Since February 2021, Bedford Borough Council have been delivering high quality regeneration works to Bedford High Street in order to permanently make it one lane only for traffic and create more space for shoppers and pedestrians.
Earlier this week Mayor Dave Hodgson visited the Warm Space at St Mary's in Goldington. You can see a video at https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2156108827908595
A report published this month by Oxford Economics has set out the potential economic benefits of the East West Rail project, not just for areas along the proposed route such as ours but also for the wider economy, and it makes a compelling case.
Following my visit to see survey work underway on site in preparation for construction of the western bypass earlier in the week, this week brings a number of further exciting developments for Bedford. Notable amongst those is the formal approval of the release of land for the exciting redevelopment of the area on the north side of the river in Bedford, from the site of the current Town Hall office block all the way along to, and including, the current Riverside surface car park.
This week I signed the document to confirm the launch of the 'Scores on the Doors' food outlet rating scheme in Bedford Borough. Scores on the Doors is a scheme set up by the Food Standards Agency (FSA), involving the publication of a food hygiene rating for restaurants and other food outlets in a local authority area. All inspection gradings and further information is made available online, allowing restaurant-going local residents to make an informed choice about where to go when eating out.
I was concerned to see the article in last week's Beds on Sunday which suggested that a change to a two-tier schools system across the Borough is being pushed forward by the Council. It is not. When the Building Schools for the Future money was cut, that signalled the end for the Council's previously agreed reorganisation as it was dependent on that funding. I have made very clear since that there are just two exceptions to this: the changes in the case of Woodside Middle School due to the school being placed in special measures; and the new Bedford Academy and its feeder schools, as the Academy wishes to become an 11-19 secondary school and will receive the funds required for this change from government. It is absolutely vital that parents, students, teachers and schools have certainty on the way forward, so I will continue to state as plainly as possible that this is the situation.
