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Representation ID: 6365

Received: 13/09/2021

Respondent: CPRE Bedfordshire

In the past CPRE Bedfordshire have criticised the Borough Council for what we perceive to be a lack of openness and transparency regarding the Council’s engagement with the government’s OxCam Arc Strategy. In this draft plan there appears to be a welcome shift in this respect as shown by the Council’s commentary on its view of the national context and national policy.

However, we are concerned that there is inconsistency and lack of clarity in the Council’s attitude to the government’s ambition for one million new homes by 2050 across the OxCam Arc and the implications for Bedford.

The Council is a signed-up partner in the ‘The Oxford-Cambridge Arc Government Ambition and Joint Declaration between Government and Local Partners’ but to our knowledge there has never been any open debate on the subject in any public Council meeting. CPRE Bedfordshire believe this represents a serious democratic deficit and undermines confidence in the Council’s Local Plan process.

The Joint Declaration should be added as one of the supporting documents for the Local Plan. Publishing the document is key to an open democratic process and would provide residents with full details of precisely what the Council has signed up to with Government.

The past lack of transparency on matters associated with OxCam has already caused acute embarrassment for the Council in the recent consultation on East West Rail, where the Council’s lack of transparency and engagement with local people about the development of their position in supporting for Route E was exposed. As a result, the Mayor and senior elected members of the Council embarked on a major effort to make up for lost ground through a series of virtual meetings with Parish Councils. This culminated in a special meeting of the Full Council where the subject was debated and a huge groundswell of opinion in opposition to the Council’s support for EWR Co’s preferred route became clear.

CPRE Bedfordshire is concerned that a similar situation now applies in regard to the housing growth implications associated with the OxCam strategy where we find it difficult to be confident that the Council is being fully candid and transparent. The Council claims to have no knowledge of how the OxCam strategy housing growth implications will impact in Bedford Borough. If this is the case, then it casts serious doubt over the credibility of the development of this local plan.

The Council is a member of the Central Area Growth Board. The Board was established over 3 years ago to provide the strategic leadership that will enable planning for economic transformation across the central area of the Oxford to Cambridge Arc. The Central Area Growth Board is a Joint Committee under s101 (5), 102 Local Government Act 1972.

One of the purposes of the board, as described in its Terms of Reference is; ‘To seek to establish Common Planning Areas to produce an integrated and holistic approach to strategic planning for employment, housing and infrastructure that builds on Local Plans, Local Transport Plans and Strategic Economic Plans.’

CPRE Bedfordshire are not closely familiar with the workings of such a body, although we believe that the Oxfordshire Growth Board has been instrumental in coordinating the agreement of a ‘Growth

Deal’ for Oxfordshire. We would like to know if the Central Area Growth Board is in the process of negotiating a similar agreement with the government for the central area. It is surprising the draft plan makes no mention at all of this body and its activities.

As a key partner in the OxCam Arc Strategy we would like to see the Council challenging the ambition for one million new homes by 2050 as unsustainable and unnecessary.

We would also like to see the Council making strenuous demands upon central government to make an agreement that the current expectation to submit a new local plan for January 2023 should be suspended pending the outcome of the OxCam Arc Spatial Framework and that the Council’s Local Plan 2030 should be recognised as being up to date until the implications of the Spatial Framework can be fully taken into account.

Alternatively, Bedford Borough Council could follow the example of Buckinghamshire County Council and withdraw from the Oxford to Cambridge 'ARC Leaders' Group'. Buckinghamshire made this decision because they considered that their top priority was to be in control of their own future economic development and housing decisions.

We ask, why would Bedford Borough be willing to forfeit their independence in regard to matters of such vital local interest?