Bedford Borough Local Plan 2040 Plan for Submission

Policy DS2(S) Spatial strategy should be reworded to include infrastructure, as indicated:

Rural area
xii. The completion of strategic Key Service Centre and more limited Rural Service Centre residential development and associated infrastructure identified in Local Plan 2030 on sites which are allocated in neighbourhood plans and the completion of Local Plan 2030 Policy 27 Land north of School Lane, Roxton;

Paragraph 4.5 states “...saved policies 4S-7S of Local Plan 2030.” But Appendix 1 says 4S is NOT “saved”, it is replaced with by DS3(S). Should read “...saved policies 5S-7S of Local Plan 2030.”

Policy EMP6 Business Park, Land at Water End and St Neots Road should be reworded to also include separation from Great Barford:

iii. Design to respect local landscape priorities, ensuring separation from Renhold, Green End village and Great Barford residential areas, and the need for sensitive external lighting;

General
We are in general agreement with the Draft BBLP2040 Plan for Submission.

However, the practice of Saving Policies from previous Plans (LP2002, ADLP2013, LP2030), but not incorporating a copy of the full text of those Policies into the current document is seen as detrimental, and hampers the use of the latest plan. Without constant cross-checking to confirm if there is a relevant Policy saved from a previous plan, it is difficult to know which older Policies are still live and need to be taken into account when assessing any planning application or proposed development. For ease of use, it is strongly recommended that the full text of ALL live Policies should be included in the latest Plan document, preferably within the relevant main body text, but even as a compilation of the full text of saved Policies in an appendix. The latest/current Plan should be able to be read as a stand-alone document.

Appendix 1, Allocations and Designations Local Plan 2013, AD28 states “Partly replaced by Policy DM12...” But DM12 is Tall Buildings NOT Outdoor sports space. Should read “Partly replaced by Policy DM11...”