Bedford Borough Council is preparing a design guide.

There is a new and growing emphasis in national planning policy and guidance on ensuring future development and place making is well designed and beautiful.

The purpose of the Council’s design guide will be to provide general design advice for future residential development in the borough. It will support adopted design policies already in place in the development plan.

We recently consulted on the scope of the design guide. Whilst the consultation has closed, documents are available below for reference. It is proposed that the design guide will divide the borough into manageable areas, with specific settlements analysed for their prevailing character traits.

View Bedford Borough design guide scoping document (PDF).

Responses are now being analysed and will help to finalise the scope of the design guide and public consultation on a draft document is planned for late 2021 with adoption before the end of March 2022.