Central Bedfordshire Council has received a planning application for a further 186 houses on the north side of Sandy Road, Potton – and the plans have been slammed as ‘completely inappropriate’.

The latest round of applications for new housing brings to 750 the total number of houses slated for Potton.

Critics say the amount is unworkable and will put huge strain on the infrastructure of the area – as well as fundamentally altering the character of the town.

Independent Central Beds councillor Adam Zerny agrees. Speaking to the Comet, he said: “This development is completely inappropriate for Potton.

“The town is being forced to accept development after development purely because Central Beds Council haven’t managed a sufficient supply of housing and don’t want to defend the town.”

Mr Zerny also urged people to sign a petition against rural over-development.

The petition – which already has more than 16,000 signatures – calls for a parliamentary debate on government housing and planning policy relating to building on greenfield land, and seeks a community right of appeal on planning decisions.

Mr Zerny added: “Central Beds Council says because it doesn’t have a five-year supply of housing it cannot object to these applications, and that if it did it might lose at appeal because of the government’s presumption in favour of sustainable development – which is legislation that says if a local authority cannot demonstrate it has an adequate supply of housing the developer has to be allowed to go ahead.”

The additional 186 homes off Sandy Road North are in addition to the 150 houses being built on Biggleswade Road East, 85 new homes on Biggleswade Road West, 90 properties on Sandy Road South, 62 houses thath have been approved on Mill Lane, and 177 other possible buildings likely to be approved or are set to appeal.

The landowner, according to the application, is Judith Stocker of Deepdale, Potton.

You can comment on this latest application by emailing planning@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk and quoting planning reference CB/17/00296.