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20 Most Recent News Stories
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Fri 3rd Sep 2010
Four days in, and the village tour is going really well. I've done surgeries in 13 villages so far, plus the pints in the parishes event in Cotton End on Tuesday night. Thanks to everyone who has come out and talked to me. I've taken away lots of actions for myself and for the Council, and if you've raised a query with me I will be getting back to you as soon as possible. The village tour is all about giving people in all parts of the Borough the chance to raise matters important to them with me directly, so if I'm coming to your village, please come and talk to me about any concerns, ideas, suggestions or just to say hello! The full village tour itinerary is listed below:
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Wed 1st Sep 2010
Last night I was in Cotton End for the latest 'Pints in the Parishes' event at The Bell. I want to thank Landlady Lorraine and everyone at the pub last night for a warm welcome and a very good discussion about a range of issues faced by the local residents in the village and in neighbouring Shortstown.
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Mon 30th Aug 2010
Work to relay the track at Bedford International Athletics Stadium on Barkers Lane started last week, and I went along to see how things were going. It is a major investment, but the old track was in sore need of replacing after more than 20 years. The new surface will be one of just a small handful in the country which matches that which will be used in the 20102 Olympic stadium, and will enable Bedford Borough to continue hosting major events in Bedford while offering local athletes and schoolchildren high quality facilities.
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Sun 29th Aug 2010
This week I met the CEO of bakers Lantmannen Unibake at Cambridge Road, to the South of Bedford, to turn the first sod at the site where they are building a brand new bakery. Up to 280 people will be employed at the site, with only six coming over from Lantmannen's existing bakery in Milton Keynes. In fact, Lantmannen had originally wanted to locate this new bakery in Milton Keynes, but after they were unable to secure planning permission at a particular site there, Bedford Borough Council moved quickly when we alerted to their interest in expanding and building a major new bakery.
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Sat 28th Aug 2010
Last week I wrote in the Times and Citizen newspaper about my cautious optimism over one or two emerging sings for the local economy. Clearly, with households struggling in the very difficult economic climate, there is a long way to go before we can talk of a significant recovery, but the unemployment figures over the last year or so do give cause for some cautious optimism. Even though there is only so much the Council can do, I am determined that it will do all it can to help foster conditions in the local economy which help create and retain jobs in this Borough. In case you missed it, here's the article from the paper:
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Fri 27th Aug 2010
My 'village tour' of 55 of the Borough's rural villages starts on Monday, and I cannot wait to get started! At each village I will be holding a 'mobile surgery' to enable anyone to let me know about the issues that matter to them. I get around to all parts of the Borough as much as possible generally, of course, and talking directly to people from across the Borough is as essential way of finding out residents' views. However, the last couple of weeks before the Council's cycle of meetings kicks in again after the summer is a good opportunity to dedicate specific time in as many villages as I can and give people in the rural areas the best possible chance of raising any issues, concerns or ideas with me directly. Of course, the weather is also supposedly better at this time of year, but that idea seems laughable at the moment! Whatever the weather, I am really looking forward to getting out and about and meeting as many people as possible.
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Thu 26th Aug 2010
I must comment on the exam results achieved by students in Bedford Borough, following the A Level and GCSE results days in the past week, and offer my congratulations to all the students for their hard work. To take one measure for GCSEs, which were published on Tuesday this week, there was a 3% rise across the Borough's maintained schools in the number of students achieving 5 A* - Cs, including English and Maths, taking this number over 50%. Meanwhile, A Level results in the Borough's maintained schools also saw a rise in terms of both the overall number of points achieved by students, and the average points achieved per subject.
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Wed 11th Aug 2010
US waste giant Covanta have now submitted their application for a mammoth 600,000-tonne incinerator at Rookery Pit near Stewartby. The plans present an appalling prospect for local residents and for the local environment. They would see huge numbers of lorries rolling over local roads, damaging local air quality and the wider environment. To feed a giant incinerator of this size, those lorries would need to be bringing waste from across the region and possibly from locations across the country. These plans propose that after a long history of importing waste from London for landfill, this area should continue to be a dumping ground for other people's rubbish. That is unacceptable.
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Tue 10th Aug 2010
I am delighted that the Bedford Academy was included by the government amongst the schools listed previously as 'for discussion' which will receive funding for the projects planned under the Building Schools for the Future programme. The Academy will replace John Bunyan Upper School, of course, and as John Bunyan's Chair of Governors and the former former Ward Councillor for Kingsbrook, not to mention a local resident, I know the community very well. I am therefore aware of just how important the investment in the education of current and future generations of young people in the area will be.
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Fri 6th Aug 2010
I am very pleased that Independent Councillor Doug McMurdo has accepted my invitation to join the Cabinet as Leisure and Culture Portfolio Holder, after Cllr Barry Huckle informed me that he wishes to step down from the Cabinet in order to give him more time to pursue other interests. I have thanked Barry for his hard work on the Cabinet, and know that he will continue to make a full contribution on the Council in the interests of local residents. I am very much looking forward to working with Doug, who is Ward Councillor for Sharnbrook, and I know that he is ready to get stuck into the challenges ahead.
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Fri 6th Aug 2010
On Tuesday night I took part in the Council's Inter-Departmental Bowls Tournament. One of the purposes of the tournament is to raise awareness of the council-owned bowls clubs and to help them in their efforts to attract new interest, and I have have no hesitation in recommending the Queens Works Club after a very enjoyable evening. The club Members on hand were friendly and helpful (and patient when helping those of us with no previous experience of the game!), and it really is a nice place to spend a summer's evening. In fact the only thing that went wrong from my point of view was the fact that my team, the Chain Gang, was defeated! We were beaten by the Care Bears (comprising staff from the Council's Home Care service), who were far more ruthless than their name suggests!
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Wed 4th Aug 2010
Yesterday I continued my ongoing series of visits to local employers with a visit to Lindström Ltd, whose UK Headquarters and main service centre are here in Bedford, in the Elms Farm Industrial Estate in Goldington. Lindström provide workwear (i.e. uniforms, overalls etc) and associated services (e.g. laundry) to companies all over the UK. It was interesting to see their impressive operation in action, and I was keen to stress that I want to support them to continue to prosper and provide employment here in Bedford.
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Thu 29th Jul 2010
This morning I cut the ribbon at the opening of the New Aldi store, which completes the first phase of the redevelopment of the Church Lane Neighbourhood Centre, or rather 'Goldington Square,' as it has been renamed. It was a great event, with a real buzz about the place as a huge queue waited patiently for me to cut the ribbon in order that they could cross the threshold and get their first taste of the store!
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Wed 28th Jul 2010
I was lucky enough to have an appointment today at Bedford Park, which is always a lovely place to be, especially when the sun is out. I was joined by the Council's Park Rangers and volunteers from the nearby Hill Rise Nature Reserve to mark the fact that Bedford Park, Addison Howard Park, Harrold & Odell Country Park and Priory Country Park have all been awarded Green Flag status by Keep Britain Tidy, while the Hill Rise Reserve has been awarded the Green Pennant. The Green Flag is the benchmark standard for nationally for parks and open spaces, while the Green Pennant is awarded to high quality community-run green spaces.
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Tue 27th Jul 2010
The third 'Pints in the Parishes' event is taking place tonight, at the Crown in Little Staughton. These sessions are intended to provide an opportunity for me to hear directly from anyone who wants to discuss the issues important to them in an informal, local environment. They are also a chance for for me to show my support for local, community pubs. The first two sessions, in Elstow and Risely, were extremely valuable in allowing me to get out and speak to residents who may not have made an appointment to come and see me at my Borough Hall surgery sessions, or seen me at one of my regular 'walk up' surgeries at sites around the Borough. I will be in the Crown from around 7.30pm.
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Tue 27th Jul 2010
Last week I unveiled a plaque marking the visit to Bedford in April 2000 of the great Nelson Mandela. It was fitting that the unveiling took place on Mr Mandela's 9nd birthday. He visited the Trevor Huddleston bust, of course, and the plaque can be found beneath the bust. There is rightly a real sense of pride locally at Bedford's link with Archbishop Huddleston, who was born here, and the fact that Mr Mandela visited our town and paid his own tribute to Archbishop Huddleston. It really was an honour to unveil a lasting commemoration of that visit. Whole-hearted thanks must go to Garlick Bros monumental masons, who funded and engraved the plaque.
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Mon 26th Jul 2010
This morning I launched the inaugural 6th Form Art Exhibition in the Town Hall Foyer. As Chair of Governors at John Bunyan Upper School I know how much effort goes into preparing for exam exhibitions on the part of students and teachers. Knowing that Schools are showing their work to examiners and parents at a similar time, I had the idea that there is an opportunity for the work of the Borough's talented young artists to be showcased more widely and for members of the wider community to enjoy it. The 6th Form Art Exhibition in the Town Hall is one in which the Council can help grasp this opportunity.
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Mon 26th Jul 2010
The week that has passed since River Festival 2010 has allowed a little time for reflection on this year's event. Firstly, a huge "thanks and very well done" must go to all the volunteers, community groups, council staff, charities, sponsors, emergency services and everyone else involved in putting on what was, overall, a very successful River Festival indeed. As there always will be, there are things to learn for next time, and I have a meeting this week with the Council's events team and others to begin discussions on how to make this fantastic event even better.
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Sun 25th Jul 2010
I haven't written on here yet about the topsy-turvy day last week when we experienced the great disappointment of a narrow vote by Beds Police Authority in favour of proceeding with merger plans, only to receive the excellent news that Herts Police Authority had voted to defer the decision pending deeper collaboration between the forces and consideration of joint working. The authorities will be looking again at the matter later in the year and with two forces, along with Beds Police Authority, in favour of merger, clearly the importance of the campaign to save Beds Police is greater than ever.
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Thu 22nd Jul 2010
It was a very constructive meeting with Michael Gove this morning. Clearly we didn't expect to get any answers on how much capital funding will be forthcoming for schools in the Borough this morning, but we were very glad of the opportunity to make the case for investment in our schools. We discussed the context of the cancelled Building Schools for the Future programme and what that has meant in Bedford Borough, the specific case of the Bedford Academy (which will be replacing John Bunyan Upper School from September) and its plans, the current accommodation for our special schools and the wider issues around education in the Borough.
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