Object

Representation ID: 8924

Received: 01/10/2021

Respondent: Snelsons Farm Partnership

Agent: DLP Planning Limited

Comments on Strategy Options / Proposed Approach and Supporting Evidence
Paragraph 1.5 (proposed plan period)– Object
3.2 Definition of the proposed plan period underpinning the LP2040 has been rendered inconsistent with national policy following publication of the NPPF2021.
Reasoning
3.3 Significant extensions to existing villages and towns that form part of the strategy for an area should be set within a vision that looks further ahead (at least 30 years) than the minimum 15 year time horizon from the date of adoption of a local plan.
3.4 Given Bedford’s location in the Ox-Cam Arc a 30 year horizon is essential where paragraph 1.2 of the ‘Creating a Vision for the Ox-Cam Arc’ consultation document confirms that the Spatial Framework will extend to 2050 and beyond. Preparation of the Bedford Local Plan 2040 should be undertaken consistently with this aim.
3.5 The proposed plan period of 2020 to 2040, particularly when read in the context of the Council’s draft strategy could result in a further delay in meeting development needs in full (until at least 2030); will generate a requirement for further, successive, reviews; and is setting the plan up to fail both in terms of overall supply and also the spatial distribution which will not allow a clear vision for planned growth in the villages that will be necessary to deliver the scale of growth needed.
Remedy
3.6 Bedford Borough Council should not wait for transitional arrangements upon introduction of the Ox-Cam Arc Spatial Framework and then undertake yet another review as this will generate continued uncertainty and delay. Realistically, as a result of the scale and pattern of the proposed in the LP2040 consultation, delays to timescales for development will likely result in failure to meet needs in full between 2030 and 2040.
3.7 Those parts of the Council’s draft strategy relying on larger-scale development including growth that is significant in relation to existing settlements should be profiled to look further
ahead, to 2050.
3.8 This reemphasises that in terms of the soundness requirements, the Council must fully embrace those sustainable opportunities to meet the increased requirements for growth in the immediate term and enable this through the prioritisation of suitable and deliverable sites as part of a ‘hybrid’ strategy.