Issues and Options

5.8 The location of Bedford within the OxCam Arc provides a unique opportunity. Although it will enhance connectivity to Oxford, Milton Keynes and Cambridge, Bedford’s geographical proximity to Cambridge means the latter will provide the greatest connection. To capture the benefits of this connectivity, it is likely that the Cambridge jobs market will be opened up to residents of Bedford. Furthermore, the Cambridge cluster is increasingly spatially concentrated, with a lot of technology companies seeking to be in Cambridge City as a global centre for this type of work (employment sites outside Cambridge but as close as Cambourne have not had significant take-up partly for this reason). However, increased connectivity to the city through East-West Rail might encourage dispersal of some of this growth to other centres. 5.9 The key to capturing these benefits will be development in Bedford at scale. This means providing enough homes to encourage people to live in Bedford who work within the OxCam Arc but would currently choose another location to live. In addition to capture benefits and assist existing residents in terms of employment location and growth, there would also be a need to deliver employment space at scale to maximise the benefits. 5.10 TwinWoods Garden Community provides the scale of development to deliver a step change in residential and employment population to capture economic benefit and increase the value of the Bedford economy.

6.1 The first principle of encouraging a shift to sustainable travel is providing the choice to travel using other modes than the car, whether this be safe and attractive pedestrian routes, cycle routes, bike sharing, e-bike sharing, buses, or rail. Where offered it is paramount that these facilities are direct, convenient, and comfortable to use, i.e. cycle routes away from heavy traffic. 6.2 Moving to a new house is one of the primary opportunities to alter habits, and hence it is proposed that many of the mobility measures at TwinWoods will be offered up front. The site composition in combination with these measures allows for the maximum level of internalisation to be achieved from an early stage. Where internal trips are not possible, the proposals provide for a range of attractive options for external sustainable travel, whether this be by rail, bus, or bike (or e-bike), in an effort to encourage travel away from the private car from the outset. 6.3 The COVID-19 crisis has focused minds and resurfaced issues, such as working from home, health, community, internet shopping, deliveries etc. This means that there is no certainty of the future traffic or travel situation beyond the immediate short term. 6.4 What COVID-19 has done is accelerate the mobility trends that were already happening. These trends included conducting business from home, shopping more online and limiting travel where it is not essential. 6.5 The COVID-19 pandemic has therefore changed the way many people are working and travelling. During the national lockdown in the UK a noticeable shift was made to cycling and walking. Whilst the reasons for this are many and include good weather, having the opportunity to spend time with family and to exercise once a day, it demonstrates that when made possible people will travel by these modes. 6.6 This is an extreme example, yet with a material increase in working from home the propensity to use these modes will increase. At the current time traffic levels are again rising in the UK and are nearing 90% of 2019 levels. However, this reflects summer holiday traffic and should not be considered a reliable indicator of how traffic levels will be in the ‘new normal’. Travel abroad is currently limited meaning many are travelling within the UK rather than abroad, and the easement of the lockdown has created a situation where many people are getting out and about at a higher rate than they otherwise might whilst still nervous about travelling by public transport. 6.7 A new and large-scale site such as TwinWoods can be designed to facilitate sustainable travel from day 1. As aforementioned, some of this will be by classic mobility or traditional public transport, but there are ample prospects for additional transport innovations. At TwinWoods these could include ground drones (such as those proving successful in Milton Keynes), connected automated vehicles (CAVs), and certainly e-bikes. This is fully in accordance with Bedford’s aspirations as set out in the Issues & Options document which states the need for ‘more innovative transport systems and modes’. 6.8 Innovation could be considered in reducing the need to travel in the first instance, which the TwinWoods design and proposals do. Reducing the need to travel at all is paramount for meeting the climate change policy aspirations of Bedford Borough and the UK. Where this cannot occur, active travel is the next step. 6.9 Movement corridors form the skeleton of the masterplan and provide for attractive cycle routes which penetrate each aspect of the development. The design and layout of TwinWoods is crucial in supporting behavioural change, providing people with increased flexibility with respect to the time they travel, how they travel, and how they plan their journeys. 6.10 E-bikes provide a mechanism for using the core cycling routes through the site and are hence a key aspect of the transport package for TwinWoods. They allow for a wider catchment area within a shorter journey time than traditional bikes and may be a more attractive choice for many. SEE ATTACHMENT FOR FIGURE 6.1 E-BIKE CYCLING ISOCHRONES 6.11 Next Bike provide one of the premier bike sharing services in the UK, and discussions have been undertaken to incorporate Next Bike within the TwinWoods site. In December 2019 Next Bike saw 2 million bike rentals in the UK in 10 locations. Their first e-bike scheme was launched in Glasgow also in 2019 with a second location in a town outside of Cardiff planned. 6.12 A large modal shift from car use from new residents as well as existing road users. The station is fully integrated within the masterplan and creates a secondary ‘heart’ to the development, where community and travel emanates from. The core movement corridors will provide immediate access to the rail station, as well as a convenient road link to encourage drivers to deviate from the A6 on the route into Bedford. A secondary Mobility Hub will be provided at the station, allowing for the transfer of modes with the ultimate ease, and the Woodlands sustainable travel link will provide direct access from north Bedford to the station to further encourage a modal shift in trips from further afield.

Summary and Conclusions 7.1 Whilst this consultation response specifically answers a number of the consultation questions, the key aspect is that TwinWoods can assist the Borough and its Local Plan Review in meeting the needs of Bedford as part of the Local Plan Review. 7.2 TwinWoods has a capacity for 6,000-7,000 homes and 2,000-4,000 jobs. However, the key difference for the promotion of the site under this Local Plan Review is that the proposed alignment of East-West Rail extends through the southern part of the site, and a new station on the new line could serve the new community and beyond. This would relieve pressure on the centre of Bedford and tying in the new community to the east-west axis connecting to Cambridge, Milton Keynes and Oxford. The scale of TwinWoods would mean it is a settlement in its own right. With or without train station, it has strong sustainable travel credentials and, based on comparator location analysis, could achieve a high level of self-containment, reliving pressure on Bedford. 7.3 We trust the contents of this consultation response is of assistance to the Council in producing its Local Plan Review. If you have any follow up questions please do not hesitate to contact us.