Comment

Representation ID: 9913

Received: 28/02/2023

Respondent: Anthony Hare

My concern is the unfair focus to build housing south of Bedford and failing to look north of Bedford. We already suffer hugely increased traffic problems which will only increase with more traffic due to increased housing especially in an area such as Elstow having already seen housing triple+ in the past 30+ years, and that is to a village that has greater historic and heritage values than possibly any village in southern England. The housing referred below could easily subsume Elstow into a greater Bedford to simply become a residential ward estate like Putnoe or Goldington or Brickhill or Harper or Cauldwell.

HOU 5 - West Elstow - Abbey Field
A touch confused with regard to housing on Abbeyfield West when the housing details referred to by Natalie Billington's local plan briefing makes no such reference. I have had a long personal discussion with Charles Whitbread, the landowner, about that said housing and he has said that plans are yet to be drawn up, but, and importantly, he has agreed, in fact promised, that I will be personally involved with the plans before any submission to BBC planning. He is aware that I have personally spent some 24 years stopping the Whitbread family developing that land and other land(s) in Elstow.