Policy I/ID: Infrastructure and delivery

1. Planning permission will only be granted for proposals that have made suitable arrangements for the improvement or provision of infrastructure necessary to make the scheme acceptable in planning terms. Where necessary developers will be required to deliver infrastructure directly, or contribute through planning obligations, Community

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

Levy or its successor. The nature, scale and phasing of any obligations sought will be related to the form of the development and its potential impact upon the surrounding area. 

2. New development must be co-ordinated and phased in tandem with the provision of appropriate physical and social infrastructure. In instances where the infrastructure provision is to be phased, the planning application must be accompanied by a phasing strategy.

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

provision should reflect the needs of the area as identified within

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.

Plan policies and the

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

Delivery Plan. 

3. Proposals for new development will be required to demonstrate adequate capacity exists or can be secured both on and off site to serve the development. Where existing infrastructure will be placed under strain due to the impact of new development, improvements to existing infrastructure or compensatory provision should be made so that an appropriate level of infrastructure is maintained. Where appropriate, contributions may also be required towards the future maintenance and upkeep of facilities, either in the form of initial support or in perpetuity, in accordance with Government guidance. 

4. The infrastructure needs of development proposals that form part of a potentially wider site will be assessed in terms of the capacity of the site as a whole. 

5. Applicants should take account of the

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.

Plan policies and any applicable Community

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

Levy, or its successor, when developing proposals and acquiring land.

Utilities Statements 

6. A Utilities Statement will be required for all planning applications for major development. A Utilities Statement should provide details of how the proposed development will connect to existing utility infrastructure systems, including: 

  a. Electricity; 

  b. Gas; 

  c. Telecommunications and digital infrastructure; 

  d. Potable water supply; 

  e. Foul and surface-water drainage. 

7. A Utilities Statement should demonstrate that the development will not result in undue pressure on the delivery of those services. Where new infrastructure or improvements to existing infrastructure are needed to accommodate the needs of the proposed development, the Utilities Statement should include details of any engagement and agreements made with network operators or utilities providers that have informed the planning application. 

Viability 

8.

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 expected to comply with all relevant policy requirements established in the

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.

Plan. If an applicant wishes to make a case that viability should be considered on a development-specific basis, they should provide clear evidence of the specific issues that would prevent delivery, including measures assessed to address these. 

9. A viability assessment will need to be submitted that demonstrates that the proposed development cannot be viably developed at the current time. That assessment will be subject to independent review for which the applicant will bear the cost. 

10. Where the Councils determine the benefits of the development outweigh any harm arising due to not fulfilling the policy requirements, the Councils will determine the balance of planning obligations and will, where appropriate, require a review and clawback mechanism to be incorporated into legal agreements to ensure that additional contributions are provided overtime should viability improve. 

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

is an all-encompassing term that includes but is not limited to roads; public transport; active travel; utilities; the public realm; community safety; public art; facilities and services such as schools, libraries, healthcare, waste management, community centres and halls, cultural and faith facilities as well as parks, open spaces, playgrounds, indoor and outdoor sports facilities, biodiversity, and burial spaces. 

All new development in

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

must be supported by the provision of adequate infrastructure to support the development proposal and the delivery of sustainable, healthy communities. This may include new facilities and services or enhancements to existing provision. The impact of a development on local infrastructure will depend on the type of development proposed, its scale, and what existing provision is available to accommodate the needs arising. 

Meeting development standards, such as those prescribed in local planning policy, site- specific works, and contributing towards infrastructure improvements, are an integral part of the acceptability of a development proposal in planning terms and are normally required to be implemented as part of the delivery of a development scheme. It is therefore important that the cost of these is factored into the cost of a development, including the land value to acquire a development site. 

For the

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

area, the infrastructure needed to support planned growth over the plan period, and deliver the spatial strategy, is set out the

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

Delivery Plan (IDP), which has been informed through engagement with relevant services providers. Where appropriate, account has been had to ongoing management and maintenance, the need fund initial establishment, and any monitoring requirements. The infrastructure identified in the IDP will be delivered through a combination of public and private sector investment, including through the use of Community

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

Levy (CIL) and planning obligations. 

Major developments, particularly within strategic growth sites, provide opportunities for new on-site infrastructure provision to serve the development and the needs of the wider area. The site allocation policies and IDP help to identify requirements and considerations for infrastructure within specific sites and areas. This can and should be supplemented with site-wide master-planning to ensure the delivery of infrastructure and services is coordinated – it is the right size, in the right location, phased to support the pace of development, integrated into development proposals in accordance with a design-led approach, and issues of future management and transfer are addressed.

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.

which is poorly programmed can lead to infrastructure problems and can negatively impact local services and communities. 

Some public services can successfully share facilities such as libraries, health facilities and meeting rooms. Co-location can make service provision more efficient and provide opportunities to minimise on-going costs. Service providers and other stakeholders should be engaged early in the planning process to enable such opportunities to be realised. 

Individual development proposals within strategic growth areas will be required to contribute fairly and equitably towards the infrastructure needs of the growth area, through both on-site provision and financial contributions to relevant off-site requirements. 

While smaller developments, not part of strategic growth sites, offer less opportunity for on-site provision, individually and cumulatively they are likely to require physical works or other forms of improvement to support them. 

The introduction of the Community

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

Levy (CIL) will ensure that new development helps to fund the cost of the new or enhanced infrastructure and services. CIL will work in tandem with planning obligations that are required to manage site specific requirements and impacts. To assist developers and others to understand what infrastructure will fall to CIL to fund and the types of planning obligations that may be sought, and how these may be best met, the Council will update its Planning Obligations Supplementary Planning Document. 

Where development is likely to trigger a requirement for planning obligations, it is expected that applicants engage in pre-application discussions with the

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

Shared Planning Service to agree draft Section 106 Heads of Terms that will be submitted with each application. 

Viability considerations 

The policies 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.

and CIL Charging Schedule are subject to assessments of viability to ensure that what is sought is viable in the local context. It will therefore be for an applicant to demonstrate, to the Councils satisfaction, that the applicable policy requirements and any obligations due cannot be met in full because of exceptional viability circumstances. 

Where an applicant is concerned with the viability of their proposal, they are strongly encouraged applicant’s to engage the Council in pre-application discussions and will need to provide an open book viability assessment to support their application. 

Where viability considerations are accepted, the Councils will determine the balance of obligations and will likely require a future review and, where appropriate, clawback mechanisms to account for circumstances where the scheme viability improves prior to completion. 

• 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)

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.