3.22

Object

Representation ID: 3423

Received: 28/06/2021

Respondent: Mr Thomas Fletcher

Please provide the evidence that the east west rail link will decarbonise and benefit the environment when there are no plans to electrify the network and rely on diesel trains shipping more freight and having a longer operating window?
What other mass rapid transport systems are you planning?
Can you quantify what the freight and logistics needs are and how the plan will deliver on those when the distribution centres being built in the borough are not connected to the rail network?
Increasing road transportation does not support decarbonisation.

Object

Representation ID: 3460

Received: 21/07/2021

Respondent: Mr ian Luder

The East West Railway has two flaws: 1) It is not being electrified and 2) it misses a northern Bedford Parkway Station to prevent London commuters clogging up Bedford, and would create an enhanced bus network hub
The Western bypass is already overloaded with traffic, and needs to be dualled before there can be any further employment or housing development.
Rural bus services are too weak to replace vehicular traffic.
Sites should be made available on the bypass, to enable the creation of one or more distribution hubs, to permit consolidation of deliveries to both business and domestic premises

Object

Representation ID: 3711

Received: 21/08/2021

Respondent: Mr Tony Ploszajski

Route E of the proposed East-West Rail link will cause significant environmental damage to the rural areas to the north-east of Bedford and so to reflect the environmental objectives underpinning the transport strategy, a flatter and more environmentally beneficial route to the south of Bedford would be more consistent.

Object

Representation ID: 3714

Received: 21/08/2021

Respondent: Mrs Veronica Zwetsloot

Looking at the 5 point plan, a new settlement at Dennybrook would not reduce the use of cars. 10800 houses will have at least 20,000 cars and the transport network and connectivity of this development does not lend itself to that much traffic. The roads are small, rural lanes, the proposed new station at Tempsford is a significant distance away which would not favour walking or cycling during inclement weather. The new station will be separated from Dennybrook by the railway , the A1 and A428, People wanting to travel south will have to go to St Neots anyway!

Support

Representation ID: 3766

Received: 23/08/2021

Respondent: Mr Graham Mills

The decision to route the East West rail link through Bedford's Midland Road rail station is absolutely the right thing to do. A 'parkway' style station to the south of the town would increase, not reduce traffic within the town and around its bypass. However, it will require a major improvement to Bedford's station(s) including a major increase in parking at the station and a bus station co-sited with the rail station.

Support

Representation ID: 3980

Received: 29/08/2021

Respondent: Anne Dorber

Continued increases in road-based travel are clearly unsustainable. These aims would seem to point towards option 2a as the favoured option.

Object

Representation ID: 4034

Received: 30/08/2021

Respondent: Jodi Henderson

You cannot support a development that is on the edge of the Borough and expect Bedford to benefit from it. It will impact on a road system that will not cope with additional traffic. Local villages will be overwhelmed with traffic and many roads in the area to Dennybrook are single lane which will prove to be dangerous. Colmworth will be used as a cut through to avoid black cat roundabout

Object

Representation ID: 4089

Received: 30/08/2021

Respondent: Mr Paul Irish

Delivery of EWR is not required and is contrary to the objective to encourage less travel. It will clearly increase freight traffic through the region worsening the local environment

Object

Representation ID: 4214

Received: 30/08/2021

Respondent: Mrs Chris Bend

The EEH Strategy may be supported by BBC but were residents asked? Decarbonisation of the transport system - a diesel trainline enabling freight trains to run through the centre of Bedford close to peoples homes? How is that lowering any environmental impact?

Support

Representation ID: 4379

Received: 31/08/2021

Respondent: None

Your biggest opportunity by far is to concentrate development in urban areas so that people can live and work within walking or cycling distance. Development in the villages can only ever be at odds with sustainability. Focus your attention on fibre broadband to the premises in all the villages so that more people can work successfully from home.

Object

Representation ID: 4393

Received: 31/08/2021

Respondent: Mr Kulwinder Rai

Without a East West Rail station located in North Beds, between Bedford and st Neots, there will no transport or sustainability benefits for North Beds. The mayor will continue stating he's proud of maintaining and subsidising rural bus services while his planning officers continue to assert that the very same services are not good enough to justify allowing more rural development... even when it's located on the bus routes themselves!

Support

Representation ID: 4837

Received: 01/09/2021

Respondent: Mr Tom Pearce

Very much positive towards improving communications (digital infrastructure) to reduce travel, allowing local communities to flourish, also to improve freight transport to reduce personal travel (again, local community improvements), but needlessly moving people from one area to another is all negatives. Mass transport is the answer to a question that shouldn't be asked anymore.

Object

Representation ID: 4956

Received: 02/09/2021

Respondent: Mr David Garratt

The proposed East West rail link appears to show the line will be powered by diesel locomotives, which is not a 'green' option and on this basis alone should stop this proposal.
Apart from the freight option to carry waste from the east of England to be incinerated near Bedford I am not convinced there will be sufficient passenger demand to substantiate the costs of this considerable project. The previous Varsity Line was closed due to lack of use.

Support

Representation ID: 5240

Received: 03/09/2021

Respondent: Mrs Clare Buddle

“Champion increased investment in active travel…” absolutely fully support. The borough is really well placed to be cycle/pedestrian based, i.e. similar to Cambridge. The borough has relatively flat topography and established neighbourhood hubs so local connectivity could easily be achieved with an increase in cycle lane provision and safer/more secure bike parking (for example manned hubs).

Support

Representation ID: 7934

Received: 20/09/2021

Respondent: Pavenham Parish council

The Parish Council fully supports the EEH Strategy as summarised in paragraph 3.22 of the Consultation and on that basis, it similarly supports the four Principles as set out in paragraph 3.23 with particular emphasis given to Principle 3, namely “opportunities for active travel and green infrastructure”.
The Parish Council agrees that the policies in the 2030 Plan are robust and do not require updating – subject to practical delivery when considering the housing growth site.
Housing development on small sites
In the context of this issue, the Parish Council agrees with the Borough Council’s conclusions as to the need for a specific policy but would also add that as well allocating two small sites for residential development within the Parish, its Neighbourhood Plan proposes a policy to permit windfall development – subject to a number of local policy conditions.

Object

Representation ID: 8750

Received: 29/09/2021

Respondent: Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Agent: Barton Willmore

3.4 Whilst the delivery of EWR is mentioned at paragraph 3.22 as one of five actions within the sub-national transport strategy, there is no acknowledgement in the Draft Plan of the significant implications that the implementation of the project will have on some sites within the Borough. Whilst we appreciate that EWR remains an emerging proposal, with the April - June 2021 consultation including some ‘Preferred Options’ for the route, the ramifications of the project’s delivery will be significant for many landowners, operators and residents in the Borough. Even if the detailed locations and sites for change remain too uncertain to specify on a Policies Map at this stage, we believe that the land use


planning implications of the EWR project should at least be acknowledged in the emerging Local Plan 2040.

3.5 There is much uncertainty regarding the EWR project, and considerable opposition within some groups. Whilst there is a danger of any comments being politicised, and the Local Plan should remain focused on committed schemes, we believe that the Draft Plan should make acknowledgement of the EWR project and set out the Council’s objectives at the local level.

3.6 It is important that strategic-level plans, including new infrastructure and transport projects, support the delivery of healthcare and facilitate good access to healthcare services. The Trust is seeking to work closely with Bedford Borough Council to ensure the establishment of both an integrated sustainable transport strategy for the Hospital and a shared vision for the ‘Land south of the River’ (designated for future redevelopment under Local Plan Policy 14). Likewise, the Trust is seeking to engage with the EWR Company, to ensure that the EWR project will deliver local benefits in addition to strategic opportunities.