4.86

Object

Representation ID: 9087

Received: 05/07/2022

Respondent: Mr James West

Legally compliant? No

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? No

This is being classes wixams south but in fact in the boundary of Wilstead so being miss sold. Not enough infrastructure to support the existing houses at Wilstead and wixams, let alone 300 new houses. We have food shortages due to wars, Brexit and COVID taking more farm land for houses will increase the problem. The United Kingdom need to be more sustainable. This is not helping.

Object

Representation ID: 9092

Received: 07/07/2022

Respondent: Mr R W Harland

Legally compliant? No

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? No

Wilstead doesn’t have the facilities to support any further developments

Object

Representation ID: 9093

Received: 07/07/2022

Respondent: Mr R W Harland

Legally compliant? No

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? No

Wilstead doesn’t have the facilities to support any further developments.

Object

Representation ID: 9180

Received: 25/07/2022

Respondent: Mr David Watts

Legally compliant? No

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? No

The plans should clearly state this is Wilstead parish,it does not.
The lose of importance green spaces,will have a determental affect on the village
The road are not designed for the amount of traffic they have already,any more would be dangerous
The fact we have no doctors or dentists in the village,and local practices are already over stretched
And flooding and drainage are already a problem,with out any more developments
The gap between Wilstead and Wixams should be preserved to keep the character of the village

Object

Representation ID: 9219

Received: 25/07/2022

Respondent: Mr Mark Glaze

Legally compliant? No

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? No

This is ridiculous, the infastructure for the existing expansion in wixams and wilstead has not grown as it is enough to support the local population. No doctors no schools no cycle paths no shops. Acces on to a6 is already a problem. No future thinking appears to have taken plave. The policy is driven by developer greed and does not cover the needs of the existing population let alone growing it expotentally.
Bin it start again and do it properly for the people.

Object

Representation ID: 9245

Received: 26/07/2022

Respondent: Mr Simon Pickett

Legally compliant? No

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? No

The site suggested here is far too close to the rural village of Wilstead which is now becoming surrounded by the new Wixams development. This is damaging to the historic and traditional nature of the village layout (crossroads and long roads with "ends") and will bring a large amount of housing directly onto the side of a village which has repeatedly fought to remain both rural and quiet. 300 houses equates to effectively half the size of the village again. We already have no doctors, no dentists a serious issue with speeding and we are used as a rat run.

Object

Representation ID: 9333

Received: 28/07/2022

Respondent: Mr Eric Benton

Legally compliant? No

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? No

The location of this site is key to retaining segregation of the two distinctively different communities - Wixams and Wilstead. Development in this area places a huge risk to Wilstead being subsumed as part of Wixams. Only the A6 separates the area from the Longmeadow Drive area of Wilstead.
The naming of this site as "Land South of Wixams" should be changed to "West Wilstead" as it lies within the Wilshamstead Parish. This is misleading and will have led to Wilstead residents thinking the the development does not affect them

Object

Representation ID: 9501

Received: 06/07/2022

Respondent: Ms Fiona Groom

Legally compliant? Not specified

Sound? Not specified

Duty to co-operate? Not specified

The above to respond to the unacceptable Local Plan 2040 is not functioning, therefore I am unable to send in my views, so I will voice them now.
This is a totally unacceptable situation you are putting the village of Wilstead in.
Originally we objected to the 500 you wanted to impose on our village, which thankfully were removed.
NOW you want to impose 2,100 dwellings. This is not what a village is made up of. It would treble the size of the village. If you need to build, build in the Wixam parish not ours.
We also object to being ‘lumped’ with Wixams which is a separate entity and NOT part of Wilstead village.
We will be attending the drop in this Sunday in OUR Wilstead Village Hall and hope and pray enough residents object to this over populated scheme.
Our roads, public services, schools, shops etc will not support this excessive building, together with the reduction of green spaces will impact hugely on residents’ mental health. Something that is paramount to people’s well-being.

Comment

Representation ID: 9502

Received: 07/07/2022

Respondent: Mr R W Harland

I would like to comment on the Bedford Borough Local Plan 2040.

I am a resident of Wilstead.

My initial and very important comment is that Wilstead is still designated a “Key Service Centre”. As I recall in one of the first Local Plans Wilstead “achieved” this status based on the Council’s weighting rules. Because, at that time, we had a (part-time) doctor and had allotments and playing fields these inflated Wilstead’s “score”. At the time the council did not recognise that the doctor was only part-time and allocated a weighting for a doctor. We no longer have a doctor in the village.

Wilstead is very poorly served by any services. We do not have a doctor and the bus services are woefully inadequate. And we only have one shop and a pharmacy. In the Local Plan 2040 it states “In rural areas, Key Service Centres also perform the role of local centres and are important in serving their surrounding rural areas”.

I do not see how Wilstead can serve the surrounding rural area, since we have no services in the village.

To describe Wilstead as a “Key Service Centre” is misleading and factually incorrect.

Wilstead should be “downgraded” from a “Key Service Centre” to reflect the reality of the situation.

As far as I can see in the Local Plan 2040, there are three proposed developments that will affect Wilstead. They are:

HOU15 – Land South of Wixams - 300 Houses (*)
HOU16 – Land East of Wixams - 1,800 Houses (*)
HOU17 – Land at College Farm Shortstown - 1,000 Houses

(*) Please note that these developments (HOU15 & HOU16) actually lie within the Wilstead Parish Boundary and so to imply that they are part of Wixams is misleading.

All of these pose a danger that they will ultimately encroach on Wilstead and we will be left as just small “suburb” of a sprawling urban “town”, with no facilities.

In these developments the council states “The development is dependent on the delivery of transport improvements which will need to be secured before development”. So will improved bus services be
“in place” before the developments are started? I very much doubt it. We will then have over 2,000 new houses with no adequate public transport.

I also note that in the larger developments (HOU16 & HOU17) the council makes provision for schools (primary and secondary). I see no provision whatsoever for any new surgeries or medical centres.

So, to impose these developments onto Wilstead is complete madness because (as I have already described) Wilstead has no facilities and the result will be a sprawling town with no services to support the population.

Object

Representation ID: 9503

Received: 27/07/2022

Respondent: Mr David Moses

Legally compliant? Not specified

Sound? Not specified

Duty to co-operate? Not specified

I wish to object to aspects of the proposed Bedford Local Plan 2040 as below -

Areas identified in the plan as extensions to Wixams, lie within the parish boundary of Wilstead.

To enable any proposed development to be sustainable, provision of facilities for healthcare, education, transport and water supply all need to be addressed before any development takes place. The current road network is already heavily trafficked and any further industrial development with the traffic this would generate would overload the system.

The proposed development areas within Wilstead parish would impact on the use of public footpaths and bridleways and seriously damage the green aspects of the village which are very much valued.

Object

Representation ID: 9504

Received: 27/07/2022

Respondent: Mr Leslie Pearson

Legally compliant? Not specified

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? Not specified

My comments relate to issues that would directly affect the village of Wilstead (within the Parish of Wilshamstead ) where I have lived for the past 46 years.

I wish to OBJECT to the proposal included in the Bedford Local Plan 2040 to build a further 2100 homes within the Parish of Wilshamstead.

The reasons for my objections are as follows;
(i) The Bedford Local Plan 2040 proposes 2100 new homes within the Parish of Wilshamstead but under the label of ‘Wixams Extension’. This is misleading and needs to be addressed. If this proposal is eventually approved then, in reality, this would result in a massive housing expansion within the Wilstead community and conflict with the Wilstead Neighbourhood Plan 2030.

(ii) If the proposed building within Wilshamstead Parish goes ahead, it will result in the loss of hundreds of acres of rural countryside, much of which is highly productive agricultural land. It is widely accepted, nationally and internationally, that there is a need to grow more food for the growing population, so why remove the ability to do so?

(iii) If the proposed building within Wilshamstead Parish goes ahead, it will totally change the character and nature of Wilstead village away from a traditional rural community. A move in this direction has been fiercely resisted over recent years by the community of Wilstead who wish to retain its rural character in a sensible and sustainable way.

(iv) If this proposed building goes ahead, it will put unsustainable pressure on the ‘Key Service Centre’ of Wilstead. In my opinion Wilstead DOES NOT meet the defined criteria for a Key Service Area. The criteria used for Wilstead to carry this classification have in some cases been over-stated, or are incorrect or simply do not exist in reality. This classification needs to be reviewed.

(v) If this proposed building goes ahead in Wilshamstead Parish, it will place much more pressure on the local transport infrastructure which I fear will fail to adequately to cope with this and other building expansions bordering the parish. A new rail station (long promised but yet to materialize) at the Wixams will do little to help alleviate the road traffic situation to the south of Bedford. In addition, the once ‘pride of Bedford’ Park & Ride Service, which could demonstrably contribute to reducing traffic volume into and out of Bedford, no longer exists as a genuine P&R service despite the very large signs on the A421 and A6 advertising this service.

Comment

Representation ID: 9511

Received: 10/07/2022

Respondent: Shahrzad Wyatt

As a resident of Wilstead, I am concerned about the local planning proposal. One of the reasons that we moved to the area was the village size and rural aspects.
The Wixam east proposal in in actuality not in the boundary lines of Wixam but rather in the Wilstead boundary, as such it is a misrepresentation of plan. They should account for a legal review at the very least.
The building of these houses will put undue burden on the Wilstead community because we actually do not have the infrastructure that has been set out. Our post office and shop are one and the same and barely support the village as is. No more than 3 people fit in there at a time and would not support another 12,800 houses.
The bus does not provide service to most of the village. The A6 and cotton end road are already single carriageways that are already congested and would create more traffic for another potential 25,600 plus cars if not more on these already busy roads. Traffic as well as pollution would have a negative impact on our community, especially in this time of trying to preserve our planet and reduce carbon emissions and our carbon footprint. The building and construction will also create further congestion as well as more wear and tear on our only road.
There is a school in Wixam that can support their community which has not been allocated to their point system whereas we have had a doctor allocated to us but we no longer have a doctor in the village. The nearest doctor is in Bedford.
We need to preserve our green space and maintain the beauty and integrity of our village, the addition of all these Wixam houses in the parish of Wilstead is both unlawful as well as burdensome for the community that cannot support it.
To make the plan compliant Wixam proposed housing development needs to be built in Wixam’s boundaries not Wilstead.
If these houses are to have proper access for commuting the A6 would need to become a dual carriageway, but that would mean further reduction of our green space, which again would have a negative impact on the air quality and put the young and elderly at risk.
There is no infrastructure set out in this proposed development for shops, doctors, post office, businesses and that would need to be established in order to provide the necessary framework for a community.

Object

Representation ID: 9516

Received: 27/07/2022

Respondent: Deborah Moseley

Legally compliant? Not specified

Sound? Not specified

Duty to co-operate? Not specified

As a resident of Wilstead of over 30 years I am appalled to hear of another large-scale housing development of 2100 on our doorstep.

This area is already saturated with the building development of Wixams still ongoing, more and more houses and industrial warehouses.

Wilstead is a village and should remain so. We cannot allow this village to be swallowed up in the Wixams sprawl!

The school, preschool are already at full capacity. We have no G.P surgery the closest being Ampthill or Bedford.
The infrastructure is not in place, roads and traffic are becoming unbearable with the ever increase number of homes.

This whole area is unrecognisable to the countryside village we moved to in the 1980's our precious green space is diminishing. What happened to green belt areas to protect from this kind of large development?

The proposal is the wrong type of housing in the wrong area.

Object

Representation ID: 9517

Received: 27/07/2022

Respondent: Mrs Jennie Burgin

Legally compliant? Not specified

Sound? Not specified

Duty to co-operate? Not specified

I am writing this email to make my feeling known about the building development that will possibly be happing in Wilstead.
I personally don't live in Wilstead, but my parents do. (I hope to move there one day soon if this planning does NOT go ahead!) we visit my parents an awful lots and my children love to play in the field space out the back of my parents house, not only is it beautiful scenery where lots of people walk and enjoy village life, there are many animals and wild life who will loose their homes due to building houses on the habitat. We really enjoy this area and love the village and worry with the building development going up it will loose the village feel and stunning historic rural Scenery.
The traffic will be double through out the village let alone to mention the amount of houses that are possible going up there is no mention of new schools, doctors or even dental practices being added which will put extra pressure on all the local schools, local doctors who are already struggling with the amount of Patience they currently have, They just can't cope with anymore being added to the area. Bus services would be at a stretch along with the local chemist, post office and so on. These are just a few point I feel will become a very big problems to the village and local area along with many more! Please stop building on our country side, we are loosing historical rural country side at a rapid rate, we are not the only living things on this planet.... we need to protect animals habitats.

I hope you take into account all of my points above

Comment

Representation ID: 9524

Received: 10/07/2022

Respondent: Mr Adam Wyatt

As a resident of Wilstead, I am concerned about the local planning proposal. One of the reasons that we moved to the area was the village size and rural aspects.
The Wixam east proposal in in actuality not in the boundary lines of Wixam but rather in the Wilstead boundary, as such it is a misrepresentation of plan. They should account for a legal review at the very least.
The building of these houses will put undue burden on the Wilstead community because we actually do not have the infrastructure that has been set out. Our post office and shop are one and the same and barely support the village as is. No more than 3 people fit in there at a time and would not support another 12,800 houses.
The bus does not provide service to most of the village. The A6 and cotton end road are already single carriageways that are already congested and would create more traffic for another potential 25,600 plus cars if not more on these already busy roads. Traffic as well as pollution would have a negative impact on our community, especially in this time of trying to preserve our planet and reduce carbon emissions and our carbon footprint. The building and construction will also create further congestion as well as more wear and tear on our only road.
There is a school in Wixam that can support their community which has not been allocated to their point system whereas we have had a doctor allocated to us but we no longer have a doctor in the village. The nearest doctor is in Bedford.
We need to preserve our green space and maintain the beauty and integrity of our village, the addition of all these Wixam houses in the parish of Wilstead is both unlawful as well as burdensome for the community that cannot support it.
To make the plan compliant Wixam proposed housing development needs to be built in Wixam’s boundaries not Wilstead.
If these houses are to have proper access for commuting the A6 would need to become a dual carriageway, but that would mean further reduction of our green space, which again would have a negative impact on the air quality and put the young and elderly at risk.
There is no infrastructure set out in this proposed development for shops, doctors, post office, businesses and that would need to be established in order to provide the necessary framework for a community.

Comment

Representation ID: 9525

Received: 05/08/2022

Respondent: Farhad Connary

As a resident of Wilstead, I am concerned about the local planning proposal. One of the reasons that we moved to the area was the village size and rural aspects.

The Wixam east proposal in in actuality not in the boundary lines of Wixam but rather in the Wilstead boundary, as such it is a misrepresentation of plan. They should account for a legal review at the very least.

The building of these houses will put undue burden on the Wilstead community because we actually do not have the infrastructure that has been set out. Our post office and shop are one and the same and barely support the village as is. No more than 3 people fit in there at a time and would not support another 12,800 houses.

The bus does not provide service to most of the village. The A6 and cotton end road are already single carriageways that are already congested and would create more traffic for another potential 25,600 plus cars if not more on these already busy roads. Traffic as well as pollution would have a negative impact on our community, especially in this time of trying to preserve our planet and reduce carbon emissions and our carbon footprint. The building and construction will also create further congestion as well as more wear and tear on our only road.

There is a school in Wixam that can support their community which has not been allocated to their point system whereas we have had a doctor allocated to us but we no longer have a doctor in the village. The nearest doctor is in Bedford.

We need to preserve our green space and maintain the beauty and integrity of our village, the addition of all these Wixam houses in the parish of Wilstead is both unlawful as well as burdensome for the community that cannot support it.

To make the plan compliant Wixam proposed housing development needs to be built in Wixam’s boundaries not Wilstead.

If these houses are to have proper access for commuting the A6 would need to become a dual carriageway, but that would mean further reduction of our green space, which again would have a negative impact on the air quality and put the young and elderly at risk.

There is no infrastructure set out in this proposed development for shops, doctors, post office, businesses and that would need to be established in order to provide the necessary framework for a community.

Comment

Representation ID: 9526

Received: 05/08/2022

Respondent: Rasha Khoyi

As a resident of Wilstead, I am concerned about the local planning proposal. One of the reasons that we moved to the area was the village size and rural aspects.

The Wixam east proposal in in actuality not in the boundary lines of Wixam but rather in the Wilstead boundary, as such it is a misrepresentation of plan. They should account for a legal review at the very least.


The building of these houses will put undue burden on the Wilstead community because we actually do not have the infrastructure that has been set out. Our post office and shop are one and the same and barely support the village as is. No more than 3 people fit in there at a time and would not support another 12,800 houses.


The bus does not provide service to most of the village. The A6 and cotton end road are already single carriageways that are already congested and would create more traffic for another potential 25,600 plus cars if not more on these already busy roads. Traffic as well as pollution would have a negative impact on our community, especially in this time of trying to preserve our planet and reduce carbon emissions and our carbon footprint. The building and construction will also create further congestion as well as more wear and tear on our only road.


There is a school in Wixam that can support their community which has not been allocated to their point system whereas we have had a doctor allocated to us but we no longer have a doctor in the village. The nearest doctor is in Bedford.

We need to preserve our green space and maintain the beauty and integrity of our village, the addition of all these Wixam houses in the parish of Wilstead is both unlawful as well as burdensome for the community that cannot support it.

To make the plan compliant Wixam proposed housing development needs to be built in Wixam’s boundaries not Wilstead.


If these houses are to have proper access for commuting the A6 would need to become a dual carriageway, but that would mean further reduction of our green space, which again would have a negative impact on the air quality and put the young and elderly at risk.


There is no infrastructure set out in this proposed development for shops, doctors, post office, businesses and that would need to be established in order to provide the necessary framework for a community.

Comment

Representation ID: 9527

Received: 10/07/2022

Respondent: Jade Connary

I believe that this proposal will create pollution and potential flooding when the future buildings go into place.
There is not enough infrastructure for both Wilstead and Wixam.
This in the wilstead boundary not wixams.
Congestion will also increase and create pollution.

Object

Representation ID: 9528

Received: 10/07/2022

Respondent: Mr Andrew Bartram

Legally compliant? Not specified

Sound? Not specified

Duty to co-operate? Not specified

I wish to register and confirm that I object to the Bedford Local Plan 2040 allocation of the proposed total of an additional 2100 dwellings in Wilstead Parish because:
1. Wilstead does not fully meet the scoring requirements as laid out in the 'Settlement Hierarchy' and should therefore not qualify for major development on this scale
2. It will destroy the historic rural nature of the village, lead to coalescence with other nearby locations by removing separation from the urban sprawl, absorb a huge amount of the rural landscape and have a damaging effect on the existing and established wildlife currently enjoying unspoilt countryside habitats
3. The sheer number of dwellings proposed will enlarge the village disproportionately (trebling it in size!!), will not be sympathetic to the rural character of existing dwellings and will create separate satellite,non-integrated communities within the 'new' village boundary resulting in the loss of the existing vibrant village identity
4. Traffic will increase exponentially with respective increases in speed violations resulting in further danger to cyclists and pedestrians; in particular children and the elderly. Journeys into the village will be mostly by car, be short and by definition not eco-friendly. Pollution in this otherwise clean air village will rise with all the associated health issues it brings to all forms of life.
5. All primary and secondary schools currently serving the village are either at or above capacity and are either badly or not served at all by public transport resulting in ever increasing use of the car
6. There is no GP provision in the village and the combination of additional housing planned in Wilstead Parish along with that just proposed just over the borough boundary in South Bedfordshire will completely overwhelm the current services provided in nearby Ampthill
7. The possibility of an additional 5600 people occupying the 2100 dwellings proposed accessing medical/dental/generic health care will be patchy at best and most likely at the end of a long distance and ecologically damaging journey
Whilst the current infrastructure might suggest it practical to 'load up' the south of the borough with all the housing need and solve the problem in the short term it will impact adversely upon the quality of life in places like Wilstead NOW and its new residents in the future who have to travel from the much bigger village to access any/all forms of services to meet the needs of everyday living.

Object

Representation ID: 9529

Received: 11/07/2022

Respondent: Etna White

Legally compliant? Not specified

Sound? Not specified

Duty to co-operate? Not specified

I am emailing the information provided regarding planning in the Village of Wilstead Beds.
I object to this project as we moved in the village because we liked it quite the traffic will be so bad if this goes ahead and there are no facilities for G.P doctors for the new residents, not enough now.

There has already been significant building in Wixams for houses there are no jobs in this area.
All I see is road improvements so on that bases I object to this project I know the last objection was overruled by the government the people should be made aware of this and it should be published showing the disregard for the public. There is also large planning going ahead from Mid Beds between Houghton Conquest and Wilstead A6 the building work is unprecedented in this area and not necessary all around the same area.

Object

Representation ID: 9530

Received: 11/07/2022

Respondent: Beverley Bartram

Legally compliant? Not specified

Sound? Not specified

Duty to co-operate? Not specified

I object to the Bedford Local Plan 2040.
I believe the huge amount of new dwellings proposed for Wilstead VILLAGE will completely ruin the rural nature of Wilstead and the expected 5600 additional residents it will bring will massively overload the meagre services that currently exist.
The only medical facility we have is a small time chemist so for certain all doctors practices within the local area will come under even greater strain to meet the additional demands meaning current residents will also have to wait even longer with the consequences this will inevitably have on their well-being.
ALL local school settings are already bursting at the seams and even if more come on stream it will mean a further increase in car journeys to and from the village with ever more speeding vehicles and the dangers faced by all other road users and pedestrians alike.
Add the increase in pollution from traffic to the destruction of wildlife habitats caused by the building activities and the result is a damaging and damaged environment that
nobody, Including new residents, elected for when either they chose or choose to live in a village like Wilstead with its thriving community identity.
Building out on the extremities as planned will serve only to divide the village populations further fragmenting the cohesive spirit that bonds existing villagers and village life!
We are a community of around 3000 people so converting us into a huge and scattered one of 8000 plus will shatter the spirit, and not be in any way sympathetic to the precious rural character of this great little village.

Object

Representation ID: 9532

Received: 11/07/2022

Respondent: Yvonne Streetin

Number of people: 2

Legally compliant? Not specified

Sound? Not specified

Duty to co-operate? Not specified

I would like to object to the above proposal for the reasons stated below 👎

Having recently attended a viewing at our village hall of the new planned proposal of 2040, sadly it was bought to our attention that the 2100 new homes does in fact lie within the boundaries of Wilstead and are not an extension of Wixams as stated in the plans, this is very misleading.
The land where the homes would be sited is a very important rural landscape supporting a large amount of wildlife. With roughly 5000 new residents along with their cats and dogs it will not take long for the land to be desecrated.

Wilsteads infrastructure cannot support this.

Wilstead is not a key service centre as stated in the plans and should not qualify for a major development of this scale. Wixams has very little infrastructure although the recent addition of the academy has been built to cater for the growing size of pupils requiring education and a small shop.

Wilstead however cannot cater for another influx of more children entering this area as the school at present is already at its maximum. The only other amenity we have is the local post office/ small shop plus the chemist.

We have a bus service that is totally inadequate and un reliable which runs between Bedford and Luton and have nothing running East. West or West.East, considering the length of Cotton End Road Wilstead which is nearly 2miles long.
A majority of the village residents, some elderly have a long walk to the nearest bus stop, I now have to walk a mile as the service ceased to operate some time ago.
As we already suffer from inadequate roads coming through Wilstead we can only assume that with another 2100 homes, this brings along some 5000 cars as it is the norm today for people to be a 2 car family.
Wilstead is already used as a rat run between the A600 and the A6 mainly by the people of the surrounding communities.
Hence the air quality will become increasingly polluted, should this be approved.
Congestion on the roads, A6/A421 and the Ampthill Road leading into Bedford would also be a factor to take in to account.

Both Wilstead and Wixams have no doctors or dental practice so the surgery in Ampthill which serves Wilstead has already been overwhelmed by the massive influx of new home owners from Wixams. Another 5000 plus new residents will find this totally frustrating.

Finally, may I bring to your attention that Wilstead will lose its identity as a rural village with green space and become an extension of Wixams which is something I am strongly opposed to.

One aspect of sustainable development is that you should not use sites that are valuable from an agricultural, environmental, recreational prospective for development. All the land proposed for development is on key agricultural land.

My concern is that the development would cause the merger of Wixams and Wilstead and would clearly remove the clear band of countryside between them, this should not be allowed to happen.

I sincerely hope that you are able to respect these facts put before you and consider what effect the new proposal would have on us, as a rural village.

Object

Representation ID: 9533

Received: 11/07/2022

Respondent: Leigh Marmon

Legally compliant? Not specified

Sound? Not specified

Duty to co-operate? Not specified

This email is to OBJECT very strongly against the 2040 proposed plan to extend not Wixams West of A6 but extend Wilstead parish by a significant factor over the existing Wilstead homestead.
Wilstead is a village, Wixams is a hobbled together housing estate.
The reasons are outlined below:
1. Massive increase of cars number of dwellings X 2 cars as a minimum will increase pollution, noise, traffic build up before A421 roundabout that is already a bottleneck.
2. The land currently has a great population of deer and hares, amongst other wildlife such as flocks of Fieldfares in Spring time, all these are impacted with removal of habitat and replaced with paved roads housing etc.
3. The infrastructure is already stretched with local supermarkets with bare shelves are common now so introducing thousands of extra people will stretch local amenities, parking too as Wixams planning in their wisdom thought to allow 1.5 cars per household, hence the mess with cars parked on pavements being the norm.How this was derived at is something that needs consideration in any development.
4. The risk is high to ruin the village life in Wilstead, no sufficient parking, narrow road past post office the traffic is a problem, new housing will only add to the issues now.
5. There is a risk that Wilstead will eventually be consumed and Wilstead will be renamed Wixams, based on the fact the village has a history of name changes and if the new houses dwarfs as it will, then the village will he seen as one mass housing density.
6. A more appropriate housing density and no encroachment near Duck End Lane, a number of 500 houses would be more in keeping with the environment, surely it's not in anybodies interest to merge Shortstown, Wixams, Elstow and Wilstead in to a mass housing estate, not sure why planning think thousands of houses are necessary, semi rural life is why people have brought houses in a village, slowly with other add ons the village life is being killed by the planning department, what the motive for this is not understood.

Object

Representation ID: 9536

Received: 12/07/2022

Respondent: Shirley Hubbard

Legally compliant? Not specified

Sound? Not specified

Duty to co-operate? Not specified

Re ‘Wixams Extension ‘

As a long-standing resident of the Village of Wilstead, I would like to express my objection to the above planning application.

Long before Wixams was built, we, as the Village of Wilstead, were assured that not one brick of the proposed development, would be in the Parish of Wilstead.
Wixams ( then only one village,) was to be its own parish, separated from Wilstead, by the main A6 Road.

Now we find that Bedford Borough Council, in their wisdom, deem to try to join these two villages, with this planned Wixams Extension.

I, as a resident of this rural, countryside village, OBJECT strongly to your proposals & ask you to think again & consider the residents already living here in Wilstead, who wish to remain living in a village & not a conurbation of Wixams or any other nearby settlement.

Object

Representation ID: 9537

Received: 14/08/2022

Respondent: Mrs M Jepps

Legally compliant? Not specified

Sound? Not specified

Duty to co-operate? Not specified

Having all these dwellings right on our boundary will be merging with other villages. We are already linked to the Wixams, which means we will lose all our countryside and therefore the wildlife.
We don’t have the necessary infrastructure, we have no doctors near which means more pressure on the doctors that we do have. We have so much traffic on the A6 which is causing horrendous queues
going towards Bedford at the traffic lights. Also it will increase flooding with so much building there is nowhere for excess water to go.

I totally object to anymore building around our countryside we have lost so much land.

Object

Representation ID: 9753

Received: 27/07/2022

Respondent: Emma Moseley

Legally compliant? Not specified

Sound? Not specified

Duty to co-operate? Not specified

I’m a resident of Wilstead and have been all my life. I live in the village with my partner and our 3 children. We did love living in a village but it’s already totally surrounded by more and more developments, housing and warehouses!!

We absolutely do not want to be surrounded any further it’s getting ridiculous.
There is not the facilities or the infrastructure for these houses!

Schools/ preschools have no places and a struggling. There is no doctors/dentists or any other facilities. The roads can not cope with the already horrendously busy road. The beautiful fields that surrounded our village have all gone and either houses or the huge ugly warehouses.

The proposed development will have a further detrimental impact on our village and the surrounding area and wildlife. Enough is enough we already have Wixams with houses empty and up for sale there is no need extra development.

Comment

Representation ID: 9772

Received: 21/07/2022

Respondent: Wilstead Primary School

I am writing as Headteacher on behalf of Wilstead Primary School and Governing Body to contribute to the Local Plan 2020 Consultation.
The plans clearly demonstrate that there will be a significant need for additional schooling provision in the Wilshamstead district. This is verified by the 2022 Childcare Sufficiency Assessment, which shows that due to the rising population there is a need for new childcare and educational provision to be developed in Wilshamstead. There are already waiting lists currently for existing childcare and school places.
Wilstead Primary School is presently one form entry. It is a popular school and was rated Good by Ofsted in March 2022. We have a Forest School and in the next 18mths - 2 years, will be taking over the management of the Wilstead Pre-School which shares the school site, enabling the school to offer a two year EYFS, educational provision to children of 3-11 years and wrap-around breakfast and after school care.
The school has both the capacity and the intention to build on its good foundations and reputation.
The 2040 Plans indicate therefore that the current school would be able to meet much of the childcare and educational demands. There are alternative ways of facilitating this.
 The current school building is elderly and ready to be modernised. The grounds could accommodate a new build two-form entry school with consideration given to the issues of parking and access.
 Alternatively, the current school could relocate to an alternative and already identified site within the new developments. This will enable us to move a well-
Enabling children to realise their full potential
established team and current cohorts into accommodation which effectively meets the needs of the growing community.
We would like to express our concerns at the implication that an alternative school may be built without our inclusion in the decision.
It is clear from the plans that the identified area for development will encroach upon the catchment area of our school, and we are concerned that this could mean a falling roll for us.
We do not see the need for this provided that we are fully included in the future plans, and we would like to reiterate the facts: we already have a well-established school with a good local reputation that would be able to offer the childcare and educational provision that will clearly be needed within these plans, and we have a school leadership and Governing Body that would welcome the opportunity to work with the planning committee to put these proposals into action.

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.

Object

Representation ID: 9788

Received: 23/07/2022

Respondent: Mr Christopher Ashby

Legally compliant? Not specified

Sound? Not specified

Duty to co-operate? Not specified

• I object to the ‘2040 Plan’ and the new proposal for a further 12,800 homes over and above the 2030 plan. This is far too many to meet the future needs of the ‘Bedford Borough Community’ but instead is destined to encourage large scale migration of population looking for cheaper housing cramming into an area where the current facilities, road infrastructure, work prospects and services are already inadequate. The result will be even more travelling, more car usage and more environmental pollution and will not improve the quality of life of the current ‘Bedford Borough Community’.
• Within the ‘2040 Plan’ please be aware that I strongly object to the proposed development which you are misleadingly describing as ‘Wixam Extension’. As you are well aware, it is in fact a proposal to build 2100 new homes within the ‘Parish of Wilstead’ on sites to the North and West of Wilstead village.
• Wilstead should not be included in the ‘2040 Plan’ due to the closeness of Wixams where 4,500 new homes are planned to be built over the next 20 years. In addition, ‘Central Bedfordshire Council’s’ local plan also outlines a very large-scale development immediately south of Wixams the implications of which on Wilstead and the Borough must also be seriously considered. These developments would impact on employment, health services and traffic.
• For over 20 years a major complaint of Wilstead villagers is gaining access to health services and in particular Doctors and Dentists with everyone having to travel to either Ampthill, Bedford or Shortstown to be seen. Even new residents to the village now find it very difficult to enrol with these surgeries. The proposed expansion of Wilstead by 2100 dwellings will make the situation regarding ‘Health Care’ intolerable and totally unacceptable.
• The proposed new developments along with those proposed by Central Bedfordshire in this area would seriously increase traffic volumes, particularly on the B530 and the A6 causing even more problems around A421 intersection/Cow Bridge/Interchange Retail Park area which cannot cope now. More importantly for Wilstead it will also have a major impact on Cotton End Road which is already used as a ‘rat run’ across to the A600. A police survey of Cotton End Road concluded that 24.6% of vehicles using this road were travelling above the legal speed limit of 30 mph (4720 Vehicles!) and that’s before Wixams is fully completed. What will the situation be with the addition of all the proposed developments in this area from both Bedford Borough and Central Bedfordshire?
• It is understood that Bedford Borough commissioned a full study on the effects of additional traffic on the A6 approaching Bedford from any new developments proposed in the North of the Borough? Why was one not commissioned for the A6 approaching Bedford from the South of the Borough looking at the effect of the extra 4500 houses already planned/being built in Wixams PLUS the effect of the extra traffic from the 2100 new houses now proposed PLUS the effect of the extra traffic from the 1650+ houses that Central Bedfordshire are planning south of Wixams?
• The community of Wilstead has put together the ‘Wilshamstead Neighbourhood Plan’ which is currently under examination before being passed for referendum. During the process, following two major consultations, over 95% of respondents considered the rural feel of the village was key to the quality of life and community identity and certainly oppose further development, especially one tripling the current size as proposed. Wilstead is one of the last rural communities south of Bedford with approximately 1000 homes whose residents choose to live in a tranquil environment close to open green spaces farmland and wildlife and away from large numbers of people, massive housing estates, noise and pollution.
• These proposed developments would cause the effective merger of the village of Wilstead and Wixams. This is unacceptable as it is extremely important that the strategic gaps or green spaces between Wixams, Wilstead and its various ‘Ends’ within the village (Duck End, Church End, Littleworth etc) must be maintained to protect their individual heritage, prevent coalescence and avoid an ’Urban Sprawl’.
• The classification of Wilstead as a ‘Key Service Centre’ is flawed, in that the facilities that it has are only suited to its current size. For example, the Primary School capacity is limited, there are no medical facilities, and the local bus stops are located over 800 metres from most residents. Wilstead should be re-classified as a ‘Rural Service Centre’ and Wixams the ‘Key Service Centre’ with its Schools, Supermarket, Garden Centre and more able to support future development with the forthcoming Railway station and town centre, complete with shops and health care facilities etc. etc.
• The proposed developments would occupy a large area of the rural landscape of the ‘Parish of Wilstead’. With farming being at the heart of this community, why in this most difficult of times with pressure on food production and environmental conservation, would Bedford Borough even consider ‘concreting’ over more agricultural land which for centuries has produced and still produces, much needed Wheat, Barley etc.? This rural landscape is also home to many species of wildlife. Surely it would be more sensible to plan to build over brown field sites.
• Wilstead is situated at the foot of a Greensand Ridge and sits on impervious clay. Surface water running off the hill cannot be absorbed by the clay; hence we suffer surface flooding with the land drains and ditches backing up as they struggle to cope. Two of the proposed areas for development straddle the flood plain which takes the surface water from Duck End and the surrounding fields to the River Ouse. This will add to the drainage issues and affect insurance premiums on the new properties. With global warming and the prediction of a wetter climate causing more regular flash floods, the concreting over of these vast areas of green spaces must be seriously reconsidered and avoided in this area.
• Finally, it is very noticeable that the 2040 Plan does not include any development to the north of Bedford? Surely some of the burden should also fall on the northern parishes particularly as the proposed East West Rail link goes to the north of Bedford before heading West or concentrated on a new town development around the Wyboston area, but as outlined above, I certainly object to more expansion in the South of the Borough.

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.