Bedford Borough Council – Local Plan 2050 – Development Sites
Call for Sites and Development Opportunities (July to October 2026)
The Bedford Borough Local Plan 2050 sets out the Borough’s long-term direction.
Bedford Borough Council is inviting all key stakeholders – landowners, developers, businesses, community groups, parish councils and residents – to suggest sites and development opportunities that could help shape the Borough’s future. These may include:
- Housing and employment sites
- Leisure, recreation and community facilities
- Town centre and retail uses
- Renewable energy and regeneration projects.
The exercise is open to anyone wishing to promote land and development opportunities, from small infill sites through to large strategic locations. You need to own the site or land parcel or have permission from the landowner to submit it.
Please note that submitting a site or development project does not guarantee its inclusion in the new plan. Sites and development opportunities will be considered against a range of factors, including access to services, flood risk, contamination and other constraints.
Councillor Andrea Spice, Portfolio Holder for Economic Prosperity, Planning, Housing & Regulatory Services said:
“This exercise gives landowners, developers, organisations and local communities the opportunity to help shape the future growth and development of the Borough.
The new Local Plan must be based on robust, up-to-date evidence that reflects opportunities across the Borough. Early submissions will help identify available land and development opportunities to meet future needs – we encourage you to submit sites or development opportunities before the deadline”.
Submissions must be made through an online survey form – http://www.bedford.gov.uk/callforsites – and include details such as site boundaries, proposed land uses, estimated capacity, delivery timescales and constraints. Please ensure you are the landowner or have the landowner’s permission.
This consultation will close at midnight 30 October 2026. Bedford Borough Councill will consider submissions and provide updates.
You can find out more about how to submit sites and development opportunities from the Bedford Borough Council website at www.bedford.gov.uk/callforsites
In September 2026 a public consultation will provide residents, businesses, organisations and other interested parties with an opportunity to provide feedback on the site selection methodology. Bedford Borough Council will also be consulting on your ideas about how the places where you live and work in the Borough could be improved, as well as the proposed direction and priorities of the new Local Plan. More information about the September consultation and engagement will follow nearer the time.
In the meantime, the draft methodology is available to view ahead of this consultation, solely to support early awareness and understanding.
For further information, please contact the Planning Department at Bedford Borough Council on planning.policy@bedford.gov.uk or 01234 718070.