Tim Hill

Wavell Close residents will remember my letter to them of 8^th May 2008 regarding the request to the County Council by the Parish Council, local residents and the Liberal Democrat FOCUS Team to “tidy up” the Wavell Close green. Local residents had told us and the Parish Council that the layout of the green was too big for the Close. Local residents have been in contact with us to advise that the requested scheme has not been implemented by the County Council. Indeed what has been implemented not only makes the square look odd, but it does not meet the purposes of why the work was done.  I have today contacted the County Council to ask why the agreed scheme has not been implemented and will let you know their reply as soon as I can. I will of course be pressing the County to then implement the agreed scheme. 

Dear Sir/Madam (DCLG)

As one of the Bedford Borough Councillors for the Borough Ward of Wootton and following receipt of a letter from our Head of Planning, I wish to formally object to the Eco-town proposals of New Marston and Marston Vale.

I support the basic principles of new housing that responds to climate change, a sustainable future and an increased housing supply. However, I believe the Eco-town proposals of New Marston and Marston Vale are flawed for the following reasons:

a) They will mean effectively no green fields in a direct line from Junction 13 of the M1 to the Marsh Leys roundabout near Kempston.

b) Existing development plans in place such as Stewartby 2000 will, together with these proposals, mean that the Marston Vale will have almost 3 times the existing expected development in the current Growth Area. Thus these proposals will far exceed existing projected demand.

c) Even once the A421 is dualled, the A421 and the B530 will really struggle to cope with the likely increased traffic from the Eco-towns.

d) The Eco-town proposals of New Marston and Marston Vale merge existing, settled communities into one great mass of housing.

In summary, whilst the Eco-town proposals of New Marston and Marston Vale meet the increased housing supply principle, they are a direct opposite to the other two principles.

I look forward to further correspondence on this matter.

Local residents have been in touch with me regarding the issue of the poor state of the road surface in Potters Cross. I contacted the County Council in March 2008 asking them to take action on this issue.  I am now very pleased to report that resurfacing works for Potters Cross are now scheduled for two weeks commencing 23^rd June 2008. The works may or may not leave the road as an absolutely perfect surface but at least it should be a lot better than it is now. I would very much appreciate it if you could give me your feedback on the following issues:a)         Did you receive a copy of the closure consultation letter yourself?b)         If you did, did you think it was enough notice?I would like the feedback as I want to ensure the County Council gives enough notice to a large enough number of local residents on such issues. If necessary, I will lobby the County Council to improve the way they do this.

British Telecom have announced plans to remove 28 public payphones from a variety of both urban and rural locations across Bedford Borough. Liberal Democrats have called for BT to justify the removals by providing individual usage figures for the payphones and stating the criteria they have used to identify call boxes for removal.

The Liberal Democrat FOCUS Team,  whose Wootton and Stewartby Ward faces the loss of a payphone in Stewartby, said “This is further evidence of a continued erosion of local services. It is not good enough for BT to simply announce a huge cull of local payphones without even providing usage figures for the phones or their criteria for identifying those to be removed.’

“While it may be the case that some payphones do not cover costs, BT makes huge profits and it must recognise the crucial purpose that payphones can serve by being available for emergency use. In addition to retaining a healthy distribution of payphones it is essential that BT ensure payphones are well maintained and where necessary adapted in order that they can only be used for outgoing calls to prevent their use by drug dealers, for example. “

Bedford Borough Council is conducting a consultation on BT’s proposed payphone removals, with a closing date for responses of the 25th of June.

A UK-wide campaign to encourage people to recycle more of their household waste has been backed by Tim Hill.   National Recycling Week is being held on 2^nd – 8^th June. This is the fifth year it has been held. It is run by Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP), a national organisation set up to help people produce less waste and advise on how best to deal with rubbish in an environmentally friendly way. Tim Hill says “In Bedford Borough the recycling and composting rate is very poor. That means we still have a long way to go before we are dealing with our waste in a way that does not leave a lasting problem for generations to come.  “I am delighted to be able to back National Recycling Week. We are encouraging as many residents as possible to make small changes in their lifestyles which will make large strides to ensuring we do not wreck our environment. “We waste a huge amount of food each year – on average we throw away 112kg of food each, most of which is still usable. People can avoid this waste by doing simple things such as producing a shopping list of what food is needed, rather than wandering around the supermarket buying what takes your fancy! “Last year in the UK, it was estimated that we spent £8 billion on food that was still fit to be used when it was thrown away. Being green can save money! But if you do produce food waste, why not get a compost bin if you have a garden?  “People should also try to buy food and other goods which have less packaging. And full use should be made of recycling facilities to dispose of waste. It is better that waste is turned back into something that is useful rather than dumped in the ground.  “There is a limit to how much rubbish we can throw into holes in the ground. There comes a point when we have to say that we cannot go on getting rid of waste in this way. “I am therefore we could support National Recycling Week  and I hope by highlighting the issue nationally it will be a great success and will help residents of Bury to cut waste and live greener lifestyles.”

Controversial new policies for the future development of Bedford Borough have been branded ‘deeply flawed’ by Liberal Democrats. The Core Strategy and Rural Issues Plan, passed at the recent meeting of the Borough Council but opposed by the Liberal Democrats, imposes weak environmental standards on the 17,500 new homes due to be built in the borough by 2021 and will leave no green fields ona  direct route between Junction 13 of the M1 and the Asda roundabout.

The Lib Dems took their stand in spite of being told that government regulations do not allow local representatives to oppose or amend these crucial policies affecting the local area.

It should be of grave concern to local residents that the document which will guide the large amount of development due to take place in the borough between now and 2021 is deeply flawed in several respects. With 17,500 new homes due to be built in the borough in that period it is a sad indictment of the council that they could now be built to inadequate standards of sustainability and in unsuitable locations.’

Instead of a zero carbon growth policy, we have the council asking timidly for developers to achieve a 10% reduction on carbon emissions only if it is ‘feasible.’ The document is also completely lacking any safeguards for the sustainability of our urban and suburban communities. For example, it is missing any protection for essential local services such as post offices. Equally alarming are the weaknesses within the new policies which are likely to encourage over-development, especially along the A421 from the M1 to Kempston.

To have a situation whereby local councillors are advised that it is unlawful to vote against or amend a plan with such far-reaching consequences for the local area is absolutely disgraceful. Councillors were presented with a document full of a range of planning policies which will manage the future development and growth of this borough, and were told they must approve it or else they would be acting unlawfully. This is the democracy of a tin pot dictatorship.

Local residents have been in touch with the Liberal Democrat FOCUS Team over the past couple of years expressing their concern about cars speeding along Stewartby Way. The Tory-controlled County Council has said several times to us that any measures to control traffic speed along Stewartby Way are not a high priority for them. Spending nearly £600,000 of council taxpayers’ money on their doomed bid to save the County Council seemed obviously a higher priority for them!  However, I am pleased to report that the Stewartby Police Constable has now been trained on the use of speed guns. He will be using his new gun regularly on Stewartby WayAlso, Stewartby Parish Council and the Liberal Democrat FOCUS Team are continuing to work hard to address this urgent issue. I have proposed that the Parish Council should formally invite an officer from the County Council to attend its May 08 meeting to lobby him/her for any measures to control traffic speed along Stewartby Way to be done. 

Last summer, I had raised my concern that although making Bury Farm a good place for walkers to visit is a good idea, having no height barriers for the car park would make it open to travellers. The relevant officer disagreed and was supported by the Council Executive including the Mayor. Local residents have been in touch with Judith Cunningham and I expressing their concern about the travellers who visited Bury Farm a couple of weeks ago.  Just to let you know that Judith immediately contacted the relevant officers at the Town Hall to let them know the travellers had arrived and that a clean-up would need to be organised when they left. I pressed them to:·        Do a final clean-up of the remaining debris. ·        Now agree to provide a height barrier and strengthen the fencing to make it difficult for travellers to enter the site. I am pleased to report that:·        A final clean-up will now be done.·        The relevant office at the Town Hall as now been asked by the relevant officer to put together a design for a height barrier, how the fencing might be strengthened and to provide an estimate of the likely costs.

Councillor’s Advice Surgery

  2pm, Thursday, 27^th March 2008 

Hanover Court Common Room 

Claire, the Hanover Court Estate Manager, has extremely kindly given permission for me to hold a Councillor’s Advice Surgery in Hanover Court. 

I will be in the Common Room from 2pm-3pm to help with any queries you have or any advice you want on local issues. I look forward to meeting you.

I am a member of the Borough Council’s Community & Culture Committee. The Committee has recently agreed to the Liberal Democrat proposal that Stewartby should be one of four pilot “Super Output Areas”.  These SOAs (Super Output Areas) will be the four the Committee is reviewing what can be done in to influence their measures of deprivation (officially known as Indices of Multiple Deprivation). These measures include things like:% of Pensioners with ill health.% of adults with no educational qualifications.% of adults with no independent transport.Stewartby is one of two rural areas with some of the worst measures. 

As part of the review, the Committee is holding a Public Forum in each of the four “Super Output Areas” to find out your views on what the Committee is doing. The Stewartby one is on 10th April at 3pm. If you cannot make the Stewartby one, please let me know of any views you have on this issue.