1.7

Support

Representation ID: 3794

Received: 26/08/2021

Respondent: Mrs Gerardine Meola

Development in 2040 plan should focus on immediate housing need. When arc vision published, future local plans should plan for development in line with Oxford-Cambridge Arc, to ensure development is in the right place and not speculatively planned.

Object

Representation ID: 3901

Received: 28/08/2021

Respondent: Mrs MARGARET TURNER

Building a new settlement at Dennybrook will NOT improve the environment of Staploe Parish. The landscape Character Assessment of October 2020 is about conserving and enhancing the open rural landscape not building 10,800 houses on it!

Object

Representation ID: 3942

Received: 29/08/2021

Respondent: Mr paul giles

there is no evidence that joining cambridge and oxford with an arc will promote growth except to the building companies, will it not just produce long thin city!

Object

Representation ID: 3981

Received: 29/08/2021

Respondent: Mr Stuart Ledwich

How can anybody consider a plan where the actual housing numbers are omitted. Our hamlet (Honeydon) has less than 30 houses and yet are expected to increase to thousands of homes in a short space of time, this is madness.

Support

Representation ID: 4011

Received: 29/08/2021

Respondent: Mrs Gerardine Meola

However, development must improve not degrade the environment within the Arc.

Large settlement/towns must not be planned until the vision for the Arc is published.

Therefore development within 2040 plan should focus on urban based growth (Bedford) and rail based growth to the south of Bedford and dispersed growth.

Support

Representation ID: 4045

Received: 30/08/2021

Respondent: Ann Mills

New housing development should be closely linked to both new jobs and actual demand for housing in the Borough.

Object

Representation ID: 4153

Received: 30/08/2021

Respondent: Richard Baker

The high quality jobs should be Green jobs. The housing should be sustainable and the infrastructure should not be roads but alternative clean transport.

Object

Representation ID: 4181

Received: 30/08/2021

Respondent: Mrs Gail Browning

I fail to see how building 10800 houses in the Staploe Parish will improve the local environment. The Landscape Character Assessment of 2020 Planning says “policies and decisions should contribute to an enhance the natural and local environment”. The parish area is high quality agricultural land (grade 2).

Object

Representation ID: 4205

Received: 30/08/2021

Respondent: Bedford Architectural, Archaeological & Local History Society

We consider that the projected increase in housing need is based on flawed methodology and is disproportionate and unsustainable in terms of the likely availability of employment and overburdening public services. Further, the focus on the south-east seems at odds with the Government's espoused 'levelling up' agenda.

Object

Representation ID: 4237

Received: 30/08/2021

Respondent: Mr Fletcher Giles

Building A new settlement at Dennybrook will NOT improve the environment of Staploe Parish. The landscape Character Assesment of October 2020 is about conserving and enhancing the open rural landscape not building 10,800 houses on it!

Object

Representation ID: 4308

Received: 31/08/2021

Respondent: Miss Andrea Witham

Bedford Borough Council needs to get an extension to their local plan review for at least one year; the Local Plan Review by January 2023 was required on the basis that this would align with the Oxford Cambridge Arc. Since this has now been delayed Bedford Borough Council Local Plan Review ought to be permitted extra time to enable proper consultation and alignment with decisions on East West Rail and the arc.

Object

Representation ID: 4318

Received: 31/08/2021

Respondent: Miss Helen Leach

Building A new settlement at Dennybrook will NOT improve the environment of Staploe Parish. The landscape Character Assesment of October 2020 is about conserving and enhancing the open rural landscape not building 10,800 houses on it!

Object

Representation ID: 4332

Received: 31/08/2021

Respondent: None

Well, is it 1M houses or isn't it? We know the scale of this proposal and it's both unacceptable and unsustainable.

Object

Representation ID: 4352

Received: 31/08/2021

Respondent: Miss Helen Leach

Building A new settlement at Dennybrook will NOT improve the environment of Staploe Parish. The landscape Character Assesment of October 2020 is about conserving and enhancing the open rural landscape not building 10,800 houses on it!

Object

Representation ID: 4576

Received: 01/09/2021

Respondent: Mr Denis Ivins

inconsistent with 1.6

Object

Representation ID: 4733

Received: 01/09/2021

Respondent: Mr David Rawlins

Bedford Borough Council needs to get an extension to their local plan review for at least one year; the Local Plan Review by January 2023 was required on the basis that this would align with the Oxford Cambridge Arc. Since this has now been delayed Bedford Borough Council Local Plan Review ought to be permitted extra time to enable proper consultation and alignment with decisions on East West Rail and the arc.

Object

Representation ID: 5134

Received: 03/09/2021

Respondent: Mr Trevor Monk

You are destroying the heritage of centuries old settlements while large companies make millions off the back of it. Houses being built on every scrap of land and countryside will be a HUGE mess. The area is Over Developed.

Object

Representation ID: 5262

Received: 03/09/2021

Respondent: Mr Jetinder Dhaliwal

If silent on numbers, where has the 1 million additional homes in the OxCam arc requirement that is documented come from ? If the long-termplan is to “deliver significantly more homes in the Arc.” it implies the Council's figure for future housing requirements of 1,275 homes per year, as calculated in this draft plan according to the Standard Method, will need to be increased to meet the OxCam targets. Why has this not been called out ? Documenting this in the plan will give the Council open season to develop more and more homes.

Object

Representation ID: 5287

Received: 03/09/2021

Respondent: Mr Stuart Ledwich

Very misleading, no numbers specified but its clear this is going to be exponential increase in the number of homes.

Object

Representation ID: 5476

Received: 06/09/2021

Respondent: Mr Stuart Ledwich

Staploe Parish Council believe Bedford Borough Council should be able to argue for an extension to their local plan review for at least one year since the Local Plan Review by Jan 2023 was required on the basis that this would align with the Oxford Cambridge Arc. Since the latter has now been delayed it would make sense for the Bedford Borough Council Local Plan Review to be permitted extra time to enable proper consultation and alignment with decisions on East West Rail and the arc.

Object

Representation ID: 5711

Received: 07/09/2021

Respondent: Miss Hannah Hambleton-Jewell

1.7 The declaration itself is silent on housing numbers. It recognises that the Arc is first and foremost an area of significant economic strength and opportunity, and through the joint declaration the partners (including the then 43 local authorities across the Arc) set out to meet the Arc's full economic potential for the benefit of existing and future local communities and businesses, and in the national interest. There is acknowledgement that to achieve this will demand collective determination over the long-term, to deliver significantly more homes in the Arc, of the right quality and in the right places to meet its needs. Also that this might include the expansion of existing as well as the development of new settlements. It will require long-term commitments to provide the enabling infrastructure and to deliver that ahead of the arrival of new communities, and to meet economic and housing ambitions while overall improving rather than degrading the environment in the Arc, in line with commitments in the government's 25 Year Environment Plan.

Object

Representation ID: 5902

Received: 08/09/2021

Respondent: Mr Tom Tagg

HMG have now moved away from a target of 1 million new homes.
An HMG review of the housing needs (standard method calculation) is urgently needed so that the actual need is properly set for the Arc, rather than “ambitions” of 1 million homes. This should align with HMG policy to “level-up” across the UK.
BBC Local Plan 2040 focusses only on Bedford Borough. Fully integrated planning across all of the Arc is required so that developments and infrastructure improvements are made in the correct places and the burden of these is fairly shared across the Arc. The BBC Plan period should align with the Arc Plan period.

Object

Representation ID: 6136

Received: 09/09/2021

Respondent: Mrs Sandie Tusting

Staploe Parish Council believe Bedford Borough Council should be able to argue for an extension to their local plan review for at least one year since the Local Plan Review by Jan 2023 was required on the basis that this would align with the Oxford Cambridge Arc. Since the latter has now been delayed it would make sense for the Bedford Borough Council Local Plan Review to be permitted extra time to enable proper consultation and alignment with decisions on East West Rail and the arc.

Object

Representation ID: 6357

Received: 10/09/2021

Respondent: Bidwells

Agent: Bidwells

Bedford Borough sits in a key central area of the Oxford to Cambridge Arc and as such the Council will need to ensure that the level of growth that is planned for is in line with wider aspirations for the area. For the economic benefits of the Arc are to be realised, it is likely that additional housing will be required to support a growing working age population. Should this housing not come forward alongside the anticipated economic growth, it may have knock on impacts for existing residents in terms of increased house prices and worsening affordability.
Therefore, Taylor Wimpey stress the need to plan for flexibility and contingency and for the broader long-term economic aspirations for growth in the area when setting the housing requirement for Bedford Borough.

The Government’s wider economic growth aspirations for the Oxford to Cambridge Arc and the potential uplift in housing need that this will result in should be thoroughly considered, and it is important to note in relation to this that the standard methodology housing requirement is a minimum figure.

Object

Representation ID: 6366

Received: 13/09/2021

Respondent: CPRE Bedfordshire

Paras 1.7 to 1.10 - OBJECT
Para 1.7 states that the Joint Declaration is ‘silent on the numbers’, but this is inconsistent with para 1.6 which reports the government’s ambition to deliver one million new homes by 2050. The fact is that the Government apparently no longer wishes to mention the fact that it has an ambition to build one million new homes across the Arc. This appears to be because to say so is now toxic as the public begin to realise what one million homes really means, i.e., 20 cities the size of Cambridge across an Arc 85 miles long.

It is not at all clear that building one million new homes is no longer the government’s ambition. If one million new homes is no longer the ambition of Government, the local authorities and LEPs that signed up to the Joint Declaration should all state that, and the Joint Declaration should be revised to show this significant change.

The comments in para 1.7 to 1.10 indicate that the Council’s stated position is to support the proposition that achieving the Arc’s full economic potential will demand collective determination over the long-term, to “deliver significantly more homes in the Arc.” This seems to imply that the Council figure for future housing requirements of 1,275 dwellings per year, as calculated in this draft plan according to the Standard Method, will need to be substantially increased to accommodate the implications of OxCam.

In its present form, Local Plan 2040 would write into council policy the Council’s support for the OxCam Arc ambition to deliver one million new homes by 2050 and acceptance that this will involve a significantly higher housing requirement for Bedford than the housing requirement put forward in this local plan.

CPRE Bedfordshire strongly object to the implications of these paragraphs as, for reasons stated later, we already believe that the figure for future housing requirements, calculated according to the Council’s interpretation of the government Standard Method, of 1,275 dwellings per year, is excessive and unjustified.

We have arrived at this understanding through a process of deduction. In our view the implications of paras 1.6 to 1.10 being written into council policy are not clear and transparent.

CPRE Bedfordshire believes that the Council should be challenging the implications for significant additional housing growth required by OxCam and should therefore revise these paragraphs accordingly.

If the Council is not willing to challenge these expectations, the Local Plan should at least be revised to highlight more clearly the implications of OxCam on Bedford’s future housing requirement.

Object

Representation ID: 6972

Received: 16/09/2021

Respondent: Mr Robert Tusting

Staploe Parish Council believe Bedford Borough Council should be able to argue for an extension to their local plan review for at least one year since the Local Plan Review by Jan 2023 was required on the basis that this would align with the Oxford Cambridge Arc. Since the latter has now been delayed it would make sense for the Bedford Borough Council Local Plan Review to be permitted extra time to enable proper consultation and alignment with decisions on East West Rail and the arc.

Support

Representation ID: 8060

Received: 03/09/2021

Respondent: Mr Henry Vann

• The Planning White Paper encourages the construction of new vertical slums. It proposes the removal of powers of local authorities to ensure housing is good enough to live in, the removal of powers to protect active frontage in town centres – threatening the viability of shopping parades – and risks a lack of control over waste collection, with rubbish piled in streets effectively the result of Conservative Party policy. This should be safeguarded against with specific policies to ensure all can live in safe, healthy and sustainable housing.

• The Government determined Standard Method – through a variety of incorrect assumptions and processes, including its use of 2014 rather than 2018 data – penalises Bedford Borough.

• In addition to the various actions already taken by the Council to raise concerns and object to this method, we welcome further steps to work with our parishes and Borough Councillors to oppose the Conservative Government’s methodology and their proposed Planning White Paper.

• In a similar vein, we should write to MHCLG to request the reform of viability assessments to ensure that developers’ wider profits are taken into account and that viability includes the true cost of development including environmental standards, vital infrastructure and affordable housing against one another.

Support

Representation ID: 8071

Received: 02/09/2021

Respondent: Howbury Hall Estate

Agent: Phillips Planning Services

Paragraph 1.7 notes that ‘The Oxford to Cambridge Arc Government Ambition’ document is currently silent on the number of new homes that are expected to be delivered by individual authorities within the arc.

This is of course correct, however, what is also very clear is that the Government expects authorities in the arc to provide a step change in housing delivery. The Governments ‘Introduction to Spatial Framework for the Arc’ as published in February 2021 places particular emphasis on seeking to address the lack of affordability of housing in the arc resulting from historic delivery which has not met demand. (Paragraph 1.21)

Paragraph 2.10 of the same document advises that the Government intends to plan for housing growth in the Arc, to ensure it is a great and affordable place to live and work. It also states that where local authorities plan for growth in their areas the Government will support this with funding for necessary infrastructure.

It is considered that the Plan to 2040 should include some kind of housing uplift to respond to the Boroughs position within the arc.

If a position is taken that as no precise numbers are yet known the plan cannot make any provision for growth associated with the arc it is likely to become quickly out of date and may again need a further review very quickly after adoption.

Building in an uplift at this stage even if some uncertainty remains provides flexibility and would represent positive planning for the arc.

Object

Representation ID: 8276

Received: 03/09/2021

Respondent: Mr Daniel Francis

Staploe Parish Council believe Bedford Borough Council should be able to argue for an extension to their local plan review for at least one year since the Local Plan Review by Jan 2023 was required on the basis that this would align with the Oxford Cambridge Arc. Since the latter has now been delayed it would make sense for the Bedford Borough Council Local Plan Review to be permitted extra time to enable proper consultation and alignment with decisions on East West Rail and the arc.

Support

Representation ID: 8327

Received: 03/09/2021

Respondent: Mrs K Francis

Staploe Parish Council believe Bedford Borough Council should be able to argue for an extension to their local plan review for at least one year since the Local Plan Review by Jan 2023 was required on the basis that this would align with the Oxford Cambridge Arc. Since the latter has now been delayed it would make sense for the Bedford Borough Council Local Plan Review to be permitted extra time to enable proper consultation and alignment with decisions on East West Rail and the arc.