LDA Design to contribute to our 'New towns and the Growth Corridor' forum this March

Image: courtesy of LDA Design.

Future Cities Forum is delighted that LDA Design's Director David Bell will be joining our 'New Towns and the Growth Corridor' discussion at the offices of Milton Keynes City Council this March.

David is a chartered town planner with over 10 years’ professional experience. He has been with LDA Design for more than eight years, initially based in the Exeter office and now working in Oxford.

He is currently working on a range of projects of different scales, advising clients in both the public and private sectors. David enjoys the variety, moving from large development opportunities such as the strategic expansion of Cambridge at Cherry Hinton to more intimate and individual development schemes, like new affordable housing in Reading.

Last year the BBC reported that:

'A further 292 homes will be built on the edge of Cambridge after councillors approved the plans. The new homes will form part of the Cherry Hinton North development, known as Springstead Village, where more than 100 homes have already been built.

'A new 'local centre' with shops, a market square, and a community hub will also be created as part of the latest phase of the development.

'Councillor Katie Thornburrow said this will be the "heart" of the new community, adding that the success of this area "will be the success of the whole development".

'Outline permission was granted in 2020 to build up to 1,200 new homes north of Cherry Hinton. Since then, detailed plans for the first two residential phases were approved, with some people already living in the new homes.

'The latest application for 292 homes and the new local centre will be the third residential phase of the development.

The developer, Bellway Latimer LLP, said 117 of the new homes would be made available as affordable housing, with the rest sold as market homes.'

LDA Design and Fereday Pollard have been working on designs for new reservoirs in north Cambridgeshire and in south Lincolnshire, released by Anglian Water and Cambridge Water in support of engagement with local communities.

The East of England is facing growing challenges to water supply from both population growth in the region and a changing climate. Projections from the Met Office show that the East of England will become hotter and drier in summer, and wetter in winter, meaning that there is a pressing need to store winter water to cope with summer droughts.

Unless bold action is taken, the demand for water will outstrip the available supply within the next decade, making the reservoir projects vital for the continued growth and prosperity of the region.

The proposed new reservoirs are planned to help secure water supply and strengthen resilience to drought, while also protecting the environment by enabling a reduction in the amount of water taken from environmentally sensitive rivers and underground aquifers. 

This week, Greater Cambridge Shared Planning – the shared planning service for Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire District councils – has received Government funding of over £5m to deliver part of the Greater Cambridge Water Efficiency Programme and help address water scarcity locally, according to Cambridge City Council.

The funding was provided by the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government. Cambridge City Council reports:

'The Government has committed to ensuring there is adequate water supply and wastewater capacity for sustainable growth in Greater Cambridge. Their Water Efficiency Programme aims to deliver water saving initiatives and ensure sustainable development can proceed in the short-term, while water companies work to deliver major water infrastructure improvements for the medium-term - such as the Grafham pipeline transfer and Fens reservoir which are expected to be completed in the 2030s.   

'The councils will use this funding to drive down demand for water in the area and offset new development by installing water saving devices in existing Council-owned buildings through a programme of retrofit work across partner councils.

Alongside this, the councils are investigating opportunities to install water saving devices and identify leaks in Council homes in Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire, as well as properties maintained by the councils such as Cambridge’s swimming pools and South Cambridgeshire’s headquarters in Cambourne.

'Cllr Dr. Tumi Hawkins, Cabinet Member for Planning at South Cambridgeshire District Council, said: “We have been calling on Government to help resolve the crucial water supply issue for several years, and are already seeing concerns about water supply impacting development in Greater Cambridge. I welcome this funding as it means we can make progress in helping to reduce the amount of water our area uses. The role of the Shared Planning service is to plan ahead to ensure that development happens in a joined-up way, aligned with essentials such as water supply. These measures will help in the short-term, meaning we are able to do our job of ensuring sustainable, planned development can go ahead.”

'Cllr Katie Thornburrow, Cabinet Member for Planning and Infrastructure at Cambridge City Council, said: “Where devices to help our tenants save water are installed, they are unlikely to notice any impact in terms of water supply. However, we will be helping to support water sustainability and bring down their water bills. Meanwhile, at our own Council-run swimming pools, for example, we anticipate saving up to 90% of water usage across three sites.

'There will be more details to follow through the months ahead as this work begins in earnest and a procurement process to select a suitable organisation to carry out the work is underway. My hope is we can learn from these innovative projects and bid for further funding to roll out more measures across the area in the coming years. We’ll also of course be working closely with the Environment Agency to assure the water savings made from this initiative.”'