Tim Hill

Now we are the largest party on the Borough Council, we want to make real improvements to the services local residents get from the Council.

The Liberal Democrat Group on the new Environment Regeneration and Corporate Services Committee is pressing for it to look at the following items at its Agenda Planning Meeting on 1 July. 

* highways contractor performance including:
        - amount of re-work required.
        - way customer satisfaction is measured.
        - other local authority insurance company checking time periods.
        - comparison of performance and costs between DSD and Amey.
       
* physical environment
        - tree care
        - cycle route strategy/plan

* zero waste strategy
        - learning from best practice local authorities.
        - waste recycling strategy.

* regeneration
        - learning from best practice local authorities.

We want to express our thanks to the residents of Wootton, Stewartby and Kempston Hardwick for re-electing us as their Borough Councillors.

Local residents gave us each our highest ever individual number of votes and the highest ever majorities recorded for Liberal Democrat FOCUS Team candidates in the Ward.

We are humbled at the massive vote of confidence placed in us by local residents and they can rest assured we will do our very best to live up to it.

The work goes on ! 

2009                                         Votes   % 

Beardmore        Lab                   87         4.32% 

The Liberal Democrats’ Manifesto for Bedford Borough has identified ‘Six to Fix’ for Bedford Borough. These are the areas we have identified as being in the most urgent need of action to improve things for local residents. One of these areas is education, where standards are too low. We must raise GCSE results to above the national average. 

Currently, 46% of children in Bedford Borough schools are achieving five A* - C grades (including English and Maths) at GCSE level. This is lower than the national average of 48%, and a shocking 6% lower than average achieved by schools in Bedford Borough’s ‘Comparator Areas,’ which are selected by the government as areas which share a number of characteristics and across which comparisons can be made. These figures are not acceptable. We will raise GCSE results to above the national average as a first, urgent step to improving education performance for children in Bedford Borough. 

Tim Hill and the Liberal Democrats have been successful in demanding that Bedford Borough Council opens up to local residents by allowing Members of the Public to question Councillors at public meetings without providing written notice of the question in the previous week. 

With a new Council, we have an opportunity to open up these dusty corridors to the public once again. Removing the ludicrous notice period required for questions from the public at Council meetings would be a good start. Public participation is clearly discouraged by the requirement for questions to be submitted, in writing, in the week before meetings. The retention of this barrier between the Council and the residents to whom it is accountable suggests either that the Mayor or his Cabinet Members cannot be trusted to give coherent answers or that they might have something to hide. Neither is an acceptable reason for restricting the public’s right to question elected Councillors 

Our amendment was successful at the 8^th April Full Council meeting. It is a great shame that all bar one of the Conservative Group and all of the Independents voted to carry on with the ludicrous notice period. It is about time the Mayor and his Executive started earning their crust by being properly prepared for Council meetings. 

You can just see me at the back of the photo - I’m the tall one

http://www.bedfordlibdems.org.uk/news/000613/julia_goldsworthy_mp_launches_lib_dem_manifesto_for_bedford_borough.html

Just to let you know that I was in Mepham Road the other night talking to several residents about local issues when I noticed a young lad on a small motorbike go up and down the road twice, each time without a helmet on. I couldn’t see a registration plate on it, partly because he must have been going c.40mph each time! 

I am as certain as I can be that he is the same lad I saw PC Evans giving “a good talking to” at the Keeley Lane/Bedford Road junction a couple of days before!  

I have asked PC Evans to give him another “good talking to” before he does himself and passers by any physical damage. 

I will let local residents know PC Evans reply as soon as I can.

Haven’t been able to post a new thread for a while due to pressure of work related to:

a)     New job (I didn’t get the job I was first interviewed for but was referred to another manager by the interviewer for another post and was successful at that interview)

b)     Casework taking priority over new threads in limited spare time left due to a).  We have a new Unitary Council after what seemed like ages. The only difference I’ve noticed so far is that all Councillors and Officers now have a new e-mail address – mine is Tim.Hill@bedford.gov.uk.  

You won’t be surprised to learn that no one has officially told us this! Our Group Researcher noticed it on a new e-mail to him on1st April.

Several local Residents are greatly affected by the current application from G Moores in Manor Road, Kempston Hardwick to the County Council to effectively double the size of their operations. 

I understand from local residents that the application is to increase the yearly tonnage from 75,000 to 150,000 and the daily:

a) Movements (in and out) from 170 to 340.

b) Time limits from 7am-7pm to 7am-11pm. 

I also understand that although the residents consultation deadline is Mon 2 Mar 09, the application decision deadline is not until May. Therefore the final decision will be taken by the new Unitary Planning Authority. I have requested that this application is placed on the agenda of a future relevant Planning Committee of the Unitary Authority.   I have formally objected to this application for the following reasons:

a) Detrimental affect on the amenity, environment and noise levels of local residents due to the increased tonnage, movements and hours.

b) The current permission allows for movements from 7am. Movements are currently taking place from 6am without any enforcement to address this.

c) Detrimental affect of the increased tonnage, movements and hours on the existing road network. The existing road network is not built for extensive heavy lorry use in terms of size, structure and exits.

d) There is also no current footpath in place. The existing road network is an accident waiting to happen. This application will only make things worse.

e) The effect on the amenity of this site on local residents has recently been adversely affected by the removal of a wall from their waste transfer building. This application will only make things worse. 

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Several local residents have been in touch with me to raise their concern about the number of cars who speed along Church Road, Wootton. 

Just to let you know that I am in contact with the Bedfordshire & Luton Casualty Reduction Partnership. I have asked them to investigate to see what can be done to provide a permanent solution to this long-running issue.

I have pointed out that I suspect a number of the speeding cars come from the nearby Wootton Upper School.