Object

Representation ID: 6644

Received: 14/09/2021

Respondent: Bedford Borough Councillor

GROWTH AND SPATIAL STRATEGY OPTIONS
3.1- 3.7 :
We recognise that the Council has no choice but to follow the revised national standard method of assessment which requires 12,500 new dwellings in the plan period over and above the existing provisions of the 2030 plan which are for 13,000 dwellings. However, we are aware that the standard method is challenged and under scrutiny. Furthermore, as pointed out in the Housing Needs Assessment, the increase is largely due to the anticipated inward migration arising from the Oxford-Cambridge project. This is further evidence of the need to defer the preparation of the plan as the determinants of where that inward migration might go are not within the control of the Council.
We are a densely populated county and the fact that our imposed target for future housing growth greatly exceeds that of neighbouring authorities emphasises the need for this issue to be publicly aired.