Rural England
BEDFORDSHIRE
Who we are
Stop the Drop- Countryside & Design
Awards 2008 - Future Events : Shows
- East of England Plan
- Eco Town for Bedfordshire ?
- Luton Town Football Club
- CPRE's New President
- Planning Disaster Campaign
- Fundraising Dinner
- Branch Review
- Center Parcs
- Nirah Planning Application
- Planning and Climate Change
- Saving Tranquil Places
- Milton Keynes Expansion
Volunteering with CPRE Bedfordshire is rewarding work and we have current opportunities. Find out more by going to the Getting Involved 
section of our website.
June 2008 updates to this section :
'Stop the Drop'
‘Stop the Drop’
As widely reported, our President, Bill Bryson, has initiated a campaign against the growing blight of litter and fly-tipping in England’s countryside. Bill describes the situation thus: “Litter is becoming the default condition of the countryside. It is time that we – all of us – did something about it. The landscape is too lovely to trash. That is why CPRE is launching Stop the Drop, to make the countryside what it was almost everywhere until very recently, and what most of us still want it to be – a place of cherished beauty and sometimes perfection.”
Despite the Clean Neighbourhoods & Environment Act (2005) giving authorities new powers to clean up litter, in a recent survey of performance not one authority was rated as ‘good’.
An estimated 25 million tons of litter is dropped annually in the UK. And the problem is 5 times worse than it was in the 1960s.
Fly tipping is escalating and local authorities seem too relaxed and ineffectual in applying the Act. “Local authorities, central Government and other public bodies should give a much stronger lead”, says Bill, “We can all put pressure on them to do so.”
CPRE Bed's Countryside and Design Awards 2008
To mark the Branch’s 21st Anniversary we are launching our first CPRE Bedfordshire Awards Scheme. The Awards will be in recognition of projects that have contributed to the character of the countryside and the rural environment and can be entered under the following categories: School Projects, Landscape improvements, New Buildings, Restorations or Conversions. To qualify schemes must have been completed between January 2004 and September 2008.
To find out more you can download the Countryside and Design Awards 2008 leaflet (PDF 268 KB) and then complete the application form (PDF 32KB ) if you wish to submit an entry.
Future Events 2008: Walks, concerts and courses
Details of the next events for June, July and September 2008 are now listed on the Events page and include:
25th June Evening walk from Harlington to Sundon, South Bedfordshire,
12th JulyMusic in country churches
21st SeptemberAfternooon walk in Mid Bedfordshire
29th SeptemberAn all day course on 'Understanding the planning system
and how to influence local development'
East of England Plan
Download (PDF 3.3MB) The Revision to the Regional Spatial Strategy for the East of England which has now been published by the Government Office for the East of England.
Eco-town for Bedfordshire ?
An eco-town for Bedfordshire, Marston Vale and New Marston, is shortlisted by Eco-towns Housing and Planning Minister Caroline Flint MP.It is one of 15 potential locations for a final selection of up to ten eco-towns. To read the Bedfordshire branch's submission to the Government please download (PDF 92KB) CPRE Beds Eco-towns response
Bedfordshire’s allocation is one of four short listed for the Eastern Region, already targeted for 1/2 million new homes by 2021- Only one is planned per region and this is the first stage of a four stage consultation.
The Campaign to Protect Rural England has been monitoring proposals for eco-towns over the last months.
The Government says between 30-50% (CPRE says 50%) should be affordable but less than 14 % seem to be offered for the Marston Vale town, ie up to 2,000. Surely far too few? This is not an answer to affordable housing needs.
The scale of this town is huge and comes on top of the housing that the county has been asked to allocate through the regional planning process.
The Marston Vale is already the target of enormous numbers of applications from big developers currently being evaluated under the Mid Beds Site Allocations consultation for the emerging new Local Development Framework . An eco-town in addition to many of these other proposed developments would create one massive 'wall to wall' development and not many trees left for the Forest !
Alice Crampin for CPRE Bedfordshire branch says:
“We could end up with one long sprawl of ‘low-density interconnected housing’ between Bedford and Milton Keynes, something which CPRE has long feared. Developers have been heard to say that one could fit two Biggleswades into the Marston Vale area! Now this ‘vision’ is likely to materialise under the 'cloak' of an eco-town but not by any means an 'affordable' eco-town'. One long sprawl is hardly a 'sustainable' settlement and will destroy a good deal of important farmland and attractive tranquil landscape.”
The outline of the town on the google map includes Brogborough landfill-this cannot be built on for some 60 years.
CPRE Bedfordshire also has concerns with the setting of existing distinctive villages, such as Houghton Conquest, Stewartby, Lidlington against the backdrop of the Greensand Ridge which is such an important landscape feature within the character of the Marston Vale.
CPRE Bedfordshire will be assessing the proposal against a series of 10 tests as shown at www.cpre.org.uk to ensure that this scheme truly fits all criteria for an eco-town.
Download the consultation document Eco Towns - Living a greener future (PDF)
A free printed copy can be ordered online at the following URL:
Eco-towns: Living a greener future - consultation paper
Luton Town Football Club New Stadium
The stadium itself is not the dominant feature of this scheme which is to be funded through an ‘enabling development’ of 205,000 square metres of warehousing. This proposal has created a huge opposition campaign locally. Shortly before Christmas, the football club passed into the hands of Administrators, who subsequently received 2 bids for its assets - one from a consortium involving the owner of the J12 site at Toddington, Cliff Bassett, and one from a consortium fronted by Nick Owen, the TV presenter.
On February 26th it was announced that the Nick Owen ‘Luton 2020’ consortium had been selected as Preferred Bidder. Though this consortium has still not taken formal control, it is already clear that they are keeping an open mind about the suitability of J12 as a future home for the Club, because they have commissioned a fresh site search with the objective of keeping it in, or closer to, Luton. Meanwhile Goodman International, the developers of the J12 site, have submitted an outline planning application involving a massive warehousing complex, the profits from which would ‘enable’ a football stadium to be built alongside. The application to South Beds District Council for the main site is accompanied by one to Mid Beds District Council for proposed ‘access enhancements’ from Harlington railway station.
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| View towards the proposed site from M1 | Families enjoying a picnic on the land |
CPRE has been working with local action groups CaSH and CaST to gather local opposition to the J12 scheme, all objections requiring to be lodged before the end of April. The main application, to SBDC, is expected to be considered by its Planning Committee in June.
The overriding objection to the J12 proposals, that they involve a hugely inappropriate development on Green Belt land, will hopefully prevail, but we cannot afford to be complacent.
You can respond briefly online or you can email a longer letter of objection as long as you include your name and address. For further information and details of how to respond, follow this link to the CaSH
website .
Follow this link to download a PDF (120KB) of CPRE's Statement of Objection
CPRE's New President - Bill Bryson
Bill Bryson is the new president of CPRE, taking over from Max Hastings. His love of the English countryside is well known and celebrated in his books such as Notes from a Small Island. We believe his passion will help us win support in our cause to protect and enhance the countryside for the benefit of everyone. He is working with us in our campaign against the unsightly litter which is spoiling our countryside.
Bill was born in Iowa, America, in 1951. He has written books on travel and language and his autobiography; The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid. Bill is also Chancellor of Durham University, a Commissioner for English Heritage and in 2006 was awarded an honorary OBE for services to literature.
His inaugural speech, July 2007, is quoted in a recent feature on CPRE Bedfordshire celebrating the branch’s 20th anniversary.
Link to Herald & Post article 26 July 2007 PDF 68KB
Planning Disaster Campaign
Environmental groups including CPRE have joined forces at www.planningdisaster.co.uk in response to concerns that proposed changes to the planning system will reduce public involvement in decisions about the development of our communities.
Time is running out for people across England to defend their right to have a full say on new development in their area.
On 21 May, the Government published Planning for a Sustainable Future. This White Paper proposes further sweeping changes beyond the reforms made recently to planning in the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. The consultation period ends on 17 August so it is vital that you take action, even in the smallest way.
The Planning White Paper may sound like a dry subject – in fact it is anything but! If the Government gets its way, the planning system will change, and local people will have much less say about major development in their areas, including motorways, power stations, airports and incinerators.
The Government says the planning system needs to change so that economic development can happen more quickly. However it chooses to ignore the true meaning of ‘sustainability’ and not to consider the longer term need to conserve resources, especially this country’s dwindling agricultural base. Of course, the planning system can be improved, but we need a system that allows all issues – including the beauty and quality of the natural environment – to be properly taken into account when decisions are made. And we need a system that gives local people an effective say in what gets built in their area.
You can download the White Paper from the Communities and Local Government
website - Planning
for a Sustainable Future: White Paper (1396
Kb PDF) or you can read about CPRE's briefing at www.cpre.org.uk/campaigns/planning/planning-system or
download the briefing from CPRE's website Publication Library Planning White Paper - CPRE briefing (304 Kb PDF). It summarises the key messages
and our thoughts on them.
CPRE is part of a wide coalition calling on the Government to think again,
and stand up for a planning system that looks after the environment
and gives people a real say. You can support us by ‘taking action’ through our
shared website, www.planningdisaster.co.uk .
You can write to the Planning White Paper Team or your local MP.
Download and read also CPRE’s
action guide (1 MB PDF), and order postcards and other resources from the
campaigns team. Email campaigns@cpre.org.uk or phone 020 7981
2869.
We all need to act fast ! It really is time to use your voice, or lose your choice.
Fundraising Dinner
Our fundraising dinner at Crawley Park, Husborne Crawley on 12 May was a great success, much enjoyed by all the 64 who attended, including our host, Charles Lousada. We are hugely indebted to him for his generosity and for the privilege of using his lovely and unusual house where we dined in great style. We raised £1240 on the evening with the auction and raffle and £3415 overall. Items or services for the raffle and auction were largely sourced from Bedfordshire businesses in support of our local rural economy, a double celebration of much that is good or beautiful in Bedfordshire. The dinner was also made possible thanks to the hard work of volunteers and the good will offered by many friends and colleagues. Photographs show guest speakers, Graham Seed (‘Nigel Pargetter’ in The Archers), Tom Oliver who conducted the auction and other guests.
Here are some photographs of the evening :
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Photograph captions clockwise from top left
1 Graham Seed (Nigel Pargetter in ‘The Archers’) seen here reading poetry to dinner guests
2 Tom Oliver, Head of Rural Policy at National Office, conducts the auction with great panache and good humour
3 Phill Snell, CPRE volunteer and guests enjoying the spring evening by the pool.
4 Our hosts, Charles Lousada (right), His Honour Judge Bevan and guests
Commemorative Branch Review
A full colour commemorative edition of Bedfordshire Matters has been produced to celebrate 20 years of the branch’s work for the county. It highlights the issues which have engaged the branch, ranging from proposals for a huge leisure complex at Sundon Pit in 1989; upholding Green Belt status in a number of localities such as at Tingrith in 1994, Leighton Buzzard in 2000, and at Flitwick in 1993 and 2004; the campaign for ‘Safer Country Lanes’ and Hedgerow Protection’; and numerous planning issues involving road routing, mineral extraction, and housing and infrastructure development. The Government’s expansion plans for the East of England ensure that similar issues are constantly arising to challenge CPRE Bedfordshire members and volunteers.
Follow this link to view the two banners celebrating issues and events in which the branch has been involved since 1987.
Center Parcs
On 5 July, the Development Control Committee of Mid Beds District Council narrowly voted to refuse planning permission for a 5th holiday village at Warren Wood, near Flitwick. Councillors followed the advice of the officers who had recommended refusal on the grounds that the land was Green Belt. The applicants could not show that there were ‘Very Special Circumstances’ to outweigh the harm done to the Green Belt by the inappropriateness of such a development in this area, entailing the encroachment of built development, loss of openness and visual amenity. If such a large development were approved, it would greatly weaken the argument for stopping future development being approved on Green Belt land elsewhere in the District. There was a very effective well researched campaign against the development led by local villagers.
Update 1st October 2006
Since refusal was given for the application, Center Parcs Ltd has appealed on the grounds that they feel there are Very Special Circumstances (VSC) to justify their development on Green Belt land. Members of the public must lodge their comments directly with the Planning Inspectorate by 20 October or on line using this link to the Planning Casework Service website
Under 'Representation', select the option 'Statement from Objectors'. You cannot make an objection to the development as such at this stage. Follow this link to read the Appeal Notice (PDF) by Center Parcs.
Update 10th April 2007
An appeal by Center Parcs against the refusal of planning permission to develop their 5th UK holiday village at Warren Wood, between Millbrook and Steppingley took place in the 3 weeks before Easter.
The original planning application had been refused last summer by Mid Bedfordshire District Council, by one casting vote, because, given that the proposals were contrary to Green Belt policy, the applicants had failed to show why there were exceptional circumstances connected with the application which would be sufficient to override this policy.
The appellants argued that their project would fulfil a national, regional and local need for more tourism facilities and that it would provide more jobs in a sustainable way, at a time when employment prospects for all the planned new residents were badly needed. They argued that the development was well located near a railway station and they produced a green travel plan aiming to encourage visitors to come by public transport.
The proposals were fiercely resisted by local parish councils whose residents feared to lose a well loved local amenity, through the diversion of the rights of way through the wood, and to gain instead unwelcome traffic, noise and light pollution. They were highly critical of the grounds on which the claims of exceptional circumstances were based.
CPRE Bedfordshire was represented and supported the local residents in their stand. It cited the need for green infrastructure as well as other kinds of infrastructure to accommodate all the proposed growth properly. The Green Belt kept the land open for all to enjoy, via the access routes, while Centre Parcs were proposing a new kind of enclosure, which was against the principles for which Green Belts had been established.
You can also find more information at the local campaign web-site: www.warrenwood.co.uk
Update 30th April 2007
The Inspector is now preparing his report and recommendations for submission to the Secretary of State (Ruth Kelly) for her consideration. She will issue her decision on or before 06 September 2007.
Nirah planning application
Nirah planning application for an International Visitor Destination and Science Research Park is now published (Bedfordshire County Matter Application Reference BC/CM/2006/32). CPRE's main concern is the impact of transport issues.
Application documents can be viewed and downloade from www.bedfordshire.gov.uk .
The application has now been 'Resolved at Committee on October 19th 2007 to forward the application to the Secretary of State with an indication that the County Council is minded to grant permission subject to a Section 106 Agreement and conditions'.
Also refer to our Nirah entry in the section Bedfordshire Issues
Planning and Climate Change
The Stern Report (presented by Sir Nicholas Stern) was commissioned by the Treasury and published on October 30th. It describes climate change as ‘the greatest and widest-ranging market failure ever seen'.
Key issues to reduce climate change :
- Planning regulations have a potentially important role to play in moving towards a less energy-intensive society.
- Major infrastructure decisions will require greater foresight and planning
- Land-use planning and infrastructure development must be integrated to reduce long-run transport and take into account climate change
- Over investment in long-lived, high carbon infrastructure will make emission cuts later much more expensive and difficult. Action on climate change is required across all countries and need not cap the aspirations for growth of rich or poor countries. The poor are worst affected.
- If we don’t act now the scale of major disruption could resemble that of the great wars and the economic depression of the 1930s
The Queen’s Speech on 15th November contained proposals for a Government Bill on climate change ‘as part of its policy to protect the environment’.
For the full version of the 'Stern Report' click this link to
HM Treasury website .
Saving Tranquil Places
A new map of England produced by CPRE shows up our most tranquil (in dark green) and least tranquil (in red) rural areas. The aim is to ensure that we retain tranquillity, the countryside's most precious resource. The map is a more comprehensive update of those produced in 1990 and 1960, showing even then how far tranquillity had been lost. The new map shows Bedford in red, on the western edge of the Eastern region , from which spreads a spider’s web of red roads reflecting the highways that cross the county. Few people outside Bedfordshire seem to realise that the the county is 75% rural with a diverse and often very attractive and tranquil countryside. - now let's make sure we don't lose Bedfordshire's most tranquil areas.
People find tranquillity in many different ways but generally in a natural environment, absent from man made disturbances. Its importance for the good of our physical and mental well-being is widely recognised. It underpins the economy of rural areas through rural tourism. But there is no time to lose for areas of complete tranquillity are fast disappearing through the pressure of development across England, more traffic on new roads and airport expansion bringing noise and pollution.
Already CPRE and other organisations have campaigned successfully to retain areas of Green Belt in Bedfordshire, for instance, to ensure that tranquil areas such as Flitwick Moor and Warren Wood (proposed site for a new Center Parcs resort) are not lost. We also hope that more people will come to recognise and enjoy the many other fine areas of tranquillity in Bedfordshire, such as Swineshead Great Wood (in the north), villages and landscapes around Old Warden (in the centre), the open spaces east of Westoning (Sampshill) and near Pulloxhill over to the Sharpenhoe Clappers in the south.
In order to create these revolutionary maps, a range of people across England were consulted about their views on tranquillity. Building on those responses to establish what makes a visitor feel tranquil, the maps were then compiled using computer-based techniques and geographical databases. Each 500 metre square of England’s land mass is given a tranquillity score and colour-coded.
CPRE Bedfordshire wants the local authorities and regional assembly to ensure that tranquillity protection policies are embedded in future planning policies and to ensure these are used by organisations, including parish councils, and individuals to campaign for truly sustainable development in our area.
Read more about the national Tranquillity Campaign
Milton Keynes City Expansion
As an extension of the Milton Keynes & South Midlands sub regional Strategy, the Milton Keynes Partnership has now published ‘A Strategy for Growth to 2031’. This recommends high urban capacity building in the city area with housing on green fields to the south west and south-east. The latter would include some 3200 new dwellings in Mid Beds north of Aspley Guise and would be built between 2016 and 2021. A local consultation with exhibitions continues until September. Mid Beds District Council is promoting countryside protection measures such as an extension to the Green Belt in the Aspley Guise vicinity.
Follow this link for further details at www.mkweb.co.uk
New proposals to expand Milton Keynes city into Bedfordshire
Update 9th January 2007
Two Buckinghamshire authorities and a group of affected parish councils in North Bucks want Milton Keynes’ long term expansion to go eastwards towards Cranfield in Bedfordshire, focussing around the village of Moulsoe, as they are concerned about too much development being proposed in the south west around Newton Longville.
Buckinghamshire County Council and Aylesbury Vale District Council have commissioned consultants Colin Buchanan Associates to reassess the Milton Keynes Partnership’ s (MKP) preferred option for the long term expansion of Milton Keynes to 2031. A draft report has now been produced.
Buchanan have criticised MKP’s own consultants’ methodology (see Bedfordshire Issues section Milton Keynes City Expansion ) and suggested that the prioritising of the SW area on the assumption that the East West railway to Oxford will accommodate transport needs in a sustainable way is misplaced. They review the constraints on development in the SW and conclude that its landscape quality makes it unsuitable while, elsewhere to the SE and to the East of Milton Keynes they claim that there are far fewer constraints. They therefore propose making full use of development possibilities in the SE, which means developing in Bedfordshire, north of Aspley Guise, and they propose that the bulk of what was in the pipeline for the SW should go to a new satellite area around Moulsoe and abutting on Cranfield. This revives a variant of a plan first put forward in the 1990s, in studies commissioned by MK Council, to link up Cranfield and Milton Keynes.
It seems, however, no coincidence at all that this Buchanan study highlights the amenities of one area, while denigrating those of others.
It is surely time for a more fundamental review, setting NIMBY games aside, to consider whether all this proposed development of Milton Keynes, still the iconic city of the car, should take place in anyone’s backyard. With growing awareness of the dangers of climate change dawning at last, a reappraisal of the whole long term growth project is overdue.
