Waterbeach Community Forum

Waterbeach Community Forum is one of many forums run by us across the major development sites.The forum gives the opportunity for residents, developers, and public sector bodies to discuss the new town at Waterbeach.

The forum usually starts with an hour-long drop-in session where the public get to meet the developers and Council planners. This gives the public a better understanding of the development, and what the new town may look and feel like.Following this, there's a more formal meeting. Time is set aside at the end for any questions that may arise. Forums run from 6pm to 8pm. We send out the agenda with timings about a week beforehand, so you can pick a time to come along.

Please email any agenda items you want to discuss to waterbeach.community@scambs.gov.uk.

All forum posts, presentations and other resources are shared on this webpage.

Next meeting date: to be confirmed

Time: to be confirmed
Format: to be confirmed
Agenda: to be confirmed

If you would like to ask a question or would like a specific topic to be discussed email waterbeach.community@scambs.gov.uk.

Latest meeting notes are below:

March 2024

Greater Cambridge Planning – Mike Huntingdon

Greater Cambridge Planning Presentation March 2024 [PPT, 3.5MB]

Mike gave a brief history of the development:

2018 - South Cambridgeshire Local Plan - allocated for development
2019 - SPD approved - prepared to guide a comprehensive approach to the new town’s development and the provision of infrastructure across the whole site
2020 - Construction started on western part of the site
2023 - First residents

Two developers:

Urban&Civic
RLW Estates

He then went on to identify the wider allocation of land uses (slides 5-10):

parks
schools (orange children symbols)
local centres (red circles with numbers 1-4 in them)
main road network (dark blue lines)
train station (station symbol)

Questions

(For RLW Estates) How much of 1300 affordable homes will be for social housing? Will they all be 80% of market price?

At least 30% of the development as affordable homes with a 30/70 tenure split (affordable rent / intermediate) to meet local housing needs (same as Urban&Civic).

Intermediate housing is defined as Shared Ownership, Older Person Shared Ownership, Home Ownership for people with Long-Term disabilities, Rent to Buy and Intermediate Rent. If the scheme were to be financially viable the review by the Council’s consultant suggests that 30% of affordable housing could be achieved on a tenure split of:

30% affordable rent
30% shared ownership
20% Rent to buy
20% Discount market sale

This breakdown is the same as the approved Urban&Civic site. At the beginning of each Phase of development (or at any other agreed point in the development) a viability review would be carried out, the outcome of which would be the exact level and the tenure mix of affordable housing for that Phase.

County Council – Tim Watkins – Head of Growth and Development

Tim stated that he was there to provide an update on the progress of the primary school planning application. He mentioned that it had been intended for the primary school planning application to go to planning committee that day, but it had been withdrawn and the application had been paused. The applicant, the County Council Education Department, had requested the application to be paused while they investigated construction affordability issues. He expressed their continued commitment to delivering the primary school according to the current program and stated that they had been assured by their education multipliers and calculations that the primary school would be ready in time and that the pupil places will come forward when required.

Urban&Civic: Rebecca Britton – Regional Director of Communications, Fiona Reardon Rose – Communications and Communities

Urban&Civic Presentation March 2024 [PPTX, 1.5MB]

Questions

Can residents park in the travel hub if they wanted to visit?

Yes. Sustainable Travel Hub is accessible from the A10 roundabout, and residents can use this to explore the site.

Where is the community bus timetable? And where does it go from?

The bus is operational for the community market – third Sunday of every month. The bus goes from outside the green. Unfortunately, the bus will not be available for April, but will run from June onwards, leaving from the village green. The timetable is advertised on social media on the Waterbeach Community Market page.

Is the U&C development dependant on the upgrades to the A10 and/or building of the station? And do you have any involvement in either of those things?

Our primary involvement revolves around supporting others. We collaborate closely with the Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP) to advance the Park & Ride initiative and the station location, given our central position. Consequently, we are responsible for constructing the connecting road to facilitate these developments. Regarding our initial phase of development, comprising 1600 homes, we aren't reliant on the A10 upgrade. Certain interventions, such as roadworks at the Stretton Roundabout and improvements to the Denny End Rd junction, either have been or are scheduled to be implemented to enhance junction capacity. These interventions primarily impact the road network, with a focus on cycle connections and other public transport enhancements for the first phase. We conduct periodic reviews as part of this process, utilizing sensors to monitor car usage and upholding our commitment to promoting active travel and modal shift away from cars. The insights gathered inform subsequent phases of development, aligning with the broader A10 review conducted by the GCP and the county council.

Smart Journeys – Jez Tuttle, Transport Assessment Team Leader

Smart Journeys Presentation March 2024 [PPTX, 19.5MB]

Questions

When will these activities be available?

5 App-bikes (hire bikes) will be installed within the Barracks in the next few weeks. Estimated launch date of May 6. 3 bikes will be positioned at the Transport Hub and 2 outside the squash courts.

June – Voi expansion permission will be decided and published by the DfT, this will include e-bikes and e-scooters

July – Date to be confirmed – Sustainable Transport Event

How will residents find out about them?

Newsletters, online social media platforms, social engagement events

Are you aware that cycle theft is endemic at Waterbeach Station? What measures will be in place to prevent this at the new station, but also to prevent e-scooter theft – if this comes in?

Smart Journeys will offer regular bicycle security marking sessions, we will also advise as to which bicycle stands would be best. Smart journeys will also work closely with Voi to ensure that security of all vehicles is of paramount importance. We will consult with Urban & Civic with regards to the installation of cycle stands i.e. location, lighting, security cameras etc.

contact: waterbeach@smartjourneys.co.uk

Anglian Water – Kathryn Taylor, Cambridge Wastewater Relocation Project

Anglian Water Presentation March 2024 [PPTX, 0.2MB]

I'll provide a brief update on our current status. To recap, the DCO process spans 6 months, commencing on 17 October and concluding on 19 April. Following closure, the Planning Inspectorate, comprising 3 inspectors, has 3 months to draft their report and make recommendations to the relevant Secretary of State, in this case, DEFRA. The Secretary of State then has an additional three months to review the recommendations and issue a final decision. Thus, we anticipate a decision by October of this year. Regarding the examination process, we've recently concluded the last round of hearings, including sessions in October, January, and just last week. These sessions covered various topics, such as landscape design and traffic management, with broad engagement from stakeholders, including statutory consultees, community groups, and Parish councils. Correction: the final hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, 9 April, not at the end of March, and will address outstanding matters related to traffic and access.

Questions

Where exactly will the pipeline be going?

The proposed Waterbeach scheme consists of the installation of a new section of underground pipeline about 8 kilometres in length. From Waterbeach New Town the new pipe will route east/southeast crossing under the railway but avoiding the new Waterbeach railway station platform before continuing southwards through fields. It will cross to the east side of the River Cam after about 1.9km and continue southward to the east of the village of Horningsea before crossing under the A14. It will then continue southward for approximately 400 metres before routing west and connecting into the existing Cambridge (Milton) Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP), crossing under the Horningsea Road, the River Cam, Fen Road, and the railway on route. Please see the map which shows where the route of the pipeline.

Will the pipeline construction impact on any bus routes coming to and from the Park & Ride?

The pipeline will not impact any bus routes, including the Park & Ride, as it does not cross any main roads, such as Clayhithe Road.

Will the river be closed for navigation at any stage throughout construction?

No. At no point will the river be completely closed. The navigation channel will be narrowed while we move the Milton works' current outfall. This will require us to construct a new outfall within the riverbank. A temporary bund will be installed across a part of the river to protect the workforce during the construction of the outfall. Due to this bund, navigation will be restricted for an approximately four-month period, not prevented entirely.

Will AW be doing anything to improve or accommodate being able to get down Burgess Drove? And if so, could you please contact the landowners?

If the project receives consent, improvements will be made to Burgess Drove to accommodate vehicle access. We will be in contact with landowners before any such improvements take place. A decision on whether the upgrades will be made permanent following construction will be made post-consent and will be informed by our discussions with landowners.

Can you provide an idea of how much construction traffic will be on site, when it is likely to be, the size of the vehicles and what roads are likely to be used?

During the construction of the Waterbeach pipeline, there will be two periods of peak traffic movements. The first peak will occur in the first eight weeks of construction when all the equipment is delivered, and the compound area setup. Construction traffic movements will then peak again during the last eight weeks when the temporary haul road is removed, and the compounds dismantled. During construction, a mixture of vehicles will be using the roads, including HGVs. HGVs will not use the roads during school drop-off and pick-up times.

Construction traffic will use the following roads in the vicinity of Waterbeach:

A10 Ely Road
Denny End Road
Bannold Road
Bannold Drove
Burgess’s Drove
Car Dyke Road
Station Road
Milton Road
Cowley Road
Clayhithe Road, and
Long Drove.

The tables below are from the most recent iteration of the project application document "Environmental Statement Chapter 19: Traffic and Transport”. And show the predicted peak traffic movements on the roads in the vicinity of Waterbeach. The future baseline refers to the estimated number of traffic flows in a scenario where the pipeline is not constructed.

Stagecoach – David Boden, Business Development Director

Audio announcing stops not working on local buses:

this is not a function that drivers can control. If they are not working, then there is an electrical fault
David agreed to contact his colleague, the Engineering Manager, to highlight this issue.

Number 9 bus:

historically, bus companies have been able to cover the costs for rural and interurban bus services
data suggests the number nine bus has been running at a loss since 2017, made worse by COVID-19
shopping trends have changed, and data suggests people are not shopping in Ely as much as they were
in October 2022, Stagecoach took the decision to reduce the service. There was an option to cut the service altogether, but decision was made to reduce to twice daily.

Questions

Was there any scope to use Combined Authority precept money to rescue the service 9 bus?”

We have been discussing service 9 and our concerns over the viability with CPCA as far back as April 2022 and have updated periodically on the 9 service performance. Before the most recent service change we gave service updates before Xmas 2023 indicating our likely path for the current timetable.

In all of these discussions we asked for potential funding sources and we are aware that CPCA would have considered all options open to them. We do not know specifically whether they considered Mayoral Precept money. That would be a question for them.