Developing new communities

Cambridgeshire is one of the fastest growing counties in the UK and has seen much demand for housing in recent years.

A number of new communities are being delivered, or are in the process of being planned. The County Council is tasked with ensuring its services, including education, waste, transport and community infrastructure, are well planned, suitably funded, and delivered in a timely and sustainable way, thereby meeting the needs of Cambridgeshire's new communities, and contributing to the county's economic prosperity. The Growth and Development Team at the County Council co-ordinates this work.

Engagement with developers

We recognise the value of early engagement with developers and other stakeholders. This can enable a clear understanding between relevant parties of what facilities and infrastructure will be necessary to support development, the funding sources and the implications for development viability. We encourage pre-application discussions on these matters at the earliest opportunity.

This can help identify key considerations earlier, paving the way to a quicker and smoother planning application process.

The Growth and Development Team provides pre-application advice to developers around planning, transport and highways. There are charges associated with such advice, details of which are in the 'Pre App Charging 2021-22 v1' document.

To request pre-application advice, please complete the Request for pre-application advice form.

Travel plans, sustainable travel advice and coordinator services are available through 'Smartjourneys', a not-for-profit commercial enterprise within the County Council. Visit the Smartjourneys website.

Transport assessment guidelines

We have prepared guidelines to assist developers with the preparation of transport assessments and transport statements that accompany planning applications. The guidelines are available in our transport assessment guidelines document.

Supporting New Communities Strategy

The Supporting New Communities Strategy document sets out how we support people moving into new communities across the county. The focus of this strategy is how we will work to ensure new communities have a network of people-centred support.

 

We cannot provide this support on our own but have a role to play, alongside partners and the community, in helping to build communities as well as help those who are more vulnerable to ensure that everyone is safe, healthy, independent and able to fulfil their full potential.

 

Although we have a variety of roles in planning and preparing for new communities, the scope of this strategy is exclusively on people-centred support and is strongly linked to the wider framework of planning functions within the council but it is vital to recognise that these functions are not within the scope of this document.