A housing project described by local councillors as “historical vandalism” and “failing the residents of Bromham … past, present and future” has been approved by one vote.
Bedford Borough Council’s planning committee was hampered in its ability to oppose the development because the local authority cannot show a five-year supply of deliverable housing sites.
Applicant Kier Group Limited submitted outline proposals for up to 93 homes, with access, open space and other infrastructure on land north of Lower Farm Road. Planning officers recommended its plans for approval.
Read: 93-home Bromham plan faces backlash over countryside loss and rail impacts
But Conservative Bromham Cllr Robert Rigby labelled it “the wrong development in the wrong place”, saying: “This site wasn’t allocated for housing in the Bromham Neighbourhood Development Plan.
“It lies mainly outside the settlement area in open countryside. The report concludes this location wouldn’t be suitably served by public transport. That means more people relying on cars for ordinary daily journeys.
“This is agricultural countryside on the rural edge of a village. Houses are lower density with larger gardens. That provides a natural transition between the village and countryside beyond.
“The 93 homes, roads, parking, lighting and other infrastructure will fundamentally change the character of this part of the village. The site also contains important medieval ridge-and-furrow earthworks.
“The council’s archaeology officer describes these as ‘one of the better preserved’ and assesses them as being of ‘high local to low regional significance’.
“Once destroyed, that history can’t be recreated with landscaping or replaced through a financial contribution. I see this as historical vandalism if allowed to happen.”
“Fails residents”
Conservative Bromham Cllr Dylan Simmons warned: “This scheme fails the residents of Bromham … past, present and future.
“For a child, an older resident or anyone who doesn’t drive there’s no realistic route to a bus stop, or to the pharmacy, or to the GP, and for the school you might as well wade across the river to Clapham because it’s just as close.
“For every pedestrian on the footpath, there’s a road with articulated lorries, transporters, farm equipment, delivery vans, minibuses and cars. The applicant’s transport assessment didn’t consider most of those vehicles.
“The planning officers say it’s unsustainable. I say it’s not just unsustainable, it’s unsafe. We cannot claim the benefits of village life and community if we’re denying them to future residents.”
Bromham Parish Council opposed the scheme, citing 37 other objections about traffic levels, pedestrian safety, inadequate public transport and infrastructure, loss of agricultural land and countryside, heritage impact, and conflict with the neighbourhood plan.
Principal planner at the council Rachel Duncan explained: “A road safety audit was completed on the proposed footway and it was deemed to be safe.”
The development offers 30 per cent affordable properties (28 homes), as well as public open space and a play area, according to the planning officer’s report.
The site is accessed via a track from Lower Farm Road, on which a new footway would be provided, while a crossing point would be installed on Oakley Road, said the report.
“Economic benefits would result within the village through new residents using local services and facilities, which would improve the overall viability of these businesses and of Bromham.”
Liberal Democrat Clapham and Oakley Cllr Jonathan Abbott, who chairs the committee, acknowledged, in the absence of a sound reason for refusal, “it sticks in my throat to say these words”, as he proposed the recommendation.
Councillors approved the plans by five votes to four, prompting an apology from councillor Abbott to Bromham residents: “the government has stacked the cards against us”.
By Euan Duncan
Local Democracy Reporter
