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Adopted Planning Policies

Under the new system of plan making, the adopted policies are contained in a number of separate policy documents that must be read together. These currently comprise:

• Core Strategy Development Plan Document - Adopted January 2007
• Development Control Policies Development Plan Document - Adopted July 2007
• Northstowe Area Action Plan - Adopted July 2007
• Cambridge East Area Action Plan - (prepared jointly with Cambridge City Council) Adopted February 2008
• Cambridge Southern Fringe Area Action Plan - Adopted February 2008
• Local Plan 2004 - Adopted February 2004 (Note: only the "saved" policies from the Local Plan are still adopted - see below)
• Adopted Proposals Map Published February 2008 - An interactive version of the adopted Proposals Map is available, as well as PDF versions of individual inset maps.

The current adopted planning policies are used by the Council as a basis for determining planning applications and guiding development in the district.

The New Planning System

Until recently, the Local Plan 2004 was the only major adopted planning policy document for South Cambridgeshire. However, it is now being replaced by a new suite of planning policy documents, called a Local Development Framework (LDF), under a new national system of plan making. The LDF will comprise a series of separate Development Plan Documents (DPDs) and as each document of the Framework is adopted, it will either replace or add to the policies in the Local Plan, until the Local Plan is completely superseded.

With the adoption of the Core Strategy DPD on 25 January 2007 and Development Control Policies DPD on 19 July 2007, some of the policies in the Local Plan 2004 have now been superseded. The LDF also includes Area Action Plans (AAP), which set out a detailed planning policy framework for specific areas, such as the proposed new town of Northstowe (AAP adopted July 2007) and urban extensions to Cambridge (Cambridge East and Cambridge Southern Fringe AAPs adopted February 2008).

Saved Policies from Local Plan 2004

The 'Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act' makes provision for relevant planning policies that were in place at the time it came into effect in September 2004 to remain "saved". This is intended to allow time for LDFs to be adopted in their place. If a policy is not formally "saved", it will no longer remain adopted.

Below are the letters received by the Council from the Government Office for the East of England, confirming which Local Plan 2004 policies have been "saved". For clarity, the Council has also included below a list of the "saved" Local Plan policies, with a note of the LDF policy that will eventually supersede each one and the document in which it will be contained.

View the letter from the Government Office regarding Saved Policies.

View the Government Offices list of saved policies from Local Plan 2004.

View the Councils schedule of saved policies and the LDF policies which will supersede them.

Related Planning Documents

• Local Development Framework - Planning policy documents currently in production and a scheme setting out a timetable for the preparation of new documents.
• Supplementary Planning Documents - Documents which form part of the adopted Development Plan, and expand or add details to the policies of the adopted documents listed above.
• Development Briefs - The Council's detailed planning guidance for a site, prior to a planning application, seeking to positively shape future development.