Developer withdraws from eco-town process

Master developer, Gallagher, has withdrawn its New Marston proposal from the eco-town process.

In a letter to the Department of Communities and Local Government, Gallagher's planning director, Greg Mitchell, says that strategic employment and housing growth in the Marston Vale area should be best addressed through the regional and local development plans process where a long-term vision can be planned through to 2031.

[CLICK TO READ FULL LETTER]

The letter says: "If there is to be an eco-town in Marston Vale, it should be planned against a backdrop of a longer term phased strategic development."

Gallagher's New Marston eco-town proposal was anchored by Wixams, a 4,500 home development on the former Elstow Depot to the south of Bedford that would extend southwards into the Marston Vale using the former brickmaking works of Kempston, Hardwick and Stewartby to create an additional 7,000 dwellings.

Gallagher argues that when there is a strategic development framework for the Marston Vale area, this should focus development in the north around brownfield land and the new Wixams railway station. Only then should further development be considered in the southern Marston Vale.

Mitchell's letter continues: "We consider it fundamental that delivery of Wixams is not undermined by a premature Marston Vale scheme, which could result in the dilution of resources necessary for the delivery of existing and planned developments in the Bedford area."