Object to 26/01428/MAO - Build Your Letter | Stop Gibraltar Corner Build

You have an unfinished letter saved on this device.

This is an outline application with all matters reserved except access

That means the council is deciding two things now: whether housing here is acceptable in principle, and whether the new junctions onto Home Road and Wood End Lane are safe. Layout, appearance, height and landscaping are decided later, at reserved matters. Objections about the look of the houses or where windows face will be set aside as premature — so the grounds below deliberately avoid them. Access and the principle of development are where your objection lands hardest.

Choose your grounds

Pick the ones you can speak to honestly. Four grounds you know something about beat thirteen you don't.

0 chosen

Access and transport — the matters actually before the Council

Access junction design and highway safety Strong

The strongest ground available. Access is the one detailed matter the Council must decide now.

Highway capacity and cumulative traffic impact Strong

Unsustainable location and lack of active travel provision

Environment and landscape

Loss of countryside and coalescence of the Ends Strong

Assessable at outline — it follows from the quantum of development, not the layout.

Ecology, protected species and biodiversity net gain Strong

Biodiversity net gain is now a legal requirement, which makes this a hard ground for the applicant to wave away.

Surface water drainage and flood risk Strong

Loss of productive agricultural land

Harm to listed buildings and their setting Strong

The Council has a statutory duty here, not merely a policy one.

Infrastructure and services

School, GP and community facility capacity

Foul drainage and water infrastructure capacity

Planning policy and process

Conflict with the development plan Strong

This version deals with the tilted balance head-on rather than pretending it does not apply.

Adequacy of the environmental impact screening Strong

The earlier screening related to a larger scheme on a differently drawn site. That is a real procedural question.

Prematurity pending the new Local Plan

National policy sets a high bar for this ground. The text below is honest about that, which is why it reads as informed rather than hopeful.

Choose at least one to continue.

Put it in your own words

Each ground below is drafted for you. Change it. Councils record identical letters as a single campaign response, so a hundred copies of the same text count once. A few sentences of your own turns your letter into an individual representation the officer has to address.

Before you write, it is worth opening the documents the developer submitted. Quoting a specific report by name, or pointing to a gap in one, is far more effective than a general assertion — and it stops the officer replying that the point is already covered.

Your details

The council will not accept anonymous comments, so a real name and address are required for your objection to count.

Before you type your address, please read this

Bedford Borough Council publishes comments on planning applications on its website. Your name and address will normally be visible to the public. Signatures and contact details such as email addresses and phone numbers are usually removed. Anonymous comments are not accepted and carry no weight.

This website does not send your objection for you and does not store your address. Your letter is built in your browser; you send it yourself in the final step.

Title

Full name *

House name or number *

Street *

Town or village *

Postcode *

Email address *

The council uses this to acknowledge your comment and notify you of the decision.

Your connection to the area

Officers give more weight to people materially affected by a proposal. If you live nearby or use these roads, say so.

I am a…

For how long?

Email me updates about this campaign. We will only contact you about 26/01428/MAO and related applications, and you can unsubscribe at any time. See our privacy notice. Leaving this unticked will not affect your letter.

What do you know that the developer doesn't?

This section is the reason your letter will be read properly. Consultants write reports from survey visits. You have watched this place for years. Specific, first-hand, dated observations are the one thing a developer cannot rebut with a document.

What you have seen here *

Dates, places, times of day. Anything you could stand behind if asked.

0/2000

How this affects you directly (optional)

Your home, your route to work or school, your business.

0/1500

What you are asking the council to do

How much weight your letter will carry Not yet

Sending it — two minutes

Your objection only counts once it reaches the council against reference 26/01428/MAO.

Recommended

Comment directly on the council's portal

This attaches your comment to the case file automatically and gives you a confirmation. Copy your letter with the button below, then paste it into the comment box.

2. Open the comment form →

Or email it

Bedford Borough Council accepts objections by email. Attach the PDF, or paste the letter into the body.

planning@bedford.gov.uk

Put 26/01428/MAO in the subject line, and make sure the word "object" appears in your first sentence — the council asks for both.

Or post it

Print the PDF and send it to:

Planning Services
Bedford Borough Council
4th Floor, Borough Hall
Cauldwell Street
Bedford
MK42 9AP

Allow several working days for post to be scanned onto the file. If you are close to the deadline, use the portal or email instead.

Whichever route you use, your comment must state clearly that you object, and must quote application number 26/01428/MAO along with your name and full postal address. The letter below already does all three. Questions about the process: 01234 718068.

Your letter

After you have sent it

1. Keep the confirmation email — it is your proof the comment was received.
2. Check the portal after a few days to see your comment listed against 26/01428/MAO. If it is not there, chase it.
3. Ask Kempston Rural Parish Council to object too — a parish council objection carries formal weight and can trigger a committee decision.
4. Send this page to neighbours. Individually written letters from many households is what moves a case; one letter sent a hundred times is not.
5. If this goes to Planning Committee, you can register to speak by emailing Righttospeak@bedford.gov.uk before 4.45pm on the Friday before the meeting. Three minutes in the room counts for a lot.
6. Register for updates so you know when the officer's report is published.

Build YourObjection Letter.