Plans 371 rb 3/11 POTENTIAL sites for development in Mid Beds, where almost 18,000 new homes and businesses may eventually be built, can now be viewed online. During the past year, 443 sites and proposals for others were put forward by landowners and de

Plans 371 rb 3/11

POTENTIAL sites for development in Mid Beds, where almost 18,000 new homes and businesses may eventually be built, can now be viewed online.

During the past year, 443 sites and proposals for others were put forward by landowners and developers as possible sites for future housing, employment and mixed-use development in Mid Beds.

This year, Mid Beds District Council (MBDC) consulted local people on all of the sites and received 12,186 comments either online, at council exhibitions or by post.

The new sites are needed because Mid Beds must accommodate a further 10,000 new jobs in the district by 2026 as well as build 17,800 new homes of which 12,985 have already been built.

Arlesey could take the majority of new homes being identified in the survey "where significant growth is proposed. Arlesey will need to make provision for at least 1,000 houses" says the report, while Shefford and Stotfold might have to make provision for between 50 and 250 homes each.

Henlow, Shillington and Lower Stondon, meanwhile, have been identified as those among 39 large and small villages that between them need to make provision for 400 homes over and above existing sites with planning permission.

Only one site was identified in Campton and Chicksands in Campton Field on the western fringe of the village but the report says any proposal for 90 homes is unlikely to be considered because "the site is within the floodplain. In general, development should avoid the floodplain".

Local development team leader at MBDC, Simon Andrews, said: "This is the culmination of a massive consultation which has seen over 12,000 comments made on almost 450 sites and we are immensely grateful to all the people who have contributed their views to this process.

"Local people can now see all the comments they have made on these sites and find out what others think of them.

"Mid Beds has received far more proposals than are needed to meet these housing and job targets. We will now use these comments, together with a series of specialised reports to put forward around 50 to 60 of the sites, depending on their scale and nature, which are our preferred options to provide sites for housing and employment to 2026."

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