Hello! Weekly news from Bedford, England

BoS leads with the report that Bedford Hospital bosses have been awarded pay increases up to 20 per cent.

This is despite the fact they failed to take action to stop the Trust overspending by £8 million.

The salary and pension entitlements of the senior managers at the hospital - leaked to Bedfordshire on Sunday - show chief executive Andrew Reed now earns between £115,000 and £120,000 a year, an increase of 15-20 per cent on last year despite leaving his job next month. (Mr Reed is going to Ipswich Hospital as chief executive.)

According to a remuneration committee, the salary increase can be justified as Mr Reed has met all the targets set by the board for the last financial year, which saw the hospital jump from a zero to three-star rating.

Now, less than 12 months later, the hospital is £8 million overspent on a £100 million budget, which is leading to painful cuts and the likely loss of its three-star status.

Last month a new report highlighted the fact that management at the hospital initially did not spot they were heading for trouble. When they did realise the problem management failed to take the necessary action.

So far two wards have been closed as the hospital attempts to get to grips with its deficit.

But this is not the end of it. Eighteen beds in the John Bunyan ward have already been earmarked for the chop and the ward is expected to close at the end of June.

Richard Wells ward is also due to close.

The privately commissioned report, which cost £15,000, said one of the main reasons for the cash shortfall was a misunderstanding with the newly-formed Primary Care Trust (PCT), which buys the hospital's services.

A hospital spokesman said:

"These pay increases relate to 2003/04 performance, which recognise the huge achievement of going from a zero to a three-star rating, achieving key financial balances and making improvements to patient care.

The pay increases are agreed by a board made up of non-executives and they were only awarded to our managers if they had met the strict targets they were set."

When Bedfordshire on Sunday asked if managers would be taking a pay cut next year to account for their list of financial blunders, a hospital spokesman said this was unlikely.

Police are urgently seeking witnesses to a street robbery in Brickhill.

Between 10pm and 10.15pm on June 2, three 16-year-old youths were confronted by two men who separated them and demanded valuables.

All the teenagers were threatened that they would be stabbed if they did not co-operate and one did see a knife.

The two men escaped in a car with three mobile phones and an MP3 player. None of the teenagers was hurt, but all three were left shaken by the incident.

The first offender is described as black, six foot tall and of slim but athletic build. He was wearing a black coat that he pulled up over his head. He also wore a sky blue hooded top with a white Nike tick and plain shell tracksuit bottoms.

The second offender is also black and around six foot tall of muscular build and wearing a black, 'No Fear' baseball cap with white eyes motif.

He was also wearing a white hooded jumper.

BoS says that planners are recommended to approve another town centre restaurant despite neighbours' complaints that there are already too many.

There is an application to allow a change of use on premises at Duke Street, Bedford, from a shop to a restaurant.

A letter of objection has been sent to the council claiming existing entertainment venues already generate substantial litter and traffic and a new one will just exacerbate the problem.

But members, BoS reports, are recommended to grant the application.

BoS reports that police are investigating a break-in at the much troubled One Stop shop on Hillgrounds Road in Kempston.

In the early hours of Friday morning a member of the public saw the shop being raided and called the police.

Officers made one arrest and a dog-handling unit was brought in to assist the hunt for others.

The dog team successfully tracked down a second offender, but police are still on the lookout for a third raider.

Damage to the shop included a smashed window, but the raiders escaped with only a handful of sweets and various alcoholic drinks.

Residents reacted furiously to the setting up of a gypsy encampment at Mowsbury Park - but the travellers were moved on in less than 24 hours.

The Bedfordshire on Sunday news desk was inundated with calls on Friday morning when more than 20 caravans arrived at the park along with cars, vans and two horses.

Their presence threatened to disrupt cricket matches and a rugby tournament that were scheduled for this weekend.

Anthony Henwood said:

"The last time the travellers came here, it cost between two and three thousand pounds to take all the rubbish away.

There are new laws on fly-tipping with fines of up to £50,000 so why can't someone come down here and take names and car details and charge these people?

As a dog-walker I can be fined if I don't clear up after my pet but when you see gypsies throwing human excrement into the bushes it really makes me really angry."

Some people believe that the council is doing very little to help the travellers and this is the reason they are camping in Mowsbury park. Charlie Smith of the Gypsy Council said:

"The travellers don't have any rights and we certainly don't condone them moving on to a playing field or a park.

The Government has guidelines that say councils have to provide somewhere for people to live but Bedfordshire has a bad reputation for not supplying sites. Why are they not following the guidelines set?

The council has the power to fine travellers and confiscate vehicles but they don't do this. They build ammunition when rubbish piles up and then they complain at the clean up bill when travellers leave. It's a vicious circle for gypsies that the council does not help them get out of."

A borough council spokesman said:

"The travellers were moved on by the council, in co-operation with the police, at 3.30pm on Friday to enable the cricket matches and rugby tournament to go ahead this weekend."

It is thought the travellers may be the same ones who have recently been encamped at Hillgrounds Road, Kempston.

BoS reports that work has finally begun on clearing up St Paul's Square in Bedford.

Despite being a centre point for the town with St Paul's Church in the middle, many buildings have deteriorated over the years,

Adverse comments prompted the borough council to go for a clean-up operation. A spokesman said:

"The borough council, in partnership with the county council, is undertaking some initial cosmetic improvement works to the front of 1-4 St Paul's Square to improve the overall appearance of the buildings."

Not before time! But one longs for the day that the entire square can be pedestrianised, with stalls and places to sit, like in so many continental towns. It will be a planner's nightmare, but could make such a difference to Bedford!

Police are to name Bedford-born Richard Cazaly as the only suspect for the attempted murder of Abigail Witchalls.

Detectives are convinced he was the knifeman who attacked the young mother and left her paralysed, even though she failed to pick him out in a bedside ID parade.

Officers have revealed a new witness has come to light who claims he saw Cazaly near the scene of the attack in Little Bookham, Surrey.

They say other circumstantial evidence points to the guilt of the 23-year-old gardener who committed suicide in Scotland some days after the attack.

Mrs Witchalls was stabbed in the neck on April 20 as she pushed her 21-month-old son Joseph along a country lane in his buggy.

BoS reports that former Sandy Upper schoolgirl Rachael Swinden has been convicted of cannabis offences in Greece - but she is free to return to the UK after almost ten months in custody.

The family of the 24-year-old have accused authorities in Athens of using their daughter as a 'pawn' to trap her former boyfriend.

On Thursday afternoon Miss Swinden was told she is free to return home to England after she was handed a two-year suspended prison sentence.

The former shoe shop worker was convicted of possession of cannabis after she was arrested on the island of Kos last September. She had been living on the island for the last five years after falling in love with the place on a family holiday.

Rachael was arrested after Greek narcotics agents caught her red-handed by posing as potential buyers. She was found carrying three packets of cannabis and £500 worth of Euros in cash. When her room was later ransacked a set of scales and a syringe were discovered under the mattress.

When questioned by police she confessed to personal use of marijuana but denied drug dealing - claiming the majority of the drugs were the property of her Greek boyfriend Sotiris Pitsinis, known as Sam.

A court was told that drugs were being dealt from the car park of a Bedford Italian club like a market.

The 'shop' opened at 9am and traded all day. Customers knew there was a ready supply of heroin, crack cocaine and cannabis available.

Some paid cash but others turned up with property stolen from shops and burglaries to trade with.

On Monday at Luton Crown Court three of the main dealers, all Albanian asylum seekers were jailed for a total of 15 and a half years.

Two Italians were also jailed for their parts and the club's manager, Angelo Russo was fined for handling stolen champagne.

Judge Ronald Moss said:

"This was a successful enterprise with lots of people coming and going and there never seemed to be any shortage of supply.

Customers went there because they knew they could get what they wanted - like going to market really.

But each and every day courts are dealing with crimes perpetrated by people with drug habits. They leave a trail of human misery, crime, anger and, in many cases, tragedy."

Christopher Donnellan, prosecuting said police launched Operation Orpheus to covertly watch and film activities in the car park, following complaints from members of the public about drug dealing in the area.

On April 29 last year they raided the club and made several arrests.

They had already watched 35 deals take place and found 74 wraps of crack cocaine, 68 wraps of heroin and cannabis, which was probably the rest of the day's stock. They also found cash and stolen property at other properties connected to the defendants.

Mr Donnellan said from the observations it was estimated that the gang turned over more than £200,000 in the two months of the operation.

Angelo Russo, 56, from Green Lane, Clapham pleaded guilty to conspiracy to handle stolen goods. He was fined £3,000 with £500 costs. He was found with 15 bottles of Moet and Chandon champagne and three bottles of spirits which had been stolen from Sainsbury's.

His barrister said he managed the club which was owned by his wife. He had also complained to police about drug dealing in the surrounding area and had not seen it going on in the car park. He said Russo has now installed cctv cameras inside and outside the club.

SIR - In response to the A Neech letter 'RAF aides' in last week's paper, my suggestion would be a replica R101 airship which could be a restaurant, music venue and an information point on the history of the Cardington hangars.

Bedford needs creativity and vision to place itself on the map and constructive ideas are the way forward to promote tourism and a general interest for all to see.

Many people have criticised me for such an idea but I feel it's an educational exercise on the history of airships and it's time to action various projects for this town.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

• SIR - I am trying to trace a relative of mine who I have lost contact with and last saw in the 1940s.

There were a brother and sister who were named Bob and Joan Ford. Their grandmother and my grandmother were sisters, mine was named Susan Wynn and lived at Earley Rise, Adelaide Road, Reading.

I was born in Reading and lived at Earley.

I am sure Joan and Bob's grandmother lived at Wokingham, I think at a garage. Joan would be about my age now, 76.

A tragedy occurred when their father was killed in the first flight of the R101 Airship. He worked for the firm which made it.

I would love to meet or at least write to them again if they are still alive. They or anyone who knows them can contact me at this address.

Sylvia Pengelly
10 Cherry Close
Tiverton, Devon EX16 6EU

-------------------------------------------------------------------

SIR I am concerned that the statements about the exact location and sheer size of the proposed building of a fifth Center Parcs Village, have been somewhat misleading.

In fact Warren Wood is exactly between Flitwick and Ampthill with entrance from Fordfield Road. To locals it is also known as Steppingley Wood. And yes, it is another piece of greenbelt land that is under threat from inappropriate development.

It is inappropriate because greenbelt land is supposed to be open for the public and not only for an elite of paying customers.

The development contains a hotel, a spa, 800-plus villas, a vast area of tarmac car-parking, hardly appropriate for a forest.

Lastly it is inappropriate in size. The weekly average of people will be in the region of 5,000-6,000 or virtually the entire population of Ampthill. This Center Parcs Village will take up the entire forest and some surrounding farmland, not (as is the case with other Center Parcs), a small part of a big forest.

Please don't be fooled by big corporations' marketing tactics, 6,000 people in a forest constitutes a holiday village, not a wildlife haven.

I urge all locals to protest against Center Parcs at Warren Wood by writing to: The executive of Mid Bedfordshire District Council and your local Mid Beds District councillors, The Limes, Dunstable St, Ampthill, MK45 2JU.

e-mail me: againstcpatwarrenwood@ntlworld.com

Tina Kent
Tythe Close,
Flitwick

-------------------------------------------------------------------

SIR - Bedfordshire on Sunday is to be praised for raising the problems in Bedfordshire County Council which the new Conservative leadership shows no sign of effectively tackling.

For such an organisation to work the public face must work closely with the professional staff both to bring about change and effectively communicate it.

The politicians ought to realise that you cannot change an organisation just by adding a few people with fancy job titles but that you must change the culture. I would have thought that a director of finance would be one of the first requirements, a position Bedfordshire County Council has managed without for years.

Without cost effective change and with little accountability, the role of the organisation will be questioned. People in Bedford may wonder why effective say over most local government is with a party which strongly represents people outside Bedford.

They might wonder why we need two tiers of local government when parties cannot find sufficient candidates for separate members for different councils. Would not many millions be saved if the organisation controlled its own finances rather than contracting them out?

And people might wonder over the beneficial effect on the council tax if the relatively well-off districts, which spend a low proportion of local expenditure, were combined with a county, which spends more but has a low level of reserves.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

SIR - Phil Ladmore, partnership director of HBS, in his letter last week, shows extraordinary complacency when he sings the praises of his firm's 'partnership' with Bedfordshire County Council.

Just to take one quote of many that I could use from the Audit Commission's latest Annual Letter to Beds CC: 'The Strategic Partnership is not bringing the improvements that were hoped for or the level of service that is needed'.

The supposed point of 'partnerships', much trumpeted by this Government and the Conservative leadership of Beds CC when they in effect privatised a wide range of council operations, is that the council and the provider work flexibly together to achieve shared objectives and improved cost effective services to the public.

The fact that HBS may have achieved its contractual obligations and met many of the designated performance indicators while the service is weak, simply means the concept isn't working.

It is to be hoped that HBS is bringing a less complacent attitude to the current discussions which seek to redesign the partnership in order to make it effective. Otherwise it is difficult to see what useful future such an arrangement can have.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

• SIR - I share Mr Headley's concern about the council's overspending.

However, looking at the council's finances from the bottom up is not the answer. Try looking at them from the top down instead.

Most of the council's money is spent on salaries and since the vast majority of manual work is contracted out to private companies, now seems the time to do the same to the administrative work.

You could start by dissolving Mid Bedfordshire Council and transferring its 'work' to the county council, which would save the 'estimated' £30m spend on the new council palace at Chicksands.

Then you could have another look at the new posts to make the council look good to those of us who recognise an inefficient bunch of wasters when we see them.

Then he could stop carping at the elected Mayor and start thinking about how the waste started before he came into office, then hand a few mirrors to the top staff so they can see who is at fault.

I have great sympathy for the Mayor, since whenever I try to find anyone to help me at either the Town Hall or County Hall all I get is an overpowering impression that they wish they could be left in peace. Probably he gets the same amount of help.

On the subject of the county's roads, perhaps the Lib Dems can do something themselves about it. As a forced recipient of their Focus newsletter I suggest the next time they send Christine or Susan to be photographed looking into one of the holes they also give them a bucket of tarmac, then they can fill it in afterwards.

(Whilst keeping firmly out of politics, I have to say that some of the pictures in the Lib Dem. newsletter are hilarious in their "naffness!")

-------------------------------------------------------------------

SIR - I wish to clarify the position regarding speed enforcement and the relevance of signage in response to Amanda Lee's letter of May 29 on being caught speeding where she saw no advisory signs.

Camera enforcement by the Casualty Reduction Partnership is conducted under the rules of the National Safety Camera Programme.

These state all enforcement sites must be clearly signed and the cameras visible, thus providing an effective speeding deterrent. These rules also include the criteria for the selection of camera sites based on casualty history.

The visibility rules, however, are only relevant to the way the scheme is funded. Compliance with the rules means partnerships may reclaim operating costs from the Government, which receives the money collected from fines, making the scheme entirely funded by those caught speeding not the taxpayer.

In addition to enforcement by the partnership, Bedfordshire Police can enforce speed limits anywhere. They usually do so in response to requests from residents in areas where there is a speeding problem that is causing concern and affecting people's quality of life. They are not subject to the rules of the national safety camera programme.

Drivers need to be aware that it is an offence to break the speed limit anywhere - not just where there is a history of serious casualties that has led to use of camera enforcement and not just where cameras and warning signs are present.

An ambulance-driver who claims he sustained shoulder injuries after slipping on a fragment of sodden food while taking his daughter swimming has launched a £150,000 damages claim against Bedford Borough Council.

Shaun O'Shea suffered a major 'tear' to his right shoulder muscle in the January 2001 accident as he attended an evening swimming session at Bedford's Oasis Leisure Centre (pictured) with his daughter.

The 54-year-old, who has not worked since, now seeks damages from the borough council, alleging a failure to keep the poolside safe.

The borough denies negligence.

Mr O'Shea's lawyers say the accident happened after he took refreshment at the poolside cafe and walked down some steps to the pool.

"At the bottom of the steps he slipped and fell on some sodden food that had been washed there by the operation of a wave machine" his barrister, Toby Riley-Smith, explained.

His case reached the London's High Court this week in a pre-trial clash between lawyers for both sides over a district judge's order which barred Mr O'Shea from bringing any evidence on grounds of excessive delay.

Mr O'Shea appealed on grounds that it was draconian and would have doomed his case to failure.

Following negotiations at the courtroom door - in which defence lawyers accepted that the evidence should be admitted - Mr Justice Simon ruled that the evidence - including Mr O'Shea's own testimony - should be heard.

He said the hearing of the case will now go ahead, though a date has yet to be fixed.

The Borough Council has been awarded a lottery grant to research Bedfordshire's Secret War.

Although full details of the funding have not yet been released, it is believed the money will pay for a team of researchers to study all aspects of the Secret War.

Joanne Moore, who is a tourism development officer, said:

"Due to its location, Bedford became the centre of an intriguing 'triangle' of wartime activity. Code breaking, radio surveillance and the training and delivery of secret agents became a round the clock activity.

Within a 30-mile radius of the town, there were so many sites and locations involved in covert operations, espionage and subterfuge, that one modern-day senior military official described Bedfordshire as the 'spy capital of Britain'.

While some mysteries are becoming unravelled others seem just to begin appearing."

The research will look into many aspects of the war, but most interestingly it will look into why British actor David Niven was sent to effectively 'babysit' Glenn Miller in Bedford.

Niven had volunteered for a secret military commando unit making raids on the enemy coastline.

He got friendly with Winston Churchill and was part of a highly secret 'Phantom' unit.

He was at close hand when Montgomery and Patton argued about how to bring the war to an end and was never far from the action.

Suddenly, Niven was sent back to Britain, arranging accommodation and rehearsal venues for Glenn Miller's band.

Questions are being asked if he upset someone at the front or was Glenn Miller of such importance to the Allies' mission that he needed Niven's particular set of skills to take care of him.

Full details of the lottery funding and research are set to be announced later in the month.

Journalists from China covering the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games will be studying part of their training course at De Montfort University in Bedford.

DMU has joined forces with Chengdu Sports University, which is responsible for training Chinese journalists and is one of the top sporting institutions in the world.

Chengdu has a very strong sport media department and the Chinese Society for Sports Journalists is based at the university.

The course at DMU will focus on sport media and culture and teach the journalists how to report on such a huge event, which will be China's first Olympic Games.

The bulk of Bedfordshire's Birthday Honours this year went to the south of the county but there are still celebrations in the north.

James Spencer Horrocks, of Biddenham, received the OBE for services to further education for his role as principal and chief executive of Barnfield College.

Professor Martin Somerville Snaith from Bedford also received an OBE for services to the transport industry in developing countries.

And Mrs Alma Grace McKenna, from Bedford, was awarded an MBE for services to the National Association of Prison Visitors.

Earlier this month Tony O'Connor, who is known as Mick to his work colleagues, visited Buckingham Palace to receive the OBE he was awarded in the last list from the Prince of Wales.

The Times&Citizen leads with the speculation that a 50 million pound lottery bid could refloat the Bedford/Milton Keynes Canal project and boost the Bedfordshire economy with hundreds of jobs.

The Big Lottery Fund has announced it will be making a single grant to a large UK national project as part of its Living Landmarks program.

Once all bids have been finalised, the public will be invited to vote for their preferred project in an ITV television programme scheduled for next year.

The problem of geese has come back to haunt the Town Hall after a new generation of baby geese was born along the Embankment.

Last April the council won permission to kill as many as 160 by lethal injection. But instead a deal was struck to re-home 57 geese at an animal sanctuary near Peterborough. The council also used egg-oiling measures during the nesting season to stop new birds from hatching, and has put signs up to discourage the public from feeding them.

This might look a pleasant scene, if one treads carefully! It was taken this morning, and shows only a small number of the Canada geese and goslings that have more or less taken over the area near the Newnham bridge side of the Embankment. I have to say that it is a pretty nasty sight, where one has to pick one's way carefully to avoid the mess they leave behind. Clearly the battle is not being won.

In addition, whilst I was there, on two occasions people on a walk fed the geese with bread. They may be well-meaning in doing so, but not oonly are there signs all over the place asking people not to feed them, but also it appears that bread does no good to the animals. A man passed me, looked reisgnedly at the mess on the ground, and commented that the Embankment may look very presentable near town, but is quite disgusting at the other end. Somehow the Council is going to have to address itself to this.

Following a rebuke I received recently, I'll spare you of more pictures of the other end of the Embankment! This was fairly crowded this afternoon as people took refuge under the shade of the trees. Very pleasant too, with the added pleasure of an ice cream van just near the bridge.

Having said that, it was spoilt on several occasions by those who drive past slowly with windows open, and appallingly loud music coming out. It is quite offensive to hear, and goodness knows what it does to the ears of the people inside. It will not be long, I think, before bye-laws may be introduced to put a stop to this, but how such a law can be enforced will be another headache for the Borough Council!

T&C reports that the recently-installed chief executive Andrea Hill put forward her initial ideas to transform Bedfordshire into a high-achieving council.

She said the authority must set fewer priorities – and its objectives must be community-based.

Bedfordshire was rated weak by Government inspectors last year and poor at its previous inspection.

Mrs Hill wants a good assessment next time around.

Priorities should include an £11.2m health village in Bedford, regeneration of the town centre and a long talked-about new court house.

The county needs to build on its excellent transport links to spark new jobs and industry.
Positives include a major housing development to the south of Bedford at The Wixams which is already on the way, she said. Mrs Hill added:

"Bedfordshire has a low image and is unpopular among businesses.

We need to work out how we are going to encourage new businesses to come to Bedfordshire.

Over the past ten years there has been nearly a 50 per cent increase in people commuting out of Bedfordshire to work – because our employment growth is seven per cent compared to an East England average of 13 per cent.

We are positioned excellently in the Oxford-Cambridge arc, with an airport, major motorways and three train lines.

But our neighbours are out-performing us."

Road maintenance and public transport must also be a priority, because the county public rates the issue as more important than crime on its list of concerns.
Thursday's meeting was to discuss Mrs Hill's proposed plans and to hear the views of councillors.

Mrs Hill will draft her strategic plan in July and discuss it with the executive mid-summer with a view to ratifying the document in early autumn.

Peter Smith, in a message to the guestbook, mentions Porter Black's in the High Street. Alas, unless the place is being refurbished, it would seem that Porter Black's is no more. I too used to elbow my way in to see rugby internationals!

As I write, the temperature has risen to 30 degrees, and tomorrow promises to be even hotter. Bedford town centre was teeming with people; how they could have the stamina to shop in this weather I simply do not know!

Pity the chap dressed up as a (I know not what) advertising a shop in the High Street that sells sandwiches!

Next weekend sees the return of the Kite Flying festival in Mowsbury Park, where people from several countries display their fancy kits and a lot of fun is had by all. Let's just hope that the weather holds!

One last bit of trivia: We're near the longest day. In Bedford the sun rises at 4.39am, setting at 21:26 (BST). Hope you feel better for that pointless information!

However it evokes memories for me. Many years ago I had taken my father on a drive, and from the top of this hill we had a splendid view, with the sun shining and not a cloud in the sky. I commented "Isn't this great?! And today's the longest day of the year!"
"Aye" my father (a dour Scot) replied, "From now on the nights get longer...."

Encouraged by a kind comment from Betty, here is another photograph of part of the Foster Hill cemetery.

Week ending 18 June 2005