Object

Representation ID: 8046

Received: 02/09/2021

Respondent: Ms Carrie Scott

However, I would like to add my own proposal.

Bedford Town Centre is like a ghost-town. There is a wealth of opportunity with the old Debenhams, Marks and Spencer, and other buildings sitting empty and looking very sad. Why not turn them into flats or apartments, that really do attract first-time buyers and are affordable? There was a great example of this recently on the news, where it was partly new accommodation and partly restaurants or gyms (I can’t remember which town it was). Another option for added facilities in such a building would be to provide affordable “rent an office space”, like Regus do, where people could book slots per hour to have a quiet workspace, or a meeting with other homeworkers. There has been a huge surge in entrepreneurs setting up in the last two years who might be looking for small premises to rent, maybe as ‘pop-ups’. This idea could also be built in to redeveloping those old stores. This would also address the total number of new houses needed, as well as offering truly affordable options.

I think we all accept that we’re “obliged” to do our part in providing more homes. But, if we’re smarter in our approach, we DO NOT need to impact rural Bedfordshire, and we SHOULD be thinking about reusing existing buildings BEFORE plonking new developments all over the place.

I urge you to reconsider some of your plans and think about what’s already available.