The stage is also literally set in Harpur Square, with free live music on the 'BedRocks' stage hosted by the Oxjam Bedford team having kicked off yesterday afternoon. Shakespeare in the Square followed yesterday evening, with No Loss Productions' performance of Much Ado About Nothing.
Mayor Dave Hodgson with Ben Daley, manager of the new Bedford Morrisons store ...
As time ticks on, more and more local children and families are facing the huge difficulties and extra strain of the loss of vital local children's hospital services, and yet we have heard nothing of any plans to restore services to Bedford. We know only that the Bedfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group is planning to consult on unnecessary, permanent cuts to services. That's why tomorrow's (Saturday) march in support of children's A&E services and of Riverbank Children's Ward is so timely, as there is clearly a need to get the message across to the decision-makers in the NHS that our community expects nothing less than a united effort to bring these vital services back as soon as possible.
It was a pleasure recently to help formally open the latest addition to Bedford High Street, The ZipYard. This new store offers garment repairs and alterations, and owner Graeme Mulheron showed me the professional operation they have in place, with on-site seamstresses and changing rooms. As I have said many, many times before, in the current climate which sees High Streets across the UK struggling in the face of prevailing trends such as out-of-town and internet shopping, a visit to town has to offer something more. A service such as clothing repair is obviously not something that you can simply buy easily online, and I think The ZipYard is a very welcome addition to the town.
My latest monthly article for the Times and Citizen newspaper was on the topic of services for children at Bedford Hospital, and in particular the decision of the NHS decision-makers to respond to a problem over the supervision of junior doctors by launching a review of whether paediatric services should be removed from our local hospital altogether.
In the face of the unprecedented cuts to local government funding in recent years, we have rejected the approach seen in a number of other areas of passing on the impact of this to hard-pressed local households via spiralling council tax or hikes in fees and charges. That's why alongside three straight years of average Council tax freezes, shoppers' car park charges have been frozen, in stark contrast to the situation elsewhere nearby and across the country. This has been extremely tough to deliver, with extra savings to be found elsewhere, but we've done it because we are committed to supporting town centre businesses and shoppers. Now we want to go further in this aim. So, starting before Christmas this year, I plan to bring in free parking in all town centre car parks on Saturdays for the first two hours of your stay.
