Object

Representation ID: 9547

Received: 18/07/2022

Respondent: Dave Masters

Number of people: 2

Legally compliant? Not specified

Sound? Not specified

Duty to co-operate? Not specified

We have been made aware of proposals for a further 2100 properties along and adjacent to the A6, East of Wixams.
Having now lived in Wixams for four years and seen the explosion of housing development, far beyond the plans we were shown by the Developers, DW Homes. We were promised shops, surrounding green space, a medical surgery (by 2021!), plenty of recreation space and the site to be pedestrian friendly. There are still;
1. No shops.
2. Little or no open park areas for families, for a kids kick about etc
3. No Medical Centre. ( we have to travel to Ampthill to see a GP!, 9 miles away)
4. Area often clogged with parking, cars speeding and kids on speedy electric scooters. There have been at least two quite serious accidents recently with children being knocked down.
5. Roads beyond the estate not fit for purpose, built many years ago they are not designed for the traffic levels now being experienced
6. Green space areas and pathways poorly maintained by the Council and just insufficient for the number of residents, many areas are just alleys of dog mess!

Now you are proposing further development when all the existing overloads the current infrastructure, the area is quickly developing an inner city feel, we relocated to Bedford to get away from this. It is a real shame you are letting the area decline into an urban sprawl when with a little more consideration in the planning process it could be a excellent example of rural development.
1. More wide open useable open space.
2. New local schooling, community centres and medical facilities.
3. Wide pedestrian / cycling paths.
4. Traffic management, road narrowings, road humps, double yellow lines, 20mph max speed limit (enforced)
5. Recreation areas, shaded benched areas, meadow walks, wooded areas etc.
6. Central waste collection area, bottle bank etc.
7. Houses to have more amenity space, larger gardens etc.

Bedford has expanded hugely in recent years, yet the Hospital remains largely the same, an old facility desperately n need to modernise to keep pace with the rapidly expanding local population.
There is already approval to extend Wixams to the South toward Houghton Conquest, again seemingly without any shops, schools or reasonable open space.

We suggest these proposals are an over development of a largely rural area, they will overload an already creaking infrastructure and will add to the unfortunate urbanisation of Bedford. The rest of Bedford needs to develop further to cope with this potential growth, an improved Town Centre, improved travel around Bedford and enlarged facilities generally as it develops from a medium size market town to an urbanised small city.