Hello from Bedford!

Greetings from Bedford!

NIRAH - what now?

First of all may I thank you for your support of Nirah. There can be no doubt that it is a visionary project that will be unique in the world. To undertake such a significant project the three most important requirements have been securing a suitable site, raising seed funding to get the project to the stage of having a development plan and having a planning permission to develop the site. 

We selected Bedfordshire for many reasons with the three most important being that is had a good catchment within two hours of the site, seed capital was available locally and there was a good prospect of receiving outline planning permission. The catchment is without doubt one of the best in the UK; over 20 million people live within two hours travel time. The seed capital of £4 million was tight but adequate. And there was an indication from Tim Malynn, BCC’s then Director of the Environment, that it was possible to achieve an outline planning consent within six months, given that there is a statutory period of three months to determine such an application.

Two issues have had an effect on progress. The first was that we entered into a funding agreement with a consortium consisting of EEDA, BCC, BBC and Mid Beds Council to provide seed capital of £4 million, to be advanced in the form of loans of £2 million each from EEDA and BCC. I believe that the Bedfordshire press has adequately covered the history of this; to date Nirah has received a total of £3.2 million from the consortium under this agreement. The £400,000 currently proposed would therefore bring the total loan amount to £3.6 million, which is still less than the £4 million originally agreed. As a comparison, in a discussion that I had with the Director of Centre Parks, he indicated that they had expended £3 million on design and other professional fees prior to going to appeal, which would in my opinion bring the costs nearer to £4 million. This would exclude their own internal costs and the costs of preparing of a business plan for the development. Nirah has, in my view, delivered good value, quite apart from the benefits of raising Bedfordshire’s national profile.

The second issue is that the process of gaining outline planning permission has been a very protracted one, where Nirah is still negotiating points relating to the application. Nirah made the formal application in the first week of December 2006. It took ten months for the application to reach the Development Control Committee of BCC on the 19th October 2007, where it received a "mindful to approve" decision subject to specific conditions. Since then we have been working with BCC and Gallagher Estates, the developer of Wixams, to meet these conditions, including negotiating a Section 106 Agreement. We have now reached the stage that we believe that the application will go back to the Development Control Committee at the end of this month, or at the latest 22nd May. It is only then and in conjunction with the signing of the Section 106 Agreement that Nirah will have an outline planning consent. Clearly, the six months estimate was optimistic; in fact it will have taken at least eighteen months to achieve this goal. This has affected Nirah's ability to progress with the next stage of funding for the project, which is currently under way.

As you are aware, Nirah has generated significant local comment, in part because of the funding it has received from the public sector. As Design & Development Director of the Eden Project I recall that the Cornish press and Cornwall always gave Eden an upbeat reception. Eden may hold charitable status but it is a private institution. It received around £60 million of public funding, including £2 million in loans from Cornwall County Council. The funds that were available to Eden were not available to Nirah nor for that matter Bedfordshire. Nirah has to protect commercially sensitive issues but the Nirah Board has taken steps to ensure that its funders have access to necessary financial information. George Keiffer, the Vice Chairman of EEDA is a member of the Nirah Board and Richard Stay, Deputy Leader of BCC attends all Board meetings as an observer. At these meetings the Board as a matter of course reviews all of Nirah’s expenditure and projections for the next six months. Nirah believes that this adequately demonstrates transparency in the spending of all funds. 

It is not the case as stated in the press that Nirah Directors are the first to be paid. As Project Director I alone am the only Director that for some considerable period has received any cash payment. The Directors of Nirah in these circumstances have been making considerable sacrifices and effort to bring Nirah to fruition in conjunction with BCC and the consortium. It is unfortunate that planning has taken so long as the market conditions that we have experienced since Christmas have made the task of raising the next round of funding that much more difficult. Many of the investors that had been planned to be approached have become much less active and increasingly risk-averse. That is why Nirah is actively seeking the next stage of funding from the Gulf States, a region which still shows appetite for projects such as Nirah. Nirah’s Chairman, Keith Edelman (who is also Managing Director of Arsenal FC) and Deputy Chairman, Peter May have been to the Gulf for meetings with funds and banks, which went well. Further trips are being planned to progress discussions.

All those at Nirah including the Mayor of Bedford, the Deputy Leader of BCC and our consultants and professional advisors have shown unswerving resolve and commitment to make Nirah happen. We have also received significant support from the leader of Mid Beds Council and key MPs in Bedfordshire. It is as I stated a visionary project that, when accomplished, will be unique in the world. To quote Theodore Roosevelt "Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in a grey twilight world that knows not victory nor defeat." 

I hope that this goes someway to answering your questions and once again thank you for your support.

Yours sincerely,

Ronnie Murning DipArch(Dist),RIBA,FRSA 

Project Director, Nirah 

Just as one learns that over sixties qualify for free local transport, we also learn that bus services in Bedford will be cut this summer to try to save £300,000.

Six routes Bedfordshire County Council says serve very few passengers face the axe. They are: Barfordian Coaches' 159/V2 service between Bedford and Cranfield; A1 Cars' taxibus between Bletsoe and Bedford; AGS Cars' HomeHoppa and Bedford Dart services; Stagecoach's 201 route; and the county council's Abbeyfields link service. The changes come into effect on Monday, June 9.

Villagers will be hit hardest. Coun Nick Charsley (Harrold) said: "This is a cruel blow to

residents in rural north-west Bedfordshire who are already extremely poorly served by public transport.

"The removal of the HomeHoppa service cuts off a lifeline for people who use it for work or leisure ... all of whom will now be faced with having to drive or use a taxi to access Bedford town centre in the evening."

A Dart service will still make one early-morning trip to Marsh Leys Business Park and a return trip at 2pm, as well as certain journeys to social housing estates. And Cedar Coaches will divert its 152 service on some journeys to include a pick-up in Bletsoe.

Coun Tom Wootton, county council cabinet member for transport, said: "We need to ensure we get the best value for money for the taxpayer when we support bus routes. The reality is that not enough people are using some buses and the cost of subsidising bus travel is rising - mainly due to increased fuel costs."

 

Comment: County Council concern for the taxpayer does not seemed to have figured in its deliberations over the years, but having wasted three quarters of a million pounds on the "I love Bedfordshire" fiasco, I suppose that the County had to make savings somewhere, didn't they! In the meantime, there is no truth in the rumour that life-belts along the Embankment will be removed shortly, as they are never used.