The first ever 'Green Borough Fair' was held on Sunday 6th February at St Mark's Church Community Centre in Brickhill. Scores of residents turned up to the event helping to make it's a great success..
Mayor of Bedford Borough, Dave Hodgson, hosted an exclusive breakfast launch for the 2012 Bedford River Festival business community this morning (Tuesday).
You may have read the excellent news that the ever-popular Proms in the Park event is returning to Bedford Park this year. In the last few years it had moved out to Twinwoods in Clapham and, while I am told that the event was enjoyed by all as always, many people have told me how much they miss enjoying the concert in the beautiful surroundings of Bedford Park, not to mention the easier access to central Bedford for the vast majority of concert-goers. We were therefore very keen to strike a deal with the promoters, the Full Effect, and I am very pleased we reached agreement which will see many local residents and visitors come into Bedford over that weekend to enjoy some great music and another exciting event for Bedford.
The rigorous, ongoing process of stripping out waste and finding every possible efficiency saving across all parts of the Council and its activities is certainly a major task. However, I only have to consider for a moment what we have to lose if we don't succeed in continuing to find the vast savings required to remind me how important it is. Once vital services are lost, it is hard to see them coming back. To take just one example of a key service which I am simply not prepared for us to lose in Bedford Borough our libraries, for instance, are fantastic community facilities which must be protected.
Yesterday I hosted a breakfast meeting with thirty seven businesses about River Festival 2012, talking about the potential for the festival to be the biggest and best ever and introducing the firms to the variety of ways in which they can get involved and support the event. Next year's event will be held on the weekend before the Olympics, and we have already set the Council's budget for the event for the coming financial year and the year after, in order to secure its status and enable early preparation for what should be a fantastic occasion. Establishing the budget has also enabled us to secure key infrastructure which will be in high demand for the olympics. For example, there are only so many porta-loos in the country, but don't worry, as we have made sure we won't be caught short!
