happening?

The consultation runs from 9am on 11 March 2024 until 4pm on 30 April 2024. You will see plenty of banners, posters and social media reminders to take part, and every household and business in our parishes should receive a leaflet through their letterbox.

Who can take part?

Anyone who lives, works or runs a business in the Plan area can participate, plus landowners and organisations with an interest in our area. However, we are unable to accept anonymous comments. This is because, later on, Greater Cambridge Shared Planning (GCSP) will run a final consultation on the Neighbourhood Plan. By participating in the Regulation 14 Consultation, you consent to Stapleford and Great Shelford Parish Councils legally collecting and sharing your contact details with GCSP so it can fulfil its statutory duties. We process personal data in compliance with Data Protection Act 2018 and General Data Protection Regulations. Our privacy statement is available to read on our Neighbourhood Plan webpages. [Apologies for all the T&Cs, but it’s important that we are transparent.]

What happens next?

All feedback will be read and may result in changes to the next version of the Neighbourhood Plan. Comments will be published as part of its supporting documents. Names will be anonymised, other than where an individual is commenting on behalf of an organisation.

At the very last stage of the Neighbourhood Plan-making journey and once the Plan has passed examination, it will proceed to a community-wide ‘yes/no’ referendum open to the electorate in both parishes. All being well, we aim to do this in late 2024.

Jenny Flynn

Chair of the Neighbourhood Plan steering group, writing on behalf of Stapleford and Great Shelford Parish Councils

For more information, visit www.greatshelfordparishcouncil.gov.uk/SGSNPlan.

Posted Feb 27 2024

Strawberry Fields update

Work has started on the of construction of Strawberry Fields, a £50 million retirement development of 147 homes in Stapleford.

It will offer 147 one, two and three-bedroom properties with the first phase estimated to be completed in 2024, and building work finished in 2025.

Developers Rangeford have published a number of artist's impressions about what Strawberry Fields will look like.

Images courtesy of Rangeford Villages

What does the future hold for Great Shelford and Stapleford?

Since Autumn 2021, a steering group of Stapleford and Great Shelford residents and parish councillors has been working to produce a combined Neighbourhood Plan (NP) on behalf of our parishes. This is a chance for the people who know and love our area to set out a positive, shared vision for how we want it to develop and to ensure that identified local needs are not overlooked in the rapid economic growth which our wider region has been targeted to deliver. Policies in our NP will ultimately have equal weight when assessing all planning decisions in our area to those in the Local Plan and National Planning Policy Framework.

In April/May of this year, we undertook a second public consultation with residents, combining pop-up displays and a survey. We are very grateful to everyone who gave a few minutes of their time to participate.

A report summarising survey outcomes and outlining next steps in the process is now available to read at https://www.greatshelfordparishcouncil.gov.uk/sgsnplan/neighbourhood-plan-consultations/.

Posted June 28 2023

100 new homes for Stapleford and Shelford?

One hundred new homes off Hinton Way and Mingle Lane have come a step closer.

Around 100 new homes in the area have been included as a list of potential

development sites, for the new draft Greater Cambridge Local Plan published on Aug 31.

The draft plan identifies an area of 10 hectares between Hinton Way and Mingle

Lane for possible future development.

“Maximum capacity limited to 100 homes, relating to Cambridgeshire Fire Service

requirements for no more than 100 homes to be served via a single vehicular

access,” the new report states.

“There may be potential for a higher capacity if an additional access could be

provided.

“(It is) Very well located in relation to existing railway station, with resulting excellent

access to Cambridge, and to Cambridge Biomedical Campus once the new Cambridge

South station is open, providing the exceptional circumstances required for Green Belt release.

“Development should accommodate the following constraints:

Design of development should preserve key views from Stapleford Conservation Area including from Mingle Lane past St Andrew’s Church and the adjacent vicarage.
Open space to be provided to the east of the built development to help provide compensatory improvements to the environmental quality and accessibility of remaining Green Belt.

Out of over 690 sites put forward by developers and landowners, and another 200 considered by planners, only 19 new sites are proposed to be taken forward into the new Plan

The new Local Plan is the most important document you've (probably) never heard of. It will affect how we live, work and play in Greater Cambridge over the next 20 years and beyond.

The sites are published as part of the draft First Proposals for the new Plan, made public ahead of decision-making by Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire District councillors through their respective committee processes. Once Councillors have reviewed and commented on the proposed sites, the list will be finalised for public consultation. This consultation is due to start at the beginning of November.

Posted Aug 31 2021

Mingle

Stapleford planning

Dernford reservoir proposals

New proposals have emerged for Dernford reservoir between Stapleford and Little Shelford.

Russell Smith Farms are assessing the potential redevelopment of the former Dernford Quarry at Stapleford to provide a community country park with camping and caravanning facilities.

They are applying for planning permission for a caravan park in conjunction with the Caravan and Motorhome Club. As part of the caravan park, there would be further amenities that would benefit the local community.

This would include water-based activities, a farm shop/ café and a children’s play area.

An outdoor event space is also proposed with various options:

• Competitor camping for sporting events like triathlons and duathlons

• Outdoor cinema

• Food festivals

There will be scope for a variety of ancillary sport and recreation facilities, which could include a bowling green, gym, sauna, tennis courts, all-weather courts (for football), farm shop and associated parking.

This initial consultation will run from Monday 24th May for a six week period until 5th July.

Read more details at the South Cambridge Waterpark website.

Posted May 28 2021

1,000 homes proposed for Stapleford

Major housing developments for more than 1,000 new homes have been proposed for Stapleford.

Proposals include up to 987 new homes centred around a new station for the new tramway on land east of Haverhill Road.

There are also proposals to build new homes on the allotments

The proposals for Stapleford include:

Land to the east of Haverhill Road, Stapleford 987 homes

Land at Hinton Road, Stapleford – up to 500 homes.

Land to the north east of Gog Magog Way Stapleford - 200 homes

Land south of Hinton Way, Stapleford - Up to 100 homes or a retirement village

Land east of Haverhill Road, Stapleford – up to 58 homes.

Wedd Joinery, Granta Terrace, Stapleford - 25 homes

The suggested developments are a long way from reality. The proposals have been made as part of a ‘First Conversation’ consultation to create a new Local Plan for the area by 2023.

Developers and landowners have put forward their initial proposals for homes across sites in Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire.

The first wave of the consultation took place in January and February. The next public consultation stage is planned for Autumn 2021.

These proposals are not planning applications. Councils stress that none of the suggested sites have any real planning status at this stage and far more land for development has been suggested than will be required to meet the area’s housing needs.

The Greater Cambridge Local Plan will set out where development in Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire is allowed to happen, and what it should include – such as homes, business space, community facilities, shops, leisure facilities and green spaces. It will guide how development should help address current and future environmental, social and economic issues.

You can read the responses and a summary report on the Greater Cambridge Planning Service

website: www.greatercambridgeplanning.org/localplan (The site can be challenging to navigate - you may find it easier to click on the links within the story to read about specific proposed schemes.)

A map of all the proposals can be seen here.

You can have your say about the proposals by contacting South Cambridgeshire District Councillors Peter Fane or Nick Semple or Stapleford Parish Council.

Read the coverage in the Cambridge Independent.

Posted September 18 2020.