Oakington and Westwick Parish Council
Parish Council response to public consultation on proposed Phase One development of Northstowe
The principle of ‘Nil Detriment’ that is, development of any kind which would have adverse effect on the current state of the A14 should not be allowed, has been clearly and unequivocally established by the Highways Authority. This principle is acknowledged in the minutes of the Northstowe Parish Forum. There has been no retraction of this policy.
This means that Phase One may not be started until improvements have been made to the A14. There is little hope of money being available until the next spending round commencing in 2014. It may be several years after that before any improvement can start.
The transport consultant was pressed at the recent exhibition for an interim plan that might make some temporary improvement possible. His only reply was that it might be possible to create some sort of hard standing along side the A14 carriage way so that crashed vehicles might be dragged off the carriageway. This indicates there is no interim plan or the interim plan is simply inadequate.
The Parish Council would expect to see a robust statement of intent that no development will take place until improvements have been made to the A14.
It is noted that the development at Cambourne has produced very marked traffic increase on the A428 and particularly congestion on the Madingley Road. Similarly the development at Orchard Park has led to increased congestion at the Histon roundabout.
It is therefore illogical and foolhardy to assume that 1500 homes will not produce any increased traffic flow.
Eventually the Airfield Road will be closed to traffic as two access roads are built. These will be features of a later phase of development. The Parish Council believes that that the road should be closed to vehicular traffic at Phase One. It is inevitable that traffic will increase on this road as the B1050 becomes ever busier with construction traffic. It is already very busy at peak times and commuters will simply find the route of least resistance, particularly when the A14 is at a standstill, as happens very regularly. The Airfield Road was not constructed to take heavy traffic volumes and would soon deteriorate. Left open, it will simply allow traffic to stream into Oakington, causing major problems at the crossroads.
This would simply be coalescence by traffic movement.
The Parish Council is dismayed not to see a revised master plan for Northstowe at this point. It is hard to fit Phase 1 into any form of perspective without such an overview.
There was little or no mention of how Phase 1 fits in with the overall Master Plan for Northstowe. At present it looks as though one sixth of the proposed housing will be built on one third of the available land.
The diagrams of the proposed Phase 1 development were misleading. Infrastructure is shown, but much of it relates to a later development phase (the secondary school for example). Much more clarity about infrastructure is expected particularly about how early demand for such items as health care and education will have flexible provision built in, so that buildings can increase in size as demands grow.
The Parish Council would expect to see a clear statement of intent regarding infrastructure, in terms of what will actually be built at Phase One and how that infrastructure assumes development at Phase two and at subsequent phases.
The Joint Developers have made bold statements about Northstowe being an ‘Exemplar Town’. We lack sufficient outline information to determine the real impact.
It won’t be exemplar low carbon for example, for the residents, if the Joint Developers don’t put forward details of a sustainable transport system.
It is noted that, despite the rhetoric, car ownership at Love’s Farm and Upton, for example has confounded planners’ ideas and has led to major parking problems on both sites. Unless there is a clear transport policy, based on the light of experience in urban expansion schemes and new town schemes, Northstowe may otherwise become a car dependent new town, defeating its exemplar vision for a sustainable community.
It is also noted that despite the high numbers of residents at Upton (Northants) and Love’s Farm (St Neots) there are currently no retail outlets within walking distance.
How will the problem of sustaining a retail presence with small numbers of customers initially be addressed?
Perhaps community ownership? Or subsidised rates?
It won’t be sustainable for the residents if the drainage system for surface water and sewage is left unresolved for years as is the case at Cambourne.
Has any thought been given to the principle of Community ownership of utilities? It is one way of successfully managing a provision that would generate a revenue stream in all residents would be stakeholders.
Energy generation could also be managed by a ‘utilities’ community committee or group. The scheme is quiet on the options re large-scale renewables.
How does the proposed density at phase 1 relate to density of future phases?
No mention at the consultation was made for the possibility of self-build or self-commissioned or community housing.
How will drainage be addressed at Phase 1 in terms of overall drainage? What proportion of water attenuation will be provided at this stage and how has this been decided upon?
How will the Joint Developers handle green infrastructure? Will it be put in place from the start and thus be given time to mature as building progresses?
Will due regard be taken to the needs of wildlife? Walls and fences with holes in for hedgehogs for example. Bat swift and bird boxes as another examp
No mention is made of allotments. These should be considered from the outset.
Although there is provision for a cemetery it is sited far away from the phase one proposals. Access will inevitably be difficult.
Has any thought been given to a location nearer to centres of population – maybe in the ‘historic Centre’ where a war memorial might be appropriately situated?
How do the Joint Promoters intend to proceed with Phase Two? This is vital importance in the planning of Phase 1. Will haul traffic proceed through roads in Phase one? How will Phase 1 residents be protected from 20 plus years of further development at Northstowe? This should be a feature of the overall master plan. There is no information currently available.
How will Phase one be protected from feeling like a building site for 25+ years after commencement of building?
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