I have long campaigned with colleagues for the delivery of an East West Rail line between Bedford and Oxford to the West and Bedford to Cambridge (and beyond) to the East. Re-opening these links to major centres such as Oxford and Cambridge and to main lines to the east and west would provide a tremendous boost for our local economy, helping to attract investment and support jobs and growth. I was therefore delighted last autumn when the Government announced its commitment to deliver the Western section of the East-West Railway, between Bedford and Oxford and Bedford and Aylesbury.
There's always a lot going on in and around Bedford at the weekend, but as Friday night approaches this weekend deserves special attention. Tonight, for example, sees the Bedford Blues take on London Welsh in the First Leg of the Championship Play-Off semi final. The Blues have had another fantastic season, and are set to play in front of a big crowd tonight at Goldington Road. There's always a tremendous, family atmosphere at Goldington Road, and no doubt the Blues will receive passionate, well-deserved backing as they go about trying to establish a lead to take into the second leg. Fingers crossed!
The recent news that we have been successful in securing funding to deliver our plans for an Oyster-style smart card for use on local buses across Bedford Borough is great news for local public transport. As I've said previously, there is still some way to go to plan and agree all of the details. We need to make sure the bus operators are happy with the scheme and fully signed up, or else a number of the benefits of having one, simple card to make getting around the borough easier and better value will be lost. So it's better to make sure we get it right than to rush it and briing in a scheme that doesn't deliver the radical improvement for bus users that we all want to see.
Earlier this week I attended a fantastic event which saw around 600 children from schools across Bedford Borough take part in a once in a lifetime opportunity to run alongside world class Kenyan athletes and a number of inspirational local sportspeople. The children were from schools who had taken part in the Bedford Borough Schools Marathon Club, which comprised a series of runs over a ten week period organised by the Council's Sports Development Team. The one-mile run around Bedford Park on Monday represented the culmination of the 'schools' marathon.' The Kenyan athletes, Philip Langat and Shadrack Kosgei, had taken part in the London Marathon on the previous day, yet despite that and despite having a plane to catch in the evening, they were on great form all day, taking part in run after run with the youngsters and making sure that it would be an occasion for them all to remember for years to come.
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.
Littering on our streets is utterly unacceptable. Words of condemnation are not enough, however, and that is why we are taking real action to crack down on this form of anti-social behaviour which can blight our neighbourhoods. In fact, there have been a few illustrations in the last few weeks of how our 'zero tolerance' approach in this area means that if you litter the streets of Bedford Borough, you should expect to face punishment.
In addition to my monthly 'bookable' surgeries at Borough Hall, the Pints in the Parishes sessions, various street surgeries and other events, I also hold 'walk up' surgery sessions on Saturdays at locations around the Borough. I have now set out a new monthly schedule of these through to the end of August, which you can see below. If you are in the area at the time, or if you happen to find yourself popping into the cake shop in Sharnbrook for a weekend treat, for example, please say hello and talk to me about any issues you would like to discuss.
With progress continuing apace on the £6 million redevelopment of the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery and Bedford Museum, the new name for the revamped facility was announced recently. The Higgins Bedford is confirmed as its new identity, with the annoouncement coming with a year to go until its opening in Spring 2013. I have been lucky enough to look round the site to see how work is progressing, and it's great to see it starting to take shape.
The confirmation from Network Rail that it will replace the riverside path footbridge it removed over the railway line near Prebend Street in Bedford is welcome, especially in light of its initial intention to provide no alternative to the existing underpass, which is prone to flooding and has a notoriously low height clearance of 4 feet 9 inches. The previous footbridge was removed as part of the Bedford element of the important Thameslink Programme improvements to allow for 12-carriage trains, and Network Rail's original approach was to claim that the existing underpass was sufficient for path users and no replacement crossing was required. We objected and after a process of negotiation it accepted our argument that this would represent a loss of a public right of way, and responded with plans to create a new path and underpass with a greater height clearance. Following survey works, Network Rail has now confirmed that they will construct a replacement footbridge instead, with visually striking spiral ramps on either side to ensure accessibility for all in what is a relatively tight space.
In the coming months we will be introducing a 'smart card' ticketing system for the bus network across Bedford Borough. The system will work on a similar basis to the Oyster Card in London, allowing local residents to add credit to their smart card when it suits them, online for example, and simply scan it when they get on a local bus.
