Potters Cross residents have been left fuming after the County Council’s road contractor left road maintenance works unfinished after striking two water mains, one of which continued to spew out water over a week after being burst.  The works on Potters Cross remain incomplete despite the legal notice for the works stating that they would be finished by July 7^th.  The legal notice for the works also stated that the entire road would be resurfaced, when in fact just a few metres have been repaired. 

The long overdue resurfacing of Potters Cross has become an absolute farce.  It beggars belief that with no improvement works having been done on the road for over thirty years, nobody thought to check if there were any obstructions such as water mains.  For one of the burst mains to then be left unrepaired for over a week is utterly inexcusable.

As the different parties squabble over who should take responsibility for mistakes, the interests of local residents seem to be the very last consideration.

For residents to be told by the County Council that the entire paved road would be resurfaced, only to find that the contractors are working on just a short stretch is simply unacceptable.

Details of the proposed post office closures have been announced. This will be followed by a six week period of consultation with the local community.

The loss of the post office will hit Stewartby hard. It is a vital asset for many local people and closing it will cause many difficulties for older people and others with mobility problems, in particular.

Despite the decision of Labour MP’s to help the Government press ahead with closures, Liberal Democrats are continuing to fight the demolition of the post office network.

Our plan would give a real investment of £2 billion in the post office, would increase the services offered at local post office branches and improve the network so that every community that needs a post office gets one.

We are the only party with a fully-funded plan to save the post office, give it a long-term future and not just manage its decline.

Our plan would see:
· £2 billion invested in post office network;
· New branches opening where needed;
· Government services continuing to be available at the Post Office;
· The Post Office freed from Royal Mail restrictions to let it develop new business;
· A new legal requirement for the Government to maintain the local Post Office network.

We will keep you posted

Despite being at business meetings in Birmingham and Milton Keynes on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively, I was able to find out from the Borough Legal Team that the County Council Legal Team are “on the case”.

They are hopeful that the travellers can be moved on within the the next week.

I have delivered a leaflet to about 2/3rds of Stewartby outling the Borough policy and what we as Cllrs can do to help. Stewartby Way and the closes off, Kitchener Place and Russet Court all got it. Time and energy prevented me from delivering the whole of Stewartby.

Local residents have reported to me the travellers on Green Lane Stewartby. 

I have reported this to the relevant Borough Solicitor and let the current Chair of the Parish Council know I have done so. 

I will provide more updates as and when I have more information

Potters Cross residents will remember my letter of 13^th June 2008 regarding the resurfacing works in Potters Cross. Several local residents have contacted me seeking re-assurance that the resurfacing is for the whole of the tarmaced road. I did confirm that according to the correspondence I had received from the County Council, it is for the whole of the tarmaced road. I have today contacted the County Council to seek final written confirmation that the whole tarmaced road is being resurfaced. In the meantime, I would very much appreciate your feedback on the following issues:a)     Do you think the workmen have been doing everything they can to ensure reasonable access for you?b)     What do you think of the standard of the surface laid?c)     Does it look as though the whole length of the tarmaced road is to be re-surfaced?I would like the feedback as I want to ensure the County Council contractors do the agreed work and to a standard they are being paid for. If necessary, I will lobby the County Council to improve this. 

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. 

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.

Local residents contacted me 15 months ago to express their concern about local kids climbing the tree outside 3, Sanders Way and looking into various bedrooms.

After months of trying to find out who owns the tree, the Borough have thanfully now finally put their hand up to claim ownership.

The tree is decaying in several palces so the opportunity will be taken to solve the issue raised and help the tree at the same time.

I’m pleased to report that a couple of residents rang me last night to thank me as the light is now back on.

Amazing what a bit of co-ordination can do

A car knocked down the old lamp post in Aug 07. This was replaced with a new one in Nov 07 and connection was promised within the week. A resident received a letter from County Hall advising it would be lit within the next week. That resident rang me yesterday to let me know it is still not lit ! I’ve just rung County Hall and no one seems to know why it hasn’t been lit ! It seems the networks team may not have asked EDF to light it or it may be because the accident caused it not to be part of the replacement programme along the road.

Ummmm……………..left hand and right hand