Last month, Richard met again with members of Bedfordshire’s CPRE The countryside charity to discuss the considerable infrastructure projects planned in Bedfordshire over the coming years and the impact they will have on the local environment.
Richard Fuller MP said:
Whether people like the concept or not, there is no question that East West Rail will irreparably damage the countryside of North Bedfordshire through a combination of significant housing development to justify the costs, together with the cuttings, viaducts, embankments, maintenance areas and construction roads that will accompany the railway itself.
I recently shared that North Bedfordshire has the unwanted accolade of being in the 1% club, meaning that over 1% of the total land area is destined to be covered by ground solar. It is unconscionable that developments like East Park Solar are being planned given that this installation will cover 1,900 acres of which 74% is best or most versatile (BMV) agricultural land. We all support growing the provision of renewable energy streams but surely not at the expense of prime agricultural land and not before fully exploiting the enormous untapped acreage on warehouses, supermarkets and the like. I am a fully signed up CPRE Rooftop Solar Champion and will continue to make the case for rooftop solar in Parliament.
We also discussed the potential for a new town at Tempsford and the considerable flooding issue that such a development would confront. With a new railway station at Tempsford already confirmed there is some logic for additional housing in and around that village. This logic becomes stretched when confronted with the realities of flood plains however, not to mention that any new town would almost certainly require significant improvements and possible realignment of the A1. I have made the Housing Minister aware of the flood plain issues so it will be interesting to see if the government pursues this idea.
