I have sent the following objection to this application to the Environment Agency. For further details on the application, please see:

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/research/library/consultations/114217.aspx 

I write to formally object to the above application for an Environmental Permit for C Jackson & Sons (Bedford) Ltd. I wish to object on the following grounds:  
a) Its detrimental effect on the amenity, environment and noise levels of local residents due to the inevitable outcome of increased lorry movements and hours.  
b) The detrimental effect of the increased movements and hours on the existing road network. Manor Road is simply not built for the increased amount of traffic and there is nothing in the conditions that will alter that.  
c) I believe permits would not normally be given for such operations where residential properties are within 500 metres. There are 4 properties within 200 metres and a further 31 within 400 metres.  
Although a 12 month temporary planning permission was given on 31 Mar 09 related to this permit, it is relevant to state that this permission was given despite 2 errors: 
i) The permission states that there are no properties within 200 metres. See above. 
ii) No residential property was consulted at all during the planning process. This was possibly due to error i)?  
I would be very grateful if you could confirm on the e-mail address below: 
a) You have received this objection. 
b) The final decision on the application

In his New Year message, Nick Clegg, Leader of the Liberal Democrats has laid down a challenge to other party leaders to tell people what they really believe in, rather than what they think people want to hear. The full text of his message:

“I have a confession to make: 2009 tested my belief in politics to breaking point.

I remember once looking round the House of Commons during another Punch and Judy session of Prime Ministers Questions. In the real world, youth unemployment had just reached its highest level ever, our brave soldiers were facing extraordinary dangers in Afghanistan, the bankers were still gorging themselves on bonuses, and the economy was in the middle of the worst recession in generations. And what were the politicians doing? Yelling and guffawing at each other as if the world outside didn’t exist.

So I don’t blame anyone for feeling a sense of despair about our clapped out political system. You are being taken for granted by the people in charge. Big money is hollowing out politics with some rich donors not even bothering to say whether they pay full British taxes or not. And to top it all the expenses scandals exposed some MPs as spivvy property speculators and tax evaders rather than public servants.

This whole set-up has to change. That’s what 2010 should be all about.  Big, permanent change for the better.

People’s  faith in politics may be dented, but I still believe in our ability to learn from the mistakes of the past, and set things on a new course.

2010 must be the year we press the political reset button.

But that will only happen if we do things differently.  More of the same won’t produce anything new.
Of course both Labour and the Conservatives have learned to parrot the language of change. But where’s the proof they mean it? Despite all the hot air about fixing politics they have both voted against giving people the right to sack MPs who’ve seriously broken the rules. Both have refused to clean up the rotten system of party political funding. Both refuse to give you your say by introducing  fair votes to the House of Commons. And both refuse to shake up the City of London, so that bankers can never again play Russian roulette with your savings.

Some people say, what’s the point of voting when the same old parties always win? I say: vote for what you believe in. If you like what the Liberal Democrats stand for, vote for it. If you want real change, not phoney change, vote for it. If you think things should be different, vote for it.

At the end of the day, politics should be about what you believe. What kind of Britain do you want to live in? What kind of world do we want our children and grandchildren to grow up in?
Time to hit political reset button says Clegg

In his New Year message, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has laid down a challenge to other party leaders to tell people what they really believe in, rather than what they think people want to hear.

So as the countdown to the next General Election finally begins, I have a simple question for the other party leaders: what do you believe, really believe?

People don’t want leading politicians clinging on to power for its own sake, or just telling people what they want to hear. There’s got to be more to it than that.

I have one belief above all others: a belief in fairness.  Under my leadership the Liberal Democrats have been working on new ideas to make Britain the fair country I believe most people want it to be. We want to raise standards in all of our schools by giving specific help to the children most in need, and by making class sizes smaller. Soon we will be publishing new ideas to turn our economy away from its over dependence on the City of London to a new, green economy where hundreds of thousands of new jobs will be created as we rebuild our transport, energy and housing infrastructure. Above all, we are now the only party with a detailed plan to make taxes fair – removing all income tax on the first £10000 you earn, paid for by asking people at the top to pay a bit more.

If we as Leaders want people to turn out to vote at all at the next General Election, we have got to show people our convictions, not just dividing lines, our beliefs, not just soundbites.

I hope in the coming months even more people will get a chance to find out what I believe in, and the beliefs of the Liberal Democrats. If enough people share our convictions, our beliefs, then 2010 really can be the beginning of something new. “

2009 has been pretty awful for me work-wise but politically speaking, it has been excellent:

June

a) Judith and I get re-elected by a huge margin.

b) The Liberal Democrats become the largest party on the Council, although crucially not Frank Branston’s cabinet.

October 

a) Liberal Democrat Dave Hodgson is elected as the directly-elected Mayor of Bedford Borough by a surprisingly large margin.

December

A Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year to one and all in Wootton & Stewartby, especially our helpers and supporters, without whom we would not be Councillors.

Planning Committee tonight will be discussing an application from G Moore’s of Manor Road, Kempston Hardwick to double their number of lorry movements and to extend their hours of operation deep into the night.

I believe this application is a step too far for the local community surrounding the site in question.

Most people will know that although there have been businesses on this site for many years, the road and the surrounding community is essentially that of a rural backwater with houses dotted here and there for the old brickworks managers and a small terraced estate for some workers.

The applicant at the moment occasionally receives permission for one-off applications for operational hours outside the current 7am – 7pm restrictions. That is just about acceptable and manageable for the local community. This application turns those one-off occasional permissions into a permanent permission for another 4 hours of operations and the capacity to double the throughput from 75,000 tonnes to 150,000 tonnes and increase the daily vehicle movements from 170 to 340. This is unacceptable to the local community, and is also unacceptable to Stewartby Parish Council.

Planning Committee will know that the applicant provides an environmentally useful service as one if its purposes is recycling, but that should not be considered as an issue applicable to this application.

Manor Road is in places barely more than one vehicle width. Manor Road is a serious accident waiting to happen. This application will only make that more likely.

In detail, the condition relation to no change until the A421 is meaningless. The problem is the current and potential amount of lorry traffic on Manor Road, not at its junctions with or on the A421 or B530. The applicant’s transport assessment is therefore not worth the money that has been spent on it.

The effect on the amenity of this site on local residents has recently been adversely affected by the removal of a wall from its waste transfer building. This application will only make things worse for the local community.

Therefore I will ask the committee to refuse this application on the grounds of:

a)     Its detrimental effect on the amenity, environment and noise levels of local residents due to the inevitable outcome of increased lorry movements and hours.

b)    The detrimental effect of the increased movements and hours on the existing road network. Manor Road is simply not built for the increased amount of traffic and there is nothing in the conditions that will alter that.

c)     The extended hours and increased operations are not in keeping with a small rural backwater and a small amount of local industry.

I will ask the Committee to please refuse and allow its planners to manage the site in keeping with its local community as it just about does know.