We appreciate that you may have questions about the site allocations process. We have tried our best to answer as many as possible of these below.

Why is a second round of site allocations issues and options consultation taking place?
How long will the consultation last?
How is the process being publicised?
How will people be able to take part?
How many new houses are set to be built?
How many new jobs are set to be created?
How many sites will be taken forward?
Where is development most likely to be concentrated?
What is an LDF and how does the Site Allocations Document fit in with this?
How will Mid Beds choose which sites will be taken forward?
How will local infrastructure be improved?
How will Mid Beds make sure that important wildlife areas are not harmed by development?
What about the Green Belt?
Why have some sites / areas been grouped together for the exhibitions?
I’ve given my views via the website / postal comments form – does this mean I have to attend the exhibition as well?
What happens to sites that already have planning permission?
When will we know the results of the consultation?
Who are the team assisting Mid Beds with the consultation process?
In April this year over 10,700 responses were received on future development in the area, commenting upon 400 potential development sites that had been submitted for consideration by developers and landowners. During this process approximately 70 additional sites and proposals spread throughout the district were also put forward by developers/landowners. Therefore the Council will need carry out a further round of consultation on these additional sites. No other sites can now be suggested as part of this process.

These sites are not the Council’s preferred sites but are new sites submitted by landowners/developers for consultation. Only around 40-50 (depending on site size) will eventually be allocated for development and these preferred sites will be published for consultation early next year.

The consultation runs until mid August and once completed the results will be added to those already received to produce a final report to be published online in the autumn. Using these comments a list of preferred options for development will then be put forward and consulted on at the end of the year or early 2009. The consultation period will last six weeks starting on the 7th July with the launch of the additional sites and proposals on the website, and run until 19th August. Those that asked to be kept informed of the process during the first round of the consultation earlier this year received an email or letter notifying them that additional sites and proposals were being consulted on. Additionally, notices were put in local newspapers across the district and adverts run on local radio, while Mid Beds District Council also included information in its regular magazine, Horizon. Furthermore, Parish council’s were informed and posters and information sent out to local shops and local venues.

As during the first round, the dedicated consultation website www.talktomidbeds.co.uk will again contain detailed information about each of the newly submitted sites in each parish. There you can also submit your views on particular sites. Details about sites submitted in the first round can also be found on the appropriate parish page on the website. People can get involved by:

• logging their views on the consultation website www.talktomidbeds.co.uk attending a local exhibition, or by requesting a comments form and returning it to Vision Twentyone.

To request a comments form call Vision Twentyone on 0845 230 0139 (calls charged at local rates). Government targets stipulate that Mid Beds must build 4,400 new homes between now and 2026.

These new homes make up the balance of the Government’s overall target to provide 17,000 new homes in Mid Bedfordshire between 2001 and 2026; 12,600 of which have already been built or have gained planning permission. Mid Beds District Council has a target to create 9,000 new jobs by 2021. This means we will need to develop approximately 64 hectares of land for employment use (out of the 50,000 hectares that make up Mid Bedfordshire).

These new jobs make up the balance of the Government’s overall target to provide 14,000 new jobs in Mid Bedfordshire between 2001 and 2021; around 5,000 of which have already been created. The number of sites that have been submitted far exceeds the number of sites that Mid Beds need to be developed to meet government housing and employment targets.

Around 440 site submissions have now been received during the first round (just under 400) and second round (around 70) of consultation. Broadly speaking, that is sufficient sites to provide around 40,000 new homes but Mid Beds only needs to find space for 4,400.

We therefore anticipate that only a small number of sites (perhaps 50-70 depending on size) will eventually be brought forward for development.

Over half (60%) of development will be concentrated around Ampthill, Flitwick, Biggleswade and Sandy – the major service centres. 30% will be divided between Cranfield, Marston Moretaine, Shefford, Arlesey, Stotfold and Potton - the minor service centres. The remaining 10% of development will take place in villages. The Local Development Framework (LDF) was introduced in 2005 as a new way of controlling and planning future development, protecting the environment and helping to manage the local economy. It replaces the Local Plan as the way district councils manage local development and where it can be located. It is made up of a collection of Development Plan Documents (DPDs) and Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs). The Site Allocations Document is one of these DPDs. Please click here for more information regarding Mid Beds LDF. The process of selecting which sites will be taken forward begins with this consultation.

In conjunction with this, Mid Beds District Council will themselves be assessing each site against a range of sustainability criteria such as proximity to key local facilities, accessibility by a range of transport modes, contribution to infrastructure etc.

Through these processes the most appropriate sites will be selected as preferred options and will then be subject to independent examination by the Government’s Planning Inspectorate. See the Consultation Process page on the website for more information on the statutory stages the Council must go through before sites can be allocated. Alongside creating new homes and jobs it is essential that local infrastructure such as roads, schools, and public transport provision is improved to cope with increased demand.

One way to raise funds for improving local infrastructure is to secure them from property developers as part of the development agreement. This is referred to as a Section 106 agreement.

Mid Beds District Council has had great success negotiating these agreements in the past. For example, a major recent development east of Biggleswade contributed over £30 million towards a variety of transport improvements, affordable housing, open space and play areas, and a community centre. Funding was also provided to improve health and education provisions

At a recent smaller development in Stotfold, contributions totalling around £225,000 were secured. These will go towards education provision, open space and play areas and local environmental enhancements.

Additionally, Mid Beds has recently finalised its strategy on Planning Obligations which could lead to contributions from developers of over £15,000 per dwelling. The most important wildlife areas in the district are designated and protected. Mid Beds will not be allocating development on these sites. If a site is not formally designated it is more difficult to prevent development but mitigation may be possible where habitat creation or enhancement takes place on site or nearby. The south-west corner of the district is designated as Green Belt. The Mid Beds District Council’s Core Strategy currently states that no development will be allocated in the Green Belt. However, these sites have still been included in the consultation because, although it is unlikely, circumstances may change and Mid Beds need to know local views on development of these sites.

The remainder of the district is not designated as Green Belt. Mid Beds will seek to ensure that any sites allocated are within or on the edge of existing towns and villages and have as little impact on the landscape as possible. Vision Twentyone and Mid Beds District Council have worked together to divide the region into 4 exhibition areas for the second phase of consultation. These areas are based where additional sites and proposals have been submitted. If you would like any further information or to talk through the consultation process in more detail then please do not hesitate to visit your nearest exhibition.

However, if you have provided your views either on a postal comments form or via the website, it is not necessary to provide these again at an exhibition. A consultation report setting out the results of both rounds of consultation will be produced and made publically available this autumn. Sites that have already been granted planning permission are unaffected by the site allocations process.

If you still have a query please don’t hesitate to call Tamsin Cowley or Jon Mulligan at Vision Twentyone 0845 230 0139 (calls charged at local rate). This is the most far reaching consultation ever under taken by Mid Beds District Council and so we have brought in a team of consultation experts to assist with the process. Vision Twentyone have extensive experience of managing large-scale public consultation projects.

They have conducted rural and urban-based projects for a number of public sector clients including local authorities and NHS Trusts and recently conducted a large-scale public consultation with farmers and landowners in North West England as well as doing all the consultation work around the re-development of the former MG Rover site in Birmingham.

Vision Twentyone has won several awards including the Duke of Westminster award for ‘Most innovative company in the North West’ and a British Urban Regeneration Association best practice award.

Tamsin Cowley from Vision Twentyone is the Project Manager for the Issues and Options Site Allocations consultation. She can be contacted on 0845 230 0139 (calls charged at local rates).