The deadline for comments on the second round of this application was 24th December 2025
Update 17th December
An updated planning application has been submitted and is open for public consultation. We have published a guidance page for it, most of the details of the application as as described on this page but we recommend you review the guidance to see the proposed changes.
Planning Application: Land South of Wixams – Round 2
Update 4th February
The deadline for comments on this application was Monday 3rd February. The planners at Bedford borough Council have expressed they will accept responses they receive a few days after consultation deadlines so there may still be time.
Original Post
A planning application has been submitted to Bedford Borough Council seeking permission to build a residential development of up to 375 homes on a site south of Wixams and adjacent to the A6. A new roundabout would be constructed on the A6 to provide access to the development. The site is within Wilstead Parish but the development would be part of Wixams town.
The application summary:
Outline Planning Application (all matters reserved except access) for a residential development of up to 375 dwellings (including affordable housing), nursery use (Use Class E(f)), a sports pavilion (Use Class F2(c)), ancillary commercial/community use (Use Class E(a)/(d)/(e), or F2(a)), a mobility hub, and associated infrastructure including provision of green infrastructure; new woodland planting; biodiversity enhancements; open space (including formal playspace and associated facilities); car parking; new pedestrian and cycle linkages; and drainage works (to include SuDS attenuation).
The developers have published a dedicated website for this application:
Application Documents
The application is hosted on the Bedford Borough Council planning portal:
All documents associated with the application can be found here:
edrms.bedford.gov.uk/SearchResults.aspx?appNumber=24/02463/MAO
The main documents to review are:
- Contents List (list of all the documents)
- V01 – Site Location Plan
- V03 – Illustrative Masterplan (a cropped version is at the top of this page)
- V08 – Design and Access Statement
- V09 – Planning Statement
- V27 – Statement of Community Involvement
- V32 – Transport Assessment
- V33 – Proposed Site Access Arrangement (map of new A6 roundabout)
What’s Being Proposed?
Please use the documents linked above to understand the proposals fully, we have identified a few of the main details below which have been taken from the Planning Statement.
- Up to 375 homes including 30% affordable. Of the affordable homes, 78% would be affordable rented and the remainder would be Shared Ownership.
- 23.22 hectares of open space, including parks, play areas, sports pitches and allotments (located next to the existing allotments in Willow grove).
- A commercial or community facility, i.e. a shop or community centre.
- A mobility hub, which might include EV charging points, scooter and cycle hire points, lockers and a parcel delivery site.
- A Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA)
- Two sports pitches, one Youth U15/16 and the other Youth U16/17.
- A pavilion including changing facilities, a nursery and parking.
- Vehicle access from the A6, pedestrian and cycle access from Bedford Road Wixams (near the subway to Wilstead).
- Publicly accessible woodland area.
Some Suggestions or Issues Identified
- The development does not include essential amenities including a medical facility, thereby putting strain on existing services in the local area. Wixams does not yet have a town centre and the GP surgery has been delayed due to a lack of funding to run the facility. This application, if it’s to be approved, should include a planning constraint preventing work from starting until the Wixams town centre and surgery are completed.
- Apart from a nursery there are no provisions for education and the existing schools in Wilstead and Wixams may not have enough capacity. A specific plan identifying how the additional children would fit into the local schools should be provided by the applicant.
- There are pedestrian and cycle links from Wixams via Bedford Road but vehicular access is further down the A6. Also, there are no direct links to the development from Wilstead. This estate will thereby be mostly cut off from both communities and could benefit from more links, such as a footbridge across the A6 into Wilstead and an extra pathway linking to the greenway which surrounds Willow Grove in Wixams. There were originally planned to be retail units in Willow Grove (they were removed from the plans in 2022), so if a shop is included in this development a link pathway would help residents get access to that shop without a long walk around into the new estate. However, this access point might also have a negative effect and create an easy route between Willow Grove and the A6 leading to more crime and anti-social behaviour.
- There are no employment opportunities provided in this development as it relies on the employment areas in Wixams and other local developments. The entirety of the employment areas in Wixams have been taken up by warehousing, providing relatively few jobs. The local area would benefit from a dedicated managed office facility. This should include incubator units for start-ups, to encourage new enterprise which can create new jobs in the future.
- The application proposes a community centre or a shop. It would benefit from having both, due to strain on and access to existing facilities.
- It’s not clear how the sports pitches would be managed, but there have been issues in Wixams already due being a lack of open pitches for use by anyone. The sports pitches in this development should be free and open for all to use.
- The allotments would likely be sited next to the existing allotments next to Willow Grove. However, looking at the Masterplan there would be a line of trees between the two areas, along with separate access points and separate parking spaces. Efforts should be made as part of this application to enable the two sites to be linked or to facilitate that in the future.
- The existing allotments in Wixams suffer from issues due to the heavy clay soil which is not suitable for growing. Any new allotments should be sited in a better location or have the soil prepared for use by residents, and there needs to be adequate drainage as the existing allotments often flood.
- The applicant carried out fairly extensive consultation prior to submitting this application. This included a public consultation event in Wilstead Village Hall on 9th October 2024. Our group were not aware of this consultation and we have seen comments online that residents in Wixams were largely also not aware. Only 8 people completed the feedback forms at this event (mostly objecting to the application). If you feel you should have been made aware of this consultation event we recommend you make a comment in your response.
How to Respond
To respond to this application you can use the planning portal linked higher up the page or email the Bedford Borough Council planning department using the email below and quoting the application reference. You will need to provide your name and address.
- Email: planning@bedford.gov.uk
- Application reference: 24/02463/MAO
When responding you should state whether you support or object to the overall application. You can then list any points you would like to make and this can include aspects of the application which you support, even if you object to the overall development as presented. An example of this is below:
I am writing to object to the application reference 24/02463/MAO based on the following points:
- List your reasons for objecting.
I support the following aspects of this application:
- List the parts you agree with and would like to be retained in the application.
More than one person in a household can respond and it’s okay if multiple people use the same wording for some or all of the points made. We recommend taking a look at the responses submitted on the planning portal to identify other points you haven’t considered:
What Happens Next
At this stage the application will likely be decided by a planning officer at Bedford Borough Council. The application can be ‘called in’ to the planning committee by a councillor. No dates have been set for when the decision might be made.
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