Local infrastructure - Or, more to the point, the lack of it
Infrastructure is a term that is bandied around a lot at the moment. It’s a general term that covers the multitude of things that make up the local framework in which we live, such as:
- Transport - roads, railways, buses, cycle paths, footpaths, etc.
- Health - hospitals, doctors, dentists, etc.
- Education - schools, colleges, pre-school nurseries, adult education, etc.
- Law and Order - police, courts, etc.
- Sport - pitches, playing fields, swimming pools, courts, sports halls, etc.
- Fire Brigade
- Social services - social workers, old people’s homes, sheltered accommodation
- Arts - theatres, cinemas, libraries, etc.
- Public venues - halls, meeting rooms, other venues for functions, etc.
- Parks and Gardens
By almost any measure, Leighton Buzzard and the surrounding areas currently suffer from a massive shortfall in the infrastructure needed to support the local population.
With the exception of the A505, the new Linslade/Stoke Hammond by-pass, and the re-building of the station, there hasn’t been any significant investment in the infrastructure of our area since the 1970s. The local population has carried on growing since then, but local infrastructure provision has conspicuously failed to keep pace with this growth.
Most of us experience the outcome of this lack of investment on a daily basis - we sit in the traffic jams; we try to find dentists; we have to travel miles for any kind of hospital appointment; our children try to find somewhere to play a game of football; we try to find a suitable venue to stage a function; and so on.
This was the situation even before the arrival of the recent new housing developments to the South and South East of Leighton Buzzard. These developments not only brought thousands of people and cars into the area, but they also were allowed to go ahead with the barest investment in local infrastructure. A few new roundabouts and bus services cannot be considered a proportionate contribution to our area given the numbers of new houses that have been, and are continuing to be, built.
Today, we find ourselves in the situation where our local infrastructure is already seriously overburdened. In places it is strained quite beyond its capacity to cope.
Further mass development of the scale currently under consideration will only place massive additional strain on the local infrastructure. Quite simply, it can’t cope at the moment, let alone after the arrival of thousands of more houses, people and cars. This is something that will affect the quality of life for all of us.
