Object

Representation ID: 10517

Received: 17/08/2022

Respondent: Mr Rory Reid

Legally compliant? Not specified

Sound? Not specified

Duty to co-operate? Not specified

I recently returned home after a holiday and received a letter regarding Local Plan 2040 and Policy EMP6. In particular Site Reference 761 and 764 to develop on land at Water End and St Neot’s Rd: Known as Policy EMP6 – the 30-hectare Research Campus.

I am a homeowner and resident of a rural countryside property bordering Site 761/764. We bought the property and moved here because of its quiet rural nature and the fact the local area is rich with wildlife, such as deer, hare many more who use this area as their habitat.

Our location is very rural and is sparsely populated and any development on these sites would dominate the landscape and be totally out of keeping with what is a unique rural area. Given the elevated topography and openness of the land, any new buildings would impose on nearby houses and be prominent within its rural context.

Developing on this land would cripple the area with traffic. There is already significant road congestion in the area. On St Neot’s Road between Great Barford and the double roundabouts by at A421 Water End junction, where we live, we find it difficult to even pull out of our driveway and the traffic is increasingly bad – particularly during the mornings and evenings when we do the school run. Motorists tend to try to avoid traffic on the A421 by using Bedford Road from the Black Cat Roundabout, through Great Barford and along St Neot’s road to the Water Lane junction. This traffic continues beyond the junction and along St Neot’s Rd towards Bedford, into Renhold and onto the A421.

The volume of traffic passing our home is already very large. Adding more traffic would increase the level of traffic noise, which would be audible from our home. Traffic noise is not only a nuisance but has proven to have adverse impacts on human health. Traffic noise causes irritation and annoyance, sleep disturbances, cardiovascular disease, risk of stroke, diabetes, hypertension and loss of hearing.

We already have a large quarry opposite our house with large lorries coming and going 24 hours a day. Large amounts of traffic use the junction to join and depart the A421, right next to the proposed sites. Adding a large campus would exacerbate the traffic problem dramatically, particularly with the types of vehicles that would likely access the sites.

The sites are not sustainable locations as they are not accessible by alternative modes of transport including riding, cycling or walking.

Development has been allocated for around 500 houses along St Neot’s Rd. between Great Barford and Sites 761/764, which will make the traffic and environmental impacts worse, especially with the development of an enormous new site.

The Willington Lock Quarry has a proposed extension of its mineral extraction operations in Great Barford, which will make the traffic and environmental impacts worse. Having this in conjunction with the new development would be devastating for the area.

It would also change the nature of the rural nature of Great Barford and Renhold to an urban/industrial landscape.

It’s essential that all these factors are considered. I strongly reject the development of Sites 761/764 as it would be very bad for the whole area.

I understand the deadline has passed for the online consultation, but I was on holiday away from home whilst the letter was sent. However as this directly impacts me I would like to have my voice heard.

This proposed development should be placed in urban parts of the borough where there are existing business park sites with better transport links.