Policy GP/PP: People and place responsive design

1.

This refers to development in its widest sense, including buildings, and streets, spaces and places. It also refers to both redevelopment, including refurbishment, as well as new development.

proposals are required to sustain and enhance the unique qualities of their local context and the

The combined areas of Cambridge District and South Cambridgeshire District Councils.

area.

This refers to development in its widest sense, including buildings, and streets, spaces and places. It also refers to both redevelopment, including refurbishment, as well as new development.

proposals will be supported that: 

  a. Respond to

The combined areas of Cambridge District and South Cambridgeshire District Councils.

’s communities by: 

    i. Identifying and responding positively to their context, including existing physical features and characteristics of natural, historic, social or local importance. 

    ii. Meeting the principles of inclusive and healthy design, and in particular meeting the needs of disabled people, older people and those with young children. 

    iii. Being designed to remove the threat or perceived threat of crime and improve community safety, especially for those with protected characteristics under the Equality Act. 

    iv. Empower people and communities through community engagement to inform design decisions. 

  b. Improve

The combined areas of Cambridge District and South Cambridgeshire District Councils.

’s connectivity by: 

    i. Being well connected to, and integrated with, the immediate locality and wider area including existing or planned social, environmental, and transport infrastructure. 

    ii. Maximise active travel through new and improved walking and cycle routes. 

  c. Support the climate emergency response by: 

    i. Being designed to be long lasting and low impact in delivery and maintenance without compromising design quality. 

  d. Enhance the character of

The combined areas of Cambridge District and South Cambridgeshire District Councils.

by: 

    i. Having a positive impact on their setting in terms of location on the site, height and skyline, scale and form, townscape and landscape impacts and available views, to create a legacy of high-quality buildings and spaces in

The combined areas of Cambridge District and South Cambridgeshire District Councils.

. 

    ii. Using appropriate local characteristics to inform the siting, massing, scale, form, materials and landscape design of new development. 

    iii. Ensuring that proposals for any tall buildings are of exceptional quality and ensure that the character or appearance of Cambridge, as a city of spires and towers emerging above the established tree line, is maintained. 

The National Planning Policy Framework states that, ‘The creation of high quality, beautiful and sustainable buildings and places is fundamental to what the planning and development process should achieve.’

The combined areas of Cambridge District and South Cambridgeshire District Councils.

has a strong history of delivering well designed places with many award-winning schemes in Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire. Since 2008, the core themes covering Community, Connectivity, Climate and Character set out in the Cambridgeshire Quality Charter for Growth, have been used to clearly identify the expected quality of new developments. 

The combined areas of Cambridge District and South Cambridgeshire District Councils.

is a place of varied and subtle character, from the historic core of the Cambridge urban area to emerging business clusters, the biodiverse fen landscapes to the north and rolling countryside to the south, the historic villages and new towns. Aiming for design excellence is crucial for all types of development, whether building or open space, regardless of tenure, use or ownership. Innovative, high quality design must be realised to ensure that new development respects and integrates with existing character, assets and settings, while also constituting high quality architecture. This is a key factor for successful placemaking as well as a key challenge. 

Where appropriate planning applications must include a design and access statement, relevant to the scale and context of the proposed development, that addresses the relevant policy requirements. 

The

This guide illustrates the characteristics of well-designed places, showing what good design looks like in practice

and National Model

A set of illustrated design requirements that provide specific, detailed parameters for the physical development of a site or area. The graphic and written components of the code should build upon a design vision, such as a masterplan or other design and development framework for a site or area.

stipulates that local planning authorities should prepare area-based character assessments, local design guides or codes, consistent with these and tailored to the circumstances of the local area following community involvement to reflect local character and design preferences. The Councils have a range of design guidance already in place, ranging from policies on tall buildings and skyline included in the Cambridge

A plan for the future development of a local area, drawn up by the local planning authority in consultation with the community. In law this is described as the development plan documents adopted under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. A local plan can consist of either strategic or non-strategic policies, or a combination of the two.

, the

A supplementary planning document that promotes high-quality and sustainable development across the South Cambridgeshire District, through a focus on appropriate and well-designed developments.

, to individual village designs guides. We will be considering how we update our guidance to reflect the new approaches introduced nationally.

To help meet this challenge,

The combined areas of Cambridge District and South Cambridgeshire District Councils.

has established The Greater Cambridge Design Review Panel formed from reviewing existing Design Review services at both Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Councils, to support its aspirations to raise design quality across the

A plan for the future development of a local area, drawn up by the local planning authority in consultation with the community. In law this is described as the development plan documents adopted under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. A local plan can consist of either strategic or non-strategic policies, or a combination of the two.

area, and has conducted a site typologies study to understand, protect, utilise and enhance the valued characteristics of different areas in the plan. These should ensure that the key aspects and qualities of the built form and varying contexts across the

The combined areas of Cambridge District and South Cambridgeshire District Councils.

area. 

• The combined areas of Cambridge District and South Cambridgeshire District Councils.

  A plan for the future development of a local area, drawn up by the local planning authority in consultation with the community. In law this is described as the development plan documents adopted under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. A local plan can consist of either strategic or non-strategic policies, or a combination of the two.

  : Topic Paper 5: Great Places
• Cambridgeshire Quality Charter for Growth

We will consider all comments while developing the next version of the

A plan for the future development of a local area, drawn up by the local planning authority in consultation with the community. In law this is described as the development plan documents adopted under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. A local plan can consist of either strategic or non-strategic policies, or a combination of the two.

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All comments must be received by 30 January 2026 at 5pm.