A senior Liberal Democrat councillor has accused the Mayor of Bedford Borough of hiding a “secret list” of land earmarked for potential housing development, including parks and green spaces, ahead of a proposed rewrite of the borough’s Local Plan.
The claim comes just days after the Council confirmed it intends to pause the current Local Plan 2040 process and consider drawing up a new development strategy to reflect the anticipated arrival of Universal Destinations & Experiences in the borough.
Read: Bedford Borough Council to ditch 2040 plan and create new strategy for Universal era
Cllr Henry Vann, leader of Bedford Borough Liberal Democrats and their 2026 mayoral candidate, said: “Residents need to be alerted to what the Mayor isn’t telling them in this announcement.
“That is, there is a secret list of council land, including a playing field, that they want to add to the new plan.
“Land that can then be sold for more housing developments. Without an emerging Local Plan, there is little now to stop or restrict development on these sites.”
He added: “For months, we have been calling for him to release the secret list. But residents have been kept in the dark. This is not the openness and transparency that is needed for such controversial decisions.”
The Lib Dem group is calling on the Conservative mayor to publish the list and commit to protecting parks and green spaces in any new Local Plan.
“We therefore call on the Mayor to immediately come clean on the secret list of sites he has proposed for house building – including in green space and parks in some of the most built-up parts of Bedford Borough,” said Cllr Vann.
“We call for him to commit to protecting green space for all residents in any new plan.”
Full council
In response, a Bedford Borough Council spokesperson said any work on the Local Plan 2040 will be carried out ‘by the book’ and no further work is currently being undertaken on Local Plan 2040. A decision on the next steps will be made in July.
“The Council has this week issued a statement regarding the future of the Local Plan 2040. No further work is being undertaken on this Plan until the executive and full council have considered a report on the future of the Local Plan in July,” they told the Bedford Independent.
“If the Plan is withdrawn, and another Plan is taken forward, then there will be extensive engagement with our elected councillors, residents, business and partners regarding the future direction and potential allocations in due course.”
