Plans for new homes in village near Bedford resubmitted to council

Proposed layout for new homes in Cotton End Screenshot taken from the Justification Statement for the planning application. Source: Bedford Borough Council planning portal

A similar plan by the applicants was refused last year

Eight new homes could be built in a village near Bedford after plans were resubmitted to the borough council.

The applicants said their new plans for three-bedroom homes on the site of the former 161 High Road, Cotton End are similar to the proposal refused in 2022.

The reasons given for the refusal include the “overdevelopment of the site” and that some of the plots would be “harmful to visual amenity” and “fail to reflect the “character and appearance” of the area.

The applicants said their new proposal has the same number of homes, but with a revised layout.

They added that this re-submission aims to “replicate the general character of the built development along High Road” and said the new homes are intended to “support the housing need” in the area and provide smaller, family housing.

However, as this proposed development is for fewer than 10 dwellings and under 0.5 hectares in size, it is not required to provide any affordable housing.

The site is approximately 0.34 hectares in size, and previously contained a detached home, which has already been demolished.

Permission was granted for an application in 2016 for five new homes on the site. But following this approval the plan was “not thought to be suitable” for the local market and the scheme was considered unviable.

More information can be found on the council’s planning portal, reference 23/01833/FUL. The overall consultation expiry date is Wednesday, September 27, 2023.