Brickhill Liberal Democrats
Welcome to the website of the Brickhill Liberal Democrats. We hope that these pages explain the work which we are doing to help our local community, as well as providing other helpful information. If there is something further which you would like to know, just contact us direct and we will be pleased to help in any way that we can. Contact information is shown below.
Read our April Borough Councillor Report
Welcome to our April 2013 Borough Councillor Report.
Our June Borough Council Update
This is an important opportunity for us to communicate with the parish about things which are happening in Brickhill and across the Borough. We will not produce a full report at every parish council meeting, however a couple of times each year it is important to try and give an overview of the things which we are doing to make Bedford a better place to live and visit. Of course we always dedicate ourselves to Brickhill but it is important that we also work hard to support the Mayor who works tirelessly to make ensure that our Borough achieves growth and prosperity for the benefit of all our residents.
Caught Littering in Avon Drive
Mr Andrew Broom of Grafton Road, Rushden did not appear before Magistrates but did present a guilty plea in writing in relation to a littering offence on Avon Drive, Bedford in September 2012. Taking into consideration his guilty plea, the Magistrates fined Mr Broom £75 and ordered him to pay costs of £160 and a victim surcharge of £15.
Mayor of Bedford Borough, Dave Hodgson, said: “These prosecutions are further evidence that the Council is serious about taking action against those who think it is okay to drop litter. This is a criminal act which makes our Borough untidy and costs taxpayers more than £1million every year.
“Littering is anti-social behaviour and blights the local environment for everyone. We are now prosecuting more offenders than ever before and we will maintain a zero-tolerance approach towards the minority of people who believe it is acceptable to drop litter in the borough.”
Borough Schools get top marks
It is something of a scandal that in a week when the Borough schools have done so well in league tables measuring standards across the country, the press have been silent on the achievements. It seems that so many people have criticised our Borough schools for so long that they simply cannot bring themselves to give credit where it is due. The facts are that our primary school aged children 5-11, have come 11th out of 150 in a national league table by Ofsted. It recognises that 85% of these children will be in good or outstanding schools. Secondary children are not put into the same kind of league table but here 70% of children will be in good or outstanding schools, ahead of the national average at 69%..
So we say well done to teachers, governors, children and familes. You can read a copy of the report here yourself, the league table is on page 31.
Latest News
We are working to introduce a range of measures to make Brickhill roads safer. The 20mph speed limit will soon be introduced on Tyne Crescent and in addition the 20mph signs shown opposite will be installed in Avon Drive, Waveney Avenue and Falcon Avenue. These will advise vehicles of the need to reduce speed at school times to help keep children safe. We know that reducing traffic speeds is vital to make our streets safer. If a child runs out three car lengths ahead and the driver is doing 20mph, they should just be able to stop in time. If they’re doing 30mph, they will barely have time to hit the brakes before hitting the child. We all need to slow down our speeds and this is part of achieving a long-term culture change towards creating safer road environments for all users. These zones, accompanied by new parking restrictions which will soon be implemented outside all Brickhill schools, will help keep our children safe.
Brickhill Buses. Brickhill is well served by buses and we now have 9 services a day from the Number 28 which travels along Larkway and also visits the shops on Avon Drive. Over the next year we will use our ward funding to introduce Real Time information Displays in selected bus stops across Brickhill. These will accurately tell passengers when the next bus will arrive. For
See the Number 28 Timetable
See the Brickhill Public Transport Information Leaflet includes details of other Brickhill buses, including the Nos 6, 7,10 and Tesco Courtesy Bus service.
Crime in Brickhill. We have purchased our own Brickhill wireless CCTV camera from our borough councillor ward funds. This is linked to the Bedford Borough Council control room and provides 24hr surveillance and recording. We deploy this in hot spots in Brickhill to nip crime in the bud and it has recently been moved to provide cover following an incidence of arson. For more information on any of these items, please visit our website www.puttingbrickhillfirst.com. If you have any concerns then please do call us direct using our contact details below, we are always pleased to help. See the latest October 2012 Crime Report for Brickhill
Census
What is Brickhill like ? See the latest ward profile for Brickhill with 2011 census information
Surgery dates
We look forward to meeting with you at our forthnightly surgeries, no need to book just turn up. We will be pleased to help with any matters of concern to you.
- 8 June at Brickhill Drive Shops 10.00am
- 22 June Avon Drive Shops 10.00am
- 6 July at Brickhill Drive Shops 10.00am
- 20 July at Avon Drive Shops 10.00am
- 3 August at Brickhill Drive shops 10.00am
- 17 August at Avon Drive shops 10.00am
Download the 2012 Calendar
Important dates and telelphone numbers for your information. Handy to keep, click here
20mph Zone Coming for Tyne Crescent
The area concerned will include outside St Thomas More School, Tyne Crescent and Wansbeck Road. A map can be viewed here.
View the proposed 20mph speed zone for Brickhill
Pot Hole Hit Squad
The squad is dedicated to ridding Bedford of Pot Holes and they have been working across Brickhill. Read more here If you see a pithole then please call the Pot Hole Hit Squad on 01234 718003
Verge Parking
We have received many requests to prosecute those who park vehicles on verges and pavements. As local councillors we believe that verge parking causes damage to the grass and it also damages cables in the verges, sometimes leading to costly repairs of telephone and fibre optic cables.
We have created a no verge parking zone in roads off Briockhill Drive and we will be consuilting soon to extend this zone around roads such as Pipt Rise, Windrush and Dove Road.
Waveney Green
Brickhill Parish Council has taken a 99 year lease on Waveney Green. This is because we all want to make sure that it stays green and is not used for further development. Call us suspicious, but when dropped kerbs are left at the end of roads leading onto green areas - we think further development is being considered. Look what happend in Westrope Way and Tyne Crescent !We have already seen the green built on in the last 15 years - we don't want any more To read more click here
Call your Liberal Democrat Councillors for help and advice
Borough Councillor Charles Royden The Vicarage, Calder Rise, Brickhill. MK41 7UY
Tel: 01234 309175 Email: charlesroyden@gmail.com
Borough Councillor Wendy Rider 23 Orwell Close, Brickhill. MK41 7BQ Tel: 01234 303254 Email: wendyrider41@gmail.com
Click here for details of all Brickhill Lib Dem Councillors
Making Brickhill’s roads safer
Speeding traffic remains a problem in many parts of Brickhill. Traffic
congestion near schools is a long-running problem. We continue to work
with all the local schools, to make travel to school safer.
The new CCTV enforcement car in Dove Road with Wendy Rider,
Borough Parking Officer, Charles Royden and Mark Fitzpatrick
With Mayor Dave Hodgson, the Borough Council and the Police we have taken
enforcement action against illegal parking outside schools; we found that
the deterrent only works when the Police and parking enforcement staff are
present. A new initiative from the Liberal Democrat-led Borough Council is
the introduction of a special vehicle that will record the number plates
of cars parked illegally, which will result in fines being issued. We hope
this initiative to have a big impact, making it safer for children to get
to and from school.
Again working with Mayor Dave Hodgson, we are also tackling the backlog of
maintenance of our local roads. Where possible we are getting roads
resurfaced. If we can’t get them resurfaced we are aiming to get them
patched to a much better quality than ever before.
We hope the above notes give you some idea of the practical measures we
are taking to make Brickhill safer for all its residents.
Clapham Park Wood
We have asked for work to beging in haste to progress the nature reserve and planting of trees across the North of Brickhill. Plasn ahave been prepared for this work which should be completed as a part of the S106 agreement from planning. You may view copies of the plans here - please note this is a very large file and will take time to download.
Council Tax Bands
Council Tax Re-Banding- Shouldn’t Cost A Penny
We have been made aware of a number of residents being contacted by companies who are offering to look at their Council Tax band for a fee and save them money by lowering the band. A large number of people have been contacted in Brickhill, especially in the Tyne Crescent area. This is a serious concern for us as your local ward Councillors and we would like to let you know that it shouldn’t cost you a penny. The Valuation Office Agency(VOA) set the rates for all properties, valued by the VOA based on their open market value as at 1 April 1991.
The best way to get your Council Tax banding reviewed FOR FREE is to contact the VOA direct. This can be done via their website: www.voa.gov.uk or by telephone on: 0845 602 1507
We are also aware that some residents have been very disappointed after a review has taken place, exercise caution as the tax band can go up as well as down! We would also advise that you should have good reason to give money away to a company that promises something you can get yourself for free.
If you have had any experience on this matter recently then we would be interested to hear from you, please tell us using the contact details below. For more information visit our website www.puttingbrickhillfirst.com.
If you have any questions or concerns about this or any other issue, then please feel free to contact, or speak with us at our regular surgeries
What is that smell?
We have been asked by residents to investigate the smell which is powerfully affecting homes in Brickhill at the moment. We have been working with Borough Council officers and can confirm that it is pig muck spreading, the latest case being on fields north of Milton Ernest. We have been told by residents that it is coming from Biogen and we can confirm that this is not the case. Biogen are regulated by the Environment Agency.
There are issues relating to the spreading of manure like this and the operator has to show that they are conforming to 'Best Practicable Means,' in the code of practice issued by Defra. We are informed that there is no reason to suspect at present that this is not the case. We are continuing to investigate and will keep you posted on progress.
Helpful documents relating to this issue
Read more news about issues affecting Brickhill
If you have any comments please email us
Liberal Democrat Councillor Surgery. Bedford Central Library,
every Saturday, 2pm-3:30pm. All welcome, just turn up.