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Bedford Borough Local Plan 2040 Plan for Submission
Representation ID: 9299
Received: 28/07/2022
Respondent: Miss Andrea Witham
The issues and options consultation was not compliant and therefore the plan was not justified because it relied on this consultation. It described Staploe parish as a brownfield, urban site with under utilised land when actually it is a greenfield site in open countryside with grade 2 agricultural land.
In the Draft Plan Dennybrook was described as a development of 2,500 homes but it's clear that the developer was intending more thant 10,000.
Both the expanded version of Dennybrook and Eaton Bank were submitted after the call for sites deadline so we had no change to comment on them
I believe the plan to be compliant and sound but point out that the initial consultation was not compliant as it wrongly described the parish as brownfield.
In the Draft Plan Dennybrook was referred to as a site of 2,500 homes but it's clear that the developer was proposing 10,000+ homes.
Both the enlarged Dennybrook site and Eaton Bank were put forward after the call for sites deadline leaving us no time to comment.
Full text:
The issues and options consultation was not compliant and as a result the plan was not justified because it relied on this consultation. It described Staploe parish as a brownfield, urban site with under utilised land when actually it is a greenfield site in open countryside with grade 2 agricultural land. However, the Borough Council appear to have listened to the concerns raised by us and so I am happy with the outcome and believe the plan to be compliant and sound. Little Barford is a more suitable location than our parish as it is closer to the proposed new rail station.
Similarly people in the parish were concerned that the “Draft Plan: Strategy options and draft policies” consultation in July 2021 was not compliant because it referred to Dennybrook (the largest of the proposed new settlements) as a development of only 2,500 homes when in fact the development would eventually be 11,500 homes – this was not made clear in the consultation. However, the Borough Council appear to have discounted this settlement so I believe the outcome is compliant and sound.
Finally, I was concerned that the “Draft Plan: Strategy options and draft policies” consultation in July 2021 included a call for sites and sites such as an expansion of Dennybrook and a new site (Eaton Bank) were considered even though they were submitted well after the submission deadline (and in the case of Eaton Bank it was submitted on the last day of the consultation). This gave little if any opportunity for residents to comment on them. However, since these sites have not been included in the final plan we believe the outcome is
compliant and sound.