Investing in facilities and infrastructure
Unlike many other councils across the country, we’ve not only maintained our frontline services like libraries, leisure centres and roads, we’ve also been investing in many of them too.
In 2023/24, we plan to spend a further £253 million on roads, care homes, schools, leisure provision and other infrastructure projects. These infrastructure projects are funded from our capital budget. This is not funded through Council Tax, it is funded through loans or selling land or buildings the Council owns and reinvesting this money.
Below is a summary of the plans:
- £58 million on schools – this includes new school places, Schoos for the Future, and special educational needs provision (£14 million). Includes Sandy Secondary School refurbishment and Houstone School
- £33 million on new leisure centres – this includes £23 million on a new leisure centre in Houghton Regis, £7 million on a new leisure centre in Leighton Buzzard and £4 million on new leisure provision in Sandy
- £32 million on roads – this includes £15 million on highways works (incl. surface dressing and streetlighting), plus £6 million on the new Arlesey relief road, £6 million on the changes to the roundabout at Clophill and £5 million on the new M1-A6 link road
- £17 million on new care homes – this includes £12 million on the new care home in Flitwick (Steppingley Road) and £2 million on the new care home in Leighton Buzzard (Marigold House, Hockliffe Road) and £2 million for a new care home in Sandy
- £35 million on funding some projects in Biggleswade such as the supergrid, Lindsell’s crossing, transport interchange and school. These projects have been funded by the Government
- up to £26 million in loans and land value to New Vista Homes – the Council’s wholly-owned development company. There is a shortfall between the demand and supply of new affordable homes, particularly affordable rented, older persons’ housing, specialist accessible housing and social rented housing. The company will aim to increase housing supply in Central Bedfordshire through the development of sites owned by the Council. The loans are repayable with interest at the end of each project from house sale receipts
- £5 million on sustainability projects - this includes renewable energy scheme, electric vehicle charging and walking and cycling routes