Plans for new town in Tempsford raise concern
The proposed development twice the size of Cambridge is sparking debate among council leaders and residents, worried about environmental risks
Creating a new town at Tempsford twice the size of Cambridge would be on a scale not considered suitable for this rural village location before, the leader of Central Bedfordshire Council has warned.
Raw sewage runs through the gardens of some properties when parts of the locality have become flooded, according to Independent Potton councillor Adam Zerny.
He was asked about the potential housing growth in the area by Conservative Clifton, Henlow and Langford councillor Richard Wenham, during open questions at a full council meeting.
Inquiring about CBC’s approach to devolution and planning, councillor Wenham described them as “issues which would directly affect our residents”.
Councillor Zerny replied: “I wrote to Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner about planning, specifically regarding Tempsford, over the report which was published just days before the government made its announcement on new towns.
“Clearly there’s much worry among the residents living in that area. It would be helpful for us to have some clarity from the government, as its attitude towards new towns and what the impact will be is crucial for us.
“If a new town was created in Central Beds and put forward as a development corporation, those planning numbers wouldn’t contribute towards our Local Plan and we’d have no say in it.
“I don’t think as a council we’re geared up to build a new town ourselves, but’s it’s definitely something we want to have a big say over. The government has still to decide what devolution will be. I expect there’ll be some pain to take.
“Combined authorities will remove some of the powers we, as 63 councillors, have here. We don’t necessarily want to be handing out powers to a much bigger area, when our residents expect us to have an impact in those matters.
“We want more influence over infrastructure, such as where roads, health hubs and GPs, and schools go.”
Former CBC leader councillor Wenham said: “I know residents are very concerned about the possible size of Tempsford.
“It seems to have grown from potentially 10,000 homes to numbers of 50,000 or even 100,000 being talked about. I hope you’ll be making every effort to engage with the new towns task force, as well as the Ministry of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
“On devolution, we need to be careful and balanced about the powers which might be exchanged.”
Councillor Zerny added: “I’m not convinced Tempsford is necessarily the right place for a huge new town.
“You’ve a massive flood plain just to the west of it. Nearly every year there are huge floods there now. I’ve stood in residents’ gardens where raw sewage was running through. It’s not a nice feeling.
“Things such as that take an awful amount of time to clear up and plenty of money. Local residents are rightly concerned. I appreciate the government didn’t announce anything about Tempsford.
“But the timing of that report a few days beforehand was extremely frustrating. The scale of it, twice the size of Cambridge I believe, is completely out of synchronisation with anything we’ve looked at before.”