Comment

Representation ID: 9708

Received: 29/07/2022

Respondent: Cloud Wing UK Ltd

Agent: Avison Young

Cloud Wing supports the principle of significant growth being directed to the south of Bedford along the A421 Corridor and at its land at Kempston Hardwick. The area is well-located for access to the strategic highway network, including the junction of the A421 with the A428, approximately 2.5 miles south of Bedford town centre. The A421 is the main thoroughfare connecting Bedford with the M1 and A1 and is the route where significant investment is proposed. The area benefits from existing rail links, with the Kempston Hardwick railway station located centrally in Cloud Wing’s site on the Bedford to Bletchley line providing services into Bedford Town Centre, Bletchley and Milton Keynes roughly every 30 minutes in each direction. There are also regular bus services on the B530 and in Stewartby to the south which provide public transport links into Bedford and nearby settlements. The area’s connectivity is set to improve further as a result of the proposed improvements to the East West rail line which would connect the communities between Oxford, Milton Keynes, Bedford and Cambridge. These national investments in infrastructure improvements are part of the wider growth strategy for the Oxford-Cambridge Arc aimed at unlocking the full economic potential of the region.
4.2 On this basis, the area to the south of Bedford, around Kempston Hardwick, has huge potential and is very clearly the right location for new development of significant scale.
4.3 As set out in detail in Section 3, Cloud Wing’s view is that the Plan significantly underestimates the amount of employment land required in the Borough to meet its needs and reflect the wider economic ambitions the region. On this basis, Policies DS2(S) and DS5(S), and the Development Strategy Options Paper and Sustainability Appraisal (SA) evidence on which they are based, only seek to deliver the scale of employment growth identified in Policy DS4(S). The policies are not, therefore, considered sound (i.e. are not positively prepared, justified, effective or consistent with national policy). Overall, Policy DS5(S) fails to identify sufficient employment land, including to the South of Bedford at Kempston Hardwick, to meet anticipated economic and employment needs over the plan period in accordance with paragraph 82 of the NPPF.
4.4 Furthermore, for the reasons set out in Section 2 and 3, their view is that Policy DS2(S)’s emphasis on innovation uses, including for the South of Bedford Area at Kempston Hardwick, is unsound.