Mercia Road Planning application approved by Bedford Borough Planning Committee

1 – The PC has objected and provided comments on each iteration of this application to date including:

• Issues with the site layout design
• Consequential issues with this design and its impact on residents and businesses
• The increased burden more houses places on facilities such as the school and Village medical Centre.
• Our objections are based on residents’ feedback, crime statistics and that they contravene some of the principles in the GD Design Guide 2009 (section 3.7 and Appendix 4)

In spite of DWH attending Sept 2022 GDPC meeting where councillors gave the detail of their concerns and offered additional guidance including residents feedback, it is extremely disappointing that this has had no impact on future versions of the plan

2 – Note the Planning Officers recommendation to permit development, however we feel that this recommendation has failed to recognise or address the issues of parking layout, and in particular the use, design and layout of parking courts in this application:

• The distance of parking provision from the property and lack of visibility/overview of their own vehicles by residents
• Access to parking courts for larger vehicles, for example tradespeople vans
• The location of some of the visitor spaces on the access roads into these parking areas

46 properties of the 95 proposed have parking in parking courts and there are 8 parking court areas in the proposed design.

We know, both as residents and Councillors, that these issues result in residents not using the parking court but parking on street, where their vehicle can be seen and where they have easier access to their front door. This creates increased parking congestion on the streets, and hinders access for emergency vehicles, buses and general traffic, and creates greater risk to pedestrians by reducing visibility.

• As a resident in an area heavily affected by parking courts, I witnessed just last week a bus not being able to get down Greenkeepers Road which is much wider than Mercia
• I’ve also witnessed emergency vehicles unable to access side roads and bin lorries not being able to collect from properties due to on-street parking and road layout.

In our comments dated 7^th February 2023 we have documented the specific plots and parking areas in some detail – I don’t propose to go through these tonight but would ask that these detailed comments are taken into account to improve this application and future development.

We note in Para 1.5 of the planning Officers report that significant weight has been given to the GD Design Guidelines but note that this is documented as 2019; these guidelines are from June 2009 so we assume this is a typo

• It should also be noted that some parking courts in this application go against the current 2009 GD design guide (point 3.3.12) of courtyards provide parking for max 6 dwelling
  • 3 of the 8 parking courts exceed this!
• This guidance is dated 2009 – since then we now know the impact of parking courts as a design, and these 14 years’ experience should be taken into consideration.
• GDPC also understands that anecdotally based on the experiences in GD that other areas of the borough that were developed later have not been allowed parking courts

3 – Resident feedback and experience of last 14 years

• Great Denham has just submitted its Neighbourhood Development Plan (at Regulation 16 consultation until 22^nd February) – the plan based on feedback from residents and businesses
• 2020 survey – biggest issue raised by residents was parking; residents rated parking as their highest priority for NDP policies
• QUOTE = “Is there a way of mandating visitor parking for visitors? So many people don’t use their driveways/allocated parking spaces – instead opting to park on the street or in the laybys that were designed for visitors – as it’s “easier””
• 2021 survey – we asked for residents’ feedback on policies
• Top two were
  • Parking – “Parking in GD is atrocious, and in any areas an accident waiting to happen. Main roads are partially blocked, side roads are often made inaccessible to emergency vehicles, and parking on junctions is commonplace”
  • The need for community amenities – Of which it should be noted that there are limited amenities in this application; Comments on landscape refer to lack of play areas within the application under Policy AD28 Open Space Standards.
• Crime and anti-social behaviour – In the same survey the residents also said that for any future housing areas developed that they should be designed to limit crime and provide a safe environment for residents
• Vehicle-related crime (theft from or of vehicles) and burglary/attempted burglary are the most frequently-reported crimes in GD in last 5 years. From analysis of police-produced crime stats:
• The areas of GD with highest number of parking courts (Greenkeepers Road, Mercia Road and roads off) – 1 crime is reported per 3.8 properties.
• For all other roads in GD for the same time period this drops to 1 crime reported per 5.64 properties.
• GDPC notes that the Police have also objected, mentioning the detached nature of the parking courts, and specifically refer to plots 1-5, 6-10, 41-46, 67-78, 79-82, 83-88

4 – Great Denham Neighbourhood Development Plan is currently at Regulation 16 consultation; resident feedback has informed the plan and its policies:

• Policy D1 – Design of New Development
• Policy T1 – Traffic impact and sustainable travel
• Policy T2 – Parking

A new Design Guide has been written for Great Denham by Aecom, and has been submitted with our Neighbourhood Plan. Again, this has been based on resident feedback and input:

• Consultation by Aecom highlighted:
  • On road parking should not be an afterthought
  • That areas should be developed to not allow people to park all over them
• Inclusion by Aecom design code principle DC02-8 and DC02-9 apply
• “People friendly streets”
  • Structure layouts to make it very difficult to gain access to properties from publicly accessible places e.g., parking courts
• “Parking and servicing”
  • “Parking is a sensitive matter for GD as there are many issues that need addressing including limited parking spaces, unofficial on-street parking and abundance of parking courts”
  • Guidelines for on-plot or on front parking
  • Parking courts must be overlooked by properties to increase natural surveillance – this is not the case in this application

5. Other relevant planning documents

• I have already referred to the Great Denham Neighbourhood Plan and new Design Guide – whilst this is a matter of timing, these are the most recent documents to use resident feedback from last 14 years of the development, and include policies to address the issues raised in our objections.
• the emerging Council Local Plan 2040 AND
• the associated emerging Bedford Borough design guide which refers to the use of parking courts – p153
  • in the guide there is even a photo of one of the GD parking courts (Greenkeepers Road)
  • this acknowledges issues with water drainage
  • and GDPC feedback also requested inclusion of issues linked to Anti-Social Behaviour, crime and on-street parking this causes

6. Other considerations

PC would also like to acknowledge the ongoing issues with the management of parking courts and areas not adoptable

• This has led to excessive charges, poor service and lack of transparency from the management companies with residents
• The issues are being championed by a number of Borough Councillors and was recently raised by Richard Fuller MP in the House of Commons

Whilst residents are sad to lose the current open space the land east of Mercia provides

• PC acknowledges version 2 onwards has provided a green space however request that the area is not enclosed by railings to support community use and that it is adopted by the Borough Council for ongoing maintenance

7. Summary

The Parish Council, on behalf of residents, believes that the site layout as currently designed, and specifically the layout of the parking areas, must be addressed before this application is permitted, in order to address the issues and concerns identified, and the material consideration of impact on traffic and pedestrian safety. We ask the Committee to note the resident feedback and crime profile I outlined in my representation.

We are not objecting to the overall development of this site, and acknowledge its inclusion in the Council’s housing projection as part of the local planning process. BUT

We ask the Committee to deny permission at this point and request redesign of the site layout to address the concerns over parking layout and impact on on-street parking. We also ask the Committee to note that objections to this application have also been received from other consultees, including the Police.

GDPC recognise that objecting to this application may delay the school land being released. However NOW is still the time to fix the design at the planning stage when the impact on:

• Current residents and businesses
• Future homeowners and social housing tenants in the proposed properties

Can be mitigated by better design, lowering the chances of crime, inclusion of appropriate parking