Woods Hardwick Planning retained as Project Co-ordinator and Planning Consultant for Arlesey project

Woods Hardwick Planning has already successfully promoted a 74 ha site known as land east and west of High Street, Arlesey, for allocation in the Central Beds (North) Site Allocations DPD. As testament to this success, WHP has now been retained as Project Co-ordinator and Planning Consultant for the next stages; these stages being the preparation of the Masterplan SPD to guide future development and an outline planning application for the whole site, all of which could take approximately two years.The client, Arlesey Consortium, comprises Central Bedfordshire Council’s Property Assets Department, Arlesey Investments Ltd, Bloor Homes, Swan Hill Homes (part of the Raven Group) and Greene King. The allocation is for a mixed-use development of 1,000+ dwellings, 10 ha of employment land, new retail provision (including a supermarket) and community facilities.Arlesey is a long linear settlement, which suffers from local congestion on the main route through the town due to parked cars and the width of the high street, and a relatively poor level of service provision. The town has grown steadily over the past twenty years through piecemeal rather than co-ordinated development, which has brought little in the way of benefits or improvements in the service offer.This site has therefore been allocated to encourage significant new growth at Arlesey and create a more compact settlement form, with an identifiable focal point to the town. A number of ‘local needs’ have been identified as necessary provisions within the new development including health facilities, a new pharmacy and dentist, a new (additional) lower school, a high-quality business park, improvements to bus services and walking and cycling routes, and provision of Green Infrastructure.It is also anticipated that the scale of development could support the delivery of a relief road for the high street to provide an alternative route for people in the south of the town to get to the main A-road.Russell Gray, Director at WHP said, “having been a part of this process since its inception in 2006, we are particularly pleased to have been retained on such a large, exciting project.”Russell continued, “we wasted no time in getting to work on the next stages, and are already co-ordinating the commissioning of technical work on matters such as ecology, archaeology, arboriculture, transportation and drainage, which will form the preparation of the Masterplan SPD and ultimately a planning application for the site. ““We have also been liaising with the Local Planning Authority on the public consultation strategy and requirements for the SPD and application.  This will involve public exhibitions on site constraints and opportunities and options for the Masterplan.”Also in the immediate plans is to establish a Stakeholder Group, which WHP will be a member of, along with Central Beds Officers, Arlesey Town Council and other local interest groups.Since submitting the original expression of interest for this land in 2006 following Mid Bedfordshire District Council’s ‘call for sites’, WHP has been heavily involved in seeking to shape the development strategy and policies for the area and has adopted a very hands-on approach. In addition to representing the Consortium at numerous meetings/Examinations in Public, WHP has also been engaging with Arlesey Town Council, informing them of progress for the initial Concept Plan and providing presentation materials so the Town Council could hold a local exhibition on the proposals.  This is, perhaps an example of what the Government has in mind in terms of the Localism Agenda…….local people/organisations conferring and working together to reach a positive and real outcome for the locality. It’s certainly worked in this instance but we won’t delve deeper into that debate right now…..The project has also been a great illustration of how the multi-disciplined nature of the Woods Hardwick companies works to provide, in effect, a ‘one-stop shop’ for all services required in such a project. In addition to WHP acting as Planning Consultant, Woods Hardwick has prepared concept plans to support the promotion of the site, Woods Hardwick Surveying (WHS) conducted a topographical survey of the whole site and Woods Hardwick Infrastructure (WHI) has provided advice on infrastructure matters, including highways and drainage. In fact, just last week, WHI was awarded new instructions in respect of furthering the drainage and transportation investigations. A true team effort.