Object

Representation ID: 9602

Received: 29/07/2022

Respondent: Anita Welling

Legally compliant? No

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? No

Elstow is a historic village containing over 36 grade 1 and 2 listed properties. The proposed industrial site will butt directly against the sites of many of these listed properties. It is a legal responsibility of the council to maintain a distance between the listed properties and any new development and that is clearly not being done with the proposal.

The properties in the village have been listed due to their historic and architectural importance. The reason for listing a building is to preserve it's historic character. Elstow's character is defined by the number of listed properties it contains. The proposed industrial development will totally undermine the rural nature of the village and impact negatively on the lives of the existing residents who have lived in this setting for many years. The development will be unsightly and will cause an increase in the noise levels for existing residents.

There are numerous industrial sites located in the south Bedford area. The proposed site is away from any existing services and facilities and a previous proposal for a similar site in this same area was never taken up and therefore must be considered unviable.

The proposed site is on prime agricultural land at a time when it is recognised that our nation needs to produce more of it's own food. The building of this industrial site would fly in the face of this need. The building of the site would also lead to the loss of natural habitat for wildlife in the area.

Traffic through Elstow village is already in excess of what there should be due to drivers completely ignoring the 'prohibited vehicles' signs at each end of the village and zero enforcement taking place to ensure compliance with them. The addition of an industrial site with it's associated traffic will only serve to exacerbate this problem.