Marston Valley development approved
Yesterday afternoon, Central Bedfordshire Council approved the proposed Marston Valley development for around 5,000 new houses despite a significant number of concerns raised by ward councillors, parish councillors and residents.
I spoke at the Development Management Committee meeting in support of ward councillors and residents and urged the council to consider deferring its decision until further work could be carried out to assess the necessary transport and infrastructure needs.
Thank you to Cllr Sue Clark for her fantastic in-depth representation on the subject as well as Marston Moreteyne Parish Council, Lidlington Parish Council, Brogborough Parish Council, Hulcote and Salford Parish Council, Cranfield Parish Council, Aspley Guise Parish Council, Ridgmont Parish Council and Aspley Heath Parish Council. And of course the Lidlington Action Group and Marston Action Group. Your arguments were fair and considered.
It’s clear that there is already a significant amount development that will be impacting the Marston Vale in the coming years – from Universal Studios to East-West Rail, and of course the potential Milton Keynes new town on our borders. And there simply hasn’t been enough joined-up work done to understand the cumulative impact of these developments on the local road network . While upgrades to Junction 13 of the M1 are in the pipeline, and EWR could ease road usage, neither of these are expected to be completed until the early-mid 2030s.
I highlighted the impact from traffic volumes to the south of Lidlington, particularly from future residents driving to Flitwick, where the roads via Steppingley Road are already congested, and the station car park is at capacity. Parking at each of these stations must be considered, so street are not swamped with parked cars. We also have the ongoing issues with potential level crossing closures for EWR which could risk increasing traffic congestion.
Schools and healthcare must also be at the forefront of any proposed development, wherever that may be, in Mid Bedfordshire or across the country. I want lessons to be learned from Wixams, and I don’t want any of us to have to campaign for a GP practice (or any other promised infrastructure) 15 years after the first resident moves in!
While I believe the decision should have been deferred, we must now work to ensure mitigations for all of the concerns I have raised above are put in place, and I'm pleased that some of the suggestions from councillors were added in as conditions. I will be speaking with councillors and residents in the coming weeks to discuss the next steps and how I can help. If you would like to get in touch on the issue, you can email me on blake.stephenson.mp@parliament.uk.
If you go to Sue's page Councillor Sue Clark she will be providing more updates soon.
