Object
Local Plan 2040 Draft Plan - Strategy options and draft policies consultation
Representation ID: 4407
Received: 31/08/2021
Respondent: Mrs Eleanor Thompson
Careful consideration of new settlements in Wyboston and/or Little Barford is required due to current lack of facilities and the rural nature of the existing dwellings. New settlements risk further draining of Cambridgeshire resources by the BBC/Cambridgeshire border residents. The Local Plan / BBC also needs to clarify the size and intent (residential or commercial) of these proposed new developments. Wyboston is also not near a proposed new EWR station, making Tempsford a better area for proposed development.
New settlements at Wyboston and/or Little Barford need to be carefully considered. Wyboston in particular currently has no local facilities - no school, no shop, no children's playground and also no main gas. As a consequence of this, Wyboston relies heavily on the local facilities of St Neots which is in Cambridgeshire, whilst paying their council tax to BBC. This already unfairly drains the Cambridgeshire resources. To increase housing in Wyboston without adequate facilities would result in further draining of limited Cambridgeshire resources. In addition to this, Wyboston is currently a rural area with a high number of local residents keeping horses which is not particularly compatible with high traffic, built up areas. Access to Wyboston is already limited, so detailed plans of where access routes would be needs to be provided prior to incorporating new developments into the Local Plan. The current plans are too vague for local residents or planners to accurately assess the impact.
The size of these proposed new developments also needs to be clarified by BBC. This Local Plan document is saying that Little Barford is proposed at 3085 dwellings and Wyboston at 2500 dwellings. However, Taylor Wimpy are distributing documents suggesting that the size will be 4000 new homes, further increasing to 10,000 and employment space. Homes vs Dwellings needs to be clarified, and whether this will be residential or commercial.
Regarding BBC's plan to develop along the new EWR stations, Wyboston would not be an obvious choice for this. The new station is proposed either for St Neots South or Tempsford, making Tempsford or Little Barford the obvious choices for new large scale developments.
I want to make it clear that although I object to options 2b, 2c and 2d in their current form, I do not fundamentally object to new developments in Wyboston or Little Barford. However, greater clarity on number of homes/dwellings, residential/commercial use, access routes and how this links to the EWR and Black Cat developments is required prior to its approval.