A councillor’s proposal that Bedford Borough Council withdraw its support for the current East West Rail (EWR) route was derailed last night (Wednesday), leaving a local campaign group calling for local people to unite against the rail line plans.
During last night’s full council meeting (Wednesday) cllr Nicola Gribble said over the last six years she has been concerned by East West Rail’s “lack of open dialogue and communication” over the “huge issues” that affect borough residents.
The Independent councillor for Renhold and Ravensden said: “Bedford borough appears not to be treated as an equal partner in any discussions, and will suffer as a result.
“We need to send a clear message to EWR that this is not good enough and we, as a borough, have had enough. We should not bow to their corporate pressure, we must stand up for our residents, our businesses, our environment, and our own integrity.
“We should not be taking this lying down, we did not want the crumbs from the table – our residents deserve better.”
The cllr then read out her motion.
“‘This council notes the refusal of East West Rail Company to consider the work done by this council on alternative routes to the one that they currently proposed, their refusal to change their mind from six tracks to four tracks, and their refusal to prevent the demolition of any homes within the borough. This council resolves to rescind its support. the currently proposed route’.”
Cllr Ben Foley (Green, Greyfriars) said EWR “are most unlikely to be persuaded to change to a radically different route at this stage”.
“For me, the effects of this motion, if it would have any effect at all, would be to say to EWR we oppose EWR entirely rather than to say that we think it should go on a different route,” the councillor said.
“The Green Group does not oppose EWR, the Green Group does not think that passing this motion will help people whose homes are threatened with demolition,” cllr Foley said.
Cllr Zara Layne (Labour, Harpur) said she supported the promise of connectivity offered by EWR.
“Regrettably, the endorsement of an infrastructure project of the scale of EWR means accepting disruption and inconvenience on a scale that we’re still not certain of.
“The excruciatingly slow process of consultation, consideration, refinement, further consultation, has opened up a void of information in which dissent and disagreement and platitudes has grown.
“No motion can take account of the competing interests at play here, and to pretend it can is disingenuous,” she said.
Councillor Layne added the motion is a blunt instrument “without nuance” pitched to discount any consideration of the benefits that EWR could bring.
“That being said, residents of Poets should not be penalised for political manoeuvring,” she said, “And accepting the limitations of this motion as I see them, councillor [Colleen] Atkins and I are resolute in our opposition of a route that requires demolition in Poets
“We will therefore be supporting cllr Gribble’s motion tonight in support of residents in the Poets area of Harpur.”
In a recorded vote, 16 councillors voted for the motion, 25 voted against, and two abstained.
BFARe
Local campaign group BFARe reacted angrily to the vote.
In a statement after the meeting, they said: “BFARe and Protect Poets now implores all Bedford Borough residents to take a stand against the East West Rail project and route in a way that our council has failed to do.
“We need them to show the strength of our community to stand together against an organisation which has only shown disdain for our concerned and suffering residents and seeks to impose years of further blight on all of us.
“East West Rail will provide no stated economic benefit to Bedford. There is no business case. Bedford is the very poor relation to the East West Rail project. Enough is enough and we hope all in Bedford Borough will join us, sign our petition and make a stand.”
An EWR spokesperson said: “We remain committed to working hand-in-hand with the local communities that East West Rail will serve.
“Constructive and frequent dialogue with the council and other stakeholders is central to this process, and we truly value any feedback that we receive from them. This feedback is essential to shaping the final design for East West Rail.
“East West Rail undertook extensive work to assess alternative alignments including those in the report commissioned by the mayor of Bedford before setting out the preferred route in 2023. We remain confident that this route is the best option for Bedford.
“It will provide fast and frequent services which will help attract more businesses, jobs and investment into the town centre as well as making it easier for patients, staff and visitors get to the hospital – a service that people can rely on day by day.”
By John Guinn
Local Democracy reporter
With additional reporting by
Paul Hutchinson, Bedford Independent
Update: This article was updated at 12:28 on Friday, 17 January 2025 to add a response from EWR Co.
