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Will the environmental agenda underpin or underperform in the Oxford-Cambridge Arc?

In our previous article, “Searching for a vision… The Oxford - Cambridge Arc Vision Consultation Document: Five things you need to know” we set out our initial thoughts on the Arc vision and were pleased to see that Government has placed great importance on identifying opportunities to improve the environment.

The article is available here.

The Consultation Document states that:

“The government wants to support growth in the Arc in a way that is sustainable – by improving the natural environment and making sure it is protected, and can recover from harm. This will help us to meet our commitment to combat and build resilience to climate change. We think there is an opportunity for the Arc to become a world-leader for environmental sustainability over the coming decades.”

We agree! Having now had the opportunity to consider this Consultation Document and the associated Spatial Framework in more detail, we offer some further considered thoughts on the emerging sustainability and environmental agenda for the Arc.

The Consultation notes that “The Spatial Framework offers a unique opportunity to preserve and enhance a green Arc and support nature recovery, improve air quality, reduce flood risk and improve access to nature and green space across the area.” Within the Consultation, the Government has committed to supporting this and developing policy to take a more co-ordinated approach to the environment, by:

• making sure that the environment is at the centre of economic, transport, housing and planning decisions; 
• taking an integrated approach to water management and flood risk, cleaner air, sustainable land management, nature recovery, climate change mitigation and adaptation; and 
• making sure natural capital forms a key part of planning and decision-making. 

With the environment clearly a key component of both the Consultation Document and the Spatial Framework, the Oxford-Cambridge Arc represents a great opportunity to put the Government’s flagship 25-Year Environment Plan and Net Zero Carbon commitment into action. However, the local community, environmental groups and some developers have flagged their respective concerns relating to implementation and potential costs of the environmental aspects of the initiative. Therefore, an important question to ask is whether the sustainability and environmental agenda will help underpin the Arc Spatial Framework, or will underperformance issues beset it from the off?

Ambition

In line with the Consultation Document, the Spatial Framework proposes, (aligning with the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan, Net Zero commitments and Clean Growth Strategy), to take a natural capital approach to inform planning and decision-making, and setting policy to:

• Support retention of, and investment in, key existing and potential new habitats, and improve access to nature and accessible green space.
• Set high standards for new development, including on carbon emissions, water management, green space, integrated and functional green infrastructure, e.g. for active travel and biodiversity net gain. 
• Support an integrated water management approach, taking into account sustainable water abstraction and drought resilience, water quality, reducing risk and resilience to flooding and how and where new infrastructure should be developed. 
• Support clean air outcomes, with clear links to housing and transport policies.
• Embed the enhancement of natural capital across the Arc.

It is good to see this ambition reiterated within the Consultation Document as these aims have already received regional support. That is, the Arc Leadership and Environmental Working Group have endorsed new Environment Principles that seek to find innovative solutions to managing natural resources, while at the same time stimulating the green economy and achieving net-zero carbon goals. Providing a clear statement of regional intent, the aim is that these Environment Principles inform emerging Arc plans and statements, including local plans, local council activities as well as delivery programs for bodies operating in the Arc.

Cllr Bridget Smith, Chair of the Arc’s Environment Group and Leader of South Cambridgeshire District Council has said that, “If we are to double the economic growth in the Arc then we must, as a minimum, be doubling nature and ensuring that we lead the way in zero carbon living and working”. Hence the principles are pushing the environmental agenda with requirements for:

• 20% biodiversity net gain for developments  (compared with the 10% due to be mandated via the Environment Bill); 
• development of a net environmental gain metric “that incorporates biodiversity net gain” that will set “an ambitious target to reflect the Arc’s world-leading environmental ambitions”; 
• increasing tree and woodland cover across the Arc from 7.4% to 19%; and 
• net zero carbon at an Arc level by 2040.

Challenges

Obviously there will be a number of challenges and common concerns with the implementation of such environmental objectives, especially given the anticipated size and scale of development across the Arc. The risk of flooding is a major worry for many people while there are also concerns about the impact of development on the environment, particularly the loss of green space. Questions have also been raised over what biodiversity net gain baseline will be used; how will wildlife be impacted; or what results will look like from a detailed design perspective?

In an effort to ensure that the natural environment doesn’t turn into a tradeable commodity, some campaign groups such as the Wildlife Trusts, RSPB and Woodland Trust have called on the decision makers to put nature at the heart of development to achieve a net gain for wildlife in the proposed Arc. They have suggested methods within their report ‘Nature’s Arc’ to overcome potential challenges and called for the implementation of basic steps to protect existing nature.

The aim is that the Environment Principles inform and become an integral part of local plans, local council activities and delivery programs for all bodies operating in the Arc. While this aim is a clear statement of regional intent, the collective effort of all partners in the Arc will be required if they are to be successfully delivered.

Local plans are likely to be the key delivery tool for the Arc’s vision. These have the potential to sit very comfortably with some local authorities in the Arc who have declared climate emergencies and are working hard on delivering their own net zero strategies. However, there will still be the requirement to work collaboratively across the public, private and third sectors. And while some resources are already in place, there are many more that will need to be established – from the development of publically available environmental baseline datasets or fully resourced technical working groups to monitoring requirements and of course, the (multi) million pound question – what about the funding for all these efforts? While the Environment Principles understand the enormous task ahead, the delivery and implementation is yet to be clarified.

Embedding natural capital solutions across the Arc is also likely to face challenges relating to delivery and implementation. The findings from a recently concluded Natural Capital & Ecosystem Assessment Pilot Project confirmed that although there is widespread awareness through the planning system of the idea of a Natural Capital approach, there was little knowledge of how to take forward the approach and how to use this data in decision making and plan writing.  If the Natural Capital Evidence base is to be embedded in the Spatial Framework, much training, support and resources will be required not just at Arc level but beyond through to county / local authority and even neighbourhood level.

Funding, as mentioned above, is obviously an issue for both cash strapped local authorities and developers. However, a key purpose of agreeing on the Arc’s Environment Principles across the region according to Cllr Smith is to “encourage the government to create a funding stream” and that “by agreeing on a regional strategy there is a greater chance of receiving funding to carry them out”. Whether this funding is actually available, especially in the context of a post-COVID economic recovery, is still to be seen.

Opportunity

Certain authorities, such as Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council, have already joined forces with the Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service. Currently in the process of preparing their emerging Local Plan, Preferred Options are expected to be published in summer/autumn 2021. The Issues and Options material published in early 2020 confirmed that the ‘Big Themes’ for the Local Plan vision included climate change and biodiversity/green spaces, providing commentary on contributions to achieving net zero carbon and the ‘doubling nature’ vision. In initial feedback following the consultation, the authority confirmed that climate change was ranked the highest priority theme by respondents. Taking into account the material published to date, and the involvement of Cllr Smith, one can expect that sustainability will form an integral part of the emerging Local Plan.

It is however true that for some within the Arc, sustainability aspirations have long formed a fundamental consideration for development. Leading institutions have been bringing forward highly sustainable schemes for years now and the cumulative impact of such development is certainly positive. One key opportunity that is being capitalised on is the ambition within local working groups that have direct access to varying levels of energy innovations, pilot schemes and approaches. One of these schemes is the Chelveston Renewable Energy and Innovation Park. Here, as well as increasing the extent of battery storage technologies, the plan is to increase generation 185,000 MWH which is enough to supply 24,000 homes with renewable energy.

The Arc Leadership Group and the Arc Universities Group are also working with Government, business and the community to define ambitious levels of sustainable economic growth supported by what they have defined as an ‘energy revolution’, driven by renewables, electric vehicles and electrification of heat and power.

Elsewhere across the Arc, the various universities have been focusing on efforts to ensure carbon emission reduction, biodiversity impact and reducing the environmental impact of construction, amongst many others initiatives. This recent report from the Arc Universities Group entitled “Arc Universities and the Environment” highlights the extent of support offered by universities to back environmental and sustainability goals within the region. These institutions are therefore leading the way and setting a positive example for development across the wider area. However, the extent to which universities, private sector developers and third sector organisations support and adopt the Environment Principles will be a key measure of their success within local communities. In turn it will be the support of the local communities for the sustainability and environmental agenda that will be key in helping ensure that the Arc delivers on more than just housing.

Conclusion

According to the Consultation Document, environmental sustainability is a priority for all groups, and accessible green space is highly valued by communities across the Arc as it is seen as key to well-being and quality of life. Therefore, while a number of significant challenges must be overcome before the sustainability and environmental agenda can underpin the Arc, there is undoubtedly a massive opportunity for the new Environment Principles to form the basis of a robust Oxford-Cambridge Arc Environmental Strategy.

This Environmental Strategy – one that could embrace everything from green spaces, housing standards, sustainable transport, energy generation and transmission, to water management and conservation – holds the key to the opportunity. This would then not just be ‘growth at any cost’, but transformational environmental and sustainability change which would enhance the entire region. While the opportunity exists for the local authorities within the Arc to work together (as well as engage with a broad spectrum of groups and bodies) to ensure that the sustainability and environment agenda does indeed underpin the Spatial Framework, the stated policy commitments and associated funding from Government will be fundamental to its overall success. If these can be sorted, then the transformational environmental aspects can underpin the Arc. If not, it could well be its downfall.

26 August 2021