As residents may be aware, some councillors at Leighton Linslade Town Council (LLTC) exercised their right to call an exceptional meeting on Monday 11th August to discuss several matters, including their wish to revisit the issue of boundary changes and the potential merging of parts of Clipstone Park into the LLTC boundary.
In support of the overwhelming majority of residents who have already voted against this proposal – and of the LLTC majority who have on several occasions voted to respect that democratic decision – four Eggington Parish Councillors attended the meeting. They read out a statement as members of the public and stayed to observe the debate and vote. These were Councillors Ramsey (Chair), King (Vice Chair), Hayes, and Parkinson.
A number of reasons were raised, and a large amount of history was discussed. However, it became clear in the debate that the motion was largely financially driven. While we will not repeat all the comments made here, some of the councillors involved have shared their views publicly on Facebook, and residents are welcome to read these if they wish.
As a parish council, our consistent position has been that we are here to support and assist all residents of Eggington, regardless of where boundary lines are drawn. We do so diligently and to the best of our ability. In addition to extending and refurbishing several parks across the parish, we have contributed to the church, tackled speeding issues, supported resident events, funded the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB), and more. We are currently working to take on the village hall lease from Central Bedfordshire Council (CBC) and to ensure the allotments are opened as quickly as possible.
Any suggestion that our parish council is simply a “parks and benches” council does not reflect our record. Our actions speak for themselves. Due to our established links with developers, we also continue to support residents in the northern part of the parish, including those who technically fall within the LLTC boundary, on issues linked to development and ongoing construction.
We are not a political parish and have no wish to be drawn into LLTC politics. However, in support of the excellent work carried out by our volunteer councillors and in line with the wishes of Eggington residents, the statement below was read out.
We are pleased to report that LLTC once again voted overwhelmingly to respect the wishes of Eggington residents and voted against the motion. We thank them once again for their support.
If residents wish to see the agenda for the LLTC meeting, these can be viewed here.
Eggington Parish Council.
Our Response:
Chair, Councilors, thank you for the opportunity to speak.
I’m here on behalf of Eggington Parish Council to respectfully challenge the motion proposing a boundary change to incorporate the Clipstone Park development into Leighton-Linslade Parish.
We must first highlight that this matter has already been subject to a full and democratic review in recent years. That process involved wide consultation, thorough assessment, and ultimately, a clear and legitimate outcome: to retain Clipstone Park within the boundary of Eggington Parish.
Crucially, the residents of Clipstone Park themselves voted overwhelmingly to remain within Eggington Parish. There is no compelling evidence that their views have changed. In fact, our ongoing engagement with residents suggests that they continue to identify more closely with their existing parish governance than with the proposed alternative. Their wishes deserve to be respected.
At the time of the last review, Eggington Village expressed concern about the potential scale of the Clipstone development — and rightly so. The full impact wasn’t yet visible. However, since then, we’ve seen the beginnings of genuine cohesion between the long-standing village community and newer residents in Clipstone. Relationships are forming, shared concerns are emerging, and our Parish Council works hard to serve all our residents equally. One of our next significant milestones will be taking on the lease of the historic village hall from a separate resident association to keep it available for the community.
The assertion in this motion that our Parish Council is ill-equipped to handle the demands of a growing community is simply inaccurate. We are a group of committed volunteers who have consistently delivered results for residents across the parish — from infrastructure improvements to community engagement and environmental stewardship. We may be small, but we are effective, responsive, and deeply rooted in the needs of our local population.
We are not naive to the future demands we will face, in fact the opposite. For example we are proactively planning for management of allotments and we look forward to providing these for our residents. Additionally, although CBC has made a commitment to us that they will arrange maintenance of the development grounds after adoption, we have always been prepared to take on that responsibility.
While the motion cites community cohesion and governance efficiency, we would argue that forcing a boundary change against the will of local people risks undermining both. Governance should not be dictated solely by geographic proximity or assumptions about service access, but by community identity, resident preference, and local effectiveness — all of which are currently being met within Eggington Parish.
In conclusion, this motion disregards the outcome of a recent democratic process, the expressed will of residents, the emerging unity between communities, and the demonstrated capability of Eggington Parish Council.
We urge the Council to respect the status quo — not out of resistance to change, but in support of local democracy, identity, and fairness.
Thank you.