8 JUNE 2026 - EWR SPRING 2026 CONSULTATION -clapham PARISH COUNCIL RESPONSE
Throughout the Spring 2026 EWR consultation period, Clapham Parish Council has carefully reviewed the published information, considered feedback received from residents, and assessed the potential implications for our community.
The Parish Council has now submitted its formal response to East West Rail. In preparing this response, particular consideration was given to the impact on local residents, transport infrastructure, the environment, landscape, heritage assets, and the long-term sustainability of our village.
In the interests of transparency and keeping residents informed, the Parish Council's full consultation response is available to download below. We would like to thank everyone who took the time to engage with the consultation and share their views.
The Parish Council will continue to monitor developments closely and represent the interests of Clapham residents as the project progresses.
22 January 2025 - clapham PARISH COUNCIL RESPONSE TO EWR NON-STATUTORY CONSULTATION
The Parish of Clapham stands as the most directly impacted village in the Bedfordshire section of the East West Rail (EWR) project. While the scheme promises benefits elsewhere, Clapham faces significant disruption without any direct advantages. Clapham Parish Council (CPC) has consistently expressed concerns regarding the level of engagement and consultation from EWR, given the profound implications this project will have on our community. This document outlines the Parish Council’s response to the EWR non-statutory consultation, highlighting the critical issues and concerns of our residents.
3 January 2025 - public meeting, clapham village hall
Clapham Parish Council is holding a public meeting to outline how the current EWR Plans may impact Clapham and its surrounding areas.
Latest drawings made public by EWR will be on show. Representatives of BFARe, the group challenging East West Rail, will be on hand to answer questions.
The public event from 6.00pm to 8.00pm will be held on Friday, 3rd January 2025 in Clapham Village Hall, 118 High Street, Clapham MK41 6BP.
27 november 2024 - At what cost is Bedford Borough Council prepared to continue supporting Route E?
During the questions from the public at the Bedford Borough Full Council meeting on 27th November 2024, Cllr. Phillipa Simms, Chair of Clapham Parish Council asked some far reaching questions about the EWR plans. Read her intervention below:
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak this evening. I want to start with my thanks to the Borough Flood Officer, Mel and her team. They work tirelessly to support our community at times of need, and we are amid that need currently. I implore you to take care of Mel and her team as we really appreciate all their efforts
Moving on, the question for Councillors, Vann, Meader and McMurdo is this: Considering my residents in Clapham are currently experiencing the 3rd severe flooding event this year alone and now the latest EWR consultation is underway, will Bedford Borough Council be changing its position regarding its support for the northern route? The clearly narrow-minded decision by the Council in 2021 will have a disastrous impact on Clapham for decades to come. We are the only village on the route that is being dissected by the line which will have a devastating effect on the environment.
However, I am not surprised that this is of no concern to those councillors who voted in support of Route E at the time. Figures shown in the Council’s own consultation response not only showed a minute financial benefit to the town by bringing the route through the centre Bedford, it was deemed to be worse for the rest of us outside of the urban area.
Would those councillors who were happy to put their support for route E, on record at the time, and these include Cllr Abbott, Cllr Aktar, Cllr Caswell, Cllr Crofts, Cllr Headley, Cllr Hendrick, Cllr Masud, Cllr McHugh, Cllr McMurdo, Cllr Meader, Cllr Nawaz, Cllr Oliver, Cllr Rider, Cllrs Royden, Cllr Sawyer, Cllr Sultan, Cllr Valentine and Cllr Vann reconsider their position?
They have to accept that any financial gain to the town will be offset by the amount of taxpayers’ money that will be needed for flood management in Clapham alone, let alone the rest of my fellow parishes in North Beds. Obviously, I don’t hold the Council responsible for the weather, no matter how much I would like to. I do, however hold the Council accountable for making responsible decisions. Parts of North Beds villages are flooding in places they have never flooded before due to surface water drainage issues. Bedfordshire’s average annual rainfall is increasing year on year. I can tell you it feels like it has doubled this year alone in Clapham. January’s flooding was the result of the wettest 6 months in history, in September it took Bedfordshire’s wettest September on record to create the issues we had, this week it has taken a couple of stormy days and we have higher water levels than we have seen before.
What’s next a light shower and Clapham High Street is closed once more? With this level of increase the systems cannot be expected to cope, how are they going to cope moving forward?
The Environment Agency's response to a previous EWR consultation, stated that EWR must go further than just mitigate their impact upon flooding in the area. These words are great on paper, but it is my residents who will suffer the consequences of these actions.The amount of concrete that will be piled into the flood plain between Clapham and Bedford will never be mitigated.
Now that EWR have shown how much of the flood plain they will be building on with their new maps, do those councillors regret consigning my residents to the prospect of a worse flooding situation than we are already dealing with?
I will leave with this final point:Village Flood Groups are manned by volunteers, by residents giving their time to help others. However, there is only so much we can expect of volunteers. Therefore, at what cost is this Council prepared to continue to support Route E?
14 november 2024 - ewr opens non-statutory public consultation
EWR launched a 10-week non-staturoy consultation on updated plans inviting feedback on their latest designs, including their preference for powering trains.
The consultation will run for 10 weeks from 14 November 2024 to 24 January 2025.
Further information: https://eastwestrail.co.uk/news/latest-stories/our-consultation-is-now-open
24 september 2024 - public meeting, clapham methodist church hall
Clapham Parish Council is holding a public meeting to outline how the current EWR Plans may impact Clapham and its surrounding areas.
Latest drawings made public by EWR will be on show. Representatives of BFARe, the group challenging East West Rail, will be on hand to answer questions.
The public event from 6.30pm to 8.30pm will he held on Tuesday, 24th September in Clapham Methodist Church Hall, High Street, Clapham MK41 6EQ
BEDFORD ROUTE SECTION MAP
