Dear Resident

This is the latest of my regular electronic community newsletters I have just sent to local residents I have an e-mail address for.

If you would like to receive it by e-mail, please let me know.

Local Issues

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

Elstow

a)      Litter in old village – At the Jan 14 Parish Council meeting, concern was raised about the general management of litter, especially in the old village. I raised this with the relevant Assistant Director and he replied as follows “Street Cleansing wise the borough have always treated Elstow as urban. The Council mechanically sweeps all urban areas normally once every 12 weeks and in urban areas we use a HGV sweeper compact sweeper with brush hand and mobile crew to empty litter bins & clear fly tips. Our sweeping crews presently sweep Elstow once a month and react to any complaints that occur in the meantime, the mobile crew empties all litter bins weekly (Thursdays) Any beat sweepers (barrow boy) rounds within the urban areas are at full capacity. Following this matter being raised we have asked our compact sweeper crew to have a look at the main road through Elstow for litter between sweeps and collect any obvious litter.”.

b)      Litter in Sandleford Drive by bypass – Following concerns raised with me by local residents, a litter pick was done.

c)      Green space between old Lower School development and Wadsworth Court – At the Feb 14 Parish Council meeting, the Parish Council decided not to support my proposal for a combined large green space between the old Lower School development and Wadsworth Court and its transfer to the Parish Council for maintenance.

d)      Wixams Extra Care Village – Now this has planning permission, I have been thinking whether if and when the development is occupied, the residents will feel more affinity with Elstow or with Wixams. As Wixams is to get its own Parish Council soon and I believe they would have more affinity with Wixams, I have asked Borough Electoral Services without prejudice what would be the process that would be followed to transfer the land that is currently in Elstow Parish and my Ward to Wixams Parish and Wilstead Ward. At the Feb 14 Parish Council meeting, the Parish Council agreed to support my proposal. As there is a Wixams Governance Review underway already by the Borough Council, work on this will not start until May 15.

e)      Street light on Abbey Fields access road – I have asked for the street light near the bridge and the nearby bollard to be repaired.

f)       Condition of 17, Bunyans Mead – At the Jan 14 Parish Council meeting, concern was raised about the exterior condition and general maintenance of 17, Bunyans Mead, Elstow. This includes the rubble nearby from the property. I raised this with Planning Enforcement and they are in touch with the owner.

 

Stewartby

a)      Speeding on Stewartby Way – At my request, the Borough Council is installing Average Speed Cameras on Stewartby Way sometime soon. 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. As I type this Report, Borough Highways are reviewing the claim made by the land agents of O&H for a £450+VAT fee for using their land for one of the items of equipment. I have chased a response and have offered to pay half of the licence cost from my 2014/15 Ward Fund.

b)      Park Crescent footpath – Following pressure from myself and the Parish Council, the resurfacing of this footpath has been included in an additional £1m programme of Borough-wide footpath repairs for 2014/15 put together by Cllr Royden and funded by the Mayor by re-prioritising of existing work programmes.

c)      Double glazed windows for the Sir Malcolm Stewart Homes – None of the sources of grants in the package put together by the fund-raising consultant appointed by the Trust are apparently 100% ideal for this sort of work. This is a great shame as this work is much needed by the residents. I have asked the Trust for a meeting with the consultant and am even now still awaiting a response. I have asked the Borough Conservation officer to raise the lack of a response at an officer to officer level.

d)      Travellers Site – There are ongoing issues from the site affecting residents in the Parish and in Houghton Conquest. The newly-appointed Borough Gypsy & Travellers Liaison Officer turns out to be the contract manager of the contractors who used to manage the site on behalf of the Borough until 18 months ago. She is the fourth Liaison officer since the Contract ended and she has already made a real difference in reducing the number of major issues raised to me by residents. A site meeting is being arranged within the next few weeks.

e)      Flooding outside bus stop by Russet Close – Have asked Highways to look at why water is draining away from drain and do what’s required to ensure it does.

f)       Interchange bus stop mud – Residents have complained to me that one side of this bus stop is just a grass verge. Have asked Highways to look at tarmacking it.

 

My Borough Council Ward Fund for 2013/14

My Borough Council Ward Fund amount for 2014/15 has still to be agreed, but here are some ideas for it. Please let me have your feedback on these and any other ideas you have:

Elstow

1.            Contribution to Wadsworth Court preventative measures (and a contribution from Parish Council) – £xxx.

2.            Contribution to Abbey Fields speed survey (and a contribution from Parish Council) – £xxx.

3.            Contribution to any works arising from Wilstead Road speed survey – £xxx.

4.            Contribution to refurbishment of John Bunyan birthplace sign and Festival of Britain stone (if full cost not met by Rural Affairs grant and a contribution from Parish Council) – £xxx.

5.            Replacement of broken fence panel in Croyland Drive – £xxx

Stewartby

1.            Average Speed Cameras Scheme in Stewartby Way (Licence with O&H) – £225.

2.            Replacement of pavement slabs outside Sir Malcolm Stewart Homes – £xxx

3.            Contribution towards a flashing speed sign that the Parish Council may be purchasing – £xxx.

 

Have a Look at the Work at Bedford’s New Bus Station

Anyone can now see the work on the regeneration of the Bedford Bus Station– click here to see the latest from the webcam!

Liberal Democrat Mayor of Bedford Borough, Dave Hodgson, said: “The multi million pound redevelopment of Bedford bus station is a vital project for Bedford Borough and we want local residents to be able to keep right up to date with progress.

“The cameras will provide up to the minute footage of the scheme and allow anyone to check the progress of this major development in their town centre as it continues to take shape.”

Richard Overton, Managing Director of local company Regenology Ltd, who installed the cameras, said: “It’s great to see technology that we developed at our office in Bedford being used on such an exciting local project. We hope local residents will enjoy following the progress of the building work, and are really looking forward to creating some great films later in the year.”

The redevelopment of the Bedford bus station area started in 2013. Work to date has included the construction of a new surface car park at Greyfriars, new public toilets and the continuing refurbishment of Allhallows multi-storey car park.

The current stage is the demolition and replacement of the bus station building which is now underway and scheduled to be completed later this year.

The camera takes a still picture every few minutes. Later this year, the pictures taken will be used to create time lapse sequences, showing the progress made.

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