Withdrawal of the Bedford Borough Local Plan 2040
Bedford Borough Council has officially voted to withdraw the Local Plan from independent examination in a decision authorized at the Full Council meeting on Wednesday 8th October. This follows on from the planning inspector’s letter on 10th June 2025 which recommended its withdrawal.
Prior to this, in November 2023, the inspector had raised concerns with regards to housing land supply and the deliverability of key infrastructure. Whilst the Council had since then been working to address concerns, the proposed Universal Studios has introduced significant new implications for planning and so the inspector advised was no longer of being capable of being made sound.
This means that the Bedford Borough Local Plan 2030 remains and all applications will continue to be assessed against it.
The preparation of the new Local Plan will provide opportunity for landowners and developers to promote potential development sites and given the likely requirement for an increased housing target, it may be worth revisiting sites which have been previously discounted.
Presently, the Council’s published five-year housing land supply position is 3.35 years. This is a relatively large shortfall which means that the Council may be vulnerable to speculative housing developments where the presumption in favour of sustainable development can be appropriately engaged.
Please do contact us if you would like us to discuss any potential opportunities or if you would like further assistance on the above.
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