Green Infrastructure

To create sustainable new communities every aspect of the local environment must be considered. Green Infrastructure is vital to the quality of life of both new and existing residents in Cambridgeshire, which is why Cambridgeshire Horizons helped to create a Green Infrastructure Strategy for the County.

The 2011 Cambridgeshire Green Infrastructure Strategy for the County, is a 20-year masterplan to enhance the natural environment for both residents and wildlife.

Working in partnership, Cambridgeshire Horizons, the six local authorities, English Heritage, Environment Agency, National Trust, Forestry Commission England, Natural England, Cambridge Past Present and Future, and the Wildlife Trust, along with other organisations, produced this strategic plan for the development of green spaces throughout the county.

Over the next 20 years the population of Cambridgeshire is expected to grow by 130,000 people. In addition to homes and jobs, residents will also need places to relax, enjoy the outdoors, and communal spaces where they can feel part of the local community.

Green Infrastructure includes:

• Green corridors, such as hedgerows, ditches, rivers and watercourses, disused railway lines and verges
• Commons, village greens, churchyards and cemeteries
• Natural and semi-natural habitats for wildlife
• Country parks and playing fields 
• Woodlands and hedgerows
• Historic parks and gardens, historic landscapes and ancient monuments
• Local Nature Reserves and County Wildlife Sites
• Sites of Special Scientific Interest
• Wetlands, including flooded quarries
• Allotments
• Public rights of way, cycleways and other recreational routes