Policy I/ST: Sustainable transport and connectivity

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.

must be located and, through a vision-led approach, designed to reduce reliance on the car, and promote sustainable travel appropriate to its location. 

2. Planning permission will only be granted for development where the site has (or will attain) sufficient integration and accessibility by walking, wheeling, cycling or public and community transport, having regard to: 

  a. Ensuring development is designed around the principles of walkable neighbourhoods and healthy towns through provision of safe, direct routes within permeable layouts that facilitate and encourage short distance trips by walking, wheeling and cycling between home and nearby centres of attraction, and to bus stops, mobility (travel) hubs or railway stations, to provide real travel choice for some or all of the journey; 

  b. Ensuring major developments are supported by high quality public transport linking them to Cambridge city centre and major centres of employment, 

  c. Provision of new mobility (travel) hubs enabling interchange between different modes including walking, wheeling and cycling with public transport, located within walking, wheeling and cycling travel distance of residents and incorporating facilities tailored to its location, such as secure cycle parking, dockless cycles and e-scooters, digital information, well designed wayfinding, pick-up/drop-off point, and may include other facilities such as parcel collection, café and public toilets. 

  d. Provision of high-quality new cycle, wheeling, walking and, where appropriate, equestrian routes that connect to existing networks, including the wider Rights of Way network, to strengthen connections between neighbourhoods, villages, towns, Cambridge, and the wider countryside; 

  e. Protection and improvement of existing walking, wheeling and cycle routes, including the Rights of Way network, to ensure the effectiveness and amenity of these routes is maintained, including through maintenance, crossings, signposting and waymarking, and, where appropriate, widening and lighting; 

  f. Securing appropriate improvements to public and community transport (including infrastructure requirements); 

  g. Ensuring that where new road or road access is provided within or into the site it accords with the following: 

    i. it is designed to give appropriate priority to the needs of pedestrians, wheelers and cyclists over vehicular traffic, including their safety; 

    ii. it restricts through access for general motor traffic where appropriate; 

    iii. it minimises additional car traffic in the surrounding area; and 

    iv. there is safe and appropriate access to the adjoining road for all users. 

  h. Ensuring development is designed to be flexible to accommodate future growth, new forms of mobility and technological changes. 

3. Developments will only be permitted where they do not have an unacceptable transport and highways safety impact. Developers will be required to demonstrate they will make adequate provision to mitigate the likely impacts (including cumulative impacts) of their proposal including environmental impacts (such as noise and pollution) and impact on amenity and health. This will be achieved through direct improvements and/or or contributions through planning obligations, community infrastructure levy or its successor, to address transport infrastructure in the wider area including across the district boundary, services or behavioural change measures to encourage the use of sustainable modes of transport. Such measures should be provided to meet the first or early occupation of a site in order to influence travel behaviour from the outset. 

4. Developers of ‘large developments’ or where a proposal is likely to have ‘significant transport implications’ will be required to demonstrate they have maximised opportunities for sustainable travel and will make adequate provision to mitigate the likely impacts through provision of a vision-led

A comprehensive and systematic process that sets out transport issues relating to a proposed development. It identifies measures required to improve accessibility and safety for all modes of travel, particularly for alternatives to the car such as walking, cycling and public transport, and measures that will be needed deal with the anticipated transport impacts of the development.

and

A long-term management strategy for an organisation or site that seeks to deliver sustainable transport objectives and is regularly reviewed. 

. Outline planning applications are required to submit a framework for the preparation of a

A long-term management strategy for an organisation or site that seeks to deliver sustainable transport objectives and is regularly reviewed. 

. All other developments (other than householder applications) will be required to submit a vision-led Transport Statement. 

The development strategy identified by this local plan seeks the co-location of homes close to jobs, services and facilities so people can meet their day to day needs locally, to widen travel choice, reduce the reliance on the car, and to support travel by walking, wheeling, cycling and public transport. It is important that individual development proposals also support sustainable travel opportunities. 

New developments should make high quality places, designed around people, with slow traffic speeds and giving pedestrians and cyclists priority. New active travel infrastructure should be high quality and designed in accordance with LTN 1/20 and the Active Travel Strategy (and Toolkit). 

The policy requires developers to consider the whole journey including the first/last mile and interchange between modes, to help break down physical and perceived barriers to improve connectivity. It is important that new development gives priority to appropriate public transport solutions, taking into consideration its context and location within the plan area, and is designed to be future proof, to respond to future growth, changing patterns of mobility and technological innovations such as autonomous vehicles and Mobility as a Service (MaaS). 

This policy also ensures development will not have an unacceptable transport impact; increasing vehicular trips on already congested roads or generating more trips using public transport or the existing walking, wheeling and cycling network than there is currently capacity to safely accommodate. Wider impacts on health and the environment, including cumulative impacts, will also be taken into consideration. A vision-led

A comprehensive and systematic process that sets out transport issues relating to a proposed development. It identifies measures required to improve accessibility and safety for all modes of travel, particularly for alternatives to the car such as walking, cycling and public transport, and measures that will be needed deal with the anticipated transport impacts of the development.

and

A long-term management strategy for an organisation or site that seeks to deliver sustainable transport objectives and is regularly reviewed. 

will be required for larger development proposals which trigger the thresholds set out in Cambridgeshire County Council’s

A comprehensive and systematic process that sets out transport issues relating to a proposed development. It identifies measures required to improve accessibility and safety for all modes of travel, particularly for alternatives to the car such as walking, cycling and public transport, and measures that will be needed deal with the anticipated transport impacts of the development.

Requirements and developments with ‘significant transport implications’ including those located in particularly congested locations and/or generating larger numbers of trips and/or where there are particular local travel problems. Travel Plans must have measurable outputs, be related to the aims and objectives in the Local Transport and Connectivity Plan and provide monitoring and enforcement arrangements. Planning obligations may be an appropriate means of securing the provision of some or all of a

A long-term management strategy for an organisation or site that seeks to deliver sustainable transport objectives and is regularly reviewed. 

, including the requirement for an annual monitoring and progress report. Submission of area-wide Travel Plans will be considered in appropriate situations. 

The policy sets out clear requirements regarding transport infrastructure provision and connectivity that is expected to address increased demand arising from new developments through the planning application process. 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.

Transport Evidence Report demonstrates congestion within

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

needs to be addressed to accommodate future growth, and there will likely need to be a vehicular ‘trip budget’ applied to mitigate the transport impacts of the strategic site allocations to carefully manage the number of additional vehicular trips using the local highway network during the busiest peak periods, which could be accompanied by limitations on car parking. 

The policy reflects the aims of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Local Transport and Connectivity Plan (prepared by Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) (as the local transport authority) and other documents adopted by CPCA and Cambridgeshire County Council including the Bus Strategy and Active Travel Strategy, addressing the specific challenges and local vision and opportunities. Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority are currently preparing the

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

Transport Strategy (GCTS), a ‘child document’ to the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Local Transport and Connectivity Plan.

• 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 8:

  Includes transport, energy, water, waste, digital/smart, social and green infrastructure.

  (2025) 

• 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.

  Includes transport, energy, water, waste, digital/smart, social and green infrastructure.

  Delivery Plan (2025) 

• 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.

  Transport Evidence Report (2025) 
• Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Local Transport and Connectivity Plan (2023) 

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.