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

Support

Representation ID: 3513

Received: 27/07/2021

Respondent: Felmersham & Radwell Parish Council

Felmersham & Radwell Parish Council has considered the recent consultation on the emerging Bedford Borough Local Plan 2040 and responds accordingly.

The consultation outlines a number of options for the focus of future development in the period to 2040 and specifically identifies the need to build in the region of 12,500 new dwellings over and above existing allocations during this period.

It is acknowledged that many of the consultation options recognise the importance of the A421 corridor for future growth opportunities, recognising that the significant infrastructure proposals will provide a well-connected, accessible and sustainable location for growth. The Parish Council supports this approach and concurs that the A421 corridor is a significantly better location for growth and better able to meet housing need. This will, in particular, help maintain the character of the Great Ouse Valley, without the pressure of additional levels of growth, thus making residents lives more miserable through increased traffic and pressure on local services.

Opportunities for growth in the Oxford to Cambridge corridor must, therefore, be exploited and the Parish Council supports development growth option 2(c).

The Parish Council remains very keen to ensure that well respected and valued rural communities in North Bedfordshire are not subjected to further inappropriate scale of development given the inadequate infrastructure that exists to support growth, including the already congested A6 infrastructure. Further sizeable allocations in Key and Rural Service Centres identified in some of the consultation options, should be avoided. Whilst it is inevitable that significant housing growth will continue to be required to meet assessed needs, it is strongly the view of the Parish Council that the preferred options should focus on the creation of new sustainable communities aligned to the already well connected and accessible growth opportunities offered by the A421 corridor.

The Parish Council acknowledges, with encouragements, that the report to the Executive did state that the Local Plan strategy must recognise the significant contribution to growth that is already being provided in the Borough's larger villages (the Key and Rural Service Centres). As far as possible, the emerging range of options steer additional growth away from villages that have a Local Plan 2030 allocation although the Parish Council is concerned that, for some options, additional strategic development land may need to be allocated in those parishes. This is most unacceptable as further growth in villages like Sharnbrook, Clapham, Carlton, Harrold, Milton Ernest, Oakley etc would put unprecedented strain on the local road networks particularly the A6 and the bottleneck "Sainsburys" roundabout approaching Bedford. the inevitable rat runs through the villages would also be compounded if unacceptable levels of growth were allocated in North Bedfordshire. The A421 corridor, by contrast, represents a much better location for growth and must be exploited.

The Parish Council sincerely hopes that these observations are helpful and that the Borough Council will be prepared to focus its proposals for growth locations consistent with endeavours to protect existing sustainable communities from the harm that excessive growth will cause the immediate neighbouring rural communities.