Impact on the local economy - Boom or Bust?

Now you might think that lots of housing development would bring nothing but economic benefit to the area. The situation is, unfortunately, not as straightforward as that.

Undoubtedly, some people will benefit unreservedly. The developers will of course make a huge profit. The councils will certainly be collecting a lot more council tax. Beyond that though, the picture is much more uncertain.

None of the plans for our area seem to have much provision for creating more employment in and around Leighton Buzzard. This means that, apart from some new jobs in the service area, most of the people who arrive with the new housing developments will work elsewhere - probably mainly in London or Milton Keynes. There will be a huge influx of people who will have to commute to work by road or rail, with all the implications that has for our local and regional transport network.

Indeed, the drive to build more houses is even eating into our existing industrial base. The recent closure of the Gossard operation has suggested that, where industrial land becomes available, it may be re-classified for housing development. So, rather than encouraging replacement commerical activity and providing local employment, we may just get more houses.

Another important issue is the impact of mass housing development on the centres of Leighton Buzzard and Linslade. We know that these centres desperately need regeneration and economic stimulation. We all want a centre that is prosperous, attractive and full of business activity. We know that Leighton Buzzard will never match Milton Keynes (and we would never expect it to) - but we do want a town centre that goes a good way to providing the shops, pubs and restaurants that we need. Unfortunately, the trend at the moment is very much one of neglect and decline.

Mass housing developments on the edge of town are unlikely to provide much in the way of an economic injection to the centres of Leighton Buzzard and Linslade. If anything, they will exacerbate the decline by drawing commercial activities out of the centre - for example, the current development proposal includes a string of shopping areas along a new Milton Keynes-style boulevard stretching from the Hockliffe Road to Vandyke Road. This can only serve to further discourage commercial activity in the town centre.

There is nothing in any plan for our area to stimulate economic activity in the centre of Leighton Buzzard, nothing to level the playing field to allow it to compete with the new out-of-town retail centres that will accompany housing developments.

It’s also worth remembering that the local transport infrastructure isn’t really suited to easily move people from the edge of town into the centre. It’s more likely that people in these edge-of-town developments will do their shopping elsewhere - Milton Keynes will seem much more accessible to them than Leighton Buzzard.

It’s very possible therefore that the proposed housing developments will act as economic parasites on the rest of the town, sucking out economic activity and causing our historic town centre to decline at an even faster rate.

And finally, let's not forget Leighton Buzzard's one and only true tourist attraction, the Narrow Gauge Railway. Assuming that the land used by the railway is not taken for housing development, then the remaining green stretches of the line are likely to end up completely surrounded by houses. Hardly an attractive proposition to visitors. One of the few reasons for tourists to visit our area and contribute to our local economy could find itself struggling for its very existence.