Object

Representation ID: 8872

Received: 30/09/2021

Respondent: DLP Planning Limited

Agent: DLP Planning Limited

Paragraph 3.17 and Option 2d – Comment
3.33 These representations endorse the inclusion of the ‘east’ corridor parishes as part of Preferred Option 2d but in practice indicate that this is illustrative of a need for a ‘hybrid’ approach to provide for an appropriate strategy in accordance with national policy and guidance (NPPF2021 paragraph 35(b)).
3.34 These representations conclude that any selected strategy option that does not include growth in the ‘east’ corridor parishes would be unsound and fail to comprise an appropriate strategy or genuine reasonable alternative for the purposes of the Sustainability Appraisal. This is due to soundness issues identified with the delivery of large-scale strategic growth comprising other components of the Council’s Preferred Options.
3.35 The benefits of Option 2d reflect the ability to promote and maximise the benefits of what is in-effect village-related growth at the Rural Service Centre of Roxton, complementing opportunities for sustainable growth within the corridor. Growth at Roxton has been accepted as sustainable in the spatial strategy of the adopted LP2030, and the evidence base for the Local Plan 2040 indicates no in-principle constraint to capacity for further development that
BE5553 – Land at Ford Lane, Roxton
Philip C Bath Ltd
Representations to Bedford LP2040
September 2021
17
could not be adequately mitigated.
3.36 The Council’s draft Sustainability Appraisal findings reflect positively on the benefits of ‘east’ corridor parishes within the A421 corridor. The figure of 750 dwellings in the Council’s Preferred Option 2d exceeds the Council’s arbitrary figures applied for the purpose of testing Great Barford, Roxton and Willington as ‘village-related’ growth but would in our view represent a more realistic starting point taking account of the capacity for growth at Roxton and in-particular our client’s site. There is no site-specific justification or settlement-specific justification as to why this figure should be limited to 750 dwellings and why growth at Roxton should be limited to only 35 units.
3.37 The Council’s Preferred Options consultation proposals offers only limited scope to address local requirements for place-making and connectivity as part of a comprehensive strategy. The strategy concentrates on the ‘east’ and ‘south’ transport corridor parishes and it should be noted that additional development Roxton would be in general accordance with objectives of the emerging Oxford-Cambridge Arc Spatial Framework applicable across the settlement hierarchy. Opportunities for sustainable development in accordance with these requirements (and the objectives of the emerging Spatial Framework) must be embraced both in the period to 2030 (to address the immediate uplift in the need for growth) and across the entire plan period to sustain the role and function of the borough’s most sustainable settlements.
Endorsement of growth at Roxton under Option 2d in the context of a ‘hybrid’ strategy recognises that there is no arbitrary distinction between ‘village-related’ growth and support for development in the ‘east’ and ‘south’ corridor parishes in terms of their capacity to contribute towards sustainable development. The benefits of ‘village-related’ development do not suddenly materialise only where Key Service Centre and Rural Service Centres are located in the A421 corridor and do not evaporate altogether outside of it. The allocation of land in Roxton represents a sustainable opportunity to provide flexibility and choice to the Council’s strategy options as well as sustaining and enhancing the role of the settlement itself.