Bedford Borough Council's brand-new solar farm has been fully energised and is now exporting low-carbon electricity to the grid. The project is made up of over 8,000 solar panels, is capable of generating up to 4.2MW of electricity and is enough to power approximately 1,000 homes.

Guests from South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (SEMLEP), Bedford Borough Council and Vital Energi gathered to celebrate the event at an official grand opening on 28th July 2022 and the opening was marked by the cutting of a ribbon by Bedford Borough Mayor, Dave Hodgson.

Last Friday was the first day of Keep Britain Tidy's Love Parks Week.

The week is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the fantastic parks and open spaces in Bedford Borough, as well as thanking those who work and volunteer in them.

Over the last year, the Council's Parks & Open Spaces Team had 652 individual volunteers registered, who between them logged a massive 12,746 volunteering hours across 2,935 different organised events. A huge thank you to those that volunteered their time to make our parks what they are.

"Whilst I am writing this article, we are in the middle of the hottest heatwave the country has ever known and at the same time everyone wanting to run the country seems to have forgotten about global warming and the promises made at the Climate Change Conference late last year. We are supposed to bring the burning of fossil fuels down to zero.

Liberal Democrat Views by Mione Goldspink, August, 2022.

There have been two important public Consultations running in East Herts recently, and I do hope that people have managed to take part. The one on the Supplementary Planning Document for the Old River Lane (ORL) site in Bishop's Stortford finished on August 2^nd, and the one on proposed Car Parking charges will end on 5^th August. The draft for the ORL site contains some very important statements and aspirations, and in my official response I have asked that these should definitely be retained. They included that the number of new homes should be "around 100". I will be watching closely to see that the number is not dramatically increased. Homes should be environmentally sustainable and should be sensitive to the general height of existing and adjacent buildings at 3- 4 stories. There should also be some new, high quality public spaces. How wonderful it would be if we could have a proper "Public Square". I will be watching very closely to see if this is provided.

Bedford Borough Liberal Democrats are asking pensioners to check whether they are eligible for Pension Credit so that they don't miss out on around £2,700 extra per year plus access to further passported benefits. If eligible, applying before 24th August will also provide residents with extra cost of living payments of £650 and £300. Latest figures estimate that 123 Bedford Borough residents are not claiming Pension Credit that they are eligible for.

A recent Liberal Democrat survey has found that Bedford Borough residents are facing extreme waiting times for GP appointments, ambulances and at A&E. Of the residents who responded to each question:

• 60% said they were on hold for over 15 minutes when trying to book a GP appointment
• 58% said they waited over a week for a GP appointment
• 41% said they waited over an hour for an ambulance to arrive
• 41% said they wait over 6 hours at A&E

Last Friday was the first day of Keep Britain Tidy's Love Parks Week.

The week is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the fantastic parks and open spaces in Bedford Borough, as well as thanking those who work and volunteer in them.

Over the last year, the Council's Parks & Open Spaces Team had 652 individual volunteers registered, who between them logged a massive 12,746 volunteering hours across 2,935 different organised events. A huge thank you to those that volunteered their time to make our parks what they are.

NHS England are in the process of sending invitations to those patients who are now eligible for their next COVID-19 booster.

The booster will be offered to the following groups:
• Residents in a care home for older adults and staff working in care homes for
older adults
• Frontline health and social care workers
• People aged 50 years and over
• People aged 5 to 49 years in a clinical risk group
• People aged 5 to 49 years who are household contacts of people with
immunosuppression and their households
• People aged 16 to 49 years who are carers.

Music in the Meadows returns next Sunday (7th August) at Mill Meadows Bandstand

Bedford Town Band will play on Sunday 7th August.

May Blossom will play on Sunday 14th August.

Fynnius Fogg will play on Sunday 21st August.

Milton Keynes Brass will play on Sunday 28th August.