East West Rail’s (EWR) plans for a maintenance depot in Buckinghamshire village have been criticised by the county council.
EWR is holding a number of community engagement events over its plans for the depot and passing loops for freight trains at Newton Longville.
But the council has criticised both the proposal itself and the way it has been communicated.
Leader Cllr Steven Broadbent said: “This announcement has been made with no prior notice, and no opportunity was given for us to review this decision with EWR Co before it was shared more widely.
“We are also disappointed and concerned that the location is being wrongly described as being in Bletchley West in some public information, when it is in fact in Newton Longville.
“This has the potential to cause unnecessary confusion plus is misleading to our residents who may not realise this planned depot will directly impact their local area.”
The council says it had responded to EWR’s consultation a year ago on its intentions to find a location, that if a Bucks location were to be shortlisted, it would expect early engagement but that did not take place ahead of EWR’s announcement in January of the Newton Longville proposals.
Cllr Broadbent went on: “The decision to site this large depot in Buckinghamshire is not one that is welcomed by the council and I want residents to be fully informed about the scale of this site – it’s being built to accommodate around twenty trains which is a considerable size and places a substantial impact on this area. Newton Longville is a rural and unspoilt community with limited infrastructure.
“There will be significantly increased construction traffic on local roads. The impact of such a huge development on this community will be monumental, with negative effects on traffic, noise and the local environment.
“Landing this on the community with no prior engagement while plans were worked up is not the right way to go about this.
“We have always welcomed the benefits of East West Rail, which will provide passenger services between Oxford and Cambridge.
“However, this decision falls short of the transparency and partnership we expect and has eroded our confidence in the whole process and our belief in the credibility of EWR Co.’s stated commitment to openness and working with stakeholders to shape the next stage of the project.
“We have written to EWR Co to set out our position in respect of these recent announcements on the depot and passing loops and the potential impact this will have on the local area.
“I will also be writing to the Secretary of State, Heidi Alexander MP because it is through this Government’s changes to the planning system that this lack of transparency to local communities originates.”
He criticised EWR for the fact that, of all remaining engagement events, none are in Bucks.
The next is on February 12 at Cauldwell Community Centre, Althorpe Street, Bedford from 3 pm – 8 pm.
Natalie Wheble, external affairs director at East West Railway Company, said: “We understand the concerns that have been raised about proposals for the new Bletchley West depot. In the last few weeks, we’ve been discussing our proposals with Buckinghamshire County Council and local landowners and last week we also held two public events to allow local people to discuss our plans in more detail.
“Working closely with local communities and stakeholders is crucial to the design and development of East West Rail, which is why we are engaging early on our proposals so we can listen to feedback and discuss how we can refine our proposals and reduce impacts as much as possible.”
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