Object

Representation ID: 9789

Received: 23/07/2022

Respondent: Mrs Hilary Ashby

Legally compliant? Not specified

Sound? Not specified

Duty to co-operate? Not specified

I object to the inclusion of Wixams Extension i.e. land east and south of Wixams, in the 2040 Local Plan for the following reasons:
• The proposed developments are incorrectly labelled as ‘Wixams Extension’ as they will all be within Wilstead’s parish boundary. Was this done to mislead the residents of Wilstead into thinking that no development is included in the 2040 Local Plan for Wilstead? I am also wondering if it is entirely legal to label these developments as ‘Wixams Extension’ when they clearly are not.
• Wilstead should not be classified as a Key Service Centre as the scoring in the Settlement Hierarchy is flawed and Wilstead should therefore not qualify for major development. Wilstead’s infrastructure cannot cope with more development.
• Wilstead’s Neighbourhood Plan which is currently out for inspection before going to referendum, includes NO development for Wilstead with 95% of respondents stating that the rural feel and access to the countryside via miles of footpaths and bridleways are important to them. This would be lost if these new developments were to go ahead.
• The proposed developments are outside the SPA. The areas outside the SPA are ‘green spaces’ which prevent coalescence between communities.
• Wilstead is a village consisting of ribbon development. Any further development at its ‘ends’ would mean people having to get in their cars to access the centre of the village thus having an environmental impact eg. pollution from traffic. Public transport to and from Wilstead is poor
• The sites are close to flood plains. With insurers becoming more reluctant to insure houses liable to flooding and charging exorbitant premiums, would these new houses sell?
• The proposed sites are on agricultural land. The Ukraine crisis shows that the UK must be self-sufficient in producing grain therefore I believe that proposed new developments would be better placed on brownfield sites.
• In this area we are lucky enough to have wide variety of mammals and birds whose habitat will be threatened by these developments. These include hares, deer, bats and barn owls.
• If the proposed currently developments were to go ahead, there would be even more chaos than there is already on the A6 towards both Bedford and Luton and the approach to Interchange Retail Park. Wilstead would also be used by residents of these proposed developments as a ‘rat run’ to the A600.
• There is also a development (already approved) of 1600 new homes plus employment buildings nearby in Central Bedfordshire which will also impact heavily on the above roads as well as other services such as healthcare and schools. BBC obviously has not taken into account what is happening in its neighbouring council’s plan before including the ‘Wixams Extension’ in their Local Plan 2040.
• The villages within Wixams should be completed first before any thought is given to developing other surrounding land.
• There are no plans for development in the BBC Local Plan 2040 in the North of the Borough. South of the Borough should not take the brunt of development. It would be far more sensible to place new development in the North of the Borough where the East-West Rail link is proposed.