New village in north Beds proposed as part of Bedford Borough Local Plan

It would feature 2,500 new homes and include a new parkway rail station to ease traffic congestion on the A6. Two new access roads would also be built from the A6 - one of which would provide a new access to Santa Pod Raceway and Colworth Science Park easing traffic on rural roads.

New sites for 8,000 new homes also need to be alloctaed as part of Bedford Borough’s Local Plan 2035.

A meeting of Bedford Borough Council’s Executive will next week consider the Local Plan 2035 for public consultation.

The council is required by the Government to plan for the ‘Objectively Assessed Need’ for housing in the Borough to be met in full.

This requirement means the council must plan for 19,000 dwellings to be built by 2035.

However, a spokesman said allocations and permissions were already in place for the majority of this number, but that new sites were required for just under 8,000 of these dwellings.

The council says it must also ensure sites are available for new jobs to be created alongside housing. Employment sites identified in earlier plans provide enough space

for future requirements. For this reason no new strategic employment land needs to be found at this stage to meet the Borough’s needs.

The focus for housing growth continues to be urban area of Bedford and Kempston, with brownfield sites accounting for around 80 per cent of the new homes planned in the

urban area.

The Plan includes a range of provisions to ensure sustainable growth including infrastructure requirements, green energy, and local employment.

Portfolio Holder Councillor Colleen Atkins said: “This Plan will set out how our Borough will grow and develop in the coming years and, if approved by the Executive next week,

this Plan will go out to its fifth public consultation in recent years, each of which has helped to shape the emerging Local Plan 2035.”

Residents object to plans