Question 7
By creating employment sites / creating jobs close to stations / with good transport links to the East-West Rail. Attracting certain types of employers / hubs in different areas. By creating attractive housing developments, places where people want to live near to the jobs. By improving the reputation of Bedford town centre as being a desirable place to visit, live and work, so that Bedford does not become the poor relation of the stations along the East-West Rail route, ie the station that nobody wants to get off at. To make Bedford more desirable we need to focus on defining our identify and our USP, creating urban design values, cohesion to urban development and improving the most undesirable areas around Bedford, in particular Midland Road between Ashburnham Road and Pilgrims Progress as well as Greyfriars.
Wherever the locations of new East West rail stations are decided gives the opportunity for development close to the station. This would bring similar benefits to the successful eastern developments in St. Neots (Loves Farm and Wintringham) that are so close to St. Neots station. They encourage walking and cycling and reduction in car use for those travelling to work by train. This gives residents the opportunity to travel by public transport (train) to work in Oxford or Cambridge, reducing car usage. Likewise residents from Oxford and Cambridge have greater opportunity to work in the Bedford area.
If Bedford is going to be better connected to Oxford, Cambridge and Milton Keynes by way of East West Rail then access to Bedford Station must be improved. There must be better public transport from rural areas to the train station, (not the bus station), cycle routes and more parking for those who will inevitably use their cars. East West Rail may not increase the value of the economy of Bedford however if new people just move to Bedford in order to commute to other towns. The Borough Council must show that Bedford is a good place to live and work, is within easy reach of lovely countryside, has good schools and cultural facilities without travelling further afield. The Borough must sort out the leisure facilities quickly though, taking back control from Fusion, who have been a disaster.
It will be essential for the council to make Bedford Midland provide a fast connection into London and to the north, as well as East-West. The present situation where fast trains do not stop during rush hour times cannot continue. There will need to be careful timetabling for connectivity. It will also be necessary to develop train services from Bedford to beyond Cambridge and Oxford, linking with other major centres such as Reading, Bristol, Peterborough and the east and west coast mainlines.
Cluster the same type of industries together. This could be encouraged with incentives provided by the Borough and /or designated areas for such development. Good transport links are essential for all this to work.
The borough has been a focus of the national logistics industry with a number of significant developments in recent years, however, Wootton Parish Council considers this should not be the focus for the future. It considers opportunities should be encouraged and sought to bring more traditional forms of employment and companies to invest in the Borough providing greater prospects for the existing workforce. Whilst, it acknowledges that seeking to enhance the economy will be challenging in these current times, the new Local Plan should seek to attract business to invest in the more urban areas of the Borough.
People in Oxford or Cambridge are unlikely to travel to Bedford for employment. The reverse already happens to a small extent. People should be encouraged to live close to their employment so that it reduced the impact on climate by using cars or other transport.
1. Make sure that trains stop at Bedford! 2. Economic value would be won by Bedford if it can provide goods, services or people required by the economic centres of Cambridge and Oxford. It will be crucial to understand the needs of those centres and to establish appropriate service centres and supply chains (of both goods and appropriately qualified people). The good standards achieved in the local schools (both state and independent), Bedford College and the Universities of Bedfordshire and Cranfield provide a good platform for generating appropriately qualified people.
East-West Rail will not deliver the benefits that are hoped for. EWR have made no statement or guarantee regarding Service Frequency or Capacity or Journey Times. The only statement I can find says there will be 1 (yes One) train per hour between Bedford and Oxford. This will not make a material difference to the economy of Bedford. EWR have nothing to say about local services (eg existing Bedford to Bletchley line) and how these will integrate with the wider network. Building the track in itself does not provide any benefit. It is the Service which matters. This must be fast, frequent, reliable and cost effective.
Bedford needs to raise itself so that people from Oxford Cambridge and further afield want to come and live and work here rather than being somewhere for lower skilled less well paid workers to commute from. The whole mentality that asks how can we piggy back on the success of Oxford and Cambridge shows a fundamental lack of ambition in making Bedford a desirable place to live. The basics are simple. Make the housing high quality, make the high street and town centre high quality (try and move out the heavy traffic, charity, betting and vape shops). Focus the town centre, and indeed the town as a whole so that it is cohesive rather than a series of ill conceived enclaves. Bedford desperately needs an identity to compete with MK, Cambridge and Oxford. Even towns like Rushden have a better sense of self than Bedford. Additionally growth hubs, business incubators and a sense of business community is needed. Out of town developments have a place but many are very low revenue and very low employment level warehousing and distribution. Business rents and rates need to be reduced significantly to attract talent and startups, meanwhile the quality of premises of all sizes needs to improve. The connectivity and navigability of the town centre needs a significant overhaul. Pedestrianisation of the high street would be a simple start followed by better ring road provision and developments along both sides of the river to the west joining the end of the high street to priory marina.
Bedford Southwest from Cardington to Stewartby can combine with a Bedford South transport hub/park and ride to give a rapid link to the town centre and new employment in the immediate vicinity. East-West Rail must be a Bedford South Station so it has direct links to this crucial area of prime economic growth opportunity. Bus/train shuttles can give rapid transit to the town centre. Redevelopment around St Johns Station/Kingsway will offer a bright, new, and appealing entry to Bedford Central. With the river running through the middle, offering a green/blue avenue to promote health and wellbeing for visitors and town centre workers alike. With the Danfoss site adjacent to St Johns Station now closed, the station has a golden opportunity to expand and feed into a new Bedford Central development that is visitor friendly and uniquely situated around a natural beauty of a water parkland.
investment in the town centre along with access via public transport to reduce car usage and environmental pollution
Good access to link roads and to the planned railway stations
Ensure that the rail network is adequately designed, and minimal budget-based compromise is made. The railway should be future proofed for additional demand/traffic and additional stations should be built. This allows as many workers as possible to commute between the centres with the least hassle.
Have more stations on the railway at which some of the train services could stop.
Oxford and Cambridge accessibility would be a benefit and draw people to the area, but infrastructure needs to be in place first before this can happen !! Access and availability to superfast broadband will be key for businesses and residents.
Build on the better value that Bedford offers (lower cost good quality housing, lower cost good quality business premises) - quality not crammed in quality. Significantly improve quality of lifestyle (particularly Wixams & partially Wootton are no more than large housing estates - neither has an obvious central green area. Expend the Marston Vale forest, create additional but smaller equivalent type forests). Create smooth/hassle free e2e transport links.
Better sites, for example science parks located close to rail stations so people can easily access them sustaibly. Better training and housing to support skilled workers. Enhanced town centre to retain extra spending. Use green image of Bedford to attract employers by offering sustainable offices within practical, accessible parkland (and supporting services such as cafe, small shops). Bedford's greenery could be its USP.
The Oxford-Cambridge Arc is a myth. Oxford is too far away to have any major impact. Improved transport links will just make Bedford into a dormitory town. Milton Keynes is far more significant for Bedford.
No views
By abandoning the ill-conceived plan to run the east-West rail link to the North of Bedford and instead exploiting the clear advantages of Route B along the A421 corridor with a station at Wixams. This would maximise the potential of the road system already following the Oxford/Cambridge arc and allow Bedford to retain its undoubted environmental benefits together with open countryside to the North without being inundated with additional commercial traffic flow.
No idea. I would have thought with a good train service north, south, east, west at an affordable price will naturally increase the value of the economy of Bedford. With the hopeless set up at the moment with the train station/bus station not connecting properly, parking being ridiculous then things would naturally improve.
By supporting the rail link & growth plan that includes the current Bedford Station on the East-West Rail route. To have a separate station outside Bedford, so that you have to change to get onto the East-West route would mean Bedford missed out on all the opportunities of direct travel between Cambridge and Oxford.
By supporting the rail link & growth plan that includes the current Bedford Station on the East-West Rail route. To have a separate station outside Bedford, so that you have to change to get onto the East-West route would mean Bedford missed out on all the opportunities of direct travel between Cambridge and Oxford.
Make sure the railway station has very good road connections and a massive car park so people can safely leave their cars there and get to work .
The benefits can best be captured by Bedford being a highly attractive place to live for those whose employment is based in other economic centres along East-West Rail and within public-transport commuting distance. There is a need to emphasise residents’ quality of life as part of this. In doing so, the benefits to Bedford can be maximised if these workers work-from-home for a significant part of the week each week, with housing routinely being designed with rooms for use as a home-office, and within 15 minute walk of this housing local shops, restaurants, other leisure facilities and railway stations, the last where possible within 15 minute walk or failing that 15 minute cycle (by cycle routes suitable for high-speed cycling segregated from traffic flows by physical barriers). Locations to enable easy access to stations enable the commute without the downsides to the Borough of commuting-by-road (or driving to stations).
The benefits can best be captured by Bedford being a highly attractive place to live for those whose employment is based in other economic centres along East-West Rail and within public-transport commuting distance. There is a need to emphasise residents’ quality of life as part of this. In doing so, the benefits to Bedford can be maximised if these workers work-from-home for a significant part of the week each week, with housing routinely being designed with rooms for use as a home-office, and within 15 minute walk of this housing local shops, restaurants, other leisure facilities and railway stations, the last where possible within 15 minute walk or failing that 15 minute cycle (by cycle routes suitable for high-speed cycling segregated from traffic flows by physical barriers). Locations to enable easy access to stations enable the commute without the downsides to the Borough of commuting-by-road (or driving to stations).
If Bedford is developed in an attractive way and the town centre becomes a flourishing community hub, then people might want to move here and innovative businesses with them.
Need to capitalise on us being in centre of arc with supportive employment and housing
It is not just about connectivity, it is also about the Vision seeking to set out a more ambitious role for Bedford in the Arc i.e. a key part of it rather than a passive with Oxford, Cambridge and Milton Keynes taking the lead. Bedford could and should accommodate employment opportunities that cannot locate in Oxford or Cambridge e.g. high tech manufacturing related to research undertaken at Oxford and Cambridge or elsewhere.