Object

Representation ID: 6039

Received: 08/09/2021

Respondent: Mr Barry Wootton

When planning housing and commercial expansion some broad principles need to be followed to ensure quality development preserving the essential character of the area. Broadly these are:-
• Wherever possible, use brown field sites first of all.
• Ensure adequate social (eg shopping, medical access etc.) and physical (eg modern water, electricity and internet services, roads etc.) infrastructure at an acceptable cost.
• Good accessibility.
• Preserve distinctive villages and avoid coalescence.
• Avoidance of urban sprawl along highways and over accessible greenfield sites (attractive to speculative builders and landowners but destructive of amenity and local landscape).
Of the strategic options proposed, Option 2c seems best suited to meet these criteria with its focus on urban and semi urban locations, extensive use of the brown field sites south west of Bedford and new nucleated settlements in Little Barford and Wyboston.
Although Option 2d ticks some of the above boxes, it maximises urban sprawl. This will in turn and over time expand into the surrounding countryside as speculative building and land sales erode amenity and degrade the local landscape. As a result, it is the least acceptable option.