Following the resignation of HEART Multi Academy Trust (MAT) Chief Executive Clare Smith, Mayor Dave Hodgson has said that the changes at the top of the organisation are indicative of the severe problems both with their now-halted proposals for Cauldwell, Shackleton and Shortstown Primary Schools and with the way HEART sought to impose them.
Bedford Borough Council has announced ambitious plans for another record year of tree planting across the Borough. Last year the council planted over 30,000 trees and this year the target is even bigger with an expectation that over 35,000 trees will be planted.
Today sees the start of Bedfordshire Walking Festival, which runs until 19th September.
New plans are emerging for the future provision of respite care for children with disabilities which involve keeping Foxgloves open. These plans will presented to the Council's Executive on 8th December, with the details to be confirmed nearer the time. These are very exciting developments, however, which could prove to be a fantastic result of genuine, open-minded partnership working between Portfolio Holder for Children's Services Cllr David Sawyer, Council officers and the parents of children who use the respite services offered at Foxgloves.
It is with a mixture of joy and relief that I can report that, as of last night, St Mary's Street is fully reopened ahead of schedule, following the urgent repair works. The works started on 3rd October after a ground radar survey found the road was in serious danger of collapse due to a complete lack of drainage on one side of the road, which was only resurfaced four years ago by the former County Council.
It's Pints in the Parishes night once again tonight. I will be in Great Denham, which is obviously a growing community and one which is not served by a pub. As with all the pints in the parishes sessions, it came about after I wrote out to all rural parish councils about the events and inviting them to nominate a venue in their parish, if they wished. In the case of Great Denham, the Parish Council was kind enough to say that they would like to me to come and hold a session, and it proposed the public bar at The Bedford golf club. 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? I will be in Bar 19 from around 7.30pm.
