News

Arts, Culture and Fund-Raising Football - A weekend in Bedford Borough

A post on Twitter on Sunday by a member of a vocal group which took part in the Bedford Busking Fest declared that "Bedford had a great vibe today." I couldn't agree more, and I would add that that vibe extended across the whole weekend, not just on Sunday, and also to a range of events in addition to the Busking Festival. The performing arts festival Bedfringe continued with a number of events over its middle weekend at a variety of venues, while on Saturday it was great to welcome Proms in the Park back to Bedford Park for the first time in a number of years. The fireworks and light show to round it off could not doubt be enjoyed from across town! The busking festival continued on Sunday with a diverse range of performers, adding a lovely extra dimension to a trip into town. Also on Sunday, a very special charity football match took place at the New Eyrie, home of Bedford Town F.C.

Petitions Policy Helping in Our Drive to Open up the Council to Local Residents

New Bus Services - Bucking the Trend and Supporting Services Across Urban and Rural Bedford Borough

Details of new bus services in both urban and rural parts of the Borough have been announced, and they confirm that we are bucking the trend and protecting and even improving services here at a time when they are being slashed elsewhere. Of course, as with any changes to bus routes, it is not uniformly good news, but overall across both urban and rural parts of the Borough access to decent bus services is being maintained and even improved. The headlines from the changes to both the Stagecoach commercial routes and the new Bedford Borough Council-tendered rural services run by Grant Palmer include the long hoped-for extension of services in Bedford and Kempston until up to 11pm, free rural weekend travel for under 16's and new paperless smartcard ticketing in the urban area. We are also continuing the vastly improved new Sunday services we introduced in Bedford recently, with routes which mirror those run commercially by Stagecoach over the rest of the week.

The New 'Changing Place' in the Town Centre - a Facility to be Proud of

I recently attended a small ceremony to mark the opening of a new 'changing place' disabled toilet at River Street Car Park. You might wonder why a ceremony was held to mark the opening of a toilet, but the opening of this facility really is something worthy of celebration. It's the first facility of its kind in the Borough, and it will make a real difference for local residents and visitors with physical disabilities which make using standard accessible toilets difficult or, very often, impossible.

St Cuthbert's Hall

I recently visited St Cuthbert's Hall in Castle, which has been taken on by a volunteer group set up with the purpose of securing it as a community facility after it was made available for rent. The hall is located on the one-way gyratory around St Cuthbert's Church at the junction of Newnham Street/St Cuthbert's Street/Mill Street. Castle Community Society beat off commercial competition to obtain the lease after a remarkable fundraising effort, which took place against the clock. Rob Price and John Lucas, who showed me round the hall, are local residents who formed the society and drummed up a vast amount of support in a matter of days. As they showed me round they discussed their vision for the hall and the potential they see in it as a sustainable, ongoing community facility run by local people. They recognise the huge challenge they face, but the impressive start to life of the Castle Community Society and the local support which has rallied round are certainly very hopeful beginnings. They are looking f

Anti Street Clutter Campaign Gets Off to Flying Start as Over 100 Signs Are Removed