The St George's Flag was flying at Borough Hall and Town Hall yesterday as England took on Slovenia in the crucial World Cup match in South Africa. It obviously brought the team good fortune, and it will be flying once again on Sunday when we take on Germany!
This week is armed forces week, culminating in Armed Forces Day tomorrow. On Monday a flag raising ceremony took place, and I joined veterans and Councillors in honouring the brave men and women who make up the Armed Forces Community.
This week I travelled by pedal-powered Rickshaw to a meeting in Kempston in support of Bike Week 2010. All sorts of events have been taking place in the Borough to promote the event, and I am always keen to support cycling as a healthy, environmentally friendly way for people to get around and help beat congestion in the Borough. The ride was actually very comfortable (thanks to Rebecca from Beds Road Cycling Club for cycling so smoothly!), and I was even able to get the laptop out and do some work on the way over!
I was delighted to formally open the new car park on Havelock Street in Queens Park yesterday afternoon. The car park is intended to help tackle the congestion problems which occur along Ford End Road due to unlawful parking on the roadside. Huge credit for the new car park must go to Wells and Young's brewery, who very kindly donated the land for the car park for the benefit of the local community. At the official opening I also congratulated the local residents, Councillors and everyone who had contributed to making the idea for a shoppers car park a reality.
I joined the Council's tree maintenance contractors on site as they tidied up some trees in Quantock Close, Putnoe, last week. More work is being done this year thanks to the money we've put into the budget. Under the old Conservative County Council, just £1.66 was allocated per tree in the urban area of Bedford; we now spend over £11 per tree keeping trees tidy and safe.
I was delighted to help formally mark the completion of the renovated Church Arcade in the town centre yesterday. The £350,000 project, which saw the Council working with the arcade's owner Metropolitan and County Group to in the design of the scheme, has really brightened up the arcade and made it a light, attractive place to shop. In a nice touch, the new canopy over the arcade entrance from Harpur Street has the names of a number of Bedford Sporting icons.
