Article 4 Direction – The whys and wherefores

You will have received (or will be receiving) an official letter from Central Bedfordshire Council (CBC) regarding our Article 4 application to remove permitted development rights from Fairfield (PDR). The CBC letter goes into the legalities of our application but does not explain why we have felt compelled to do it. By the end of the weekend you will have received a 4-page leaflet from us that explains why we have made the application and calling on you to support it. Fairfield was built to a very specific and detailed plan and is regarded as unique in the planning world. However, if extensions are allowed to deviate from that plan, we will lose that “uniqueness” very quickly and our village will just look like any other – a hotchpot of designs, extensions, and brickwork. The difference goes further as some parts of Fairfield already have PDR removed while other parts must make planning applications before they can do any work on the exterior part of the property. The design and layout of Fairfield is much admired by many and is held up as an excellent example of planning which is why planners and architects from all over the world have, and still, visit Fairfield. It is also the reason why many of us moved here. FPC feels strongly that we must, and should, preserve the look and feel of Fairfield and stop extensions that do not fit into these criteria. What we are not saying is that you cannot extend or modify your house merely that you keep to the original Masterplan that was endorsed in our Neighbourhood Plan when 95 per cent of respondents answered “yes” to the key question – “do you want new build and extensions on Fairfield to follow the original design”. So, can we urge you to respond to the Consultation? Covid-19 restrictions mean that many of CBC planning staff remain working from home and they ask to respond the application online. However, the link they give is slightly difficult to follow. Can we suggest you either click or copy this link as it will get you there much easier! https://bit.ly/3c9qiux. You then need to click on the Consultation link to the right hand side and when this takes to you the next page click on the link regarding Public representations and then on the link that says you do not have a reference number.