News in brief
Occasional newsletter - mainly for expats
30th April 2007
Permit me to begin with an apology. This month has been unusually busy for me, and though I had hoped to ensure that newsletter went out each fortnight I'm afraid I have failed to do so. Perhaps the ease with which news can be transmitted now renders newsletters like this progressively unnecessary; in fact later on I will refer to local news which is now available on video.
I suppose the main preoccupation over the last few weeks has been the preparation for the local elections, which take place on Thursday of next week. I suspect that many Bedford residents will be looking forward to Friday, in order that the deluge of paper being pushed through the letter boxes will cease! One might have been forgiven for thinking that it was a general election!
As regular readers will know, I have little love for party politics in local government. Things seemed to stagnate for over 20 years, the main activity appearing to be the squabbles between party political activists either in Council or in the local newspapers. During these last 20 years the town had deteriorated markedly, and a rethink was needed if this town was to pull its socks up.
Four years ago saw the appointment of the first elected Mayor of Bedford. Frank Branston, formerly a journalist and editor, stood for the post and won hands down. Frank would be the first person to admit that progress has been slower than he had anticipated, but this has been more due to the machinery of local and central government rather than any lack of energy on his part. Nevertheless Bedford is much the better for his leadership over these four years. The town is cleaner, the number of shoppers (known rather quaintly as "footfall") has increased dramatically, and that the number of street Rangers in the centre has quelled excessive antisocial behaviour.
The pedestrianisation of Harpur Street and the launching of the redevelopment of Castle Lane after 43 years (this starts this year) is another of his successes. And there are many others.
There are in fact six candidates, I believe, for the post, but it would be a bit of a disaster if we ever reverted to the bickering at town hall. Frank, in an effort to be seen to be independent politically, has had both Labour and Conservative councillors in his Cabinet. The only party that has refused to play ball has been the Liberal Democrat party. What a pity! Bedford will only progress if political bias disappears from the Town Hall and politics are left to Central Government. One has only to look at some of the leaflets see how old habits die hard; in two of these the aspiring candidate is pictured next to the party political leader in the national scene.
What have been the main issues? High on the list has been the condition of the roads in the town. They are so bad in places that a smooth patch of road almost becomes a talking point as one drives along! I still have not grasped whether this is a role for the town or county; everybody seems to be blaming everybody else!
Anyway, we will know the result by the end of next week.
The main talking point-as so often with Brits., has been the weather! The average temperature in April is usually around 12°C but it has been consistently higher than that stop the record was Shoeburyness, with a reading of 23.3°C! It has also been the driest month; the average rainfall in April has been 47 mm, but this year has been only 2.8 mm!
For some time it has been possible to listen to the local news from the BBC, but now it is possible to see local news as well. If you go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/lookeast/latest_stories/index.shtml there is plenty to see, including, of course, details of the latest weather!
During the last few weeks and attention has been drawn to slavery, and the work of William Wilberforce, whose success in abolishing slavery 200 years ago is being celebrated, if that is the correct word. Another contemporary was John Newton, who was vicar at Olney. Newton composed a number of pins which have been forgotten-and perhaps should not have been-and members from various churches were treated to a superb concert put on by a church group from Little Rock.
May I wish you a restful weekend!
More soon!
Robert