Climate Change at the heart of Bedford Borough Local Plan 2040

Full Council agreed to submit Bedford Borough's Local Plan 2040 earlier this year and it sets out a number of new planning policies that will minimise carbon emissions from new developments. The policies include contributing to more walkable and cycle-able neighbourhoods, incorporating renewable and low carbon energy infrastructure, and retrofitting existing buildings with measures to reduce energy consumption.

The Local Plan sets out how the Council can best meet the government's growth targets to 2040 and makes allocations to deliver new housing and employment. Last year the government increased number of homes that must be planned for in Bedford Borough by 40% to 1,355 a year, ever year to 2040. Mayor Dave Hodgson has helped shape the plan and has taken on board hundreds of responses from residents, parish councils and other organisations.

Mayor Dave said "This plan is incredibly important because it is going to impact generations to come. That is why we have done everything we can to ensure that minimising carbon emissions is at the heart of planning policy.

"The government have set these housing targets, but we have to meet them in a sustainable way. We are ensuring that development is happening first in the urban areas and, where suitable, on brownfield sites; that the homes that are being built are located in accessible places with walking and cycling routes from the beginning; and that we are incorporating as much renewable and low carbon infrastructure as we can.

"I still think more could be done if the government were committed and ambitious in their climate change strategy and they stopped scrapping sustainable housing strategies. Small changes to national planning regulations such as making developers fit solar panels and EV chargers to new homes could make a huge difference."