Central Bedfordshire Asks Residents to Shape the Next 24 Years; Residents Ask for More Parking

Central Bedfordshire Council launched its Local Plan 2050 scoping consultation last month with an invitation for residents to “help shape the future of the area” — a bold vision of participatory democracy that, according to sources close to the process, may have generated approximately 4,000 responses about parking.

The consultation asked members of the public to reflect on the key issues facing Central Bedfordshire over the coming decades, including housing, transport, biodiversity, climate resilience, and economic growth. Council officers had hoped the responses would provide a nuanced picture of the region’s long-term aspirations.

“We got a lot of responses about the Asda car park in Flitwick,” confirmed one planning officer, who asked not to be named on the grounds that they were supposed to be on annual leave.

A Vision for 2050

Residents who engaged with the consultation were divided on a number of important points, but united on several key themes.

On housing, respondents expressed the view that Central Bedfordshire needed more affordable homes but that those homes should probably be built somewhere else, ideally in a field that was “already quite ugly” and not visible from their back garden, their road, or any road they were likely to use.

On transport, participants agreed that the area desperately needed better public transport, while simultaneously confirming that they personally would not be using it because “the bus doesn’t go anywhere useful” and “I’ve got three kids.”

On the environment, residents were strongly in favour of protecting green spaces, nature corridors, hedgerows, ancient woodland, and the view from the layby on the A507 just before you get to Shefford — but were open to development on brownfield land, provided someone could first confirm what brownfield land was.

On climate change, respondents expressed “significant concern” about the issue, and several suggested the council could demonstrate its commitment by fixing the pothole on their road, which had been filling with water since November.

The Future Looks Like the Past, But With Better Signage

When asked to identify “the key challenges facing Central Bedfordshire in the coming decades,” participants collectively produced what planning officers have described as “a reasonably coherent wish list for about 2009.”

Recurring requests included: a second Aldi, improved broadband (which respondents noted was still “a bit patchy” twenty-one years after the Digital Economy Act), and a regular rail service to London that does not involve being stationary for forty minutes in Flitwick “for reasons that are never explained.”

One resident submitted a consultation response that consisted entirely of a hand-drawn map of a road junction near Ampthill, with an arrow labelled “DANGEROUS” and a note reading “council knows about this.” When officers pointed out this wasn’t a strategic planning question, the resident replied: “Neither was half of what you built in the nineties.”

What Happens Next

Council planners will now spend several months analysing the responses before producing a summary document that will, in turn, inform a further consultation. That consultation will produce findings that inform the drafting of the Local Plan, which will then go out for consultation again.

The final adopted Local Plan is expected by 2030, at which point it will immediately be challenged at appeal by a developer who wasn’t consulted.

“We really do value every response we received,” a council spokesperson confirmed. “The level of public engagement has been genuinely encouraging.”

“Did many people ask for more parking?” the Bedfordshire Free Press asked.

There was a long pause.

“The data is still being processed,” the spokesperson said.

This is a satirical article. For factual reporting on the Local Plan 2050, see: Residents Shape Bedfordshire’s Future as Local Plan 2050 Scoping Consultation Closes.