My Pledges to You

With the Mayoral election approaching fast on May 5th, I have set out my pledges to local residents, as follows:

I will...

1. Regenerate Bedford town centre - A new riverside development, a revitalised High Street and a redeveloped bus station area

2. Invest in our children and young people - £41m for new school classrooms and facilities

3. Keep your council tax down & protect services - savings in Borough Hall, not out in the community

4. Attract more major businesses to come to our Borough and create jobs

5. Get Bedford moving - deliver the final section of the Western Bypass

6. Resurface more roads and pavements - continuing the fight-back against years of neglect

Even against the backdrop of the current economic climate, the past eighteen months have been marked by a stream of exciting developments for our Borough, with new businesses investing and hundreds of new jobs coming, projects such as River Valley Park and the Rowing and Watersports Lake actually becoming a reality and key infrastructure projects like the dualling of the A421 and the first phase of the Western Bypass being completed. Over the coming four years this must continue, and go further. It is no good to hard pressed local households to say that times are tough, so we are not going to pursue new opportunities and exciting new developments for the Borough. Local residents are ambitious for their Borough. The Council should be too.

Having had the great privilege of being Mayor for the past eighteen months, I have spent a lot of that time getting around the Borough talking to local residents about their hopes and aspirations for their communities and their Borough. They've told me that they want a town centre they can be proud of, one which is a vibrant and attractive shopping and leisure destination; they want schools fit for the 21st Century and capable of delivering a first class education for their children; they want a council which continues to protect services that people rely on, not bureaucracy in Borough Hall; they want employment opportunities for themselves and their families; they want a completed Western Bypass to help sort out congestion in Bedford; and they want the fight-back against the years of neglect of our roads and pavements to continue. The above pledges reflect those hopes and aspirations, and reflect my priorities for Bedford Borough.