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Cardington Neighbourhood Plan Introduction

What is a Neighbourhood Plan?

  • A Neighbourhood Plan is a document that will set out planning policies for Cardington. These polices will be used by Bedford Borough Council to decide whether or not to approve planning applications.
  • The Neighbourhood Plan is being written by a group of Cardington residents, not the Local Planning Authority or the Parish Council.
  • The completed Neighbourhood Plan will ensure that Cardington gets the types of development that we want, in the places that we want.
  • For more information, see https://neighbourhoodplanning.org

Why bother with a Neighbourhood plan?

A Neighbourhood Plan will give Cardington residents some say in a wide range of issues related to future development in our village
  • The Neighbourhood Plan can:

    • Influence and manage the type and location of new building in the village
    • Protect against inappropriate development
    • Include policies that will maintain the character of the village, and
    • Protect green space
  • A Neighbourhood Plan can also:

    • Set out improvements needed to infrastructure and services
    • Be used by Bedford Borough Council to secure finance where evidence of need or deficiency has been demonstrated
    • Reflect the needs of residents and aid discussions with developers on housing type and mix
    • Help ensure that the recreational and social needs of local people are considered in future developments, and
    • Specify areas of Cardington for employment and commercial use

FAQ

Yes.  A good Neighbourhood Plan, with wide-spread and strong community support demonstrated in a referendum, can determine which sites are developed, the size and style of houses (through design policies) and can also protect sensitive areas from development

A Neighbourhood Plan is mainly about land use.  However, a good plan will consider issues such as parking, air quality and traffic and look at how future development may impact on or improve these

When new houses are built, developers are required to provide money to support local services (schools, roads and sewers, for example).  A Neighbourhood Plan can provide the community with the necessary evidence to secure the infrastructure needed

A Neighbourhood Plan area would receive 10% more infrastructure money for use as they wish and the community (via its Parish Council) can say where this money should get used

The Neighbourhood Plan can include reserve sites to cover any increase in housing allocation

The Neighbourhood Plan is not a “static” document.  It can be periodically reviewed to see if it needs updating

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