Council accused of 'spoon-feeding' developers planning to build new homes in Biddenham

Bedford Borough Council is ignoring its own planning policies and statutory objections when dealing with a proposed new home development in Biddenham, a resident has claimed.

A letter sent to the planning department has accused the council of “compromising” the quality of new housing in favour of meeting its five year housing supply.

It adds that this “ultimately” fails the existing neighbours, future occupants, and borough residents.

The letter is objecting to an application submitted in May last year by CALA Homes for 57 new homes on land at Bromham Road.

The council’s planning portal shows the statutory determination deadline was August 29, 2023, but this has now been extended to Wednesday, January 31, 2024.

The letter, which was sent by an independent planning consultant on behalf of the resident, Martin Shaw, said this extension is to “address the numerous shortfalls” within the application.

But the applicant says it is “common” for plans to undergo amendments to address feedback.

Mr Shaw told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) he is not against the development of this site.

“I actually support it,” he said. “What I am against is the lack of consideration given for planning policy and flood risk for the site.”

The letter said: “Four rounds of public consultation have taken place to date seemingly without any progress being made towards a policy compliant submission.”

It adds that the council’s own guidelines and policies have been “roundly ignored”.

The consultant wrote that the council’s approach for this application is “entirely contrary” to the guidance within its “Negotiating Amendments to Submitted Planning Applications Reviewed March 2022″ document.

He highlighted that a Statutory Consultee’s objection means that the scheme cannot be amended without numerous changes which “go way above and beyond” what the council considers reasonable as stated within this document.

The consultant also wrote that the council had “spoon fed” the developer by giving it “an unprecedented” amount of opportunities to overcome fundamental concerns, such as flooding.

This, he wrote, means the negotiations “go far beyond what can be considered to be in the public interest” as the developer appears to be “controlling how this case is handled” rather than the Local Planning Authority managing the case in line with its own negotiating guidance.

“The council is seemingly willing to compromise the quality of new housing development in favour of meeting a five year housing supply, ultimately this approach fails existing neighbouring occupiers, future occupants and wider Bedford residents,” he added.

The LDRS asked the borough council to explain how its assistance had not gone “above and beyond” that expected for any planning application.

But a spokesperson said the council does not comment on live planning applications.

A spokesperson for Cala Homes (Chiltern) told the LDRS: “Our planning application for 57 much-needed new homes on land off Bromham Road in Biddenham is an allocated site with outline planning which has received minimal objection from the local community and no objection from the Parish Council.

“Councils are required to proactively engage with applicants during both pre-application and the determination process which often results in improvements being put forward for a proposed scheme.

“For this reason, it is common for plans to undergo amendments as addressing feedback is a fundamental role of the application process to ensure the development meets the needs and requirements of the local community.”