Object

Local Plan 2040 Draft Plan - Strategy options and draft policies consultation

Representation ID: 4288

Received: 31/08/2021

Respondent: Miss Andrea Witham

Representation Summary:

Consultation process inadequate, flawed and undemocratic.
Extension to plan needed because of EW rail uncertainties.
2018 housing needs figures (showing lower level of housing requirement) should be used instead of 2014

Full text:

This may not be the correct section in which to mention the following but I want these comments to be taken into account.
Throughout this consultation you have effectively restricted replies to 100 words. However, during the course of this 'process' residents (often elderly, or with poor internet connection or not confident IT users) have been bombarded with references to documents, sometimes very lengthy and highly technical, amounting to many hundreds of pages, which we are supposed to read and assimilate whilst, at the same time, carrying on with our normal and often busy lives. And the online consultation is not user friendly either.
I assume that the whole purpose is to obfuscate and confuse.
We need an extension to this plan because of impending East West rail route decisions, the delays in the Oxford Cambridge Arc process, the potential introduction of development corporations, the difficulty in consulting and public engagement due to the Covid pandemic and the potential changes in the housing need calculations. The Bedford Borough Council needs to prepare twin track local plans for presentation based on the 2014 vs 2018 housing need figures as the 2018 figures would not necessitate a significant new settlement.