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Representation ID: 9031

Received: 04/10/2021

Respondent: Historic England

Thank you for consulting Historic England on the Draft Plan Strategy Options and Draft Policies Consultation for Bedford Local Plan. As the Government’s adviser on
the historic environment Historic England is keen to ensure that the protection of the historic environment is fully considered at all stages and levels of the local planning process.
We have reviewed the Draft Plan and consultation material. As a general comment, Historic England welcomes emerging plan and work undertaken to date.
In preparation of the forthcoming Bedford Local Plan, we encourage you to draw on the knowledge of local conservation officers, archaeologists and local heritage
groups.
Please note that absence of a comment on an allocation or document in this letter does not mean that Historic England is content that the allocation or document forms part of a positive strategy for the conservation and enjoyment of the historic environment or is devoid of historic environment issues. Where there are various options proposed for a settlement, identification of heritage issues for a particular allocation does not automatically correspond to the support for inclusion of the alternative sites, given we have not been able to assess all of the sites.
Finally, we should like to stress that this opinion is based on the information provided by the Council in its consultation. To avoid any doubt, this does not affect our
obligation to provide further advice and, potentially, object to specific proposals, which may subsequently arise where we consider that these would have an adverse effect upon the historic environment.
We trust that these comments are helpful to you in developing the Local Plan. Should you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact us.
We suggest it might be helpful to set up a meeting to discuss our comments and, in particular, heritage impact assessments and policy wording for site allocations.