Application for Arlesey relief road opposed by council

The area of the Hitchin Road, Arlesey where the proposed mini-roundabout and relief road could be built (Image: Archant)

Arlesey Town Council voted against the building of a relief road between the A507 and the High Street which would also include a roundabout at the junction of the A507 and a mini roundabout on the High Street at their meeting on April 4.

The road is being built as part of the Arlesey Cross Masterplan that will see 1,000 houses, retail units and a primary school built in the town which was approved by Central Bedfordshire Council (CBC) last month.

Chris Gravett, the council’s spokesman for masterplan matters, said: “We discussed the application at the meeting two weeks ago and decided to oppose it on the grounds that it is contrary to the masterplan.

We feel this because if construction commences on the Western relief road before the Eastern relief road is built then there will be contruction traffic which will increase congestion in Arlesey.

“In all the documents we saw in the lead up to the masterplan we were told that the Eastern relief road would be built before any development but as far as I know nothing has been submitted at that side of the village.

“The road should be built before housing building commences. That is why this application is not in keeping with the masterplan.”

Karen Bohr, spokesman for residents group the Voice of Arlesey, said: ““The VoA has submitted objections, as although this planning application falls on land outside of the masterplan, the relief road is a key feature of this scheme and we firmly believe they need to be viewed together.

“At recent committee meetings that I attended, Central Bedfordshire Council indicated that the road would be built from the A507 side first, and they also committed to completing pre-planning application workshops with people within our community - we would like to see this carried out.”

A spokesman for CBC said: “An application for the western section of the relief road has been submitted by one of the landowners on the west. There is nothing to prevent anyone putting forward a planning application at any point and this application will be considered as part of our normal planning process.

“The application is still at consultation stage, which means that we’re asking for comments from all sorts of people and groups. We would welcome feedback as part of considering the application.”