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Preface

A vision is, by its very nature, ambitious. It should set goals high to encourage creative thinking and to avoid the creation of an ‘anywhere place’. Great Visions need robust delivery plans, and therefore attention to infrastructure planning and financial viability are critical ingredients for success.

This brochure describes the vision for Waterbeach New Town, one which is both aspirational and deliverable.

Our Vision for Waterbeach New Town is to create a largely self-sustaining new community. The scale of the proposed development - a population of perhaps 25,000 people - has the potential to deliver truly sustainable development, opening up opportunities to provide the full array of services and amenities that underpin all successful towns. This will represent a richer alternative to the more remote service provision of smaller extension projects. Where travel is required, the New Town is ideally located to ensure choice of outstanding sustainable travel modes both locally and further afield.

It is critical that the aspirations housed within the vision also focus on delivery, and that proposals remain technically and financially viable both now and in the future. With this in mind, the vision supports the commercial objectives of value creation through promoting a great place where people will aspire to live and work – a place that will therefore attract long-term investment and foster the emergence of an enterprising community. This requires a commitment to doing more than simply meeting housing targets. RLW are driven by long-term investment goals that are married to an overall design objective of beautiful place-making. This is very different to the traditional house-builder’s approach of build-sell-get out quick.

Waterbeach New Town will have a clear identity and a strong sense of community that will enhance long-term value. The vision proposed reflects this aim, engaging closely with the site’s existing character and overall landscape setting. The vision provides a framework for change which has the potential to guide each phase of development and create a unique identity. This allows Waterbeach New Town to respond to changing lifestyles and remain flexible to evolving community aspirations.

July 2017.

Waterbeach New Town: future Community

1. Helping Cambridge and its sub-region retain its pre-eminence as a world-leading centre for knowledge, learning and research.

Waterbeach New Town can support this objective through the creation of a beautiful and diverse range of new living and working environments that are of the highest quality, energy and resource efficient, equipped for the digital future, and adaptable to climate change. It will operate within the regional scale of Greater Cambridge’s thriving economy and will support a sustainable community that is connected to employment areas in central and north eastern Cambridge.

2.Helping to deliver a well-connected city and sub-region through the provision of new sustainable transport infrastructure in a timely fashion based upon high quality cycle and rail corridors and supported by bus priority and frequency enhancements.

Waterbeach New Town will provide high quality transport infrastructure and multi-modal public transport systems. It will also deliver new green infrastructure that supports cycle and pedestrian networks across Cambridge and its sub-region, connects and extends natural areas and areas of ecological importance, improves recreational opportunities and encourages healthy living.

3.Creating a new community with a clear identity that takes its references from history, past and present.

From the distant past Waterbeach New Town reflects the historic settlement patterns on the Fen Edge. From more recently, it reflects its military history and Waterbeach’s role in the 20th century. The masterplan will also respond to the site’s natural assets wherever possible, embedding waterbodies, mature trees and ditches into the structure of the new town. Homes will be provided for all ages and needs providing opportunities for existing and new families to stay close together whether they are moving out of home for the first time, upsizing, downsizing or retiring.

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Waterbeach New Town: future Community Close to water

Close to nature

Close to history

Close to Cambridge3

4 context location plan including Cambridge green belt

Introduction

Background

Cambridgeshire is a predominantly rural county, with development focused on the City and in market towns and villages beyond. The pattern of development has been determined through planning policy stemming from the 1960’s when a Green Belt was established around Cambridge, displacing development to rural locations. This was recognised to be an unsustainable pattern of growth. Although it protected the historic character of the City, it encouraged patterns of long-distance commuting to jobs in and adjoining Cambridge from market towns and rural settlements in the Cambridge Sub-Region (CSR) and beyond.

Since 2000 planning strategy for the sub-region had adopted a sequential approach to the location of housing and related developments which prioritises the built-up area of Cambridge, followed by sites on the periphery of Cambridge on land released from the Green Belt, and then a new settlement at Northstowe.

Current government policy as set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (the Framework) establishes a presumption in favour of sustainable development. Sustainability is a broad concept encompassing economic, social and environmental considerations. Applied to the particular physical characteristics of Cambridge and its nationally important growth potential, this policy adds greater emphasis to the established strategy of Cambridge-focused housing growth.

The Framework is equally clear that Green Belt boundaries, once defined, should only be altered in exceptional circumstances. A series of Green Belt releases have already been implemented through the current South Cambridgeshire Core Strategy and the Cambridge City Local Plan. There must therefore be a presumption against any further releases through the next plan period if the required permanence of the Green Belt is to be protected.

The concept of using planned new settlements as a means of

accommodating growth in the CSR is long established, from previous developments such as Bar Hill, Cambourne and currently Northstowe.

The development concept for Waterbeach New Town is borne out of that tradition

but differs in two key respects. Firstly, it relies on a fundamentally different

approach to delivery which will ensure that the delays which have hampered

other major developments are not repeated in this case. Secondly, a multi-

modal transport strategy – harnessing the availability of rail as well as high

quality cycle opportunities - will result in significantly enhanced transport linkages

to key destinations in the city, including importantly the employment opportunities

of the Northern Fringe. Waterbeach New Town therefore provides an opportunity to create a truly sustainable new community,

which encompasses the economic, social and environmental aspects of sustainable

development.

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Introduction

Planning Context and Strategy

The proposal is formulated in the context of current planning policy at national and local levels. National policy is provided by the National Planning Policy Framework (‘the Framework’) issued in March 2012. As a proposal to deliver development over the next twenty years, the most relevant local policy is provided by the emerging South Cambridgeshire Local Plan.

National Policy

The Framework identifies that the purpose of the planning system is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development, which encompasses three distinct dimensions: economic, social and environmental and should be seen as a golden thread running through both plan making and decision taking. The ideologies of sustainable development are threefold; An economic role - contributing to building a strong, responsive and competitive economy, by ensuring that sufficient land of the right type is available in the right places and at the right time to support growth and innovation; and by identifying and coordinating development requirements, including the provision of infrastructure; A social role - supporting strong, vibrant and healthy communities, by providing the supply of housing required to meet the needs of present and future generations; and by creating a high quality built environment, with accessible local services that reflect the community’s needs and supports its health, social and cultural well-being; and An environmental role - contributing to protecting and enhancing our natural, built and historic environment; and, as part of this, helping to improve biodiversity, use natural resources prudently, minimise waste and pollution, and mitigate and adapt to climate change including moving to a low carbon economy.

The Framework sets out the Government’s overall objective to boost significantly the supply of housing and recognises that this

can sometimes best be achieved through planning for larger scale development, such as new settlements or extensions to existing villages and towns. It adds that, working with local communities, local authorities should consider whether such opportunities provide the best way of achieving sustainable development.

In pursuing its objective to secure strong and sustainable economic growth, the government has indicated that it attaches great importance to the use of surplus public sector land to encourage the provision of new homes and jobs.

Local Policy

The South Cambridgeshire Local Plan (as submitted) sets out a vision which will be secured through the achievement of the following six key objectives;

• To support economic growth by supporting South Cambridgeshire’s position as a world leader in research and technology based industries, research, and education; and supporting the rural economy.• To protect the character of South Cambridgeshire, including its built and natural heritage, as well as protecting the Cambridgeshire Green Belt. New development should enhance the area, and protect and enhance biodiversity.• To provide land for housing in sustainable locations that meets local need and aspirations, and gives choice about type, size, tenure and cost.• To deliver new developments that are high quality and well-designed with distinctive character that reflects their location, and which responds robustly to the challenges of climate change.• To ensure that all new development provides or has access to a range of services and facilities that support healthy lifestyles and well-being for everyone, including shops, schools, doctors, community buildings, cultural facilities, local open space, and green infrastructure.• To maximise potential for journeys to be undertaken by

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sustainable modes of transport including walking, cycling, bus and train.

The proposed new settlement at Waterbeach has many similar objectives and provides a number of opportunities which would help fulfil the Council’s aims over the next 20 years and beyond.

One of the key issues for the Local Plan is to establish a clear sustainable development strategy, in line with the 12 Core Planning Principles set out in the National Planning Policy Framework. This is reflected in various policies which include Policy S/3 which mirrors the Government’s presumption in favour of sustainable development.

Policy SS/5 sets out development principles for the Waterbeach New Town as regards capacity, phasing, design and infrastructure. The Council are seeking that a detailed development framework is established through a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) for adoption in early 2018.

The policy emphasises the aim to deliver an example of excellence in sustainable development and healthier living as well as high quality public transport links to Cambridge. It contains a full range of land uses to be developed in a manner that maintains the identity of Waterbeach as a village close to the new town.

Whilst the Council envisages that the new town will deliver approximately 8,000 to 9,000 dwellings, the final number is to be determined via the SPD. Likewise, there remains flexibility over the timing of development.

Policy SS/5 states, among its provisions, that “the delivery of the new town, including any individual phases, must:• “Be in accordance with the spatial framework diagram set

out in the Supplementary Planning Document to ensure a comprehensive development of the site as a whole that will not prejudice the creation of a fully functioning and successful new town.”

• “Plan for essential services, facilities and infrastructure to be provided in a comprehensive manner…….” (Policy SS/5 part 16 as proposed to be modified)

Policy SS/5 also states “The new town will be founded on a comprehensive movement network for the whole town, that connects key locations including the town centre and relocated railway station to encourage the use of sustainable modes of travel…..” (Policy SS/5 part 11 as proposed to be modified).

Part 17 of Policy SS/5 specifically concerns the proposed Supplementary Planning Document (SPD). It states that the requirements to be fulfilled by the SPD include:• “An overarching high level vision for the new town”• “The broad location of the components of the new town

which are essential to support comprehensive and seamless development….” (Policy SS/5 part 17 as proposed to be modified)

It is therefore clear that development proposals that are brought forward must be in accordance with these key requirements for:• A comprehensive movement network that connects key

locations• Provision for comprehensive development of the site as a

whole• Provision for essential services, facilities and infrastructure to

be provided in a comprehensive and seamless manner

Policy SS/5 also requires that Waterbeach be “an example of excellence in sustainable development” with “high quality public transport links to Cambridge including a relocated railway station to enable a high modal share of travel by means other than the car” (Policy SS/5 part 4 as proposed to be modified)

This Vision document sets out RLW’s approach and principles to deliver

a comprehensive and seamless development at Waterbeach.

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Spatial Context

A strategic location

The proposed site for Waterbeach New Town is entirely within South Cambridgeshire District Council’s boundary, located approximately 6 km north of the urban edge of Cambridge. The site is positioned between the A10, which defines its western boundary, and the Cambridge to Ely railway line, which marks its extent to the east. It lies immediately to the north of the existing village of Waterbeach, and, in turn, immediately beyond the outer edge of the Green Belt that surrounds the City of Cambridge.

The vision for Waterbeach New Town is one of complementary self-sustainability,

with the site strategically located to allow a new community to thrive within

Cambridgeshire’s vibrant knowledge-economy.

Immediate proximity to the historic City of Cambridge, world-renowned as a centre of academic excellence and a key engine of the British knowledge-economy, Waterbeach New Town and its residents and employers will be well placed to profit from the areas attraction to major Research and Development employers. Moreover, the new settlement is located close to the Cambridge Science Park, a major local employment centre easily accessible by the proposed public transport enhancements to be delivered by the new settlement and just a 15 minute journey by cycle. Meanwhile the provision of additional on-site employment opportunities will maintain the community’s status as significantly self-contained, at the same time as ensuring the new settlement will contribute sustainably to the current shortfall of homes relative to jobs in the sub-region.

The theme of complementary existence sits well within the knowledge-economy logic of mutually beneficial synergies and has thus been translated into the vision’s approach to service provision. Once again, the New Settlement would provide its residents with everything necessary for day to day living at the same time as maximising connections to the higher order retail and cultural offerings of the nearby Cambridge, Ely and Newmarket. Such a design allows Waterbeach New Town to sit comfortably within this picturesque landscape.

Excellent transport links

The site of Waterbeach New Town enjoys a wealth of public transport connections to local, regional and national destinations. Moreover, easy access to both London Kings Cross St Pancras and Stansted Airport place the site strategically for international travel. Finally, the sites proximity to the A10 provides strategic links via the A14 and M11 to the north, south, east and west.

One key element of the proposals is that those living or working in the new settlement will have easy access to a frequent and high quality rail service. This will be provided through a modern new railway station within the site to serve the existing village and new residents. A second key element will be attractive provision for walking and cycling which will be built into the New Town from the outset. An attractive and comprehensive network of dedicated cycle lanes will link all key destinations including the railway station. This network coupled with improvements in off site cycle routes will make it more attractive to cycle into Cambridge from Waterbeach and the surrounding areas. Finally, the new town will have the ability to readily link with the Cambridgeshire bus routes, achieved both by interchange at Cambridge North and Cambridge Stations, as well as bus priority measures on the A10 with increased bus frequencies.

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Train Links (Inc. connection times)

Waterbeach to Cambridge North 05 mins

Waterbeach to Cambridge 09 mins

Waterbeach to Ely 09 mins

Cambridge to London 54 mins

Cambridge to Stansted Airport 30 mins

Bus LinksWaterbeach to Cambridge Science Park 05/10 mins

Waterbeach to Cambridge (Drummer Street) 24 mins

Waterbeach to Ely (Market Street) 29 mins

Cycle LinksWaterbeach to Cambridge Science Park 15 mins

Waterbeach to Cambridge (Drummer Street) 40 mins

9public transport connections

10 topography and settlement pattern plan

Spatial Context

Historic settlement patterns - the influence of topography and proximity of water

The vision for Waterbeach New Town casts its eye forward whilst also celebrating the area’s rich cultural and landscape heritage. This approach allows the design to build sympathetically upon the existing landscape character in terms of urban form, tree planting and fenland vegetation.

Historically, the settlement pattern of the surrounding landscape responded to topographic and drainage constraints imposed by the fens, with settlement’s traditionally constructed on higher islands, which contrasts in character and development potential with the un-drained peat of the fens. Distinctive landscape features in the proximity of the site demonstrate this pattern and inspired its reinterpretation as a design theme for the overall vision.

Areas towards the east of the site, on the fen edge, would have been adjacent to wet-peat fen in medieval times, with Denny Abbey’s monastic settlement isolated on dry islands at the fen edge. The medieval village of Waterbeach is at the edge of a spur of drier land extending into the fens from Cambridge. Similarly, to the North, Ely Cathedral was also located on an elevated dry island. Set within a context of a permanently wet landscape the communities connected through a network of causeways.

The concept of linking a series of neighbourhoods (or islands), each with their own distinctive character, identity and landmarks, is evident in the vision for Waterbeach New Town. Historic causeways will be uncovered to reconnect these neighbourhoods and views to historic landmarks including Ely Cathedral will be carefully framed setting up a dynamic relationship between the existing landmarks and the new settlement, offering a symbolic bridge between the old and the new. The character of the barracks area is reflected back through a layout that could retain buildings of importance and the linear campus arrangement tells a story of

the site’s heritage again linking the past and the present.

Water will play a critical part in integrating development into the landscape whether it is the cultural and leisure uses focussed around significant waterbodies such as the existing lake in the airfield or the introduction and widening of drains into lodes which will provide the setting for new fen edge neighbourhoods in the east making it possible to read the underlying landscape.

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Spatial Context

Green Infrastructure links

The vision for Waterbeach New Town reframes the site’s sensitive nature as a key opportunity, formulating a sophisticated design response reflective of the Green Infrastructure aspirations articulated in the overarching Cambridge Horizons Green Infrastructure Strategy (2011).

Formulated in partnership with six local authorities, English Heritage, the National Trust, the Environmental Agency, Natural England, The Forestry Commission England, Cambridge Past Present and Future, and the Wildlife Trust, the Green Infrastructure Strategy (2011) challenged future development to ‘make the county a better place for people to live, work and enjoy whilst improving and increasing habitats for wildlife’.

Picking up this challenge the new settlement’s vision of sustainability integrates a network of green spaces and corridors, not to mention public cycle paths and footways, organically throughout the design.

The site will provide a complementary mix of habitat creation and recreational facilities; indeed it considers these two

aspects as mutually reinforcing.

Significantly, the site will provide an opportunity for much needed fen restoration works. Having suffered a bio-diversity decline based on the loss of traditional management practices, unreliable water supplies and fen isolation, our proposal is that Waterbeach New Town will contribute to a broader fen restoration movement stitching the development into the fabric of Cambridgeshire’s evolution towards a sustainable future.

Similarly, the site’s close location to Denny Abbey offers the potential for the site to evolve as a conduit through which recreational cycle paths and footways might better access the historic site. This, coupled with an enthusiasm to open up the development’s internal facilities for use by adjacent communities, will develop Waterbeach New Town into a socio-cultural hub, drawing vibrancy from increased footfall, and providing the region with a real asset.

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13green infrastructure plan (building on Cambridge Horizons Strategy)

The Vision

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The vision for Waterbeach New Town seeks to

recreate the benefits of older patterns of

development and living that were more in tune

with natural systems. This focuses on delivering

a high quality environment to live, work and play in;

promoting health and well-being and a high quality of

life for all.

view along Bannold Drove

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The Vision The Concept

Apart from demonstrating the technical capability of a site to accommodate growth, a fundamental factor in delivering a successful new settlement on the ground is to set out a strong vision at the early stages of the development. The success of the vision can be measured by its ability to guide the development process at every stage, and the clarity with which it brings to life the aspirations for a place that will emerge and succeed in its own right.

The concept for the new settlement seeks to bring the built form and landscape

together as one integrated whole, creating distinctive character areas that are in touch

with the landscape and specific to their context.

As with most things, this is not an entirely new concept, but holistic masterplanning driven by this concept will allow the new settlement to recreate the benefits of older patterns of development and habitation that were more in tune with natural systems. The concept takes influence from the surrounding landscape. This has identified three different conditions on the site that suggest three distinct character areas could promote a positive and distinctive design responses to the specific landscape and visual sensitivities of the local context:• To the north - a parkland and lakeside character that is shaped by the large blocks of existing woodland, localised landform, the existing lake and other waterbodies, the need to retain meadow and grassland identified in the ecological survey and the presence beyond the site of Denny Abbey ;• To the east – the Fen Edge characterised by the drainage and field pattern, flat and low-lying topography, ditches and boundaries that are largely orientated from the middle of the site pointing east and beyond to the Fens proper;• To the south – the barracks, which is almost campus-like in its arrangements of buildings and structures, orientates itself around

the existing grid pattern of roads and is supplemented by the inclusion of gardens, squares and areas of formal tree planting. The campus area also acts as a threshold between the new settlement and Waterbeach Village, preserving it’s character and integrity whilst promoting integration.

The characterisation of the site is helpful in demonstrating how the different constraints and opportunities inherent in each part of the site are used to develop a very rich and contrasting design response, each one being uniquely legible.

A zone of higher density housing and reduced traffic will connect the lake, town centre and station. This zone will span and connect the three character areas, it will draw together the main mixed use areas and play a significant part in defining the experience of living in Waterbeach New Town.

Linked neighbourhoods

The emerging concept plan for Waterbeach New Town uses the requirements from the Local Plan as the starting point. These set out the need for a new community with its own identity and a sympathetic and appropriate relationship with Waterbeach Village and Denny Abbey.

Waterbeach will grow and develop as an existing place rather than attempt to create somewhere entirely new and separate. New and existing neighbourhoods will each have their own character, identity and qualities. The new town will have a different character to the existing village defined by the character areas described above and within them there will be distinct neighbourhoods which converge around the new town centre and train station.

The new town will have a separate vehicular access to the A10 but the new settlement and the existing village will be linked by attractive and historic causeways experienced on foot, bike or public transport as a sequence or chain of activities and places. The design of these routes will be critical to how the relationship between the settlement and the existing village is perceived on the ground and in allowing each neighbourhood to benefit from the advantages (social, economic, recreational, educational, cultural etc.) that the others can offer.

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the development concept

The Vision

A Flexible Framework

After identifying the constraints and considering the outputs of technical studies the vision for the new settlement has been translated into a robust, yet flexible framework. This framework is based on exploring creative solutions to constraints and converting opportunities into place-making moves that will create a great place to live, work, play and learn.

The framework developed embodies the key concepts behind the vision and sets out a structure that will underpin the development and drive change over many phases of development. Critically, the framework plan considers a site wide approach to ensure comprehensive planning for the new settlement.

Capacity

Waterbeach New Town is a truly mixed use proposal which delivers the infrastructure and day to day services required in any successful town. This includes approximately 11000 new homes, 2 secondary schools and 4 primary schools. A mixed use centre with shops and services is located centrally within the development to maximise accessibility by foot and cycle.

Employment floor space is provided to generate new jobs for the new residents. This will comprise small scale employment space integrated in with other development but focussed around the new train station and community centres.

The new settlement is integrated with the existing landscape by a comprehensive network of parks and green corridors incorporating existing natural features such as lakes, ditches and woodland. This framework will serve a variety of purposes, delivering drainage, movement, biodiversity and amenity functions.

577.65ha site area238ha net development

approximately 11,000 new homes New jobs

4 primary + 2 secondary schoolsNew train station

Park & ride High quality bus transit

Post 16 collegeSpecial Education Needs School

Water & SUDS

Open space

Open space within ‘Fen Edge‘ character area

Development area within ‘Fen Edge‘

Development area within ‘Parkland‘

Development area within ‘Barracks‘

Location of main community facilities

Location of school sites

Area with potential for reduced traffic

Woodland

Key green infrastructure and cycling routes

Primary road

High quality bus route

Key

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Playing pitches

Primary school site

Post 16 college

Special Education Needs school site

Secondary school site

Proposed train station

Retail centre

Rail based park & ride

Parking for Village

Cultural centre1.

2.1

2.2

3.

4.

SS.

6.

PS.

SF.

SN.

illustrative development framework

The Barracks

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Fen Edge

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Parklands

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The Vision

Transport Strategy

The new settlement will be a place where people use sustainable modes of transport in preference to the private car.

On-site MovementWalking and cycling will be promoted as the primary modes of transport within the new settlement, with shorter more direct links provided than for private car. The plan opposite shows a comprehensive network of routes where dedicated cycle routes will be provided to ensure that all key destinations are linked via attractive and free flowing cycle routes. Car parking will be provided at appropriate levels but not always at the front door, instead strategies which employ community parking facilities will be tested. Central areas will be car-free zones or reduced traffic zones and elsewhere pedestrians and cyclists will have priority on traffic-calmed streets with low speed limits of 20mph. Secure cycle parking will be provided throughout the development. In particular, cycle parking at the rail station and near bus stops will encourage multi-modal trips into and out of the new settlement. Links to the wider pedestrian / cycle network will be provided, including commuter routes and leisure routes across the River Cam. Cycle hire facilities will be provided and a cycle hub at the railway station.

Off-site ImprovementsThe transport strategy being developed for the new settlement seeks to minimise the impact on the strategic road network, including the A14. A new railway station is proposed to serve both the new settlement and Waterbeach, replacing the existing Waterbeach Station. Commuters from the north will be encouraged to use the new park and ride facility at the relocated station. Provision will be made for existing Waterbeach passengers to access the new station. Regular bus services will be enhanced and a local bus service provided to serve the new settlement and Waterbeach. There will be a bus stop within 500m of 96% of the new homes proposed.

The off site improvements will also include:• Localised capacity and safety improvements to the A10 south

of Waterbeach to provide cycle and bus priority to the south of the A14.

• High quality cycle routes south towards Cambridge connecting to Cambridge North Station and Cambridge Science Park.

• Promotion of improved bus services at Cambridge and Cambridge North station to encourage rail as major mode of travel for the new settlement.

All off-site and on-site infrastructure will be designed to attract existing trips on the wider network away from the private car and on to more sustainable and manageable modes of transport.

These transport improvements would enhance the connectivity of the proposed

new settlement with Cambridge, and would support the sustainability vision for

the site.

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Area with potential for reduced traffic

transport and connectivity strategy

Key cycle routes

Off site cycle routes

Primary road network

Station park and ride

High quality bus routes

Key:

Railway Station

A10

The Vision

IMAGE CREDIT ©

HALDANEM

ARTIN

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Employment and Cultural Links

Waterbeach New Town will be closely related to Cambridge in employment and cultural terms, yet it will also have a distinctive life in its own right. Excellent transport links will support the Cambridge economy.

Conscious to avoid developing Waterbeach New Town into a dormitory town - our

proposals include ground-breaking ideas to foster the emergence of an innovative

Enterprising Community.

This will encourage home-working, small business development and start-ups, as well as good linkages to existing and emerging local employment areas. The Enterprising Community will be centred around a proposed new work hub within the town centre and train station quarter, which will provide a wide range of business support facilities. It will be linked with a café and flexible community space to ensure it has a strong social identity and role. Small scale local retail facilities will be provided in addition to small scale employment space, workshops and community provision. This investment will create a more vibrant community held together by local economic links and a more sustainable community in which movement patterns are internalised as far as possible.

Bringing nature into the plan

Waterbeach New Town provides the opportunity to deliver significant areas of higher quality habitat that link up with existing areas. These will be managed in the long term in order to deliver a net gain in biodiversity and bring wilder and natural areas right into the new neighbourhoods as part of a linked, multifunctional green network which will be a visible and ever present feature of living in Waterbeach.

Sketch illustrating potential integration of small scale employment and residential areas

Sustainable Lifestyles

Sustainable development has entered a new phase, moving above and beyond earlier efforts to address the impact of built development in terms of building performance, energy use and so on. Exemplar projects initiated a step-change in the field, setting new, more demanding standards for sustainable development, and establishing these principles as part of the mainstream. The next step on this journey towards truly sustainable development requires a more holistic approach driven by a desire to create great places that can encourage sustainable lifestyles in environmental, social and economic spheres.

The vision for Waterbeach New Town aims to create a place that takes into account resource use, living patterns, quality of life, business and enterprise, education, recreation, community, and a reduction in the overall environmental footprint of development.

Integrating the built form and landscape design into a cohesive whole, this vision opens up new opportunities to reduce environmental impact at the same time as improving the quality of life for residents of the new settlement and surrounding area.

The vision for Waterbeach New Town therefore focuses on creating a stunning landscape setting enjoyed and cherished

by all.

A strong landscape framework will put buildings and the community in touch with their environment. The landscape will become a valuable asset, providing a range of recreational opportunities necessary to community vitality on its very doorstep. Moreover, drawing landscape elements into the heart of Waterbeach New Town will stimulate value increase with properties afforded stunning views across the new landscape.

The vision and framework leave sufficient flexibility for the plans to adapt to new technologies in the future, for example it is conceivable that autonomous vehicles will become more widespread during the build out of the new town and the detail layout of the streets and blocks will need to allow for this.

29a cultural centre overlooking existing lake puts people in touch with nature

The Vision A successful settlement needs a clearly

identifiable centre which people can enjoy and take pride in.

The centre for Waterbeach New Town will consist of three linked areas that will form the heart of the community; each have their own clearly defined character and purpose and they are linked by a central area of higher density tying them together along with a zone of reduced traffic. These centres comprise:

• Town Centre: A Retail and Community Centre – Placed within the traffic calmed area, this centre will offer a safe and busy place to meet, play, relax, shop, eat, drink and, most importantly, interact through social exchanges. It will build on the existing character of the Barracks, and is purposely located to take advantage of the existing community uses which are already emerging here. It offers potential for strong and attractive links to the existing village through the main Barracks entrance - delivering on the concept of linked neighbourhoods. • Lakeside: A Leisure and Cultural Centre – Benefiting from strong links to Denny Abbey and a stunning lakeside setting, the Cultural Centre will be anchored to the heritage of the site and will be a beautiful and unique opportunity for Waterbeach.• Station Quarter – A mix of uses including work hub, small scale retail and a zone of higher density housing focussed around transport interchange and new ‘station square’ - a high quality public space in front of the new station building. The Station too plays a critical role in bringing together the all the neighbourhoods of Waterbeach.

The combination of these three areas comprise the centre for Waterbeach New Town and build on the concept of linked neighbourhoods, they offer the socio-economic keystone capable of unlocking the potential of Waterbeach to grow and flourish as a truly sustainable community. They will be supported by further local centres to the north which will provide small scale retail and community uses and will be co-located with the primary schools.

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Town Centre

Cultural Centre

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Station Quarter

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Station Square

Modern station

Bannold Drove

To Waterbeach village

To Town Centre

35Aerial Sketch overlooking the modern railway station

Delivering The Vision

Strategic Phasing & Implementation

The development of Waterbeach New Town would be a considerable undertaking to be delivered over many years. The development framework therefore needs to retain a degree of flexibility to allow delivery on the ground to continue under a variety of market conditions which might require differing delivery approaches. A strong concept from the outset underpins this flexible framework within which development can take place over many years.

Early phases will seek to exploit the public transport services provided by timely investment in infrastructure. Development will be focussed around the new station, town centre and lakeside, this approach will establish the quality of place and value generating elements from the outset and develop the relationship with the communities of the existing village. Delivery of these place-making elements alongside delivery of sustainable travel infrastructure is a key part of delivering this vision.

It is envisaged that early phases will focus on delivering a primary access road to serve development parcels and provide access to the new railway station. The railway station and a rail based park and ride will be provided early to capture private car trips heading south on the A10 which along with implementation of key cycle infrastructure will establish sustainable travel choices from the outset and become synonymous part of living in Waterbeach New Town.

Delivery of a housing product that is in keeping with the aspirations of the vision will have a wide market appeal. For this reason residential take-up rates may be greater than those traditionally associated with new settlements. To help support this it is proposed that the first phases will include homes delivered across all three of the principal character areas, bringing a range and choice of housing to the market. Later phases in more sensitive locations along the northern edge will benefit from advanced landscaping and planting strategies to protect and enhance the setting of Denny Abbey.

New railway stationNew station access road and park

and rideAround 1500-2000 homes

Access to the A10 via either the northern (A) or southern(B)

entrancePedestrian and cycle links

establishedFirst primary school

Open spaces and parks around the lake, railway station and Barracks Small scale work space and work

hubs at the town centre and station established

Gradual re-use and refurbishment of the Barracks area

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PHASE 4 - YEARS 17 TO 21

37Phase one plan