In a one-off exception, it wasn't just children who got on their bikes this week for Bikability, as Cllr Phil Merryman visited Daubeney Middle School to join a group of young participants on a cycle training lesson. The Bikeability course is aimed at children aged 10 in the Bedford Borough area, and designed to help children develop the skills required to adapt to 21st Century's roads.
Getting out to schools around the Borough and talking to the staff and the children is without doubt one of the most enjoyable parts of the job of Mayor, and this week I had the honour of opening new library facilities at Lincroft School in Oakley. The new facilities will be a superb boost for the pupils, and it is clear that a lot of careful planning has gone into making sure they bring maximum benefit. As the School itself says, the library is the heart of the school. The library was obviously very well-stocked with books, magazines and of course IT equipment, and it is clear that as at schools across the Borough, at Lincroft Middle they are helping the children to enjoy their library and to really get the most from it (and to see it as so much more than somewhere they are forced to hang around in during wet break times, which is how some adults apparently remember their school library!).
Bedford's Household Waste Recycling Centre opening hours are changing from 1st April 2012.
Commenting on reports that the Treasury are in talks over selling some of the shares in RBS, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesman Stephen Williams said:
This week's Council Planning Committee meeting was a busy one, as they often are. I'm not involved at all in determining planning applications, with planning being a 'regulatory' function of the council, rather than an 'executive' function, which are those I have responsibility for as Mayor. I was pleased to be informed on Monday night of good news for the Borough with regard to a number of applications.
More than 300 affordable homes were delivered in Bedford Borough during 2010/11, more than 50% above the Council target according to new figures.
