New 6,000-home settlement proposed for inclusion in Bedford local plan

Landowners Marcol Industrial Investments LLP and Bedfordia Developments responded to the Council's call for potential development sites with a proposal for a new residential-led village three miles to the north-west of Bedford.

A report issued on behalf of the landowners said the proposal could help the Council address a shortfall of housing land in the area and was in line with the UK government's agenda of supporting new settlements proposed through local plans.

The 900 hectare development site is centred on the existing Twinwoods business park and includes adjacent land and surrounding farmland. The proposals include a broad range of market and affordable homes; a village centre with shops, services and leisure facilities; a commercial area or business park; and public open space.

A report from planning consultants DLP (45-page / 8.0 MB PDF) on behalf of the landowners said the level of housing required in the borough was "considerably above" the 17,367 homes per year calculated by the Council. The report said an additional 6,433 homes would be required by 2032 and the proposed new settlement could "make a significant contribution to meet the identified shortfall".

The report noted that a government consultation launched in December "outlines the government's intention to strengthen policy to support new settlements through local plans". Since the report was submitted to the Council, the Department for Communities and Local Government has published a prospectus (18-page / 521 KB PDF) inviting proposals for the delivery of new "garden villages" of between 1,500 and 10,000 homes or "garden towns" of more than 10,000 homes.

Planning expert Jamie Lockerbie of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said: "Given the government support for the concept of ‘garden suburbs' this proposal is one of a number that have emerged in recent months with others following hot on its heels. The reality is that many local planning authorities are facing critical housing supply shortages, which is causing problems for the preparation and adoption of up to date local plans. Planning for one or two large-scale new settlements can, in theory, provide a solution to housing supply problems, provided of course that issues of deliverability and funding are properly considered and planned for."

Planning expert Rebecca Warren, also of Pinsent Masons, said: "Government support for garden suburbs is predicated on local support for the scheme and indeed funding for feasibility studies and surveys available from the government imposes this as a precondition. Promoting a site through the local plan process is the preferred route for many such schemes to ensure certainty of support given the significant investment that surrounds such projects."

"However, local authorities placing reliance on such large schemes face scrutiny on their five year land supply at local plan hearings, as it often takes a number of years for a large scheme to start to deliver units due to all of the up front infrastructure needed," she said., "We have seen local plan inspectors starting to favour the Liverpool method of spreading undersupply across the plan period in an effort to offset the benefits of a large allocation against low housing supply in the early years of the plan. Clearly, this will be necessary to assist local authorities in defeating five year land supply based appeals in the early years of a plan.

"We are seeing a number of clients bringing forward garden suburbs of varying sizes as the political environment at national and local level has seen a swing towards support for such projects," said Warren. "Now is the time to consider bringing forward such schemes in many parts of the country as the environment is unlikely to be as favourable when we approach the run up to the next general election. Also  given the pressure on local authorities to put in place their the local plans to avoid proposed 'sticks' included in the emerging Housing and Planning Bill, promoters need to strike whilst the iron is hot and seek a plan allocation."