Planning

Two years of Conservative-led government have seen a considerable shift from failing central planning policies to genuine local control. The City Council must grasp this opportunity to fix its broken planning policies.

More quality housing. In 2000 15% of new builds were flats and 45% detached housing, while after 13 years of Labour government 50% of new builds are flats and only 15% detached housing. Nowhere is this more obvious than in Cambridge. Conservatives would allow Cambridge to grow in a way that meets people’s desire for proper housing.

No to overdevelopment. The Labour government imposed housing targets that almost led to 12,000 residences being crammed onto the airport site. Now that the Conservative-led government has scrapped these targets, the City Council should stop inappropriate developments and instead allow measured growth of the City and the building of proper family homes. Local consent would be essential before new developments were allowed.

Maintain Cambridge’s character. City Council planning policies have time and again failed to ensure the use of high quality design and materials, even in high profile sites like Cambridge Leisure. Conservatives would clamp down on ugly new buildings and inappropriate renovations of existing buildings in historically sensitive parts of town. We would control the heights of new buildings to preserve the views that attract people and businesses to our City.

No more garden grabbing. Garden grabbings soared under Labour’s disastrous housing policies, with the percentage of homes built on previously residential land increasing from 11% in 1997 to 25% in 2008. Conservatives in government have granted councils new powers to stop garden grabbing. However, the City Council continues to allow the building of these cramped developments which damage the character of the surrounding area. Conservatives would take advantage of the new national guidelines and stop this trend.

Protecting pubs. Lib Dem planning policies give no special protection to amenities such as pubs when their owners wish to demolish them to make way for housing. When the Queen Edith pub was proposed for demolition in late 2010, councillors had to reject the application on technical grounds because there was no rule to which they could appeal to save the last pub in the community. This is yet another area where Conservatives would change the local planning policy.

More parking spaces. Cambridge’s Lib Dems were enthusiasts for the Labour government’s rule restricting parking spaces on new developments to 1.5 per dwelling – indeed, the Cambridge local plan reduced this to 1 in most cases. Conservatives in government have scrapped this rule, but the Lib Dems show no sign of changing the policy. Conservatives realise cars are a lifeline for many people. Limiting parking spaces doesn’t make cars disappear – it just clogs residential roads with parked cars and makes drivers cruise the streets hunting for a precious parking space. Conservatives would relax this restriction while working to provide sufficient cycle parking throughout the City, to reduce reliance on cars.

Good transport infrastructure Under a Conservative council, planning permission would depend on the developer providing the best possible transport links. New developments must not expose existing residents to considerable new problems such as commuter parking.