Object
Bedford Borough Local Plan 2040 Plan for Submission
Representation ID: 9613
Received: 26/07/2022
Respondent: Mr John Skoyles
Legally compliant? Not specified
Sound? No
Duty to co-operate? Not specified
I OBJECT TO THE UNSOUND AND UNJUSTIFIED PROPOSAL TO BUILD 1800 HOMES AT A WIXAMS EAST EXTENSION ON THE FOLLOWING GROUNDS :-
The proposed development will effectively merge Wilstead and Wixams to create an urban sprawl from Shortstown to Kempston Hardwick and beyond – creating a Greater Bedford in effect. Wilstead has a quiet rural and historic character with surrounding green spaces which should be maintained and needs protecting.
Too much growth is planned in too small an area. Wilstead and Wixams are both Key Service Centres. Nowhere else in the Borough are 2 KSCs so close together. The scoring to designate Wilstead as a KSC is flawed and needs bringing up to date. It is a rural service centre really.
There are no proposals to enhance the existing overloaded doctors / dentists / chemists or food shopping facilities, which will mean additional car journeys with consequential adverse effect on air quality and climate change. After many years of extensive house building at Wixams, it still has no health provisions and only one small supermarket. These factors place additional strain on already stretched local services.
Traffic levels on the A6 / A421 are very high. Exiting Wilstead onto the A6 is very difficult at peak times. The proposal will make matters far worse. The planned new Wixams rail station is still just a plan – and has created much greater volumes of road traffic and pollution as a result.
A lot of traffic uses Wilstead as a short cut to the A600 with speeding being a significant problem, these plans will make the situation far worse.
A new community woodland has recently been created off Duck End Lane to provide for peaceful recreation. Building 1800 new homes plus 3 schools on its boundary will have a serious adverse effect on Wilstead villagers’ enjoyment of this area
Proposed site is key agricultural land. No building should be done on greenfield sites.