Yesterday I delivered a speech in Parliament on the lack of accessibility at Hedge End train station.
You can read my speech in full below, or watch it by clicking on the link to my YouTube channel below.
I have secured this debate tonight about an issue that has been a long-standing concern of my constituents living in Hedge End, Botley, West End and Fair Oak, and that is the lack of accessibility at Hedge End train station in my constituency. I rise two years after having first outlined this issue in an adjournment debate in October 2020, where the problems I will revisit are still not resolved and while the factors exacerbating these accessibility issues are getting worse.
There is, at this time, a gap in accessibility in provision in the region where my constituency is based. For example, I was concerned to learn that only 43% of stations in Hampshire have step free access, among the lowest count among the counties of the UK. In addition, only 24% have an accessible ticket office, and 32% have National Key Toilets.
However, before I lay out the case for Hedge End and the need to improve station accessibility here, in particular, I want to address the context for this debate, and provide the Minister with some details of the situation in my constituency.
I am proud that the Eastleigh constituency is a thriving community. I have noted previously that the population in my patch has grown by 15% in the last 20 years, a clear sign that Eastleigh acts as a magnet for families and individuals seeking a great place to live.
This has of course led to a corresponding, but in my view, reckless increase in housebuilding by the Lib Dem led local Council, particularly in hedge End, which I also regret has not been met with an increase in investment in suitable infrastructure locally to guide development in a reasonable and responsible manner. And this problem continues with speculative housing developments and large scale developments being built by the Borough Council.
The volume of new housing in Hedge End has been substantial. Between 2001 and 2011, new homes delivered at Dowd’s Farm, a major strategic development in Hedge End North, increased the population in that borough council ward by 33.6%. That is in 10 years. Between 2011 and now, major new housing developments have delivered a further 450 new homes, with more housing delivered not only as part of Dowd’s Farm but at Kings Copse Road and St John’s Road. But that is just the start of it.
Looking ahead, Eastleigh Borough Council has either granted planning permission or allocated space for a further 738 new homes to be built in Hedge End in the next 10 years and most damaging, a new council built development of 2500 homes in the village of Fair Oak and Horton Heath will also mean that infrastructure will be under immense strain, with no substantive contributions to the improvement of Hedge End Train station.
I am of course heartened by the fact that most people do live within 20 minutes drive of an accessible station. With around 97% of people are within 20 minutes of a station which provides step-free access, although that still means nearly 1.9 million people would have to drive more than 20 minutes to reach one.
In simple terms, families are moving into the area, but are being forced to use roads and not rail to go about their journeys. Anyone with disabilities, children or who are elderly when returning from London have to alight at Eastleigh or Southampton Airport Parkway, 6.4 miles away from Hedge End, which is now the second largest settlement within my constituency.
Towns and villages such as Hedge End, Botley, Bursledon and Hamble are served by small stations that lack the facilities required to serve growing settlements. Many of my constituents choose to live in Hedge End because of the railway connections to London, the great sense of community and the excellent local schools.
This explains why Hedge End station is well used, with more than 522,000 entries and exits before the pandemic. That is up from 506,000 in 2017. However, for some people in my constituency entering the station is not as easy as exiting the station and that is what I hope the Minister will be able to assist with today.
Parents with disabled children, disabled adults and parents with pushchairs or prams are unable to use Hedge End station to travel because there are no lifts, wheelchair or pushchair-accessible facilities at the station. Travellers or commuters with mobility issues are left in the unacceptable situation of being able to take the train to London from Hedge End, but they are forced to alight at Southampton Airport, Eastleigh, Fareham or other stations towards Portsmouth for their return journey.
I would also put it to the Minister that the small sum of money required to upgrade this station would mean that pressure points in Southampton Airport Parkway and Eastleigh would be reduced, giving better access for communities in the southern half of my constituency and relieving the burden on the already pressured road network.
Southampton Airport Parkway and Eastleigh, which are the closest stations to Hedge End, are still over 6 miles away by car or taxi, which naturally come with additional costs and inconvenience. The lack of access to the station means that people from the southern half of my constituency are forced to travel to Southampton Airport Parkway, which has an annual usage of 1.7 million passengers, or Eastleigh, which has an annual usage of 1.6 million passengers, by driving through the towns of Fair Oak, Horton Heath or Bishopstoke, or down the M27. With the extension of the runway at Southampton Airport, which I completely support, those two stations will only get busier.
That creates another problem. Our towns and villages, such as Eastleigh, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak, are struggling with a lack of investment in road infrastructure caused by the overdevelopment of housing. This means that the roads around Eastleigh and Southampton Airport station are often blocked in rush hour and inaccessible, too. There is a wider point in that the Government quite rightly—I completely support them—argue that we need greener and more sustainable forms of travel. I agree, but the current facilities at Hedge End station do not facilitate that and in many respects actively discourage it. That is, of course, bad for passengers, bad for the environment and bad for our local transport networks.
The Minister will know that levelling up is not just about solving a geographical problem between north and south. It is about equal opportunity and better outcomes for those who are disadvantaged and quite frankly, in this context, that is not happening in my constituency when it comes to travel. I firmly believe that with the installation of either a lift or wheelchair accessible facilities at Hedge End station, we can achieve exactly the sort of results that are at the heart of this Government’s agenda.
We can give disabled people the opportunity to easily travel for work and enjoyment, we can make life better for families and parents with young children, we can improve our environment by getting more cars off the road, and we can make sustainable travel alternatives a sensible, viable option for my constituents and the wider community.
Now is the time for the Government to put its money where its mouth is and finally deliver some infrastructure improvements that my constituents are desperately seeking, with the excessive development and growing population, the disabled, the ageing and the parents in my constituency need to have this sorted, and quickly.
