Have sites been put forward for housing, jobs, or travellers near you?

This land had been submitted by agents, landowners and developers as part of the authority’s Call for Sites, which ran from February April 2016 as the first step of the Local Plan process.

The full 830-site list, which includes submissions for housing, employment and Gypsy and Traveller sites has been published online at www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/call-for-sites.

All of the proposals will be considered, however, the council has received many more submissions than they require to meet housing need up until 2035 and not all sites will be suitable for development.

Only an estimated 4-6 per cent of the total land that has been submitted will need to be allocated to deliver the new homes that are needed.

No evaluation of sites will take place until the criteria for assessment have been consulted on with the public, from 30 June until 29 July.

Cllr Nigel Young, Executive Member for Regeneration, said: “The Local Plan sets out locations for jobs and houses over the next 20 years. We do need to build more homes, but we must do this in a sustainable way, ensuring that new developments have the necessary roads, schools, jobs, health centres, leisure and retail provision.

“A large amount of sites have been submitted but we will not be allocating them all – in fact, I would like to assure residents that only a very small percentage of the submitted land will be allocated and absolutely no decisions have been made this stage.

“We will draw up a shortlist of sites that are suitable for development by December and there will be plenty of opportunity to comment.

“We will publish a draft plan by the end of the year and more information on this process is available on www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/call-for-sites. You can also keep up-to-date on the Local Plan process by signing up for news email alerts at www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/updates.”