Bedford Borough Council Local Plan 2040 submitted

It was agreed at the meeting of Full Council on 11th January 2023 that Bedford Borough Council’s Local Plan 2040 Plan for Submission be submitted to the Secretary of State for public examination.

**This story was updated on 13th April 2023 to include information on the 2040 Local Plan Examination.**

CPRE Bedfordshire recognises Local Plans as the cornerstone of the planning system and that Councils that do not have an up-to-date plan are in a very weak position to restrain speculative planning applications. The efforts that council officers have made to meet a very challenging timescale, set by the Planning Inspectorate, for the delivery of the Local Plan are appreciated.

However, CPRE Bedfordshire do have some concerns and we outline these below.

As a result of the impact of the government formula for setting housing targets, Bedford has suffered a staggering 40% increase on the locally assessed housing need calculated by the independent social research company engaged by the Council to undertake the housing needs assessment.

The Local Plan explains the implications of this for future population trends in Bedford as follows; It [The government’s standard method] forecasts that an increase in population of around 50,000 people and inward migration of more than 22,000 people over and above existing trends will need to take place if dwellings are to be populated at the standard method rate of 1,355 dwellings per year. This represents a 40% increase on the housing requirement of 970 dwellings per year set in the Local Plan 2030. In other words, the reason for this increase to Bedford’s local needs target is to provide additional housing, not for local people, but to provide more housing to allow for unprecedented levels of inward migration, apparently needed to boost the local economy.

Without the 40% increase on the local housing needs assessment (which includes the normal allowance for inward migration), Bedford Borough could continue to build at 970 homes per year and deliver nearly 20,000 dwellings over the 20-year plan period. The Local Plan states that the Council’s existing commitments amount to nearly 15,000 dwellings, so this would leave approximately 5,000 dwellings, to be allocated in the new plan, instead of the 12,000 dwellings allocated in the submitted plan.

If it were not for the increase in Bedford’s target to provide for exceptional levels of inward migration, there would be no need for the two new town developments to the south of Bedford and at Little Barford. It’s hard not to see this as Bedford’s contribution to Ox-Cam phase 1, so look out for phase 2 if the chosen northern route for East West Rail goes ahead, bringing threats of more major new town developments across north Bedfordshire.

Examination stage

Inspector Darren McCreery has been appointed to examine the Bedford Local Plan. The dates for the Hearing Sessions of the Examination have now been arranged.

These will be held in two blocks. The first block of hearing sessions will open on Monday 12 June at 12 noon and will run for two weeks. The second block of sessions will also run for two weeks and will commence at 12 noon on Monday 11 September.

You can find out more via the Bedford Borough Council website.

CPRE Bedfordshire has notified the appropriate officers that we would like to attend and be heard at a number of the Hearing Sessions.