Beneficial growth

We will carefully plan where and how we grow. New and existing communities will be planned and connected with the right infrastructure. We will set new standards for quality growth.

Opportunities

The right infrastructure can unlock an area’s potential, enable residents to access education and work opportunities, support local retail and businesses, and increase the viability of new sites. Mobility, green and social infrastructure are crucial in building strong and active communities.

Significant infrastructure such as East-West Rail and housing growth planned in association with the Oxford-Cambridge Arc growth corridor means Central Bedfordshire has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to think boldly about how growth is accommodated over the next 100 years.

National government involvement and support for planning new growth at scale may give more opportunity for public sector leadership and long-term benefits through stewardship of place.

Challenges

Planning major new growth in the right locations often requires leadership that spans political cycles and plan periods.

There is a need to build places that better anticipate the future without becoming unviable to deliver. Flexibility is both a must and a challenge.

We need to support our manufacturing and construction industries — without them, we will not have the skills and capacity to build at the scale and quality we need.

Trends

Private sector investment

In the Infrastructure Finance Review Consultation Paper issued by HM Treasury in March 2019, it was highlighted that of the projected £600 billion infrastructure investment pipeline for the next 10 years, half is forecast to come from the private sector.

New homes

The number of new homes created in England has hit its highest level in almost 30 years, official figures show, with more than 240,000 properties added to the country’s housing stock in 2018–19.