Weekly news from Bedford, UK

It is an odd week for local news. Leaking mains in Ridgmont, A Bedford Skydiver winning the European Skydiving League Finals in Spa, Belgium at the weekend, a plague of maggots, and so on! I have a feeling that this newsletter is going to be pretty short, which most readers will welcome!

A national first for Bedford is to be launched when the plans of the Business Improvement District (BID) project become a reality.

The date for the launch is Friday, September 23.
Discounted parking and 1,000 in shopping prizes will be on offer together with a warm welcome from the newly appointed Bluecap guides.
Under the Bedford BID scheme businesses in the town voted to pay an extra levy above and beyond business taxes to fund their own improvements.
Together they will create a pot of 450,000 a year and the first signs of how that money will spent will be seen on September 23. The Bedford BID has:
• Subsidised the cost of parking in the town to just 1 from 10.30am to 4.30pm on every Friday between September 29th and Christmas.
• Financed a major promotional and advertising campaign with billboards, bus sides and 1,000 shopping prize promoted by Chiltern 96.6 FM Radio and local newspapers.
• Paid for a team of Bluecaps who will be on the streets every shopping day from September 23 onwards meeting and greeting visitors and advising them of how to make the most of their trip to Bedford. The Bedford BID has also paid for one of two extra community support officers dedicated to the Town Centre.
Mo Aswat of Bedford BID must have, pessimists would say, one of the most rotten jobs in Bedford - trying hard to portray Bedford as a place to shop, rather than Milton Keynes.
Actually, he seems for ever optimistic, and there are clear signs that he is succeeding in his quest. Mo says:

"People coming into the town shopping already enjoy improvements such as the new all-year markets and special events like the Victorian fayre in December which were encouraged by the Town Centre Company (TCC). From there the TCC went on to win BID status for Bedford the only county town in the country to do so.

Now businesses are investing their own money into making Bedford a better place to visit we want the people of Bedford to show their appreciation. 'Come Around to Bedford' as our slogan says.

There are many incentives on Friday, September 29 not least the 1,000 being given away in a shoppers' promotion and the discounted parking every Friday between now and Christmas

But we want people to come shopping the rest of the week too and look out for the Bluecaps they are here to make people feel welcome and feel safer when shopping in Bedford.

We want people to think about shopping at Bedford first not Milton Keynes. We have a greater variety of small, independent shops and it's a prettier setting. The newly refurbished car parks and speciality markets also make Bedford a better place to visit."

BoS has an interesting piece on PC James Marshall, and his endeavours to promote harmony in the varied communities in Bedford:

A few years ago, PC James Marshall worked as an exploration leader for a travel company.

He would take a truck load of adventure seeking tourists through the Middle East and onto India or Pakistan.
At 36-years-old he decided it was time to settle down and take on a stable job back in Britain. He looked at all of the forces before deciding to apply with Bedfordshire Police and became the oldest recruit on the intake. He said:

It was funny being out with my mentor and people would come up to me asking for advice thinking I was the senior. I think that this has helped me in my new role because people look at me and see someone with experience, not just in the police, but in life."

After seven years on the force including a stint as beat manager covering Stewartby and Turvey, PC Marshall accepted the job working with fellow officers and members of the community to deal with hate crime.
The definition of hate crime covers incidents that relate to religion, race, homosexuality and transgender. PC Marshall has been responsible for recording crimes of these nature and logging them on a database for statistical reasons. He has also worked tirelessly to build up strong links with all types of groups who could be affected by such crimes. He said:

"All of the temples, Mosques and Gurdwara's, bar one, have a poster on display with my contact details.

I am available to deal with any issues, and not just in a police sense.

Following the July bombings in London the Mosque on Westbourne Road and All Saints Church wanted to show a sign of unity so they decided to form a human chain from the two buildings.

I was able to contact a number of people to assist with the effort and the chain was formed.

Since July 7 hate crime began to hit the headlines. In London there were 269 religious hate crimes in the three weeks after the bombings compared with 40 in the same period of 2004.
A Liverpool mosque was attacked and there were several rumours of far right activists planning to march on the Mosque in Finsbury Park. PC Marshall revealed that Bedford had seen just five attacks directly linked to the bombings.
Three were incidents of criminal damage, one was public disorder and the fifth was an attack on a taxi driver that was revealed in Bedfordshire on Sunday.
Following the attacks, PC Marshall went out into the Asian community to reassure people that they were safe. He said:

"We encourage people to report any hate crime. No matter how small it seems to some it is always big for the person involved.

Even our own officers are encouraged to report hate crime. Although some see it as part of the job, it is still a crime and needs to be reported.

Luckily in Bedford we all seem to get on."

AT a time when visitors could soon be flooding into Mid Bedfordshire, the council is to axe its award-winning tourism service

On Wednesday Mid Beds District Council's Executive will consider how to find savings of around 2m over the next three years while minimising the impact on the public.
This exercise follows a central Government decision earlier in the year to prevent the council increasing its share of council tax bills beyond 95 per household, even though the national average for district council's is around 140.
Yet there are plans to build a Center Parcs in Mid Beds, the Nirah aquatic centre, and a canal. There is also a strong possibility of an Olympic Games spin-off when they come to London in 2012.
Tricia Turner, leader of Mid Beds District Council said:

"The 2m in savings will be achieved through a combination of reducing overheads, greater efficiencies, increasing some charges and directing available resources to strategically important services."

Maurice Jones, finance portfolioholder, stressed,

"These are difficult decisions to make. However, by taking a managed approach to the problem the majority of the required savings will be found without affecting vital key services. Only 30 per cent of the proposed savings will actually come from reducing service budgets."

The main changes councillors will be considering are:
• a reduction in support service posts in finance, human resources, property services, IT and others;
• ceasing the tourism service;
• reducing the dog warden service;
• devolving management of public toilets or closing them;
• increasing (or introducing) charges for some services such as pest control, collection of 'end of life' vehicles, pre-application advice for non-domestic planning applications and street naming;
• reducing the council's input to special projects such as town centre enhancement schemes;
• refocusing its role in economic development and in aspects of arts and sports development.
Cllr Turner added:

"We are proud of our track record of being a prudent council always being among the lowest taxing yet delivering cost-effective and efficient services which perform above the average.

"Finding budget reductions over and above those previously planned has not been easy. However, we have tried to turn a difficult situation not of our making into an opportunity."

There's an encouraging sign that there is some thinking going on regarding the existence of County and Town decision-making bodies. The Times&Citizen reports:

Unitary authority would help cut council tax bills That's view of 82 per cent of people who answered council mini survey BEDFORD Borough Council may have taken its first steps towards a major shake-up of how local government works.

The Town Hall undertook its mini summer survey earlier this year and asked members of its Citizens' Panel if they thought there should only be one local authority for the borough.

The results released this week showed 82 per cent of respondents, or 547 people, wanted a simpler system for local government.

And Labour group leader Coun Shan Hunt has announced the topic would now be added to the agenda for a meeting of the council executive next week. Coun Hunt said: "This is something the Labour group has been pushing for a while.

"Bedford Borough is much larger than some unitary authorities. And having one would make it much easier for people to know which council and councillor they should contact."

The council's Citizens' Panel has 1,250 members and 668 replied to this part of the survey.

At present council services are split between Bedford Borough Council and Bedfordshire County Council.

The borough is in charge of services such as public parks, swimming pools and gyms, while the county's responsibilities include education and social services.

But unitary authorities such as Luton and Milton Keynes are in charge of all these tasks.

The survey revealed ten per cent of those asked were against a single authority and eight per cent replied 'don't know'.

The most common reason cited for being in favour was that a single council would be more cost effective and a cut in running costs would eventually mean lower council tax bills.

An intriguing little piece of Anglo-Saxon history has been unearthed by a metal detector fan at Broughton End Farm, near Lidlington.

History enthusiast Tony Latham was delighted to find a gilt bronze scabbard fitting, dating from the early seventh century, which has four faces set with garnets.

At an inquest on Tuesday, Bedford Coroner David Morris ruled the item was treasure trove and, as such, the property of the Crown.

When an item is declared treasure, however, it is valued – and the finder, and the person on whose land it was discovered, may receive a proportion of its value.

Although Mr Latham, 67, from Studham, cannot keep the find, he is delighted at having unearthed it.

He said: "I dug down about six inches and there it was. It was beautiful. I didn't know what it was so I asked somebody. I was quite pleased because it is very old."

Mr Latham, treasurer of the Bedfordshire Historical Search Society, explained the find was a pyramid-shaped scabbard fitting, with gold and cloisonne garnet panels inlaid into each of the four faces.

He said: "I am always interested in things of that age. It's a nice little thing to look at."
A report from the British Museum stated the item was made of copper alloy, and heavily gilded.

According to the report, the fitting would have been attached to the suspension straps of a sword or scabbard.

Each of the faces is set with a panel of gold cellwork, inlaid in a matching pattern with three stepped garnets.

The apex of the mount contains a single cell, filled with waffle patterned foil.

A garnet, which would have been set over the foil, is missing however. The mount is hollow and a bar runs across the opening.

The report also explained a strap would have been threaded beneath the bar.

More than 100 examples of similar finds are said to have been recorded.

A small number of the Anglo-Saxon versions of this type of fitting were made in gold or gold sheet over copper alloy, and inlaid with either cloisonne garnet or, rarely, glass.

The report stated: "The Lidlington example is an addition to this high-status group. The cellwork is simple and bold, using three well-cut, double stepped garnets to fill each panel in a design that is found in simpler form on plated disc brooches."

Mr Latham's previous finds have included a Bronze Age palstave axe, on loan to Luton Museum, while wife Vivienne has found a Saxon silver coin and a Stone Age axe.

He said: "It's nice when you find something that has not been held for hundreds of years, and you are the first person to find it."

County's highways and byways are going to pot, boss admits The backlog of repairs to Bedfordshire's roads will NEVER be finished unless more cash is found.

That was the frank admission this week as transport bosses met to grapple with the problem of the crumbling highway network.

Stephen Potter, head of engineering, policy and planning at the county council, revealed the build-up of work could not be cracked at "current expenditure".

He said: "We have growth in HGVs doing more damage, we have variable weather conditions – just because it's getting warmer doesn't mean the roads are safer, as they are subject to hot temperatures and that does as much damage as cold temperatures – and we have inflation working against us.

"It's difficult to say that if we invest 'X' million, in ten years' time we will eliminate the backlog, but it would require a very substantial increase to have any impact on the backlog in the reasonably near future.

"It's complicated, but at current expenditure we will never eliminate the backlog."

Roads built today have a life of 20 years, according to papers produced for Tuesday's meeting of the environment and economic development select committee.

They suffer wear and tear from utility companies which dig them up, heavy traffic, and ageing. Hot summers can also be a problem, as drought in clay soil areas makes roads buckle.

The council has drawn up a five-year repair programme to deal with the damage to the county's roads.

But the cost of clearing the outstanding work has not been calculated, the meeting heard.
A whopping figure previously quoted of £120 million – equal to nearly three times the council's total annual budget for one-off projects – has now been discredited.

Coun Brian Piggott (Con, South West Beds) pressed Mr Potter for more accurate statistics.

He said: "I am sure members of the council are constantly bombarded with concerns about our roads that they don't compare favourably with roads in areas elsewhere.
"We would like to know what we need to spend over a period of time to bring them up to a more reasonable standard."

But Mr Potter would not be drawn. He said: "I wouldn't want to give another figure now or give a previous figure again. I am not sure it's helpful to quote figures that are five years old and were crude at the time."

The committee asked Mr Potter to report back to its next meeting with a cost for the repairs.

Yes, it WAS a short newsletter, but nothing much seems to be happening at the moment. There's an exhibition on the theme of the second world war at the Museum; I pay it a visit and report back!

Wishing you a good week ahead

Week ending 17 September 2005