The government has indicated that Tempsford is a preferred site for a new town. The ambition is to create a new town of 40,000 homes on the A1 site, on the Oxford-Cambridge corridor, and where the new East West Railway will intersect with the London to Edinburgh line.
This new town will, over time, create extra demand on all our public services, including policing, the NHS, fire and rescue, and education. It is vital that the government ensures that public service infrastructure is hard-baked into the planning for the new town from the start.
There must be no repeat of the experience in Wixams, where residents have had to wait for more than a decade to see a single brick laid for a GP surgery.
Tempsford will be on a bigger scale to Wixams, adding significantly over time to the ever-increasing demand for public services as the county expands in population and economic activity.
The site is not many miles along the A421 from the soon-to-be-built Universal Studios Theme Park at Kempston Hardwick.
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New and additional resources will be essential if the new town and other developments are going to integrate into and not take services away from the rest of the county.
Other local public sector leaders and I are making the case to the government now for capital for infrastructure development, including financial contributions from the developers.
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We are also making the case for increased revenue funding to meet the additional demand on our services. The government recognises that additional resources will be required but has not yet committed to them. We must keep making the case and we will.
This case is about more than finance and infrastructure.
The creation of a new town should be built in ways that promote community and cohesion, minimise the impact on the environment by reducing excessive local car use and having community-efficient and sustainable energy supplies, and design out crime.
This will require building retail, leisure and community facilities such as schools and surgeries within safe walking distance of housing.
Effective and affordable public transport should be hard-wired into the design of the town, which will have a railway station on both the east-west and north-south lines.
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Neighbourhoods should be well-lit and have effective CCTV to maintain safety. Walkways and the wider public realm open spaces should be designed to be safe and minimise risks to pedestrians, road users and those enjoying open spaces.
All housing and business premises should include design and technological approaches that prevent burglary.
This will benefit by minimising crime, making residents and visitors feel safer, and improving residents’ health. Living in high-crime areas correlates with worse mental and physical health outcomes.
Indeed, the Health Foundation found that average life expectancy is significantly lower in neighbourhoods with higher crime rates. Men in the safest areas can live up to 5.8 years longer than those in the most dangerous areas, and women 4.1 years longer (The Health Foundation, 2024).
The benefits extend beyond direct experiences of crime as fear of crime leads to reduced physical activity, social withdrawal, and poorer mental health. People with a high fear of crime are nearly twice as likely to experience depression.
They are less likely to walk to shops, schools or public transport.
The design and construction of Tempsford must be about more than building lots of housing. The focus must be on building homes, resilient and safe communities, and a healthy population.
The opportunity is huge. We must not miss this opportunity.
I will work with Bedford Borough Council, Central Bedfordshire Council, the NHS ICB, Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, and our local MPs to make the case to the government for making Tempsford New Town special and fit for the second half of the century and beyond.
This will be more important than money. It needs a vision and commitment.
This is a monthly guest column provided by
elected Police and Crime Commissioner, John Tizard (Labour).
It is published unedited and does
not reflect the views of the Bedford Independent.
