Second attempt to build homes on Sharnbrook farmland submitted - 6 years after previous plan refused
Plans to build nine homes on farmland in Sharnbrook have returned – six years after an earlier proposal for housing on the site was refused.
The application seeks permission to build nine three-bedroom homes on land next to 81 Mill Road, including five bungalows and four two-storey houses.
Plans also include a new vehicular access onto Mill Road, internal parking spaces, landscaping and drainage works.
An earlier outline planning application for housing on the land was refused by the council in 2020, with planners citing concerns including development in open countryside, reliance on car travel and harm to the rural character of the area.
An appeal against this decision was withdrawn by the developers in 2021.
The new proposal again sits outside Sharnbrook’s defined settlement boundary in the borough’s Local Plan and Sharnbrook’s neighbourhood plan.
However, the applicants argue that national policy may now support the development because Bedford Borough Council cannot currently demonstrate a full five-year supply of housing land.
Adding that the scheme would make a “useful contribution” to local housing supply while delivering family homes and bungalows aimed at meeting identified housing needs.
The site lies opposite land where planning permission has been granted for a much larger housing development of around 500 homes.
More information can be found on the council’s planning portal, reference 26/00414/FUL. The overall consultation expiry date is Monday, April 13, 2026.