Issues and Options

Nothing chosen

Ensure a policy is in place on the climate change/environment/green issues Ensure affordable housing is built with adequate living space and bedroom requirement for growing families. Ensure the character and heritage of rural areas is maintained Ensure that facilities for town events (river festival, kite festival, concerts in the park etc.) are maintained. These events are well attended and enjoyed by those that live in the town and wider bedford borough. Focus upon improving quality and quantity of further and higher education facilities in the borough. A significant number of college and university graduates seek out immediate career opportunities in the area local to their college/university. Equally, as the cost of further and higher education rises, local school-leavers will be looking at education opportunities closer to where they live and grow up. Retaining this knowledge and skill base in the local area could create economic growth in the local areas and so making the educational facilities as good as possible may facilitate this. Ensure that a housing policy is in place for the elderly and vulnerable such as sheltered accommodation and increased number of bungalows. In line with the ageing population.

Wixams main line station would benefit travel into the proposed employment areas. Impact on the rural areas to be assessed and damage to their heritage mitigated. Support the improvements to the town centre in Bedford and its use as a communal space. Would like to see consideration of repurposing the town centre to provide more working office space including the use of flexible office space.

I agree with this plan period

We agree with the shorter time frame. Consideration should be made for the type of houses being built such as size of living space, affordable and designed to be in keeping with surroundings. New and better connection roads for rural settlements to avoid rat runs.

Brown – Urban based growth , Pink – Rail growth , Orange – East-West rail northern station growth , Red – New settlement based growth

Brown – YES Yellow – NO Pink – YES Orange – YES Grey – No Red - Yes

Establishment at an early stage of essential services such as Schools,medical practices, local community centres to include food. Green spaces, parks, park and ride An integrated rapid transport system for easy commuting to include all modes of transport. Cycle and bridle ways. Consideration of local provision of hub spaces to enable rural telecommuting, not necessarily at home, upgrades to existing facilities (village halls for example) or provision of new buildings or facilities, particularly where garden villages are concerned. For an example, see www.gamlingayecohub.org.uk this approach could be expanded to provide hotdesking facilities available to local residents to enable telecommuting for residents where home working is not possible due to space/family constraints. Support local businesses by lowering business rates.

New employment sites could be located in the town centre, repurposing existing town centre buildings. Large retailers are moving away from the town and Bedford town centre will struggle to compete against MK and Cambridge for High Street shopping. Repurposing buildings to include more office space, supported by niche retailers and services targeted at office workers could revitalise the town centre. Wherever possible, provision of employment should be located within walking or cycling distance of main transport links (railway station). Also, public transport services should be reviewed to optimise provision of transport to employment sites, actively encouraging people to avoid using their cars to travel to and from work. Size and quantity of distribution centres needs to be monitored and managed, as automation increases, these centres will take up a lot of industrial space, without requiring a significant number of people to work there. The return of jobs vs space allocated will therefore be low.

Bedford town centre where existing large shopping buildings no longer required could be converted to office suites and hot desking. Large distribution should be developed by extension of the existing sites. Employment sites to be incorporated into new settlements to reduce the need for travel thereby helping with the carbon footprint. Existing brown field sites to be redeveloped. Provision of leisure and food facilities close to transport links such as the station, to capture business from commuters using the improved transport links to access jobs in Oxford/Cambridge. Review of local housing and transport policy to provide accommodation close to transport links to encourage commuters to reduce the use of cars to access the town centre and the wider transport links to Oxford/Cambridge.

Good range of points raised. Comments on Market town feel are interesting. Supports moving away from big retailer high street to a more niche/independent retailer position. Council plan could focus upon how to incentivise these businesses. Consideration should be given to increasing the level of residential property in and around the town centre to increase town centre diversity. Consider increase in greenspace through policy to convert building roof into gardens and greenspace.

I agree

Bedford Borough has excellent green spaces, they need to be maintained. Focus upon green transport links, maintaining existing green spaces and rural areas. Any development to limit impact on existing countryside areas. Introduce more cycleways, bridleways and bus routes. Introduce a river taxi service to make use of the river as a means of transport and as a means of attracting visitors Use of Green roof space in town centre areas and policy relating to the use of solar panels on new and renovated business and residential properties. New developments and roads should have more green space with the use of Wild flower planting to encourage the bee population and the increase in trees and hedgerows around new developments and roads. Consider the introduction of an Air quality zone in Bedford Town Centre and in the wider Borough. Consider wider Pedestrian zone in Bedford town centre and a private vehicle exclusion (except for Buses, Taxis, Privately Owned Electric Vehicles).

Increase in the number of affordable houses, targeted at improving the balance of local families and employees rather than focussing upon drawing in higher paid commuters. Ensure that a housing policy is in place for the elderly and vulnerable such as sheltered accommodation and increased number of bungalows. In line with the ageing population. Maintenance of conservation areas and ensure the use of high design standards to enhance the local area. Concern over erosion of local/parish council input to the planning process. Bedford Borough should continue to give consideration to the position of local and Parish councils on planning matters. Bedford Borough should be seeking to go above and beyond national standards in all areas in order to maximise the attraction of the local area and to create a sense of pride in living in Bedford Borough.