Local Plan 2040 Draft Plan - Strategy options and draft policies consultation

Support

Representation ID: 5725

Received: 07/09/2021

Respondent: Odell Parish Council

Since the last plan it is pleasing to note that the current document appears to have been developed with greater strategic vision related to the wider infrastructure needs of the Borough and recognises that Bedford is now a substantial commuter location largely serving London employment needs.
We support the aspiration to be a greener, more accessible and prosperous Borough with the opportunity for all in the Borough able to take advantage of the betterments that such a plan will provide. Optimising the use of brown-field sites rather than development on farming land for new housing is strongly supported.
Odell Parish Council is encouraged to observe the greater strategic vision in the 2040 Plan than
that in the Local Plan 2030 and the Plan to 2035. Bedford Borough is at last starting to address
the fundamental challenges of a growing town, including its rural locations. It is however a
major strategic challenge for the Borough Council to ensure that the development of the
Oxford/ Cambridge Arc does not become predominant and disproportionate in the
determination of the expansion of the Borough.

Object

Representation ID: 5726

Received: 07/09/2021

Respondent: Odell Parish Council

The Parish Council notes with concern and disappointment that the Borough has decided not to challenge the increase in its housing target from Central Government. The increase from just under 1,000 new homes each year to over 1,200 a year is a key determinant in the calculation of the level of new housing supply that the Borough needs to provide and suggests this is being driven by a disproportional and massive inward migration of new residents to the Borough resulting from the Oxford-Milton Keynes- Bedford- Cambridge arc. The basis of the assumptions and the associated algorithm are widely subject to considerable challenge and certainty, but has the Borough Council got the will and determination to address this essential matter?

Object

Representation ID: 5727

Received: 07/09/2021

Respondent: Odell Parish Council

In relation to employment, Odell Parish Council observes that the 2040 Plan has forecast that 8000 new jobs are required within the plan period and that 3 new business sites will be developed with 123ha allocated for commercial and industrial growth. Whilst the location of these three sites is yet to be determined they should be sited on brown field land if at all possible.

Object

Representation ID: 5728

Received: 07/09/2021

Respondent: Odell Parish Council

In the further detailed development of the 2040 Plan Odell Parish Council has a strong preference for option 2c and would encourage the Borough to focus on this option or 2a. Each of these take maximum advantage of the A421 dual carriageway and its connection to the M1 as a prime transport route to and from Bedford on the south west/north east axis, with the new / improved stations on the East West Rail route being complementary to both these options.
The Parish Council strongly disagrees with any inclusion in the 2040 Plan of the new garden village sites at Twinwoods or Colworth, which are unsustainable because of the already congested and overloaded road network north of Bedford.
The A6 coming from North Bedfordshire into Bedford is already completely overloaded in the morning peak with traffic queuing back at least 0.5 miles from the Sainsbury Roundabout along Paula Radcliffe Way and also extensively along Great Ouse Way. The latest proposals regarding road improvements/ traffic lights to address this issue are wholly inadequate and far more radical solutions need to be considered, including a potential park and ride facility with a dedicated lane for the shuttle buses that would be required. The bus station and rail station need to be adjacent to each other to provide an integrated transport solution, facilitating optimum use of a Park and ride/shuttle bus facility.
We note with considerable concern the proposal to accommodate up to 500 new homes in Sharnbrook, particularly relative to the already existing significant traffic constraints within the infrastructure of that village. The arterial roads from Sharnbrook, passing through Odell and Harrold between the A6 and the A428 have existing congestion problems, particularly in Harrold where historical road widths and extensive roadside parking effectively creates a single lane roadway. Further traffic is likely to be generated from the 2040 plan which will exacerbate an already unacceptable and challenging situation. With the growing volumes of traffic likely to emerge from the plan and years beyond, a more radical solution needs to be sought.

Object

Representation ID: 5731

Received: 07/09/2021

Respondent: Odell Parish Council

Rail commuting has grown enormously over the past 25 years and because of the ease of getting to London this expansion will inevitably continue. Thameslink are the principal supplier of train services at the station, but increased services from East Midlands Trains and within a few years the new East/West train services will stretch station capacity to the limit. Thameslink trains have been extended to 12 carriages to accommodate this traffic growth. The car parks in the vicinity of the station are full by 08.30/08.45 on most working days, Monday to Friday, essentially resulting in any one arriving by car after that time not to be able to use the train for their journey, and probably causing them not to consider rail travel from Bedford in the future.
The Council has been advised on two previous occasions, in response to earlier local plan consultations, of a solution that was implemented at Farnham Railway station in Surrey where the car park was extended to a multi-storey facility whilst still maintaining the use of the majority of the car park during the building process.
The Parish Council has considerable concerns regarding the proposed new rail route from
Bedford to Cambridge with the vast infrastructure constructions that will be needed to be
provided to cross the River Great Ouse valley and the A6. It will also make a major detrimental
change to the scenic perspective of the area. The enormous carbon dioxide pollution resulting
from the construction process of the route and the ongoing carbon pollution from the engine
exhausts of the Diesel Multiple units planned for the East/West train service create a massive
negative to the desire of the Borough to seek net zero emissions over the lifetime of the trains
of 30 years.