Bedford Borough Plan - where's the rail infrastructure?

There is a consultation in the Harpur Centre on the Bedford Local Plan 2035. See www.bedford.gov.uk/localplan2035. Email: planningforthefuture@bedford.gov.uk 
Check those houses at Bromham and relation to a clear access for Cobbler Line trajectory. 
Closing date is 9th June.
Questions via 01234 718300. Things we want is as follows:
a. Station at Oakley north of Lower Farm Road.
b. Retail Park Station on the MVR not MML!
c. East-West Rail sooner than later with Bedford-Sandy being delivered same time as Oxford-Bedford ideally - what are we getting for £10 million allocated?
d. All build results in road saturation and progressive gridlock. Same style houses being rolled out Bedford, Northampton, Milton Keynes, Cambridge... this results in ever more cloning of towns/residential estate areas.
e. Unless there's a more focused and coherent plan for the rail projects a-c by 2035 not after 2035, we will have a short fall of footfall and spend, informing closed shop syndrome and spiraling diminishment of traditional town centres, more out of town pressure to pander to the car. Empty properties abound domestic and commercial and more directives to fill and amend those first before green field expansion should be looked at.
f. Bedford-Northampton should be progressed with East-West not addendum to it/afterthought.
g. Network Rail must be flexible on level crossing and bridge adaptations, Cardington Road Bedford and Bridge Street Northampton need rail accessibility to be retained.
h. Wixams and/or Ampthill should be pursued together or incrementally, both serve differential markets - Wixams declutters commuting into Bedford for rail, Ampthill declutters Flitwick off the M1/A507 and all south of Wixams e.g. Marston Moretaine/A421 development corridor.

Get Bedford Moving Campaign

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Re: Making a case for a new Northampton-Bedford Rail Link Booklet

I am writing to you to let you know that this booklet is now available. It is £4.50 + £1.27 postage (UK) making a total sum of £5.77. If you order 10 copies you get them at a discount price of £4.00 each making a total cost including postage (UK) of £52.70. Payment should be made to ‘ERTA’ and sent to Richard Pill, ERTA, 24c St Michael’s Road, Bedford, MK40 2LT (01234 330090). All proceeds go to the ERTA funds to enable it to continue to advocate better public transport.

The booklet seeks to highlight key aspects the rail link would address and why it is worthy of an 11th hour act to save it from obliteration at the hands of piecemeal development which with the railway would be more sustainable. The balance between development aspirations and the wider effects and need for better public transport infrastructure (local rail) to inform a better equilibrium.

It is hoped that support for the rail link will rise as a result of the booklet being widely read and appreciated and further studies commissioned to build the case further and court Network Rail GRIP attention. It should be both integral to East-West Rail and the Luton Airport-Northampton-Coventry arc. Taking a parish pump approach, it is a useful addendum to the localism agenda suitable for libraries, archives and general reference.

I attach a poster of the front cover and quote ISBN number of 978-0-9957682-0-8

ERTA is seeking more free/low cost stalls to promote our causes and sell our meager array of booklets and magazines mainly. All events and fixtures we attend will get a listing on our website to help boost patronage if wanted. We do not have a budget for outlay so can only reciprocate in kind. For example an exchange of flyers. Please contact Simon Barber (details below) with enquiries and offers alike.

I am doing media services for ERTA in a non Executive Committee role. I am advising behind the scenes. Really would welcome more local interest in our calls for Kempston Retail Park Station and footbridge, Bedford-Northampton and indeed news for hastening East-West Rail. Our officers are keen to attend meetings and make common cause for more of what we wish for. On the matter of developments at Flitwick, our concern is the wider traffic magnet draw to a poorly configured road system. Should Flitwick have a bypass? Where should it go? Our call is for a study into how an Ampthill Station could be provided as the scope of regional draw centered on Flitwick is off M1, Milton Keynes, Olney and Wixams as well as plenty of new housing for commuters going in around Froghall Road for example joining the two towns together finally. This is happening now, Flitwick has just one access bridge over the railway and the Froghall Road is restricted width and height clearances. Please see http://ertarailvolunteer.blogspot.co.uk/ and click the link for more information of what is proposed.

Only by people joining ERTA and offering to help in some shape or form can our voice be stronger and bring the powers that be to consider more seriously what we table. Some has scoffed at reopening part of the Great Central, but when one considers HS2, it would be much less cost/intrusion/impact environmentally and over a 20 year scale of growth, given M1 and West Coast Main Line are at capacity now, something has got to give. 

Bedford lost Allens, Texas Instruments, London Brick, Cutler Hammer, Pre-Star, Britannia Igranic and Meltis in terms of making things and in it's place we have ratio-wise a bundle of retail/warehouse jobs, caring sector jobs and a few research and administrative jobs but swathes of public sector and civil service local offices and outlets have closed or shrunk or gone elsewhere - Milton Keynes, St Albans, Cambridge and London. To commute costs, takes time and basically one is looking at a 12 hour day away from home-life. Our town centre is ailing, welfare (and it is spent locally and immediately) is being cut and deconstructed bit by bit leaving a precarious economic and social situation. That other towns suffer the same, doesn't make it any easier when one gets people coming along suggesting getting employment is easy, again they release people to the market, they don't shoe-horn them into employment and there's a huge gap. Therefore having access to cheap, affordable, abundant and comprehensive public transport, safe segregated cycle ways and properly maintained pedestrian rights of ways is essential for smooth operations.Don't believe the myth that bus passes are hand-out subsidies as Bus 2020 The Case for the Bus Pass by Greener Journey's (www.greenerjourneys.com) says "Each £1 spent on the bus pass generates at least £2.87 in benefits." Clearly Unions, Management and Elected Representatives who rail against and begrudge filling off peak more - need to look at this report and consider whether their prejudices are ideological or factual? Shame to remove or cut a bus service when more bus passes could ensure better levels of all day usage. The off peak savings help boost spending elsewhere, so all gains.

Hope of interest.

Yours sincerely,

Richard Pill

ERTA

Flitwick Station and Retail Expansion

This development should raise concerns: 
http://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/news/april/flitwick-regeneration.aspx 

I suggest you write and object and cite that looking at Ampthill would be better:

1. this development will act as a major traffic generator informing demands for parking and resulting in more congestion.

2. We need a crossing from the footbridge over the road to the Swan Pub

3. Bus shelter to Ampthill needs cleaning, better information with RTI or similar and later buses linking the station and the town of Ampthill which is expanding too

4. Flitwick deals with traffic from a wider area- M1/Milton Keynes, Olney and Wixams for a start and the town will be over-run with cars.

5. Ampthill offers relief from the Steppingley Road side off the A507 and could offer more parking capacity for the area generally

6. this development puts more pressure on Froghall, Road which has a bridge height restriction

7. Station platforms at Ampthill need to be staggered for land-access issues with entrances and exits both sides of the MML and via a foot/cycle exit south of industrial estate into Froghall Road for Redbourne School and East Flitwick which aligns to Froghall Ropad and A507 roundabout now - all spaces being filled in with developments. Options need to be kept open. For solidarity and further support please see Twitter @ReopenStations or contact 

Membership, Recruitment, Administrator and Finance Liaison Officer: Mr Simon Barber, 20 Fitzherbert House, Kingsmead, Richmond, Surrey, TW10 6HT

T. 0208 940 4399 E. simon4barber@gmail.com 

Retail Park, Kempston - call for a new station to serve it.

Retail Park, Kempston - call for a new station to serve it.

The Retail Park, Kempston has grown to three sites since inception in the early 1980’s. Today it commands a considerable patronage, the majority of which come by road to work, shop and enjoy leisure at the site. There was a view to develop a station but for some reason the idea was dropped, it was resurrected in about 2004 but a handful of objections led to it being shelved. Since then the Retail Buildings have screened off residential Kempston and shrubbery on the residential side has been allowed to grow considerably.

           

The Railway which runs adjacent to the original site is that of the Bedford-Bletchley alias Marston Vale Railway. This line has seen remarkable growth in patronage over recent years but still remains more busy during peak periods am/pm and less-well-used during off peak times – the lion’s share of the day.

Ampthill Road (A6) feeds a lion’s share of the traffic into the B530 which served the Retail Park sites. These roads and those arteries to and from them radially, get bunged up with traffic, a lion’s share of which is due to the popularity and success of the Retail Park, as a wide range of traffic from about 15 mile radius seeks to access the venue. The demand for parking outstrips supply per volume and so congestion, tail backs and some frustration is keenly felt. Standing traffic emits fumes and exhaust and residential areas have to breathe that standing traffic’s air.

The Solution to alleviate the problem of success is to provide more and better options for more people from more diverse reaches and ranges to use the Retail Park and access it. ERTA calls for and has long called for, the provision of a station adjacent to the Retail Park on the Marston Vale Railway with a footbridge cum cycle-bridge over the two tracks to enable Kempston residents to walk and cycle to the Retail Park, freeing up parking spaces.

The railway is due to be incorporated into the East-West Rail project which means the audience to the Retail Park would increase considerably and use sustainable transport to get to and from it and the surrounding area. Oxford-Bletchley-Bedford is a population catchment of some considerable numbers of people given connections at Bletchley, Bicester and Oxford let alone from the Bedford direction. In other words the railway station would quickly pay for itself and the benefits on and off the railway would be keenly felt.

Key Benefits of Pursuing the Station

·      More customers for the Retail Park

·      Greater reach and range of shoppers

·      Easier access for work and shopping

·      More parking spaces for others to use

·      Integrated East-West Rail reaches and ranges

·      Both sides bus and rail integration: No. 42 south-side, No.1 Orchard Street Parade.

·      Boost Access to Kempston Town Population of over 19, 000 people according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kempston.

·      Benefit by bridging the two-way transport access with Bedford Town Centre

·      Cutting queues of congestion around the Ampthill Road/B530 Junction, helping everyone live, move and breathe easier.

·      Choice with more joined up networks and integrated links, putting people first.

Public and Community Call to Action

Only by a growing membership can ERTA’s voice be stronger and exercise influence to get local politicians to support this station initiative. Please add your voice by joining ERTA today and get involved in helping to take this campaign forward, building a team of local people who care and want to make a difference.

Join ERTA and help us realise this essential piece of local infrastructure to help communities thrive and cope better amidst the clamour of development and its wider impact. See https://ertarail.com/ And let the journey begin!

 See our dedicated web-page: https://ertarail.com/retail-park-station-bedford-bletchley-railway-kempston/ and vote with your feet – join ERTA!

In any case contact: English Regional Transport Association (ERTA)

Second Officer, Co-London Coordinator and Northampton – Olney- Bedford Corridor, Stations and Field Officer:

Mr David Ferguson,

T. 020-8876-3340 E. daferguson1212@gmail.com

https://ertarail.com/

Get Bedford Moving Campaign

Get Bedford Moving Campaign

So the Borough Council is bidding for £millions for a scheme to address traffic and capacity issues along Ampthill Road? It is my conviction at least that this scheme will not cut congestion but will probably result in squeezing the cycle-pedestrian share paths to cycle lanes on a widened road-way? Much of this traffic is bound to and from the Retail Park at Kempston and what that needs is a station on the Bedford-Bletchley Railway with a cycle-footbridge linking Southfields Kempston with the Retail Park. This would give more options, open up the area to more footfall and spend but also create more parking spaces. The Retail Park's expansion is running out of land and more growth generates more road traffic and it needs somewhere to park. Meanwhile local residents get the emissions from exhausts on all sides and on that score alone the Council should be seeking means and ways to reduce car and other traffic by nurturing alternatives from walking, cycling and better public transport.

Buses deliver dollops of footfall and spend wherever they go and have bus stops for dropping off. Places like Black Tom, Tavistock Street, Prebend Street and the High Street do not have buses and those which serve the railway station are scant during the day.

These glaring gaps could be rectified and the smaller shops benefit from the new trade they would bring. Likewise pedestrianisation of the High Street and Midland Road West would extend the town centre footfall and flow and make for a better shopping experience as more buses bring more footfall and spend to a broader area. Pandering to the car means land used for ever more parking which cannot be used for housing or business purposes. All that traffic spills onto an ancient town road system which was never designed to cope with it all. 

It is ironic that Government can find £55 billion for HS2 and £3.5 billion for a new road but for poor old East-West Rail and Bedford-Northampton we have a 6 year wait for Oxford-Bedford and well into the 21st century for the other two, if creeping development allows a route to be recovered. Yet as Bedford, unlike Milton Keynes is not adjacent to a motorway, we need these rail links more to bring sustainable footfall and spend to our ailing town centre. Quangos at £millions are invisible, lack-lustre and a waste. We need locally elected, accountable and visible people able to bang the tables of Whitehall for a fairer deal for Bedford - to balance our transport and moral leaders can lead by voting with their feet than giving the signal car-lifestyles are justified. I would suggest not if they impinge on the reasonable chances of others and that is the equation which is yet to be squared. Join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/877055242435042/

Marston Vale under developer v passivity attack!

https://mmetag.wordpress.com/2017/03/08/unusual-view-of-marston-vale/

and

http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/2014/jun/autism-and-pesticides

Click the links above for fuller picture and benefit to the reader below:

Comment: Surely we do not want 500+ extra lorries pounding local roads per day? On the other hand, if it were rail connected and doubled up as a zero waste cum recycling hub on a regional scale (ratios of viability and train-load capacity) and if the ash was taken out and if non-toxic such as to not need underground storage for the long term, but could be ploughed back in some shape or form beit an embankment bulking material, fertiliser or some other use - then the demand that it be rail served in design terms from day one should be a planning requirement before any go-ahead considerations. Many Marston residents take a "we don't want it" stance and understandably, but fail to put anything in it's place - creating jobs, conservation with jobs (not mere arbitrary for those with good fortune to spend quiet week-days starring at and objectifying birds and wildfowl).

Likewise whilst we welcome Bedfordshire on Sunday's article about widening pavements and making High Street single lane, this is a half-way to full pedestrianisation which is the nettle which needs grasping. Traffic could be directed down Shakespere Road, Ashburnham and Prebend Street or via the Western Bypass or by St Peters-St Cuthberts-Newnham Road and then Embankment - Town Bridge. You could part pedestrianise the north end High Street and have a one-way Mill Street to south High Street at Debenhams for example. The agenda of getting buses to serve Tavistock Street remains, Bedford Heights - Town Centre out via Turner Way, back via Gainsborough Rise. Park Road North should be made one way except for buses as often there are stand offs. I got too close to a car waiting a clear-way, without warning they reversed over my bikes front wheel and then drove off, such is the attitude behind the wheel sometimes and it only takes one hot head for an accident - pedestrians come off worse.

These things are replicated across the regions and it is our belief that only an incremental reopening of select closed lines, can we break the roads only stranglehold and un-lock locked-in solutions which compound pollution and mayhem. How could this be funded? Well tolling the motorways at £1 a vehicle every 15 miles would inform a pot towards costs and savings on volume-weight of traffic to road wear and tear maintenance and renewal would save Councils money too. The Saints area including St Minerva Road, has appalling examples of cars parking on kerbs and kerb rutting un-addressed. CPZing the area would enable Zone Boys and Girls to police these streets, nip culprits in the bud and book those who are driving stolen vehicles, dumping vehicles and encroaching legitimate pedestrian spaces. Have cried out for a one-way system for St Michael's Road for donkeys years to no avail - a 'can't, won't, don't' attitude seems rife in some elected circles enthralled with aesthetics over bread and butter matters, hoy-poloy arts and culture, than local, urban and rural sustainability. The trouble with their 'progressive gentrification' agenda sweeping out of the London and Southeast region is that it heralds sterility in it's wake. In short poorer people spend and local businesses get a boost, wealthier people are wealthier because they scrimp and save and buy houses and furnishings which last 20 years - Quality Street not Coronation Street!  

Thanks to all who wrote objecting to the Olney Plan which seeks to scupper the Handley Alignment route. More details even though today is the last day - can be found on our reader-Blogspot: http://ertarailvolunteer.blogspot.co.uk/ 

Finally, we are seeking helpers to share a stall with us at St Paul's Church. You must be reliable and keen and have a good manner for relating with customers. Email erta.rails6@yahoo.co.uk for offers, likewise dropping off any donated railway related books, magazines or small memorabilia for us to sell. Please see: https://ertarail.com/events/ for more details.

Yours sincerely,

Richard Pill

ERTA Officer.

Ps. That improvements to the Marston Vale Railway service and indeed the High Street in Bedford are being explored at all is in no small way a result of our campaigning - it works!

Save a rail route around Olney, Bucks., UK

Save a rail route around Olney, Bucks., UK

February 2017

Dear Members,

Olney Neighbourhood Plan. With this letter is a blank pro-forma letter which you can fill in and send by 5pm on Wednesday 8 March, 2017 to: 

Development Plans Team

Milton Keynes Council

Civic Offices

1 Saxon Gate East

Central Milton Keynes

MK9 3EJ

Or by e-mail to: development.plans@milton-keynes.gov.uk

These plans seek to destroy ‘in the name of expansion’ the Handley Alignment which in 2001 our consultant draw to indicate how a new rail alignment could be implemented with reference to walking and cycling distances of Olney High Street. Now if these developments go ahead, it will be scuppered. Matching the eastern approach old trackbed to western is problematic and as building northwards takes hold, will increasingly become so, unless some big player at some future date does compulsory purchases and implements a new rail through built terrain or a new alignment railway bypasses Olney, which means Olney will be disenfranchised from a new railway. They’ve had plenty of opportunity to work with us but are choosing to ignore the railway as ‘pie in the sky’. You can find more information on the Milton Keynes Council website:

http://www.milton-keynes.gov.uk/planning-and-building/planning-policy/olney-neighbourhood-plan and on our Blogspot: http://ertarailvolunteer.blogspot.co.uk/ where the Handley Alignment map also is posted with comment.

Meanwhile we are seeking a new team of people to look with fresh eyes on Northampton-Bedford and by whatever means, to seek reopening beit preservation, community rail or conventional modern rails, to get a foothold and move out from there. Too much is at stake to abandon the railway, as No. 41 bus now winds through Biddenham and Bromham villages meaning a longer journey duration, off-putting and detrimental to commuting, work and visiting opportunities. Dualling the A428 will create brownfield for development, but where will those commuters drive to catch a train? Bedford and Milton Keynes, informing demand for massive parking provision. The conflict is inherent in the design plan. Ill thought out, opportunistic, call it what we may, short-termism is the name of the game. We have to think medium term even as we hand over to a new generation who hopefully will take up the baton for this strategic link. We lack the resources, bigger fry needs to be involved like the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) but the danger with quangos is that they get lost in bureaucracy, bigger projects or the politics rather than delivery of small to medium sized projects which could revolutionise local public transport, mobility and rejuvenate town centres. Out of town sink estates beit for jobs, housing and education are mopping up the numbers game, but at what cost to town centres, the environment and real wealth creation than whittling down fossil fuel reliance and geo-politics and wars to procure them? This is what the media ignore opting for focus’ on President Trump which although entertaining is somewhat ‘out there’ and takes away focus’ on the closer to home issues beit NHS crisis’, gridlock and bad air pollution to our focus’ of remedial actions to reduce and prevent these nasties from exacerbation.

Good news is that our association is growing and we hope to grow our team to ensure more fronts can be worked on as the old phrase goes “neither be too heavenly minded to be any earthly good nor too earthly entrenched to keep a heavenly vision”. Action starts with individuals. It is the case some have more time than others, others more money than time. It is often the odd hour stashed there and the odd donation given there which we both can capitalise on and produces best results all things being considered. Everyone can play a role and give support. Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

Richard Pill

ERTA Principal Officer.

For further information and who to write to:

https://www.milton-keynes.gov.uk/planning-and-building/planning-policy/olney-neighbourhood-plan