Gritting

As the sub-zero temperatures have now hit us, it is worth being aware of the salting and gritting section on the Central Beds website as it contains some useful links.  Central Beds salt a little under half of the roads within the council's boundaries to try and maintain priority routes.  Additionally, some of the parishes within the Caddington wards make local arrangements to try and also grit other roads off of the priority routes.

There is a full list of salt bin locations on the CBC website; an edited version is given below showing the locations within this ward.

CBC salt bin locations [edited]

Road closures in Caddington

Advance warning of some scheduled works as follows:

• Monday 12 January 2015 - Luton Road will be closed between the two junctions for Hyde Road for carriageway patching.
• Tuesday 13 January 2015 - Little Green Lane will be closed for carriageway patching and work on the gullies.

Slip End Mountain Rescue Team

I am looking forward to tomorrow night's meeting of the Slip End Mountain Rescue Team, where there will be an update on activities during 2014 and also a special report from the European liaison officer, currently visiting from Germany.

I suspect that there may also be a glass raised in memory of founder members and absent friends.

Studham Lower School

It was a pleasure on Friday to accept an invitation to the Christmas Music Concert at Studham Lower School.

The children were all impeccably behaved, sang beautifully and a number of short musical solos were played on a whole selection of different instruments.

The children and teachers are a credit to this popular little school, which was recently rated as "Outstanding" by OFSTED.

Local press

Some clippings from today's Luton On Sunday:

Luton On Sunday 07-Dec-14

It is difficult to know how to react to a rise in burglaries in town in the context of what happens in rural areas.  On one hand, it would seem to demonstrate that the uncomfortably high crime figures in the villages are not an isolated problem.  Against that, the usual concern that the large town will suck in resources at the expense of rural policing raises its head once again.

LoS 07-Dec-14

Add to this overall picture separate incidents involving stabbing and shooting in the last week alone, you begin to wonder if burglary is to be relegated to a non-investigated crime recorded for statistics only as the force is committed to dealing with violent crime and threats to life.

Locally, initiatives like Neighbourhood Watch are championed and can certainly be an effective tool but the underlying worry is that the under-funded Bedfordshire force is not viable in its current format; it seems that particular concern is not going away. 

Luton On Sunday 07-Dec-14

November crime figures

Summarized figures from Bedfordshire Police

The Slip End figures do not record the illegal encampent at Timberlands as a crime, it has been recorded seperately as an anti-social behaviour incident.

The domestic burglary figures continue to be a cause for concern, with 3 in Slip End, 3 more across Kensworth and Studham and another 6 in Caddington.

The following comment is quoted from the accompanying notes to the Caddington figures, but is relevant across the whole ward:

"These domestic burglaries all tended to be committed by gaining accesses via side and rear accesses, the main target of items stolen being jewellery/watches and cash.

Bedfordshire police are committed to seeing a reduction in this crime in the village and county wide. Patrols are being stepped up and covert operations set in place; especially as burglary activity tend to increase during the months leading up to and after Christmas. We are actively trying to inform/advise the community on home security/ preventative measures and also to contact the police should they see any suspicious persons or activity taking place. "

Christmas bin collections

Collections in the week before Christmas will be earlier than the usual schedule; collections following Christmas will be later.

 

The Central Beds website includes a section on waste collection, available from this link.

Caddington footpath no.17

The permission for temporary closure of this footpath has been extended for a further six months whilst the works continue in reshaping Caddington Golf Club.

Further details are available on the CBC website.

Further debate on green belt protection vs urban expansion

CBC resurfacing programme for November 2014

Sites in Slip End (as per earlier blog piece), Hyde and Caddington are scheduled for various works this month.

October crime figures

Summarized figures from Bedfordshire Police

One of the two burglaries in Hyde concerned dog kennels being broken into; gun dogs had been stolen, one of which has been recovered and with a named offender.

Studham had only one recorded crime during October, plus two incidences of anti-social behaviour.

Kensworth continues to see persistent problems with issues like vehicle crime and criminal damage and Caddington's problems with domestic burglary remain.

Street maintenance, Slip End

Summer Street, Slip End

Summer Street and New Street in Slip End are scheduled for carriageway maintenance works.

The work is planned to take place in two parts.  Removal of the existing surface and application of a new base will take place over a period of up to four days commencing 07 November; the top surface will then be laid and the lining reinstated over two days commencing 24 November.

In each case, works are scheduled between 08:00 and 18:00.  There is also the usual caveat with advance notifications that dates are subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances.

A letter is being distributed to affected residents with the above information and the answers to some frequently asked questions.

Halloween - a message from Bedfordshire Police

Via Ringmaster:

With Halloween just around the corner, Bedfordshire Police has launched a series of posters to remind parents, guardians and youngsters to stay safe during the festivities.

The four posters – which can be downloaded from our website http://ow.ly/Do00Q - offer hints and tips to ‘Trick or Treaters’ as well reminding people that not everyone enjoys Halloween as much as others. There are also posters for shop owners to place in their windows advising that eggs and flour will be sold at their discretion as well as a poster for residents who may not want callers at their door.

Officers have already been to schools around Bedfordshire to hand out posters and it is hoped that the campaign will ensure that all residents enjoy October 31 without causing distress to those who do not want to participate.

During this time of year, the police take many extra complaints about Halloween-related activities. Some of these are about noise or general “high spirits” – but often the fun has degenerated into serious inconvenience and outright criminal activity.

Activities such as throwing eggs, flour and water bombs at other people or their property are, at the least, frightening for those who are subjected to it and at worst can mean the police investigating crimes such as assault.

Coupled with the onset of Bonfire night, Halloween can also mean extra problems with fireworks being thrown or used irresponsibly. It’s worth bearing in mind that letting off fireworks near the road is actually a criminal offence.

To help reduce these types of incidents Bedfordshire Police will have a number of extra patrols in operation across the county to make sure that everyone has a good time whilst staying safe.

For more advice about Halloween please visit http://ow.ly/Do00Q

Witnesses Sought To Fatal Road Traffic Collision

Via Ringmaster:

Roads Policing officers are appealing for witnesses to come forward after a motorcyclist died in a Road Traffic Collision on the B4540 road in Whipsnade yesterday (October 18 2014).

The incident happened at around 5:15pm when the rider of a Honda motorcycle and the driver of a black Skoda Yeti collided.

Emergency Services attended but the rider of the motorcycle, a male in his 20’s, was pronounced dead at the scene.

PC Andy Ralph from the Roads Policing Unit is investigating the incident and would like to hear from anyone who was in the area at the time of the collision and may have seen what happened. If you have any information about this RTC please contact PC Andy Ralph at Bedfordshire Police on 101, quoting ISR 291 18/9/14.

Alternatively you can contact the independent crime fighting charity, Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

Figures not a 'political football'

The following letter has been published in today's Luton On Sunday:

Luton on Sunday 14-Oct-2014

This follows on from the previous piece referred to on this blog, and Cllr Taylor's subsequent 'apology', a statement which looked and sounded very much like it had been written by someone else and he had been ordered to say it.

The "genuine mistake in a live interview" excuse just doesn't hold up when he was given a chance to retract or correct the statement (but chose to stand by it) and he also chose to STILL stand by his original statement when the quote was followed up by print journalists.  As I have said before, this is not really about the busway figures themselves but the worrying arrogance of a stance that it is okay to lie if it gets you what you what.  Even the "apology" would appear to be based on a lie as the "genuine mistake" line is a bit of spin that doesn't stand up to the slightest scrutiny.

Let us also not forget that another member of this merry bunch gave a Parliamentary committee a straight answer ("No") to a straight question about whether their Council had walked away from previous negotiations at an advanced stage and then had to issue a 'clarification' only minutes later.

Financial planning by crystal ball

The fallout continues following a rather incredible radio interview (listen again here) earlier in the week.

This surprising exchange on the BBC was then followed up by the local press, see copies below.

Herald & Post

Luton On Sunday

The point here is not that estimated figures turned out to be wrong given the benefit of hindsight, nor is it about the rights and wrongs of the busway project (which is built and operational; discussion about whether it was a good idea belong in the past).  The worrying issue is the casual attitude towards at least attempting accuracy; the strong implication seems to be that it is perfectly okay to lie if it gets you what you want.

This was not some junior or inexperienced councillor being cornered by a journalist; Dave Taylor has been around in Luton politics a long time and is a senior member (portfolio holder) of the Luton Borough administration.

This was not a panicked answer to a difficult question; Cllr Taylor was taking part in a pre-arranged interview about a subject he is well briefed on.

This was not a misunderstanding or unfortunate misquote being repeated out of context; Iain Lee gave Cllr Taylor every chance to retract or correct the quote but he stood by it, and continued to stand by it when speaking to print journalists later in the week.

Cllr Taylor also referred to the central government funding which has been secured to enable the junction 10a upgrade project.  My understanding is that certain projections around creation of new jobs were made to support this funding bid and that the funding is conditional upon those projections being met; if they are not, then Luton Borough Council could be liable to repay significant amounts of that funding to the government.  I sincerely hope that those targets are hit, because job creation is certainly a good thing, but I hope that the projections are realistic and not embellished; Luton Borough can ill-afford the financial consequences of pushing up the figures here.

There is also the issue of trust in local government, both between the public and those who serve them and also between different local authorities.  When you are dealing with difficult projections and large budgets then the variances will often be significant but to be quite so gung-ho about being wrong by 59% is deeply troubling.

With arguments over assessing housing density, with another senior Councillor recently giving serious misquotes on the BBC and now this, how are we to trust any statistics or other claims coming out of Luton?

There was a lengthy discussion on twitter last night.....

...and this is perhaps one of the best extracts from it.

Luton on Sunday letters page

From today's edition:

Luton On Sunday, 28 September 2014

Junction 10A carriageway closures

Most of the residents of Caddington, Slip End and Hyde will be well aware of the continuing roadworks around the Kidney Wood roundabout.

 There will be overnight carriageway closures on the spur linking the two roundabouts and junction 10 and junction 10A; the eastbound section (leading from the motorway) is scheduled for closure on Monday 29 and Tuesday 30 September and then the westbound section (leading to the motorway) is scheduled for closure on Wednesday 1 and Thursday 2 October.

Closures are between 8PM and 6AM, with diversions via junction 11.

Luton Borough Council have provided a detailed PDF of the overall scheme, available here.

An invitation to meet the Mayor

I have received an invitation to a small business launch event next month being hosted at Harpers in Pepperstock.  The new Harper's function room is a fine choice and I am delighted to see them doing so well in their new home.

What is slightly troubling is that the invite also encourages my attendance on the grounds that The Mayor will be present.  And Pepperstock in Central Bedfordshire does not have a mayor.

You would presume that a Mayor from a neighbouring authority might have the courtesy to inform local councillors if they were co-hosting this type of event in the ward, but I guess it is easy to presume too much these days.

Salvation Army band coming to All Saints, Caddington

The Salvation Army band are due to play at All Saints Church, Caddington, on Saturday 27 September 2014.

 

Tickets are £5 on the door (including a drink and a cake) for a late summer concert of popular music.

Local press coverage of Woodside incident

2014-09-21 Luton On Sunday

Inspector Hitch addresses Caddington & Slip End

Caddington Sports & Social Club was full this morning as plenty of villagers from Slip End, Caddington and surrounding hamlets came to listen to local policing Inspector Jim Hitch.

This meeting was arranged at very short notice following the recent events in Woodside and public concerns as to what had (and had not) happened.  There was no formal agenda, but Inspector Hitch spoke for 10-15 minutes and then took questions from the public.

To recap, last Sunday (September 14) a member of the public saw two men in a field in Woodside; this was away from the public footpath and not somewhere people are normally seen and so their presence, coupled with their apparent use of some sort of monocular or range finding device, appeared suspicious.  The member of the public approached the men and challenged them; they ran away without responding.  The incident was reported to the Police by calling 101.

The Police referred the report to an appropriate senior officer who, against the background of the heightened alert against potential terrorist threats nationally, decided that the incident merited further investigation.  The local policing team secured the site and a specialist counter-terrorism team covering the eastern region of England and supported by SO15 (Scotland Yard counter-terrorism) took charge of the investigation, which is ongoing.  Other than a piece of paper recovered by the member of the public who made the original report, no further evidence was found.

Inspector Hitch confirmed that, contrary to some rumours which have been circulating, the piece of paper did NOT contain instructions on targeting planes or details of an attack.  The unidentified men's presence in the field and their activities could have been innocent (plane spotting or bird spotting) but, as they did not remain in the area to speak to Police, nothing can be absolutely confirmed or ruled out.  The specialist team continue to investigate and have also spoken to local residents who wished to report other incidents they have been concerned about in the past.

The general message from the Police is that there is no particular reason to feel unsafe or under threat but if you do see anything that you consider unusual or causes concern then please do ring 101 or 999.

Update: a resident has forwarded me a copy of their much more detailed notes which they were happy to share with the wider community - available here.

Caddington meeting with Police next Saturday

From Tony Hansen, Chair of Caddington Parish Council:

The Parish Council and Cllr Richard Stay have arranged a public meeting with the local Policing Inspector to hear of any concerns you may have, following the incident in Woodside last Sunday.

The venue is the Caddington Sports and Social Club at 10am THIS Saturday.  We do not have time to leaflet the village so please share this post with as many people you can and tell your neigbours and friends.

 

Whether you can attend the meeting or not, the Police would like to remind everyone to be vigilant at all times and if you do see something not right then ring 101 or 999 depending on how suspicious you feel it is.

Temporary closure of footpath A16, Caddington

Below is a copy of the formal notice from Central Bedfordshire Council:

ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 - SECTION 14(1)

CENTRAL BEDFORDSHIRE COUNCIL

(CADDINGTON: FOOTPATH NO A16)

(TEMPORARY PROHIBITION OF THROUGH TRAFFIC) ORDER 2014

Notice is hereby given that Central Bedfordshire Council intend not less than seven days from the date of this Notice to make an Order the effect of which will be to prohibit any person proceeding on foot along the length of Footpath No A16, Caddington which extends from Mancroft Road at Ordnance Survey Grid Reference (OS GR) TL 0613 1891 (Map point A) south west for approximately 270 metres to OS GR TL 0594 1871 (Map point B).

This temporary closure is required to enable excavation works for the installation of a cable for the new solar farm. The closure is expected to take place from 29 September 2014 until 3 October 2014.

There is no alternative route for footpath users while the closure is in operation.

Further details, including a map, can also be found on the Council’s website.

The proposed Order will come into operation on 29 September 2014 for a period not exceeding 6 months or until the works which it is proposed to carry out on or near to the Footpath have been completed, whichever is the earlier.

For further information please contact Michelle Flynn, Tel: 0300 300 6072, michelle.flynn@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk

DATED 11 September 2014

Priory House, Monks Walk
Chicksands, Shefford                                                      DAVID LEVERINGTON

Beds  SG17 5TQ                                                             Rights of Way Team Leader

 You can also see a map of the affected area by clicking here.

Residents Tracker September 2014

From 8th to 30th September, 1200 residents from across Central Bedfordshire will be asked their views on the services that the Council provides.

The information gathered contribute to the public engagement on the budget and council tax setting process for 2015/16.

An external company called Public Perspectives will be carrying out the telephone surveys on behalf of the Council; more details on the budget and wider telephone survey can be found on the CBC website.

Additional return journey on route 62 bus service

Please see below the text from a notification received back in July; the additional journey enters the timetable in a few weeks time.

"Earlier this year, South Beds Dial a Ride started operating new route 62 linking Pepperstock with Caddington and Dunstable, as a part replacement for 202.

Following discussions with the operator, with effect from 22 September an additional return journey will be provided Tuesdays to Fridays from Caddington to Pepperstock. This will allow an hours shopping/ visit to doctor in Caddington. This was requested by local residents.  There is no additional cost to CBC for this journey.

Modifications to the route within Dunstable town centre area also being made to accommodate requests from users."

Summary of August 2014 reported crime figures

Looking for Bedfordshire D-Day Veterans: Can you help?

HM Lord-Lieutenant of Bedfordshire, Helen Nellis, would like to trace all D-Day Veterans living in Bedfordshire following the announcement by the French Government in July that every surviving British Veteran who fought to liberate France would receive the Chevalier de L’Ordre National de la Legion d’Honneur award.

The Government of France has told the UK Ministry of Defence that it wishes to recognise the selfless acts of heroism and determination displayed by all surviving veterans of the Normandy landings, and of the wider campaigns to liberate France in 1944, by awarding them with the Legion d’Honneur.

This recognition extends beyond the troops who actually landed on and fought their way up the beaches 70 years ago, and will include Royal Navy and Royal Air Force personnel who operated in support of the landings.

Requests for the award should be made using the application form that is available online at or from the Lord-Lieutenant’s Office on 0300 300 6131 or 0300 300 6090. After downloading the form you can either email it to the Ministry of Defence or print it and post it to: Personnel and Training – Defence Services Secretary – Commemorations, Floor 6 Zone C, Ministry of Defence, Main Building, LONDON SW1A 2HB.

The French government will be reviewing the applications, so the MOD is unable to give any guidance on timings or the arrangements for the presentation of the awards. Awards will not be given posthumously.

Kensworth Parish designated as a Neighbourhood Planning Area

Kensworth parish

Kensworth held a public meeting in late 2013 to investigate whether preparing a Neighbourhood Plan was the right way forward for the parish.  Having received a positive response and then moving forward to form an appropriate steering group, progress is slowly but surely being made and the official designation of the Neighbourhood Planning Area was made last week.

The area is the same as the civil parish - click here to link to a better quality pdf of the area covered.

Luton Airport scores badly in customer satisfaction survey

I see from a story reported today on luton-dunstable.co.uk that London Luton Airport has been rated the worst in the United Kingdom for customer satisfaction in a Which? survey.

The story also refers to expected improvements following the planned £100M redevelopment program; I know that many local people have employment either at or connected to the airport and hope that they also benefit from an improved working enviroment.

It was, of course, a great shame that Luton Borough Council declined the opportunity to address the problem of night flights and noise when permission was granted for the redevelopment.  Many Central Bedfordshire residents suffer from this disturbance which is simply not permitted at most other major UK airports.

Luton Borough Council received £11M in dividend income from the airport according to the draft statement of accounts for 2013-2014.

Community public access defibrillators

Following on from discussions earlier in the year, a number of towns and parishes expressed an interest in the community public access defibrillator scheme proposed by Central Bedfordshire in conjunction with Bedfordshire Fire & Rescue Service.

A total of 34 different sites are due to receive units before the end of December 2014, one of which will be the village hall in Slip End.

Solar farm proposals in East Hyde

I have been sent an invitation by Lightsource Renewable Energy Ltd concerning proposals to site a solar farm on land north of Chiltern Green Road in East Hyde.

Deatils of the proposal can be found by following this link and there is to be an information evening tomorrow, Monday 18th August.  It is at East Hyde Village Hall (on the Lower Harpenden Road) between 5:30pm and 8:00pm and is open to all.

Successful prosecution over fly-tip in Slip End

Fly-tipping is an unsightly nuisance and costly for the council to clear away.  It never ceases to amaze me that people think that can hand over a few notes and expect their waste to be dealt with properly by a man in a van who only deals in cash.  Sometimes, there are items left amongst the rubbish that enables the council to trace it back to its original source and, when that happens, a prosecution is pursued.

Details of a recent successful action against a Luton shopkeeper whose rubbish got dumped in Slip End are reported here.

Velocity patching programme

The velocity patching vehicle is due in this area towards the end of August to carry out pothole/patching repairs.  Details of the machine and process are available here.

The roads scheduled are as follows:

East Hyde	Thrales End Road/Lane
	Farrs Lane
	Copt Hall Road
	West Hyde Road
Kensworth	Isle of Wight Lane
	Land Park Lane
	Common Road
	Ridgeway/Plewes Close/Russell Close
	Spratts Lane
	Beech Road
	Hollicks Lane
Studham	Church Road
	Common Road
	Dunstable Road
	Byslips Road
	Buckwood Lane
Caddington	Culworth Close
	Collings Well Close

CBC Chairman's charity

Caroline Maudlin is supporting the Alzheimer's Society as her chosen charity for 2014/2015.

Sunday 24 August - spoilt for choice

There are a number of events being publicised which will take place two weeks from today, on the Sunday immediately before the summer bank holiday.

Caddington once again has its Party On The Green.

This event started in 2012 when Caddington, like so many other places across the country, got together to celebrate the Queen's jubilee.  The party was such a success that it was repeated (without the royal tie-in) in 2013 and looks set to become an annual event.

The gathering runs between 12 noon and 8PM on Caddington Village Green; bring your own food & drink or purchase from the pubs and stalls, and join in the fun.


Secondly, the Red Lion pub in Studham is hoping to repeat the success of their previous live music mini-festival and raise some funds for charity (CLIC Sargent for children with cancer) at the same time.

The Red Lion sits in the village centre of Studham; if the weather is kind then it is a great base from which to enjoy a walk around Studham Common and, whatever the weather, it's also well worth visiting for a drink and perhaps something to eat.

You could also send the kids off to look for the Little Blue Man.


Finally, this is also that date for the annual public opening of Vauxhall's Heritage Centre just off Park Street in Luton.  For anyone who has not been down there before, it is well worth an hour or so of your time; they have a lovingly preserved range of vehicles dating from 1903 up to the present day.  More details are contained in this article taken from the Luton On Sunday.

Individual electoral registration

The system for registering to vote has been changed; you may well receive a letter during the next month.  The core point is that registrations are now made one person at a time rather than the previous system whereby one 'head of household' potentially registered multiple different electors.

More information is available on the Central Bedfordshire website, or you can access a frequently asked questions sheet here.