Mid Bedfordshire by-election: New town wants promised GP surgery

People in a new town, who will be going to the polls in a key parliamentary by-election, are calling for long-promised amenities to be provided.

Wixams, south of Bedford, has been under construction since 2007 and was designed to consist of four villages with 4,500 homes.

About 3,000 homes have been built but it is still missing the planned GP surgery and a railway station.

Residents will vote in the Mid Bedfordshire by-election next week.

In February this year, Bedford Borough Council's planning committee voted in favour of the new station at Wixams, almost 20 years after the estate was devised.

Planning permission was already granted for a railway station in 2012, but it expired when funding could not be secured.

Saqhib Ali, chairman of Wixams Parish Council, said: "We have no GP surgery. We have no post office. We have no pharmacy. All these things we should expect to have."

The 53-year-old, who has lived in Wixams since 2011 and stood as Labour candidate for Bedford mayor but came third, said: "I'm disappointed. I feel let down.

"I think it should have been better connected and [more] joined-up thinking. It's just not good enough."

Mother-of-two Sarah Sharpe, 39, who has lived in Wixams for two years, said there was "nowhere for my children to play outside for football. A lot of kids are on the roads just cycling around".

Ms Sharpe said there was a great sense of "community" but the lack of infrastructure meant "people are actively considering moving elsewhere".

She added: "The nearest shop is five minutes away by car and it's really important that people who move here have access to GP facilities they truly need."

Ms Sharpe said she still took her children to her dental practice in Luton.

Rebecca Birtwell, 42, who has lived in Wixams for 13 years, said: "We need a doctor's surgery in Wixams. Obviously being registered blind, I have to rely on other people to get to Ampthill for an appointment or public transport, which isn't very reliable."

Adrian Clack, managing director of the Wixams master developer L&Q Estates, said the area had "three new schools locally" having funded the opening of Lakeview School and contributed £8.8m to Wixams Tree Primary School and Wixams Academy.

"We have provided considerable investment in local community facilities and amenities," said Mr Clack.

"Further investment will be made with contributions towards a new railway station to improve public transport, a town centre that will include a site for a new primary care facility, a range of retail units and a community centre to enhance facilities for residents.

"We have been working closely with Bedford Borough Council and Central Bedfordshire Council to progress these amenities for all residents to enjoy."

He said L&Q Estates had also invested more than £96m in infrastructure, the remediation of a nearby former bomb-making factory and created "a number of lakes".

The BBC has approached Central Bedfordshire Council and Bedfordshire Borough Council for a comment.

The Mid Bedfordshire by-election is due to take place on Thursday.

It was triggered by Conservative MP Nadine Dorries's formal resignation more than two months after she announced she was stepping down "with immediate effect".

In 2019, she had a majority of 24,664 in a constituency that has been won by the Tories since 1931.

The list of nominated candidates, election agents and polling stations appears on the Central Bedfordshire Council website. You can see more on this story on Politics East on BBC One on Sunday, 15 October, at 10:00 BST, with it also available on BBC iPlayer afterwards.

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