The Infrastructure Planning Commission's consultation on Covanta's plans to build a 600,000 tonne incinerator at Rookery Pit near Stewartby closed on Friday. I made a submission in a personal capacity. I have always been steadfast in my opposition to a project which represents an appalling prospect for Stewartby and for the wider Borough, and I set out my very strong objections to the proposal.
Please excuse the dramatic language, but the new bus services we are providing across Bedford and Kempston are at the very least a radical improvement for buses on Sunday, if not a full-blown revolution! With a one-off contribution of £48,000, we are enabling the full network of services which run from Monday to Saturday across the urban and suburban area to run on a Sunday. They will run, as a minimum, at least hourly. This is less frequent than Monday to Saturday to begin with, but it will be a major boost for bus users who tell me that the current two-hourly (at most) services, on routes which no-one seems to know and for which there is little information at shelters or elsewhere, are a major barrier to bus use on a Sunday.
This week I signed the document to confirm the launch of the 'Scores on the Doors' food outlet rating scheme in Bedford Borough. Scores on the Doors is a scheme set up by the Food Standards Agency (FSA), involving the publication of a food hygiene rating for restaurants and other food outlets in a local authority area. All inspection gradings and further information is made available online, allowing restaurant-going local residents to make an informed choice about where to go when eating out.
Today's announcement that the family unit at Yarl's Wood immigration detention centre is closing with immediate effect is wonderful news. Locking up innocent children is an affront to our common humanity, and the fact that it has been happening in our Borough makes the matter even more raw for local residents here. I am delighted that the government is to take a more compassionate, human approach to the removal of families with no legal right to remain in this country, and I am especially pleased that this stain on our nation's character will no longer exist here in Bedford Borough.
You may have noticed this website has been a bit quiet in the last 10 days or so. Apologies for that - following the update of the site during the weekend before last, it was not possible to update it for a while. It's all up, running and fully functional now, allowing me a belated chance to offer everyone a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
The latest 'Pints in the Parishes' event is taking place tonight, at Corner 5 in Kempston Rural from around 7.30pm. If you're in the area, please come along and let me know about any issues or concerns you have about your local area, Council services or anything at all you want to discuss.
