Support

Representation ID: 3570

Received: 11/08/2021

Respondent: Miss Tara Malciw

I strongly believe that no further houses should be built in Wootton, Bedford and surrounding villages. Wootton has recently seen large amounts of green belt land ruined by housing, with wildlife suffering as a direct consequence. I have seen many deer, foxes and grass snakes suffering due t the loss of habitat, they are now struggling to locate food and are often killed by speeding car.

The houses built are not affordable which could soften the blow to young people like myself who wish to buy their first home in their family village, the buildings are also not in keeping with the village or built in a way that supports country living.

Wootton has almost doubled in recent years. I have recently bought my first home in Wootton, as my parents and their parents were both brought up in this village. I no longer live in the village that I grew up in. Due to an extremely high rise in crimes, from roughly 6 crimes per month to over 30 crimes a month (estimation from Facebook comments and reporting) in the last 2 years, I no longer feel as safe as I should. When I was a child the crimes, I saw were setting fire to a bin once or twice. Sadly, in recent weeks the village has seen a stabbing, several car thefts, theft from vehicles, burglary from dwellings, arson attacks and cold calling with intent to burgle. As you see above, I work for the Police, I have firsthand knowledge of the detrimental impact to peoples lives from such crimes.

Wootton is supposed to be a safe home for many elderly people and for young families to bring up their children but with links to County Lines and drugs/ gangs, the villages growing connection with the A421 and M1 is increasing the ease at which Organised Crime Gangs (OCGs) can infiltrate young children living here. Any further development will only decrease public safety, increase demand on local policing resources which are already extremely stretched and will encourage and assist Organised Crime Gangs.

As well as destroying public safety and wildlife, the village is also suffering more from road accidents seen by an overuse of our roads. I am a driver and a horse rider, in recent years my friends/ family and I have been subjected to dangerous driving resulting in police action, experienced many cats run over by speeding drivers, I have had many close calls with my horse whilst our riding, my aunties horse was even hit by a car on Bedford Road.

This is a horse-riding village that used to be the hub of local horse riding for Bedfordshire with Juffs’ stables, the village is now a permanent risk to our safety. The council has attempted to ease horse riding problems by offering “set asides” for horse riders to use however these are overrun by youths setting fires and having drinks and BBQs underage or are used by people that do not appreciate village life, walking their dangerous uncontrolled dogs off of the lead on the grass area allocated to horse riders only. Again, further homes would only encourage more people to utilise these areas, sadly not in a suitable manner. Of course, I could not have an issue if pedestrians remained with their dogs under control (I am also a dog owner so appreciate good dog control) and enjoyed the areas as the countryside settings they are, not for youth gangs to spoil.

Lastly, the local roads cannot support an increase in cars, the parking situations caused by poor parking allocation at new housing sites forces people to park dangerously on blind corners, risking the safety of children and other road users.

If an overwhelming impact on policing and a detrimental impact to public safety, wildlife and infrastructure is not
enough of a reason to stop ruining the village any further please consider building entirely new smaller villages in areas that are not already inhabited, there are open areas in Bedfordshire that could support a small setting with a few hundred houses and a local shop/ facilities to offer local employment, this at least would offer a housing solution without running areas that are already struggling.

In response to the Local Plan 2040 I believe that no further development should go ahead, however if I had to choose, I would choose Option 2d since there is the lowest amount of housing being built in Wootton. To comment though, the plans are very difficult to understand, and I reiterate, no further development should be seen locally.