Object

Bedford Borough Local Plan 2040 Plan for Submission

Representation ID: 10023

Received: 27/07/2022

Respondent: Shortstown Parish Council

Legally compliant? Not specified

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? No

Representation Summary:

Policy TC1(S) We oppose the characterization on page 53 of our connection to Bedford as good. With the exception of portions of the industrial area within the parish north of the A421 we are connected to Bedford via a single road and while it is designated as an A
road it does not represent a good connection. We also have one bridleway under the A421 but this can only be reached by walking along roads without pavement through Harrowden.
Shortstown is dependent on the A600 for professionals to commute to work either North towards the A421 and Bedford or to the South. However this single link has proven to be vulnerable to disruption going as it does through an accident blackspot at the junction with
Harrowden Lane. Public transport is currently insufficient except for accessing Bedford for occasional shopping. This creates a tension between the notional Borough policy to reduce car use with transport infrastructure that discourages public transport use for commuters.
We oppose our designation in Policy TC1(S) on page 86 as a Key Service Centre. As previously discussed given our resources and services we are more of a neighbourhood centre.

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