A further multi-million pound cash boost for communities will help tackle the blight of empty properties and bring thousands of homes back into use, Communities Minister Andrew Stunell announced today.
So, the Jubilee weekend is upon us, and what a fantstic weekend of events and celebrations there are in store for communities right across the Borough. Personally, my Jubilee weekend kicked off yesterday afternoon at Roxton V.A. Lower School, which had been kind enough to invite me along to the children's own Jubilee Street Party. It was great fun, and the children really enjoyed a party which they had helped put together. People all over the Borough are of course helping to put together their own local street parties and other celebrations right across the weekend. We also have a range of events across the whole jubilee weekend at Russell Park in Bedford, with the International Kite Festival today and tomorrow, then a Battle of the Bands competition on Monday and an 'It's a Knockout' competition on Tuesday. There will be food and amusements all weekend, and all alongside the beautiful embankment. The town centre is looking great, with bunting out and many shops having gone all out with the jubilee decoration
On Monday I attended the first part of the Sport Bedford network meeting at Bedford International Athletics Stadium. The event was essentially a relaunch of Sport Bedford, which will now be focused towards ensuring a strong, open network of local clubs and be really responsive to the needs of local sports clubs in Bedford Borough. It will have a smaller executive, which will be focused on delivering a small set of priorities identified by sports clubs themselves. This is a really positive development for local sports clubs, who rely almost exclusively on the hard work and commitment of volunteers who love their sport and go out of their way to give others the opportunity to enjoy them too.
Pints in the Parishes night has come around once again, and I'm looking forward to going to The Royal Oak in Roxton this evening. If you are local or happen to be in the area, why not pop along to talk about any issues affecting you or your community, or indeed anything at all you want to talk about? These evenings provide an opportunity to raise anything with me directly, in the informal surroundings of one of the wealth of excellent village pubs in the Borough.
There was good news for Bedford on Saturday, when our Town Centre was picked as one of the twelve 'Portas Pilots' following on from Mary Portas's review of the British High Street. I wrote on here recently of the innovation and drive, such as that of our wide range of independent traders and the volunteer group We Are Bedford, which is helping Bedford to fight back against the prevailing trends facing Britain's town centres. This passion for making our town more vibrant and attractive clearly shone through in the application, and gives Bedford the chance to build on the partnership work going on already and to harness the enthusiasm and creativity which is in abundance locally.
Battery recycling from the kerbside is now available to all households, with the final addresses in the 'roll out' having had their battery recycling bag delivered recently. Residents can simply fill their battery bag with used batteries, seal it and leave it on top of the black refuse bin or sacks on the normal day of collection. Battery bags will then be collected and replaced by the collection crews. I'm really pleased that this is now available to all, as I know from talking to residents that people want to recycle more and will take opportunities given to them to do so. That's why we're working to make it as easy as possible to recycle.
