Object

Representation ID: 9781

Received: 22/07/2022

Respondent: Mr Anthony Fowler

Legally compliant? Not specified

Sound? Not specified

Duty to co-operate? Not specified

The proposed plan although headed wixams is a direct development of this parish
My wife and I have been residents of this village for 53 years and were both previously raised as children in a rural village environment. Our choice was to embrace all the positive opportunities presented by village life rather than that found in Urban or Suburban large scale settlements. We therefore regard proposals in this plan as a major threat to this idyll.
Previous village plans allowed for controlled development which could be accommodated within the natural infrastructure, amenities and capability of the village, absorbing sustained growth without significant negative impact on the environment and the rural way of life. With 1200 houses currently in the parish a 10% growth level could conceivably be managed and achieved in small developments whilst retaining the basic characteristics of village life. Plans to increase by over 200% would redefine Wilstead as an Urban settlement with 2 addition large development sites consuming those important rural gaps and spaces in direct conflict with the objectives of the neighbourhood plan overwhelming the infrastructure and irretrievably destroying the village dynamics.
• There are currently important rural gaps which provide some differentiation
o eg. the burgeoning development of Wixams.
• With the scale of the Wixam development and the additional 650 houses now approved for development it is hard to appreciate why there is a need to overrun Wilstead with a similar vision of the future unless the objective is to allow complete Urban sprawl from Bedford into some vast Suburban landscape .
• Our village is a time capsule of progressive housing development, old and new woven into traditional and recognisable landscapes. Vast developments tripling the size of the parish would destroy the features we value and remove the ready access to the countryside for the residents.
• The village infrastructure is already approaching the limits of its capability with traffic,utilities and drainage systems often struggling to contend with peak demand.
o With a substrate of blue clay the drainage capability relies on existing open areas to gradually absorb rainfall to avoid inundation in many areas.
• Traffic around the village school presents a regular danger and access to Bedford is becoming increasingly difficult most times without the prospect of nearly 5000 more vehicles
Curently you drive north or south entering the village from either direction you are presented with a rural aspect. In particular driving south from Bedford the open spaces to the east present a beautiful view of the greensand ridge which would be totally obscured blotted by 1800 modern featureless houses which would be a tragedy
Please do not destroy the environment and our rural heritage.