East of England Liberal Democrats

The need for faster, more reliable broadband is a real problem for households and businesses in a number of our communities in Bedford Borough, particularly in many rural areas. That's why we have been working on a project to boost speeds and improve connections, and we've had some great news on this front with confirmation that we've been successful in our bid for Government funding. £440,000 from the Government body BDUK will now join match funding provided locally to help deliver the project. We submitted a bid jointly with Central Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes Council, and have been gathering support for the plan and building the evidence of the significant demand in the Borough for better broadband.

Chelmsford Council has reorganised its rubbish and recycling days to streamline the service.To check which is your new collection day (and to print off a collection calendar for your road if you don't have one) go to http://chelmsford.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=13679

Television celebrity chef, Jamie Oliver's fight to get the government to make sure new academies and free schools don't serve junk food to their pupils has been backed by Cambridge MP Julian Huppert.

Julian raised the issue with Education Minister, Michael Gove after he received a letter from Jamie and an email from a resident both expressing their concerns.

MP Julian Huppert has received assurances from train operator Greater Anglia that £4 million worth of improvement work is planned at Cambridge railway station's booking hall after he received a complaint.

The number of entry gates is to be increased to improve the flow of customers to platforms and the ticket hall will be opened up to create more space for additional ticket machines.

As I've written here before, there is no issue raised with me more frequently by local residents than speeding on local roads. This applies in both urban and rural areas, with speeding being the number one issue raised during my summer 'Village Tours' over the past two summers. That's why we're taking real action to actually bring speed down on local roads, especially residential streets, to make them safer for pedestrians, cyclists, motorists and all road users. First, we carried out a speed limit review, which saw around thirty speed limits reduced on local roads, primarily in rural areas (see this link for more: speed limit review). Now we are introducing new average speed cameras to ensure that effective, targeted enforcement takes place to really make our streets safer for people of all ages.

Cllrs Ross Carter, Philip Mynott and James Sapwell were busy out in Western Avenue, William Hunter Way, Western Road, Mayfield Gardens, Copperfield Gardens, The Vale, Park Road, Greenshaw and Cleves Avenue this weekend, tidying up their ward for the residents.

Next week, they are out again in the Ongar Road/Doddinghurst Road/Sawyers Hall Lane area - join them if you can!

The Safer Chelmsford Partnership is delighted to announce it is one of only ten community safety partnerships nationwide to be successful in obtaining full funding from the government to tackle the harm caused by alcohol misuse in the community.

The partnership will receive £90,000 over a two year period to deliver education, interventions and enforcement in an attempt to reduce alcohol related anti-social behaviour and violence, and reduce the consumption of alcohol by young people to safe levels.

Mayor Dave Hodgson talking about the challenges facing Bedford town centre on his website:

Town Centres across the country are having to battle against a range of prevailing factors such as the economic situation and the rise of out-of-town and internet shopping. Here in Bedford we obviously face these issues just as all other towns do, and there are real challenges for our town centre. However, Bedford Town Centre is showing some real resilience and, while we must all recognise that there is lots to do to support and improve Bedford town centre, we have a number of reasons to be positive about its prospects for the future, as I wrote in my monthly article in the Times and Citizen this month. If you haven't seen it, I have reproduced it here.

The Great Summer in Bedford Borough continues from the 2^nd to the 5^th June with local celebrations to commemorate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

Across the borough families and friends are getting together to commemorate the Jubilee. As part of the celebrations Bedford Borough Council is organising a four day extravaganza focused on Russell Park and the Embankment.