Issues and Options

It is considered that the Council is best placed to determine whether there is evidence that house building within the Borough is required to go beyond new national house building standards.

The provision and enhancement of pedestrian and cycle routes to local facilities and accessibility to public transport are considered to be ways which can encourage the greater use of sustainable modes of transport through the Local Plan.

It is not considered that existing planning polices fail to cover important national or local issues on the protection and enhancement of the natural environment.

There are not considered to be any matters addressed in new Government guidance which is not adequately covered by existing policies or referenced within the Issues and Options Consultation document. Further matters may come to light upon publication of the first detailed draft of the Local Plan Review.

Please find attached response form for the Issues & Options Consultation on behalf of the following landowners who are promoting sites available for self-build dwellings: • Mr Gary Moore – Land To The West Of 52 Keeley Lane, Wootton • Mr Glen Moore – Land At 66 Hall End Road, Wootton • Mr G Morroll and Mr J Wright – Land East Of Heddings Farm, The Lane, Wyboston • Mr E F Wootton – Sites at Top Farm, Wyboston,; Shrubbery Farm, Wilden; Land North Of Home Farm, Renhold; and Land South Of Home Farm, Renhold

Yes

The general proposed scope of the plan appears to cover the main matters which would be anticipated to be included within the Local Plan Review. We support the proposal to include a policy to deliver self & custom build opportunities. Self-Build plots are an excellent way of facilitating good quality, well designed, cost effective, and energy efficient housing which is tailored to the needs of the purchaser. Self-build dwellings are an essential part of the housing mix going forward but they need to be provided in the right location. Up until now, Self Build dwellings have tended to come forward as individual windfall plots, where the self-builder is competing with the small and medium scale house builder, or as a small percentage of more recently approved larger sites. However, in order to encourage more self-build and custom housebuilding, it is important that the plots are located where the market wants them to be, and there is greater interest from the market for bespoke plots in the rural area rather than plots which are part of large scale sites dominated by market housing. The Council should therefore be looking for suitable sites in the rural area, that can address this need. Several of our clients have land which is suitable of providing small clusters of bespoke self-build plots in the rural area and this presents an opportunity for the Council to facilitate the delivery self-build in more desirable locations where the demand is higher. These self-build plots will encourage local people to stay in the locality and attract others to it, and this will contribute towards the NPPF’s objective of enhancing and maintaining the vitality of rural communities. The sites below have all been submitted through the Call For Sites process and are available for self-build: • Land East Of Heddings Farm, Wyboston • Top Farm, Wyboston • Shrubbery Farm, Wilden • Land North Of Home Farm, Renhold • Land South Of Home Farm, Renhold • Land Rear Of Home Farm, Renhold • Land To The West Of 52 Keeley Lane, Wootton • Land At 66 Hall End Road, Wootton

The vision states that development within rural communities will have been achieved purely through neighbourhood plans. It would appear premature to include this point within the vision in advance of determining the borough’s development strategy and approach to growth, particularly given that the second reason given for the requiring this review, is that the 2030 Local Plan relies upon Neighbourhood Plan sites, and the review allows the council to intervene to ensure that house building rates are maintained. Furthermore, the plan period exceeds that of the Neighbourhood Plans so it needs to facilitate growth in the rural area for when these plans come to end. The Council is presently reliant on Neighbourhood Plans delivering growth in the rural area. The vision should also encourage suitable windfall sites in the rural area to assist with maintaining the long-term sustainability of these settlements and their services, rather than just relying on Neighbourhood Plans. This is particularly important in areas which are not preparing a Neighbourhood Plan otherwise this will create inconsistencies in growth across the Borough. It is important that all settlements are given the opportunity to grow proportionately in order to enhance or maintain their vitality as required by the NPPF and Planning Practice Guidance on rural housing. We would contend that self-build and custom housing offers that opportunity, with such plots being more capable of addressing local design and landscape character. Although referencing East-West Rail and improved connectivity to Oxford and Cambridge, it is considered that the vision should include and elaborate on how it will have supported and contributed to the ambitious growth objectives within the Oxford to Cambridge Arc.

I agree with this plan period

As has been set out, the examination of the 2030 Local Plan established that the requirements for this ‘immediate’ review is to address the development ambitions of the Oxford – Cambridge Arc and to maintain adequate house building rates in the context of the Inspectors noting that the 2030 Local Plan relied on Neighbourhood Plan housing sites. Although it is acknowledged that it will be challenging, it would appear logical to suggest that the plan period should correspond with the growth ambitions of the Oxford – Cambridge arc, and accordingly it is considered that the plan period should be extended to 2050.

Grey– Dispersed growth

On behalf of the identified client’s, we advise they would support the Dispersed Growth option which allows growth to be distributed proportionally throughout the Borough. We agree that the majority of development will still be focused around Bedford but growth will also be allocated proportionally in other settlements. This will ensure that no particular area will be overburdened with development whilst enabling the benefits of development to be shared throughout the Borough. This will help to increase and maintain the vitality of settlements in the rural area. We disagree that this strategy would not facilitate employment growth provided this is directed to the most appropriate locations. This would also provide new rural employment opportunities and facilitate the expansion of existing sites. The majority of new infrastructure will be focussed in and around Bedford but a proportional amount can be accommodated in the rural areas so those communities can also benefit.

Infrastructure including education, health, transport, community facilities and open space are considered key considerations in the delivery of growth in Bedford Borough.