£2.4m interchange for Biggleswade labelled 'a glorified bus stop' by town councillor

And a move to seek planning permission for the project next month has come as “a complete bombshell”, a town council meeting heard.

The development is part of a Housing Infrastucture Fund (HIF) investment in Biggleswade of nearly £70m.

Town councillors are unhappy with a lack of consultation from Central Bedfordshire Council over the project design.

Deputy mayor Grant Fage said: “This town council made huge sacrifices to get the HIF fund.

“We took politically very difficult decisions to secure that and worked well with Central Bedfordshire all the way.

“Now that funding has been assigned, for us to be presented with what’s almost a fait accompli, before going to planning, is completely unacceptable.

“We’re looking at £2.4m for three bus stops. And we’d be losing one, so it’s a net gain of two.

“There’s no taxi rank. There’s nothing for autonomous vehicles and very little for cycling.

“It’s not an interchange. It’s a glorified bus stop,” he added. “I think Biggleswade has been let down by this.

“To be hurtling along on this route, when we have three years to spend this money, is the height of irresponsibility when it comes to deploying public funds.

“To be presented with this at such a late stage it’s not good enough.”

Councillor Hazel Ramsay described it as “a complete bombshell”, saying: “This is all done in a hurry.

“It’s hardly a democratic process to give a presentation and say we’re seeking planning permission for this in two weeks.

“This is about the fifth or sixth attempt to provide some sort of interchange and we’ve yet to get anything we want.”

Councillor Robert Pullinger wondered whether three bus stops would be sufficient for the predicted growth in the area.

Residents voiced their concerns around the design of the bus shelters, potential vandalism, litter, lighting, vehicle fumes and highways safety issues near the Saffron Road/Station Road junction.

Aziza Jeppe, from Central Bedfordshire Council, who is managing the project, said: “We’re working closely with Govia and Network Rail.

“This interchange is purely to unlock future growth for Biggleswade.

“We’re improving the route to the town centre for pedestrians.

“I appreciate councillor Fage’s comments and I’ll take that away. We can contact Homes England about a delay to the planning submission.

“The funding has to be spent by 2024, but we have every intention to deliver the project sooner.”

The presentation referred to “a continuous 20mph zone from Biggleswade High Street and town centre through to the interchange, creating an overall safer environment”.

One proposal is “to reduce speeds and improve safety along Station Road by narrowing the carriageway”.

Julian Vaughan, chairman of the North East Bedfordshire Labour Party, expressed concerns about a potential lack of security, asking for CCTV coverage for the area, as well as a lack of toilet provision and amenities, such as shops.

“We want to make this a welcoming space,” he said. “It seems like a soulless place at the moment.”

Councillor Mark Knight said: “Splitting the bus stops between the station and the town centre seems crazy.

“I’d call that disintegrated transport planning. It seems extraordinarily bad value for money.”

Councillors approved writing urgently to CBC about the town council’s lack of input over the project, with a need to revise it.