East West Rail needs to win back trust, says Bedford mayor

The East West Rail (EWR) project “desperately needs to win back public trust”, a borough’s mayor said.

The billion-pound rail line aims to connect Cambridge and Oxford, via Bedford, Milton Keynes and Bicester.

Tom Wootton, the Conservative mayor of Bedford, said EWR’s latest plans “did not have a rationale” for needing to demolish more homes in the borough, after some properties were announced as being at risk of being knocked down in August.

Natalie Wheble, EWR’s external affairs director, said: “We recognise that it takes time to build trust” and the company “remained committed to our intention of improving our communication with those impacted by our plans”.

EWR held a third non-statutory consultation on its plans to develop the project at the start of this year and received more than 6,200 responses, which it said has helped to make 80 design changes to proposals.

The revisions included building a new station at Stewartby to serve the proposed Universal Studios theme park, the redevelopment of Bedford Station, reducing the number of stations on the Marston Vale Line and building a new station at Tempsford.

Wootton said he was studying the latest update to EWR’s plans, which were published this month, with officers from Bedford Borough Council and reaffirmed their continued support for the project “in principle”.

He added that “everyone at East West Rail desperately needed to show they were being honest and transparent”.

In August it was announced that more homes could be demolished on Ashburnham Road, along with a GP surgery and the Dom Polski community venue, to make way for the project.

Wootton said he was waiting for an explanation from EWR on why the demolition would need to take place and claimed the council had been promised a technical note more than two months ago.

Wootton said: “When EWR held a public meeting earlier this month, they failed to share simple information beforehand with the council.”

He added that EWR “needed to keep us in the loop if we are to support our residents”.

Ms Wheble said: “Bedford sits at the heart of the East West Rail route, and continued dialogue with the council, residents and local organisations is essential.”

She added the company would “keep listening, working collaboratively and improving the way we engage as the project moves forward”.