Great Barford Neighbourhood Plan Draft November 2020 This page left blank Contents Foreword ............................................................................................................................................. 3 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 5 Parish Map .......................................................................................................................................... 6 2. The Strategic Policy Context ....................................................................................................... 7 The National Planning Policy Framework ........................................................................................... 7 Sustainable Development ................................................................................................................... 7 Local Planning Documents .................................................................................................................. 7 3. Parish Description ....................................................................................................................... 8 History and Growth of the Village ....................................................................................................... 8 Landscape ........................................................................................................................................... 9 Green Infrastructure (GI) .................................................................................................................... 9 Education .......................................................................................................................................... 10 Recreation Facilities .......................................................................................................................... 10 Local Business, Services and Employment ........................................................................................ 10 Population & Household Data .......................................................................................................... 10 4. Consultation .............................................................................................................................. 10 5. Vision and Objectives ................................................................................................................ 12 6. Sustainable Development ......................................................................................................... 14 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 14 7. Design of New Development .................................................................................................... 15 High Quality Design and Rural Character .......................................................................................... 15 Sustainable Design and Construction ............................................................................................... 17 8. Housing ..................................................................................................................................... 18 New Housing ..................................................................................................................................... 18 Affordable Housing ........................................................................................................................... 19 Market Housing Mix .......................................................................................................................... 19 9. The Natural Environment .......................................................................................................... 22 Landscape ......................................................................................................................................... 22 Nature Conservation ......................................................................................................................... 24 10. Recreation and Open Space ...................................................................................................... 26 Local Green Spaces ........................................................................................................................... 28 11. Conservation ............................................................................................................................. 30 Conservation Area............................................................................................................................. 30 Built Heritage Assets ......................................................................................................................... 31 Archaeology ...................................................................................................................................... 32 12. Traffic and transport ................................................................................................................. 33 A428 - Black Cat Roundabout to Caxton Gibbet ............................................................................... 33 A1 - Future Developments ................................................................................................................ 34 Other Issues ...................................................................................................................................... 34 Buses ................................................................................................................................................. 34 Sustainable Modes of Transport ....................................................................................................... 35 Active Travel and Accessibility .......................................................................................................... 36 Rights of Way .................................................................................................................................... 37 [1] 13. Community Facilities ................................................................................................................. 38 14. Local Employment & Business .................................................................................................. 40 Local Businesses ................................................................................................................................ 40 15. Aspirations for Great Barford ................................................................................................... 42 Green Infrastructure Plan Aspirations .............................................................................................. 42 Parish Plan 2010-2015 Proposals ...................................................................................................... 43 16. Implementation and Monitoring .............................................................................................. 45 Working in Partnership ..................................................................................................................... 45 Funding and Implementation Mechanisms ...................................................................................... 45 Annex 1: Policies Maps........................................................................................................................ 47 Policy Map 1: Map of Development Allocation Land West of Great Barford ................................... 47 Policy Map 2: Local Green Spaces ..................................................................................................... 48 Policy Map 3: Key Views ................................................................................................................... 49 Policy Map 4: Rights of Way – from BBC Definitive Map .................................................................. 50 Annex 2: Relationship Between Objectives and Policies .................................................................... 51 Annex 3: Glossary ................................................................................................................................ 52 [2] Foreword With changes in Central Government planning legislation, the Localism Act 2011 introduced to the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, the idea of local communities being able to shape development and land use in their locality. The Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012 came into force on 06 April 2012. Around this time, Bedford Borough Council was already reviewing local planning policies to bolster the existing Local Plan 2002. Bedford’s Development Plan was made up of a series of Local Development Documents. The overall strategy for the borough was set out in the Core Strategy and Rural Issues Plan 2008, and the Bedford Town Centre Area Action Plan 2008. The adoption of these led to the deletion of some saved Local Plan policies, and were supplemented by the later adoption of the Allocations and Designations Local Plan in 2013. Together, these would shape the borough’s development requirements up to 2021. The recent changes to the planning system meant that Bedford Borough must consider future local need and identify its own targets for growth and development. This manifested itself in the production of a new Local Plan