Brownfield Call for Sites
We are currently in the process of updating the Local Plan for Central Bedfordshire, and as part of this there will be a need to allocate sites for new homes and jobs, and potentially supporting infrastructure. It also provides the opportunity to designate sites for other uses. A Call for Sites is therefore being undertaken to request sites for the following uses:
- Housing
- Employment
- Gypsy and Traveller Pitches
- Green Energy Sites
- Green Spaces (Strategic Alternative Greenspaces (SANG) sites as required by the Beechwoods Mitigation strategy, Local Nature Sites, BNG sites)
- Education sites
- Cemeteries
- Freight Rest Areas
We are committed to ensuring that new development is sustainable and uses available land efficiently, so to minimise the use of greenfield sites, we are initially focusing on identifying previously developed land known as ‘brownfield sites’ within Central Bedfordshire. A definition of brownfield sites can be found below.
If you would like to submit a brownfield site for consideration as part of this process, please use the following link:
Please note, all sites should be submitted electronically via our online platform. We will not be accepting submissions in other formats. Please contact the Local Plans Team if you require any support with your submission.
Once submitted, sites will be subject to an assessment of their suitability, availability and achievability for the development type proposed. This will include considering whether there is landowner commitment to bring the site forward, constraints such as flood risk and environmental and historic designations, and whether there is sufficient infrastructure capacity to support the proposed site. Further consultation on the Local Plan and any shortlisted sites will be undertaken as part of the wider plan-making process.
The call for sites is open from 4 November to 2 December 2024.
What is a brownfield site?
According to the Government's definition, a brownfield site is one which:
- is or was occupied by a permanent structure, including the curtilage of the developed land (although it should not be assumed that the whole of the curtilage should be developed) and any associated fixed surface infrastructure
It excludes land that:
- is or was last occupied by agricultural or forestry buildings;
- was developed for minerals extraction or waste disposal by landfill, where provision for restoration has been made
- is in built-up areas such as residential gardens, parks, recreation grounds and allotments; and
- was previously developed but where structural remains have blended into the landscape
Initially this call for Sites is open to Brownfield sites only. This is to understand the capacity for Brownfield development within Central Bedfordshire before we look to Greenfield opportunities. Following the Brownfield Call for Sites, if it is considered that there have not been enough sites identified to address the likely housing and employment need in the Local Plan, then the Call for Sites will be opened up to Greenfield sites also.
Potential development sites – ‘Call for Sites’ FAQs
We’ve been gathering your feedback on what makes a great place to live and what the future ‘Local Plan’ for Central Bedfordshire should look like. The Local Plan sets out a vision and framework for the future development of the area. In this plan, we need to ensure enough homes and jobs for everyone are provided in the right places, with the necessary facilities and services, while protecting the environment as much as possible. To make sure we have all of this in place, we are now asking for your help once again to support our Local Plan. We will be doing what is officially called a ‘Call for Sites’, which simply means asking people to identify potential development sites for us to investigate. We are specifically looking for ‘Brownfield’ sites - so land that has been built on previously and is now maybe empty or derelict. Anyone can submit a site, including landowners, developers, community groups, and individuals. Whilst you do not need to own a site to submit it to the Call for Sites, it is unlikely we’d be proceeding with sites whereby there is not clear support from the landowner.
The Call for Sites will cover the whole of the Central Bedfordshire area and we’ll be looking for sites that could provide the following land uses: Submitting a potential development site is separate to a planning application. Submitting a site to the ‘Call for Sites’ is an initial step to ask the Council to consider the site when they are identifying land for development and other uses. These sites are then assessed, and some may be allocated within the Local Plan. The Local Plan will include policies that show the boundary of the sites that have been allocated and explain the key principles for the developments, for example setting out approximately how many homes or jobs it will need to provide, and what services and facilities it will need to provide as part of the development. A planning application would still be required for any site allocated for development within the Local Plan. A planning application is a separate, formal process that would normally follow a site’s allocation in the Local Plan, and it is at that stage where the specific details are decided, such as the exact number of homes, the number of parking spaces, the size and location of new facilities and road layouts etc. An online site form will need to be completed for each site. As a minimum, we will need the site boundary to be plotted onto the online system, the address of the site, the current use of the site and ownership details, if known. Additional information, such as detailed site plans and photographs, are also helpful. For us, it’s really important that big new developments have the right facilities so we’d expect anyone submitting a major development site to be considering from the outset what benefits they believe it could bring existing and new residents. If you are aware of any issues or constraints that affect the site and already have proposed mitigation in mind, it would also be useful to submit any details around this to inform the assessment process.
For sites that pass the initial assessment stages, there will also be an opportunity to submit additional information at a later stage in the assessment process. You can now submit a site. Submitting a site does not mean the site will be allocated for development. National guidance requires us to consider whether sites are: Every site that is put forward will be assessed against a set of specific criteria. The views we have gathered from residents as part of our recent public engagement are currently helping to shape some of these criteria. This will include taking into account issues such as infrastructure capacity (whether there are sufficient places at nearby schools and GP surgeries, for example), flood risk, environment and historic designations, accessibility (how easily sites can be accessed by different modes of transport), road capacity, sustainability and many more factors. We will also engage with key external organisations such as National Highways, Natural England and Historic England to highlight any issues and opportunities. Allocations will be selected from the shortlist of sites which have passed the assessment process. This will be informed by the Local Plan’s chosen strategy. There will be an opportunity for the public to comment on the sites selected before a decision is made. Yes. If you wish any site previously submitted to the Council to be reconsidered, it should be resubmitted using the new online submission form. This will ensure that we have up to date and consistent baseline information for all sites. A new assessment of the sites will be made using the site assessment criteria for the new Local Plan. Please note, if your site is already allocated in our current Local Plan, there is no need to resubmit them. All allocations from previous Local Plans will be carried forward. No, sites that have previously been submitted and are currently on the Brownfield Register have already been through an initial high-level assessment. The Council will contact those on the Register to confirm whether they would like their sites to be considered through the Local Plan process. Developing a Local Plan is a big task, which takes a number of years. As well as requiring a huge range of evidence studies to be prepared to ensure we are considering all options effectively, we want to ensure we allow enough time to hear from you (our communities, stakeholders and businesses) about what you want for your area. You can view the full timeframe at the bottom of this web page. National guidance states that the assessment of sites needs to identify all sites and broad locations (regardless of the amount of development needed) in order to provide a complete audit of available land. The process of the assessment will, however, provide the information to enable an identification of sites and locations that are most suitable for the level of development required. The Government has recently consulted on a new method for calculating housing needs which suggests that Central Bedfordshire needs to provide 2,099 new homes for every year that our Local Plan covers. We are also preparing a study that will break our housing number down to look at the different types of homes we need to provide, including the amount and types of affordable housing. This study will also work out how many and what type of jobs we need to provide. At this stage we are asking for all types and sizes of sites, although we do propose to only allocate housing sites able to accommodate at least 10 dwellings. This is because we are focusing on sites which are large enough for us to be able to secure funding towards infrastructure improvements and provide affordable housing. If sites are not capable of providing ten or more dwellings though, we are still happy to accept submissions which will then be passed on to neighbourhood planning groups to consider when they review or produce new Plans. We are not seeking comments on sites at this time. Once we have finished the Call for Sites, we need to take some time to consider each of the sites that have been submitted to us before we seek views on them. There will be opportunities to comment on sites in due course and we will publicise when this will happen. Stay up to date with the new Local Plan by signing up for our Local Plan emails or join our WhatsApp Channel. You can unsubscribe from either of these at any time. No, this isn’t an option. We are given a housing figure by the Government that we have to meet and we are required to have an up-to-date Local Plan in place (we must review it every 5 years) to address this. Some of the first things the independent planning inspector will look for when assessing the plan we submit is whether we are meeting our need for new homes and jobs, including our needs for gypsy, traveller and travelling showpeople sites. If we don’t meet our need without compelling reasons, the plan will not be passed by the Inspector. Without a Local Plan in place, we will lose significant control over where development might happen, and the infrastructure and services it could provide. We will then be under pressure to approve these to meet our housing needs, or the Government is able to start overturning refusals at appeal if they don’t feel there are against national planning policy. This form of development is much more difficult for the Council to influence and it makes it harder for us to get the best for our communities. Therefore, there will be growth, but the Local Plan allows us to plan for what growth is best for Central Bedfordshire, rather than just having to approve planning applications which come in. If you would like to discuss the Call for Sites process further, please email Localplan@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk or call 0300 300 8301.
What is the process and timeline for the new Local Plan?