Support

Representation ID: 7990

Received: 24/09/2021

Respondent: Mrs Nicola Gooch

Little Barford Site 907
We support development of this site. It is adjacent to the urban area and to the likely location of the new East West rail station. It therefore provides options for genuinely sustainable transport as both stations in St Neots are likely to be within walking / cycling distance It is also a smaller site so it would not grow into a new town of 10,800 homes as Dennybrook could. A much larger development such as Dennybrook would have a significant impact on St Neots and its services whereas Little Barford is smaller and would have a lower impact on the town. It is also on the side of St Neots where strategic, planned growth is already happening (Loves Farm and Wintringham Park to the east), unlike Dennybrook which is positioned to the west where the A1 has always provided a clear dividing line between urban to the east and rural land to the west.
Much of the site appears to be grade 3 agricultural land in contrast with Dennybrook which is grade 2.
Little Barford has good connectivity to the A428 (existing and new) and A1.
100 word summary Little Barford site 907
This site is suitable because it will be within walking / cycling distance of the new East West rail station and also close to the existing mainline station. It is close to the strategic growth points in St Neots (Wintringham Park) with good access to the A1 and A421. It is not such good quality agricultural land as Dennybrook – it appears to be grade 3.
Twinwoods Site 883
We support development of 70ha of this site which is brownfield land as an alternative if Little Barford is deemed unsuitable. At 35dph this could provide 2450 homes which is sufficient to support option 2b with a new settlement if Little Barford was not an option. Brownfield sites should be used in preference to greenfield sites according to the NPPF. We recognise that there are problems with the A6 into Bedford but we believe these issues need to be resolved even with the development proposed for the 2030 plan and to enable residents from the north of Bedford to access the new east west rail. Therefore a new settlement of 2450 homes at Twinwoods would provide the infrastructure funding for this. Sustainable transport could be provided via a parkway station or guided busway and a park and ride bus for the private schools.
The area does not flood, and it is distinct from local villages so there is no risk of coalescence or loss of identity of existing settlements or villages. Development here would support Bedford town centre.
100 word summary Twinwoods site 883
Twinwoods is suitable because it is a brownfield site. Development here could provide infrastructure funding to alleviate the issues on the A6. Eg. by providing a guided busway / park and ride bus for the private schools. The area doesn’t flood and would support Bedford town centre.