I’ve just sent my latest Echo as below to my Ward distribution list of local residents. Please let me know if you would like to be included in future distributions.

Local Issues

Since my last Elstow, Stewartby and Kempston Hardwick Echo, here are some of the issues I have progressed, sometimes with the help of the relevant Parish Council:

Elstow

a)     Bus service for Abbey Fields – I am very pleased to report that the new bus service is building up its numbers. I have a meeting with the relevant Borough Council Officer on Thursday 10th October to catch up on its progress and look at how it can be expanded.

b)    Grass and weed cutting in Wilstead Road – Despite mine and the Parish Chair’s best efforts, this is still an ongoing issue. In an effort to finally resolve this, I have arranged a site visit on Thursday 17th October for the Parish Chair and I with Borough Council Officers.

c)     Wixams Development in Elstow Parish area – I have been invited to an exhibition being held on Tuesday 22nd, October by the applicants of an “Extra Care Village” on the Elstow Parish area of Wixams. I have a Council Committee that night, but it is usually cancelled due to lack of business (!) so I am hoping to go to the exhibition.

d)    Some vehicles don’t realise that Bunyans Mead is a cul-de-sac – I asked the Borough Council’s Highways Department to place a dead-end sign at the entrance. In order not to add to the street sign clutter, the next time the street name is repaired or replaced a dead-end sign will be included within the street name-plate.

e)     Hatched yellow lines box in Bunyans Mead – The BPHA Warden and residents were concerned at the lack of a hatched yellow lines box at the end of the road surface in Bunyans Mead. I have asked the Borough Council’s Highways Department to consider painting such a box in the area concerned and to include it in the issues that can be enforced by the Council’s Automatic Number Plate Recognition vehicle fleet.

 

Stewartby

a)     Flooding on Stewartby Way by Russet Close – After three weeks of chasing by the Parish Chair and I, Anglian Water have finally visited the site with diagnostic equipment to find out what the issue is and arrange for its repair.

b)    Flooding on Park Crescent – I am delighted to report that after much work by the Parish Chair and I, Anglian Water have now agreed to put their pipes around Broadmead Lower School in their yearly maintenance schedule.

c)     Speeding on Stewartby Way – This is a big issue and forms a large part of my casework load. At my request, the Borough Council is installing Average Speed Cameras on Stewartby Way sometime soon. I have been told that this is likely to be early in the New Year, but details are still being finalised. This will take the average speed of all vehicles travelling between two points (to be agreed) on Stewartby Way. Any speeding vehicles will be prosecuted.

d)    Neighbourhood Area – One of the many good policies the Liberal Democrats have been instrumental in the Government delivering is the Localism Bill. One element of the Bill is the ability for parishes or neighbourhoods to become “Neighbourhood Areas”. This enables an area such as a Parish to have much more input into and control of how their area is managed, whilst still being broadly within the Borough Council’s planning policies. I am delighted to report that after much work by Stewartby Parish Council, it has applied to become a Neighbourhood Area. Last week the Assistant Director of Planning, as part of the mandatory process, informed me of the application and asked me if I wished it to proceed. I was delighted to give it the go-ahead.

 My Borough Council Ward Fund for 2013/14

I have so far allocated funds for:

Elstow

–       Elstow Brook Preventative measures.

–       No Verge Parking scheme in Bunyans Mead and High Street. Elstow Parish Council is also contributing to this scheme.

–       20’s Plenty signs on Abbey Fields and High Street.

–       Clearance of the old pill box at the B&Q development.

–       Bicycle racks at Elstow Lower School.

 

Stewartby

–       Bollards on Churchill Close.

–       Average Speed Cameras Scheme in Stewartby Way.

–       20’s Plenty sign on The Crescent.

–       20’s Plenty sign on Park Crescent.

White “H-lines” outside driveways in 1-4, The Crescent.

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