News

Dave Hodgson with Pothole Hit Squad Sign

Pothole Hit Squad Update: Over 1,200 potholes filled since January

The Pothole Hit Squads we launched in January have now surged past the 1,000 potholes repaired mark, with over 1,200 repairs undertaken. The teams not only do a high quality job, with repairs which last, but also allow us to get much more maintenance work done for local taxpayers' money thanks to the new, more efficient method of working. The hit squads, of which there are now four, have a 'hot box' on the back of their vehicle, meaning that they have a ready supply of hot tar with them while they mobile and out on the road. It means that the tar is at the ideal temperature when they actually carry out the works, and does not cool down on route from the depot, as was prone to happen in the past. It also means that the teams do not have to keep returning to the depot to pick up hot tar, and can stay out on the roads responding to calls swiftly and getting more potholes filled than ever before. The teams are also now working on Saturdays, spending more hours out on the roads and pavements carrying out vital rep

22 Apr 2011
View

Central Beds Must Rethink and Say No to Stewartby Incinerator after Covanta Shortlisting

Many local residents will have been shocked by the story in last week's Times an d Citizen, which revealed that the Conservatives in charge of Central Bedfordshire Council have shortlisted US waste giant Covanta's bid for a mammoth 600,000-tonne capacity incinerator near Stewartby amongst their potential long-term waste partners. There are 6 firms on their shortlist, which will be reduced further in the next few weeks. The Tories' move is the latest in a long campaign by the party in support of an incinerator at Rookery Pit near Stewartby. First, the former Conservative County Council pursued plans for its own incinerator there, and then Conservatives in Buckinghamshire previously selected Covanta's project as the preferred option for Bucks waste. Now Central Beds Conservatives could be about to give the biggest boost they possibly could to the appalling prospect of the incinerator being built. I am calling on the Conservatives to listen to the broad-based campaign of local residents, which even the local Con

21 Apr 2011
View
Dave Hodgson with Town Bridge behind

On the Board of the New South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership

I was pleased to be appointed recently to the board of the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP). This is the new body set up to drive inward investment, innovation, economic growth, new enterprise and job creation across the region. I will be one of six local authority representatives on a board of no more than fourteen, also featuring members from business and higher education from across the South East Midlands area. I look forward to working at the heart of the new partnership on areas such as bidding for funds from the £1 billion Regional Growth Fund and in driving forward major infrastructure projects such as East-West Rail.

13 Apr 2011
View
Dave Hodgson with Town Bridge behind

My Pledges to You

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

11 Apr 2011
View
Dave Hodgson with Town Bridge behind

Coming Soon to Bedford: Electric Car Plug-In Charging Posts

In addition to our efforts over recent weeks to protect rural bus routes and prevent the cuts of neighbouring Conservative-run councils from damaging cross-boundary services, we have been working hard on another significant feature of our ongoing campaign to support sustainable transport in Bedford Borough, with exciting results. We have helped to lead a successful bid which is bringing in nearly £3 million to the Eastern region for electric car charging points. We will therefore shortly be installing four charging posts as part of a first wave of eight posts, with two plug-in points on each, in public places around Bedford. Even better, we have agreement that the electricity for these will be provided free of charge by renewable energy providers Ecotricity. So, as electric cars become more widely available over the coming months and years, local residents will be well placed to take advantage of the electric car revolution.

6 Apr 2011
View

This website uses cookies

Like most websites, this site uses cookies. Some are required to make it work, while others are used for statistical or marketing purposes. If you choose not to allow cookies some features may not be available, such as content from other websites. Please read our Cookie Policy for more information.

Essential cookies enable basic functions and are necessary for the website to function properly.
Statistics cookies collect information anonymously. This information helps us to understand how our visitors use our website.
Marketing cookies are used by third parties or publishers to display personalized advertisements. They do this by tracking visitors across websites.