Purpose

The purpose of this decision is
to agree Policy Review of the Adopted Local Plans for Greater
Cambridge: January 2025 update (see Appendix A).
 
Local plans must be reviewed at
least every five years from the date of a plan’s
adoption.  A review of the Cambridge and
South Cambridgeshire Local Plans has been undertaken and was
published in June 2023.  Work began on
the joint Greater Cambridge Local Plan (GCLP) in 2019, as set out
in the adopted plans, and, consequently, a process for the
replacement of both plans is underway.
 
The key purpose of the review agreed by Cabinet in June
2023 was to assess whether there were any relevant changes in
national policy that might have a bearing on the weight accorded to
adopted policies in determining development proposals.  A revised version of the National Planning Policy
Framework (NPPF) was published in December 2024.  It is necessary, therefore, to update the original
review to take account of any changes in the latest NPPF version
that might have a bearing on the weight accorded to the adopted
plans’ policies.
 
The
outcome of the updated review is that the vast majority of policies
in both adopted plans remain consistent with national policy and,
therefore, can be given full weight until replaced by policies in
the GCLP.  The small number of
exceptions principally relate to subsequent changes to national
policy, with a limited number of these arising from the most recent
changes to the NPPF.

Content

To
agree Policy Review of the Adopted Local Plans for Greater
Cambridge: January 2025 update (see Appendix A).