Councillor vows to investigate ongoing traffic chaos at Leighton Buzzard’s Grovebury Retail Park

A vow to follow up traffic issues at Leighton Buzzard’s Grovebury Retail Park has been made by an executive member of Central Beds Council highways department.

Cllr Simon Ford visited the retail park amid concerns around the entrance/exit which shoppers say is too narrow, and claims the car park is inadequate and needs expansion.

The issues were first raised after the retail park’s opening in 2019 and were closely monitored by Central Beds Council. But congestion worsened following the opening of Aldi with frustrated motorists highly critical of the lack of parking spaces and narrow access/exit onto the site.

The original planning permission for the retail park back in 2013 prohibited the sale of convenience food, but that was relaxed to allow M&S Foodhall and Aldi to move in with shoppers claiming the retail park can’t cope with the number of visitors.

A spokesperson for CBC said: “This and other issues across Central Beds have been raised and Cllr Ford will discuss these with officers to see what can be done.”

Cllr Simon Ford said: "I've been visiting wards across Central Bedfordshire in recent weeks in my role as the council's Executive Member for Highways. I want to see first-hand what the local issues are and where we might be able to improve things for local people and businesses. I'll continue to do so, and I meet regularly with council officers to see what can be done where issues have been raised.

"It was good to see the amount of resurfacing work taking place on the back of our commitment to improving roads throughout Central Bedfordshire. Anything we can do to prevent potholes from developing will save money on the costs of repair, and ease the frustration that we all experience when roads are damaged."

Leighton Linslade Cllr Steve Owen accompanied Cllr Ford to visit a number of other locations, including areas prone to flooding; problems of the Southern Bypass between Billington Road roundabout and Stanbridge roundabout; Leighton Road crossing by the Ouzel bridge; and derelict land which forms the town centre’s High Street Land South regeneration project. They also looked at problems of walkers and cyclists from Linslade accessing the town centre.

Cllr Owen’s update on Facebook stated: “It was ‘good to have the chance to show an executive member some of the problems of our town face to face’. Also showed him the excellent resurfacing jobs CBC have done in Church Street, Leighton, and Stoke Road, Linslade.”