A new doctors' surgery with 40 parking spaces will replace the empty Great Barford Lower School buildings on Silver Street, after councillors approved it.

Great Barford is getting a new doctors’ surgery on the site of its former lower school in Silver Street. Bedford Borough Council’s Planning Committee approved the plans on 21 October, according to its draft minutes, published on 3 November.

The old school buildings will be knocked down. A new single-storey surgery will be built in their place. The application, 26/01551/DC3, was made on behalf of the council itself, which is why it went to committee.

Nobody objected. The council wrote to neighbours and put up a site notice, and it received no responses at all, according to the officers’ report. Great Barford Parish Council and the NHS Central East Integrated Care Board both supported it.

What will be built

According to the officers’ report:

  • a single-storey surgery, flat-roofed and about 5 metres high, set back from Silver Street
  • 40 car parking spaces at the front, including 4 with electric charging and 3 accessible bays
  • 16 cycle spaces, with showers, lockers and changing space for staff
  • room for 23 staff
  • space for social prescribing: help with the causes of ill health, such as stress or lifestyle, from groups like Age UK, Mind and Citizens Advice
  • most of the hedgerow along Silver Street kept
  • room set aside for the building to be extended later, which would need its own planning permission

The officers’ report does not say when building will start, what it will cost, or how many patients the surgery will serve.

Why here, and not the land kept for it on Bedford Road

Land for a surgery had already been set aside. When the Hares Meadow housing was approved, about 0.4 hectares on the Bedford Road frontage was kept for a primary care building, with money from the developer towards it.

The care board told the council why that was dropped. In 2019 the health service, the practice, the council and the parish council looked at the options together. They found the Bedford Road site “less preferable” for three reasons, in the board’s words:

  • a “lack of capital funding to enable delivery”
  • “less favourable location/access arrangements”
  • “limited room for future potential expansion”

Officers said the school site is more central to the village. It also leaves room to grow.

What happens to the school land

The lower school buildings are empty. The officers’ report says they are “falling into disrepair”. Great Barford’s larger playground and the playing fields are not part of the site, and are still used by the neighbouring school.

The council’s education team did not object. It says the buildings are no longer needed. One more step remains: the Department for Education has to give separate consent to release the former school land. The report says the council is still gathering the evidence to show the site is surplus.

The council and the care board consulted the public on the plans together in May 2026. Its officers also went to parish council meetings, and the parish council set up a working group to collect villagers’ views.

What it means for you

  • If you are a patient in Great Barford, a new surgery building is now approved. No opening date has been given.
  • There is no change to your GP yet. Keep using your current surgery until the practice tells you otherwise.
  • Parking will be on site, so visits should not add to parking on Silver Street, where there are already restrictions.

Great Barford also has 500 new homes approved; see our report on the Great Barford 500 homes decision. Other decisions are on our Bedford planning news page.

Sources