| Client | Axiom Developments Ltd |
|---|---|
| Turley office | Manchester |
| Status | Complete |
| LPA | Central Bedfordshire Council |
A vision for a sustainable and vibrant community
Our role
- Planning, Design, Economics and Landscape & VIA (Visual Impact Assessment) teams were involved in producing a vision for a new and expanded community at Arlesey.
- Arlesey is a small town which has a range of services, facilities and is well connected to road and rail networks; significant levels of development are proposed on land owned by the council for new facilities and a relief road.
- Complexities of land ownership and design of the relief road resulted in concerns over its deliverability and benefits in practice.
- Required an in-depth understanding of the local area and the existing proposals for the expansion of the town.
- We continued to work with Axiom Developments in order to develop and refine the vision for the land east of Arlesey, and engage with the local planning authority as it commences work to prepare a new local plan.
Results
- Demonstrated how the town could continue to grow within the landscape framework whilst maintaining the separate identities of existing settlements.
- This would deliver a better solution to the need for a relief road and a range of uses including housing for the private rented sector, a range of care accommodation, a retirement village, a new local centre, a secondary school and a variety of business uses.
- Economic benefits of this approach would include 2,100 economically active and employed residents, annual household expenditure of £18.3m, 2,013 FTE on-site jobs generated through the operation of the proposed development.
- Following promotion of site through the Local Plan process, the council identified the East of Arlesey site as a proposed allocation in the submitted Central Bedfordshire Local Plan (April 2018) for 2,000 homes.