Farmland West of Gold Lane

If you responded to the latest planning application for building on the land west of Gold Lane, you ill have had a letter from the Borough telling you that the application is due to be heard at the Planning Committee meeting on Monday 29th April and that the Planning Officers are recommending approval. What that letter does not tell you is that there has been an extension to the consultation period because the applicants have now provided a traffic assessment. The consultation period now ends on Tuesday 30th April. Even if you have already commented on the overall application you may wish to respond specifically to the traffic analysis. Experts who have looked at the traffic report tell us that it is technically inadequate for the purpose and open to challenge on many levels, both in the construction of the survey and the conclusions reached. They will be making detailed comments about this and it would be unrealistic for a layman to attempt to make those arguments.

However, one of the key factors is that the analysis looks at the impact of the proposed development on the traffic flows on the Deep Spinney roundabout but does not address the fundamental problem that access to the new estate would not be directly off the roundabout but from Gold Lane. As everyone in the village knows, Gold Lane is already a busy road and can be dangerous. An additional junction and increase in traffic to accommodate the residents of 160 houses can only make it worse, but there is no assessment of this danger in the report.

So, if you would like to make a further objection to the application, please say that you have already made an objection to the overall application but now wish to address the traffic assessment specifically. You might then state that you believe the traffic survey is unreliable and that it is not fit for purpose in that it ignores the impact on Gold Lane, already a busy, hazardous road (you could add your own experience here).

If you would like to make a further comment about the application reference 18/03100/MAO you must do so by Tuesday 30th April.

You can object by email to planning@bedford.gov.uk and cc greg.logan@bedford.gov.uk. You must include your name and full postal address in your email. Do not be tempted to write from ‘the household’; write separately, and ideally a day apart, to maximise the chance of having your views noticed.

Biddenham Parish Council

An article about the ongoing objections to the application to build houses on land West of Gold Lane has appeared in the local paper. Click the link below for full details:-

Biddenham Bromham gap goes to Bedford-Council

The deadline is fast approaching – 30th January 2019 for this application. There have been over 900 objections so far but we need many more to give weight to our feelings about this development. Many of you have already objected to this development. The Parish council thanks you for this. Please however make a final effort to ask friends, family and neighbours to make that final objection count.

There has been some concern that the Borough have not received or processed some objections. The Parish Council have been assured that all objections will be processed. The Borough are running a backlog. The Borough have stated they will acknowledge every objection individually.

The simplest and easiest way to object is to register at :-have-a-say.co.uk

If you or your friends don’t want to use the internet or feel able to engage with neighbours and friends, please print out a letter from the link below:- 

Door Step Challenge 10 – Gold Lane Development – Part 2

To be clear the deadline for objections to this development is 30th January 2019. Please continue to encourage people from the village and beyond to object using all methods available. We need many more signatures for our voice to be heard.

To date over 242 objection letters have been received by the Bedford Borough Council. In some cases the Council have consolidated household signatures as one entry on the portal. Do not worry about this as the Borough Council have assured us that household signatures will be counted separately when they make their final count.

Please continue to engage with neighbours, friends and families using the door step challenge.  65 separate letters have been received from the door step challenge plus 13 letters from the 1st Friday Lunch club. This is in addition to the 242 signatures above, the Borough council will update these in the portal shortly.

Please reach out to people living outside Biddenham by encouraging them to use the link: www.have-a-say.co.uk/goldlane,this is the simplest way to get signatures. There has been some concern that registration has not occurred via this method as delays have occurred. Again rest assured the objections will get counted as the Borough Council is performing governance checks on these.

Many thanks to all the volunteers who have engaged with their communities.

We still need many more. All objections count so make yours count!

An outline planning application 18/03100/MAO has been made for up to 160 dwellings including vehicular access from Gold Lane. Click here to see a detailed view of the plan. There are a number of ways to object to this planning application.

• The simplist way to do this, is to  click here: www.have-a-say.co.uk/goldlane
• Go to the Borough Council portal directly to register a letter and object , but this is more involved.
• If you have already objected, please encourage all other adults in your household and neighbourhood. Use the Door step challenge 10  for people uncomfortable with the internet or need a nudge.

A letter will be going out to all residents in Biddenham  from the Parish Council with a detailed explanation about why this plan should be rejected and what people should do.

An outline planning application 18/03100/MAO has been made for up to 160 dwellings including vehicular access from  Gold Lane, emergency only access from the A4280, pedestrian and cycle links, public open space, car parking, drainage, landscaping and other associated works. All matters are reserved except for access. All residents who have previously submitted an objection to this development should have received a paper copy through the post from the Borough Council. To access the Borough Council Portal directly, in order to make an objection, please click here

The Parish Council are fully aware of this application. More information will follow shortly regarding actions to be taken.