Plans for a 65-bed care home in Wixams have been refused over concerns about insufficient parking and traffic.
Despite planning officers recommending the committee to grant full planning permission, councillors ultimately sided with concerns regarding the development’s access to local infrastructure.
During the Wixams Joint Development Control Committee meeting on 10 July, significant debate revolved around the number of parking spaces.
While the applicant, Country Court Care Homes, had increased the number of spaces from an initial 28 to 33 by reducing the number of care beds from 70 to 65, councillors remained unconvinced.
Cllr Graeme Coombes (Conservative, Wixams and Wilstead) said he wasn’t against the principle of a care home.
“But this particular application gives me all kinds of concerns,” he said, “I agree with other members about the parking difference, I mean that’s just wild [that the requirement] is 33 in Central Beds and 48 in Bedford borough.
“That is a huge discrepancy. We’ve got other care homes in Wixams and you can’t get anywhere near them [due to limited parking].”
Questions were raised about the dimensions of these additional new spaces, the provision for disabled parking, and dedicated drop-off areas for visitors and service vehicles, indicating a persistent belief that the provision was simply not enough for a facility of this size.
Including concerns over how safe crossing the B530 would be for visitors wishing to take locals out for a walk.
Central Bedfordshire councillor, Ian Adams (Conservative, Flitwick) added, “You can’t park anywhere else there, you can only park on site.
“I agree with Cllr Coombes, there ought to be the ability to take somebody out in a wheelchair on a walk and crossing that road remains a problem.
“That doesn’t sound like a good thing for the residents to me or for relatives who want to give residents the space and time to spend quality time with them away from the facility.”
Cllr Marc Frost (Conservative, Wixams and Wilstead) said: “You’ve got no way of moving people… It’s almost a prison-type environment.
“I know it’s not designed to be that way, but effectively that’s what [developers are] doing because [they’re] confining people to a site with no easy way to move.”
Liz Young, the agent for the application, said Central Bedfordshire Council’s highways team was “content with the scheme”, but Bedford Borough Council’s team retained an objection.
“Parking is predominantly in Central Bedfordshire, and so that’s why the recommendation was approval,” she said.
“It’s felt that that’s sufficient to deal with the visitors and the staff that will be at the site.
“These aren’t residents that will have cars, these aren’t residents that will leave their home, and so the 33 spaces are considered sufficient to meet that [need].”
Other issues, such as a resident’s concerns over an existing nine-foot-wide right of way being built over and the “derisory sum” offered for healthcare contributions, were also discussed.
However, the final decision to refuse the application, proposed by Cllr Frost was due to the size, location, parking and the access and amenity for the residents.
By John Guinn
Local Democracy Reporter
