Liberal Democrat Councilor Surgeries

with Charles and Wendy

Brickhill Drive Shops Saturday 31 January 10.00am

Avon Drive Shops Saturday 14 February 10.00am 

Brickhill Drive Shops Saturday 28 February 10.00am

Avon Drive Shops Saturday 14 March 10.00am 

Brickhill Drive Shops Saturday 28 March 10.00am

Avon Drive Shops Saturday 11 April 10.00am

Brickhill Drive Shops Saturday 25 April10.00am

Avon Drive Shops  Saturday 9 May 10.00am

 

 You can also speak with us or another Lib Dem Councillor every Saturday morning 10.00am - 11.00 am at Bedford Central Library

Campaign Success

Sale of Land on Ashmead Road Cancelled

Thank to the 574 residents who signed our petition to stop the sale of land off Ashmead Road. Charles Royden presented the petition to Full Council on 14 January and spoke about the importance of protecting this newly planted community green space. His motion to stop the sale of the land was supported by councillors and it was carried unanimously by councillors of all parties. Crucially it was also supported by the Mayor himself who originally made the decision with his Executive to sell the land in the first place!. The Mayor has the final decision on whether this land will be sold and so we welcome his change of mind following the outrage with which it was met in Brickhill. This is an amazing campaign success and gives us hope that we can protect this land for our community for years to come.

Download our January Newsletter Here

Gritting Campaign Success 

Plans were made by the Mayor and his Conservative led Executive to remove 141 roads from the winter road gritting schedule. Liberal Democrat Councillors successfully campaigned to have these routes reinstated. However we have since spotted that some roads previously threatened with being cut from gritting routes had been missed, despite the cut being previously rejected. Examples included Arundel Drive in Putnoe, Lovell Road in Kingsbrook, and the Black Tom area of Bedford. Following demands from the Liberal Democrats these routes will now be properly treated. Cllr Henry Vann said, 'We have now had to step in twice to save these roads from being axed from vital gritting routes. It was obvious at the start of this week that roads that should have been gritted were being missed right across Bedford Borough and we challenged this straight away. 

We are very grateful for the hard work of the gritting crews at anti-social hours and to officers who quickly responded to our concerns. However, residents have been let down by the routes being wrongly changed and many roads being excluded. The root of this problem was the original plan from the Conservatives to cut the 141 roads and then the bodged reinstatement of the previous routes.

Blink and it Broke

The new surface on Avon Drive has potholes already. Samples have been taken of the existing material for analysis to determine the failure of the new resurfacing.  Residents have told us they are shocked by the rapid deterioration of the new resurfacing. Charles and Wendy reported this to the council soon after the work took place and Charles said ‘this is the worst resurfacing I have seen and I was portfolio holder for roads for 14 years’.   It should be said that in this case the council is not to blame and we know that they are as dismayed as we are. Clearly poor material has been supplied and possibly the entire surface will have to be done again by the contractor.  We will of course ensure that the council has this put right at no expense to our taxpayers.

Car Crime in Brickhill 

There is a crime wave with thefts from vehicles in a wide area stretching from Windrush Avenue across to Tyne Crescent, including Torridge Rise, Wansbeck Road, Hawk Drive. We have asked the police and Borough Council for support in catching the offenders with increased police attention and CCTV. Please do all you can to protect your vehicle by ensuring that it is locked and all valuables are removed. 

Orange bin glass recycling starts this week 

This is just a reminder that you can now put glass bottles and jars (any colour or size) into your orange recycling bin. This is all part of the new government Simpler Recycling Policy which requires councils to collect glass, metal, plastic, paper and food waste from homes. The government has provided Bedford Borough Council with extra funding to pay for the cost of vehicles and extra collection. 

Under the new rules the council must also start collecting food waste early next year and we will keep you posted on when this will happen. We’ve put a link at the end of this email to the Council website where you can find more details.

This is just for glass bottles and jars. Other glass items like drinking glasses, vases, Pyrex and windows are NOT included.

Find out more about glass recycling:  www.bedford.gov.uk/mybins

Another Vanity Project is a Bridge Too Far

 Liberal Democrat’s were appalled at the decision by Mayor Wootton and his executive to spend millions of pounds raising a river bridge in Kempston to enable bigger boats to go further up the river. This was agreed by the Mayor and his Executive on 19 November 2025. At a time when the council has been made bankrupt this proposal is beyond contempt. The following evening Charles attended the council Environment Committee and pointed out to Executive members that the £4 million pounds to be spent on Kempston Mill Bridges was more than the council would spend on roads and pavements for a whole year. Thankfully following our opposition this outrageous decision has now been cancelled. You can read the Mayor’s original decision on the agenda papers at 12:5 here in full:

Kempston Mill Bridges – (Gross £4.000 million, Net £0.000 million) – This scheme is for the replacement and improvement of Kempston Mill Bridge. The replacement will include lifting the structure to ensure that the waterway underneath can be used in the future as a navigational route by larger watercraft.  (Extract from Executive Agenda 12 (5)  19 November 2025)

No More Bricks in Brickhill

Liberal Democrats are calling on Mayor Tom Wootton and his Conservative administration to cancel plans to sell land off Ashmead Road known as Jackman's Farm in a multi million pound betrayal of our community. Cllr Charles Royden said ‘It is a scandal to sell our green open space to pay off the council debts caused by the Mayor’s waste and vanity projects. Please sign our petition to help us fight this terrible attack on our countryside'.

Please click on this  link to sign the petition

Together we can send a strong message that our community is opposed to this attack on our green open space in Brickhill.

The decision was made at a meeting of the Executive of Mayor Tom Wootton on 29 September 2025. Under item 6 (d)

Authorise the marketing of land and property assets identified as surplus, detailed at Appendix G, acknowledging that 

the final disposal terms will be reported back to Executive for approval.

Jackmans Farm is itemised  on page 6 (38) of  Apprendix G

Click on this this link

To download a map of the areas off Ashmead Road

which are being sold off. 

The image is supplied by Ordnance Survey election map service. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 (c) Crown copyright and database right 2023

Interpretation Board  Woodlands Park  

Following a request from a resident in Woodlands Park, Charles and Wendy have funded a new Interpretaton board for the country park. Now that the design has been agreed we hope that this will be installed soon.  

Avon Drive Road works scaled back

We have received the very disappointing news that the  council are scaling back the proposed works on Avon Drive. The stretch of Avon Drive between Torridge Rise and Tyne Crescent will no longer be included in the scheme. This road has never received any resurfacing and is in a poor condition. 

Charles and Wendy campaigned for resurfacing after the growing number of potholes on Avon Drive.

Stop the Green Bin Tax

The Mayor is now in a ‘dash for cash’ to pay for his spending spree over the last two years and we are doing all we can to protect the frontline services which are so essential. In response to Liberal Democrat campaigning the Conservative Mayor has agreed that if a majority of people are against his proposed charges for green waste collections, then he will not impose them. We have seen promises broken before and the Mayor’s manifesto promise of 4 hours free parking has already been ditched. A charge for green waste is a thinly disguised stealth tax for residents. It comes on top of increases in charges for car-parking and record council tax rises over the last two years. The financial burden for residents from this administration continues to grow and puts increasing pressure on household budgets that are already squeezed. You can help stop the Mayor introducing a Green Bin Charge by signing Cllr Henry Vann’s petition    

Say No to Green Bin Charges Petition

Help us keep in touch 

Please sign up for our emails and we will keep you updated with local information.

We won’t bombard you and you can  unsubscribe at any time

Sign up here      www.bedfordlibdems.org.uk/sign-up

Download our newsheet for November here

Download our newsheet for October here

Download our newsheet for September here

Download our newsheet for July Click here

Download our newsheet for June 2025  Click Here

Download the latest bus timetables for Brickhill Click here 

How to make reports to Bedford Borough Council

We are often asked how residents can make reports to the council about things like flytipping, potholes or missed bin collections.

We have provided a page with some of the most frequently need contacts. 

Click here for contacts to report to Bedford Borough Council 

Campaign Priorities  

Fighting Back  Liberal Democrats have had some success already this year in stopping cuts to our services.

· We stopped proposals to close multi-storey car parks from 10.00pm—6.00am

· We stopped cuts to tree maintenance

· We stopped cuts to winter gritting of roads

· We stopped cuts in grass cutting

· We stopped cuts to street cleansing

For the last two years our warnings to the Mayor about overspending on his vanity projects have been ignored. We are currently spending £450,000 a year to maintain the Debenhams building which has no external tenants. The council is now bankrupt and the Mayor will need to go ‘cap in hand’ to the government for a bailout. We are worried that as well as the 'fire sale' of our green fields there will be more cuts. Already we have seen future proposals including

· Increased parking charges

· Increased council tax

· Cuts to libraries

· Cuts to grass cutting and maintenance

· Removal of public toilets

Most people are extremely pleased at the prospect of the opportunities which Universal will bring to Bedford. Mayor Dave Hodgson met with them some years ago and encouraged them to consider Bedford as the location for their investment. We met with Universal recently and one of the things which came out of the discussion was the employment opportunities. There will be as many as 28,000 jobs and 80% will be filled locally. You can register your interest here now for jobs already with Universal online. 

Brickhill Roads and pavements

Need Investment - Now 

Last year, not a single road in Brickhill was resurfaced. Apart from resurfacing on Avon Drive from the roundabout, yet again not a single residential road will be resurfaced during 2025/2026.

This brings to an end years of investment and resurfacing by Liberal Democrats. It leaves residents in roads such as Moriston Road, Humber Avenue, Ryton Close and Rhineland Way with no hope for the foreseeable future. Not a single pavement will be resurfaced in Brickhill in the coming year and only eight will be resurfaced in the entire Borough. We will continue to campaign for adequate funding to match the urgent needs of our road and pavement network.   

Veteran Neil Kinselly has called for more investement

in our worn out pavements

The conservatives have botched up the bus provision for Brickhill again. Having already lost one Grant Palmer Bus to Woodlands Park they have now made last minute changes to the contracts which has meant Grant Palmer will not longer be operating at all. Stagecaoch are supposed to take up the routes instead and we have a copy of the new timetable which you can see by clicking here. We have suffered the decline in the number 6 bus serving Brickhill which was once every 12 minutes but now only once every 20 minutes and 30 minutes on a Saturday. We have also lost a service to Woodlands Park altogether. We are concerned that the Conservative Mayor and the Conservative and Labour councillors that supported his budget are not doing enough to protect vital bus services for residents. They voted against ensuring expanded bus provision but millions are being spent on vanity projects. 

Keeping Brickhill Tidy

We are grateful to volunteers who help with things like litter picking in Brickhill. Please let us know if you would like to help and we will get equipment for you.

We have asked the council to attend to street and pavement sweeping in Brickhill as many areas have still not had any sweeping of the leaves cleared from Autumn.

 

Brickhill Flooding

Flooding is now a frequent problem for many roads in Brickhill and we received requests from residents for advice. The Borough Council has extensive information on its website which advises residents of what to do and who to contact if they are concerned about flooding. Please visit   

https://www.bedford.gov.uk/environmental-issues/emergencies/emergency-flooding

Exceptional rainfall has meant that areas previously unaffected have seen surface water issues. The map provides details of long term flood risk and it can accessed on the government website. 

https://www.gov.uk/check-long-term-flood-risk 

Check out the national Flood Map

BPHA Brickhill Flat Refurbishment

In January of last year, bpha received planning approval to refurbish the five high-rise blocks in Brickhill, these being Frampton, Upton, Evesham, Leighton, and Westbury Court on Avon Drive/Severn Way. Residents have already received copies of drawings and confirmation of the scope of works which we hope will start soon. We look forward to these major improvements.

Stop Telecare Charges

Thank you to all of those residents who supported our campaign to stop the telecare charges which had been proposed by the Mayor and his Executive. The proposal would have seen residents charged for their emergency personal alarm systems. The Mayor and his conservative executive had planned to charge over 2,000 vulnerable residents over £200 a year for the vital emergency helpline telecare service. Up to now it has been free for everyone to help support people to stay safe at home.

Telecare is a service that helps support people to live independently. Offering service users and their carers access to emergency help, should they need it, 24 hours a day. It is a vital service provided for some of the most vulnerable in our community. Lib Dems stopped the decision and raised a petition which received public support and sent a message to Mayor Wootton that this is not acceptable.

Sign up Here  

Avon Drive Roundabout Planting

Thank you to those residents who have been in touch to say how much they have appreciated the planting on the roundabout.

We have allocated ward funding for additional summer planting and we think it is money well spent in Brickhill. 

Anti Social Behaviour

• Please continue to make us aware of any issues. We are always grateful to receive reports from residents and we will always respond to your concerns. If you are worried just call us and we will come and visit you. Our contact details are shown below, you can email, telephone or speak to us directly at our surgeries. You can also use the contact form on our website www.puttingbrickhillfirst.com. We always respond quickly - so phone us if there is any delay when using emails as they can go astray!
• Please will you also report incidents directly to the police. It is vital that these reports are made by you directly as this is the way to get the police to allocate resources. Residents have complained to us about long wait times when calling 101. We would recommend using the online reporting link below

https://www.beds.police.uk/ro/report/asb/asb-v3/report-antisocial-behaviour/

When reporting dates, times and descriptions of vehicle/persons are most helpful as the police are often unable to attend the location immediately but can take action against the registered owners of the vehicles. Thank you for your assistance and please be assured that we will work with you and we will not allow our neighbourhood to become a place where this behaviour is tolerated. You are not alone and when we have become involved in other roads we have always manged to work with residents to bring problems to an end. 

Parking Problems

Bedford Borough Council will issue fines (penalty charge notice or PCNs) for the following types of illegal parking:

• parking on yellow lines
• not displaying a valid parking ticket
• parking on pavements or verges where a restriction is in place
• parking across driveways

They will not get involved with neighbourly disputes or inconsiderate parking. If you think a vehicle is abandoned, please report it here. 

To report an illegally parked vehicle, please contact the Enforcement Team on enforcement.team@bedford.gov.uk or 01234 718359. Or text only enforcement requests to 07553895403. An enforcement officer will respond to your request as soon as possible, but they may not be able to do so immediately if they are patrolling elsewhere in the Borough. Please note you won't get a reply about the outcome of an enforcement officer visit.

Pavement Repairs

Brickhill pavements are badly in need of resurfacing and repair. We have received some alarming photographs of injuries caused requiring hospital treatment. Please support us in or campaign and report any bad areas like this one in Tyne Crescent. Please report online as this adds weight to our campaign.

Click here to report pavement repairs to

Bedford Borough Council online

Adoption of Roads on Woodlands Park

Charles and Wendy are working with council officers to bring forward the adoption of roads in Woodlands Park from the developers. This is important in order to ensure that proper maintenance is taken over by the council. Click on the map opposite to download. If you would like an update on your road contact us direct using the contact form at the bottom of this page. Some roads are now just awaiting legal process others require additional works.  

Trees

Due to council cuts there will be no tree planting after this current season. If you know of any locations where trees are needed please do let us know.

If you have suffered damage from a council tree then you can request compensation. There is no information on this on the council website which we find quite odd, but you can outline your complaint in an email to InsuranceandRiskSection@bedford.gov.uk

Let us know if you have a problem! 

Council Meetings

If you have an opportunity to watch the meetings of the full council you can do so

online Home - Bedford Borough Council streaming (public-i.tv) 

Sadly the council is now led entirely by a Conservative Mayor and Conservative Executive,

with all other parties excluded and it is something of a shambles, which we fear will only get worse.