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Representation ID: 7871

Received: 23/09/2021

Respondent: Central Bedfordshire Council

e recognise that the Bedford Local Plan 2040 will be only a partial update of existing policies, due to the Local Plan 2030 being adopted only last year and as a result the review finding that many of its policies were up to date and did not require changing.

We note that the review will focus on the following key policy areas:
• Development strategy up to 2040 and delivery of growth in order to meet national policy requirements.
• Town centre and retail policies
• Updated development management policies on: Self-build and custom homebuilding, Quality of development and residential space standards, and environmental net gain.

In the current round of plan-making, the plans of both CBC and North Hertfordshire District Council (NHDC) make provision to meet the unmet housing needs of Luton Borough Council, within the shared HMA. This involved the release of Green Belt land, which obviously requires the demonstration of exceptional circumstances (including the demonstration that all other options have been explored). Whilst any further unmet needs (arising from Luton’s next round of plan-making) are yet to be determined, if unmet needs do arise, it does need to be acknowledged that, bearing in mind supply in CBC and NHDC has already been maximised to meet the needs this time around, this is likely to need to be considered across a broader geographical area, including by Bedford Borough Council. It is considered that this should be acknowledged and addressed within the emerging Bedford Local Plan.

Further to this, we note the proposed timetable for the BBC plan to be submitted, ahead of the adoption of the emerging Ox/ Camb Arc Spatial Framework. We would be grateful for clarification on the relationship that is envisaged between the BBC LP and Arc Spatial Framework. Is it BBC’s intention to commence a further Local Plan review following the adoption of the Spatial Framework?