Industrial development plans to be considered by Luton council as application crosses authority boundary

Access to a planned industrial site in Central Bedfordshire is set to be considered by Luton borough councillors, as the application crosses the boundary between two local authorities.

The majority of the development is in Central Bedfordshire Council’s (CBC) administrative area, according to a report to the borough council’s development management committee.

There would be an area of open storage, landscaping, parking and other works, with the site to be accessed via a new junction from Coverdale, according to the report.

It read: “Coverdale is located in the borough council’s administrative area. This is a cross-boundary planning application. The access proposed falls within Luton’s administrative area, while the buildings and associated infrastructure are in Central Bedfordshire’s administrative area.

“Eight individual units are proposed, with the storage area to the north of the development and an attenuation pond.

“The land is located next to the M1 on the northern boundary of Luton, with Sundon Business Park to the north-east. This site isn’t allocated within the Luton Local Plan.

“But it’s designated for strategic housing and mixed-use allocations in the Central Bedfordshire Local Plan. A landscape buffer is intended between this location and the residential properties at Coverdale.”

Luton borough councillors are recommended to allow the final decision on the plans to be delegated to the local authority’s head of planning to continue to assess the proposals through talks with CBC and the applicant.

Those discussions would relate to any Section 106 planning (legal) arrangements accompanying a decision to grant planning permission, explained the report.

It stated: “A new access proposed would be in the form of a continuation of the Coverdale link to the three-arm roundabout with Luton Road and Toddington Road.

“Footpaths and cycleways will be provided either side of the carriageway connecting to the current pedestrian and cycling infrastructure locally.

“This project is predicted to generate 30 vehicle trips in the morning peak and 25 trips in the evening equivalent. The main consideration as far as Luton is concerned is the impact of the development on highway safety.

“LBC highways engineers are making no objections to the development on safety grounds. A planning contribution of £12,500 has been requested by LBC highways to upgrade the footpath from Coverdale to national cycle route six.

“The link would provide a quality pedestrian and cycle route between the development and Leagrave Railway Station, while also connecting to Luton, Houghton Regis, Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard town centres.”

Luton Borough Council (LBC) has requested a financial contribution of £8,000 is requested towards the introduction of a 7.5-tonne weight restriction on Toddington Road “to help ensure there’s no increase in HGV use of this route because of the scheme”.

The report continued: “The Section 106 contributions are under consideration by CBC and the borough council is awaiting comments.

“LBC can only assess the noise impacts of the extra 55 trips using the proposed access, which wouldn’t cause significant harm.”