Borough Councillor Report
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Wilshamstead Parish Council Wixams Parish Council Bedford Borough Councillor Report: 1. Coronavirus in Bedford Borough As of 14th October there have been 1924 cases of Coronavirus in Bedford Borough with 36,734 individual tests. This is a positive test rate of 5.2%. In the preceding 7 days there had been 133 new cases of Coronavirus in the Borough, up from 118 cases the previous week. In contrast to the earlier part of the year, new cases are predominantly in the younger age groups (10-19 and 20-29) with few new cases amongst the elderly. The Borough is currently (as at 18th Oct) in the lowest Tier 1 (Level: Medium) but advice continues to be in place with regard to handwashing, face masks and social distancing. The ‘rule of 6’ applies, along with restrictions on pubs and restaurants, which cannot stay open beyond 10pm. As always, advice from the Borough Council is available here: https://www.bedford.gov.uk/social-care-health-and-community/public-health/coronavirus/ 2. Planning White Paper Consultation There is currently a consultation open on the Government White paper “Planning for the Future”. The White Paper is a mixed bag, and contains a number of proposals which I do not support. Specifically, the presumption of planning consent and the lack of democratic oversight. There could also be greater clarity on this in the white paper and it would be perfectly legitimate for the Council to ask for more clarity on that. However, under the revised methods for housing numbers, the housebuilding targets for Bedford will be going down. We therefore need to be sure we aren’t objecting to reduced housing numbers and therefore a wholescale objection to the proposals is the wrong approach and a more selective approach is required to decide what is good within the White paper and what isn’t. I have proposed an all-party submission on the consultation, however I am currently still waiting to hear back from the other political groups and the deadline from responses is 29th October. 3. G-Park Development Wixams Earlier this month, I met the agent for the G-Park developer, at the site and he explained the amended proposals, which he believes address the EHO noise objection. They have moved a buildings and the parking areas, but the result is that the 3rd unit actually comes closer to Bedford Road and will in all likelihood be even more visible (from the direction of Bluewater and Fieldfare) than the previous option. There is to be a 4m wall around the end of the site, designed to absorb noise, however as the size of the units is vastly taller than 4m, they will clearly be visible above it. I have expressed the view that they should try and shield the buildings from the Bedford Road direction, with a thick green barrier of tall trees to try and mitigate the worst aspects of the view and noise, and we also discussed trying to build them into a bund, to try and further raise the height of any trees planted. That said, I remain totally opposed to what is being planned and from what I saw, believe it's worse than the previous application. Speaking to the Borough Planning Department, I have been advised that “the technical consultee letters are being sent out today (19 Oct) with the neighbour letters being sent tomorrow. Interested parties will be given 28 days to comment”. The amended plans are available to view via the public access section of the Borough Council’s website: www.publicaccess.bedford.gov.uk 4. Wilstead Pharmacy I have received communication from Mrs Patel, the manager of the Wilstead pharmacy advising me that the application for a licence at Wixams has now been rejected and that she would like to think about how the Wilstead pharmacy can best serve both communities in Wilstead and Wixams and offer a more comprehensive range of services. I have asked her if to start with she will take a look at Saturday openings, as this appears to be one of the main concerns I get from Wixams residents. 5. Connecting path between the two side of Wixams I’ve again spoken to the Borough Planning team as the lack of a resolution to this, after the Council themselves raised expectations, has resulted in a number of calls and emails from residents. Jonathan Warner advises me that the next Wixams Project meeting between the Borough and L&Q is on 21st October and they have agreed to discuss the issue then. (I’l do a further update for the November report). 6. Planning Application for 69 dwellings on land adjacent to Briar Bank park Having spoken to the Planning Officer regarding this application as a result of discussion at Wilstead PC and contact from Briar Bank residents, I have been advised: “Having considered the details submitted with the application it appears that the proposals have not overcome the fundamental policy objection as refused in the previous application reference 19/01211/MAO for 80 dwellings. The current proposal is for up to 69 dwellings however the information accompanying the application appear to overcome most of the reasons for refusal as assessed under 19/01211/MAO in respect of impact on neighbour amenity, highway safety, inadequate open space provision, lack of affordable housing and education contribution. Notwithstanding the above, the fundamental policy objection to the proposed development is that the proposal would result in residential use inappropriately located in open countryside, contrary to the sustainable development objectives of the National Planning Policy Framework and the adopted development plan policies.” The Planning Department has therefore refused the application. 7. Covanta The Mayor has agreed to a new waste collection contract which includes the use of the Covanta ERF at Stewartby for burning the Borough’s waste. This is despite the longstanding opposition that Council has had with regard to Covanta and the Borough also having resolved in October 2018: “That the Borough Council shall consider at the appropriate time not using the incinerator should it proceed and will seek to persuade other Councils not to use it” The Mayor’s decision appears to ignore this. I remain concerned at the potential damage to public health for those living in the area around the facility – including Wilstead and Wixams - which may come from the invisible particulate matter that Covanta will emit. The decision also approves the burning of waste from our neighbours in Central Bedfordshire at the Covanta facility. 8. Borough ward boundary review The draft proposals split the current Wilshamstead ward and recommend that Wlstead be included in a single member ward with Cotton End, Cardington and Cople, whilst Wixams will be included with Stewartby in a 2 Councillor ward. Deadline for public responses to the draft recommendations is 7th December. This is a poor recommendation in my opinion and I will be responding the consultation recommending that Wilstead and Wixams remain in the same Council ward. 9. Parking and congestion – Green Lane and school drop off points I’ve received much correspondence on this matter, from residents and from the schools themselves. A meeting was held on 8th October with both the school headteachers and Borough school transport officers. We discussed a number of options for trying to resolve this matter, none of which are likely to be a quick fix, as we are looking at behavioural change being required by parents currently driving their children to school. One of the options is to look at creating a “School Street” and I have written to the Deputy Mayor, responsible for Transport matters expressing my support for considering this option, though making clear any solution has to involve consultation with residents in Green Lane and the streets around it. This is not just a school problem, it’s a traffic problem for local residents too as they are frequently having driveways blocked and have difficulty getting out to work through the morning travel chaos – traffic often tails back past the T-junction with Bedford road. There is ongoing work to be done by the schools and Borough team and I will send further updates in due course. 10. Proposed Wixams traffic measures I have now chased this matter up with the Highways department yet again and have been promised a response in time for the October Wixams PC meeting. 11. B530 repairs As reported last month, a section of the B530 was due to see repair work starting from 14th September. The first day of the closure resulted in traffic chaos all around the Interchange Retail Park, which I am advised was due to the contractor not placing the correct signage in place. My understanding is that the Council is looking to see when this can be rescheduled. General Council Matters Bedford Council gets money for High Street from HSHAZ programme Bedford will receive £1.76 million to deliver building works and a cultural programme to revive Bedford High Street. The South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership, Historic England and LoveBedford are contributing funding. Bedford Borough Council has currently earmarked 43 buildings as eligible for funding under the HSHAZ programme. Improvements to these buildings could include: • Reinstatement of traditional shopfronts. • Conversion of vacant floor space for retail and/or residential use. • Repair and reinstatement of architectural details to the façade of buildings. • Undertaking structural works to help achieve these improvements. If you are a building owner in Bedford Borough and your premises falls within the High Street Heritage Action Zone, you can speak with the HSHAZ team about possible refurbishments to your property.