Thursday, 30 December 2010

Who's locking up then??

On Christmas Eve, Central Bedfordshire finally posted on their web site, the opening and closing times over Christmas and the New Year. It included in the announcement that Biggleswade Customer Service Centre will close at 2.30pm on New Years Eve.

Biggleswade Town Council who posted their opening and closing times well before Christmas Eve, will be closing at 12.00 noon on New Years Eve.

I wonder what happened on Christmas Eve as Biggleswade Town Council was due to close at 12.00 noon and the CBC Biggleswade CSC was due to close at 2.30pm??

You would have thought that they could have co-ordinated the times.

Friday, 24 December 2010

Biggleswade Health Centre - Agenda with Planning Officers recommendation for refusal

This is now available at:

http://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/modgov/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=3357&T=10

The report starts at page 235 of the Agenda and goes onto page 306, as it includes the report to the meeting of 21st July 2009.

The letters from the Doctors Surgeries, which in the revised application it was inferred supported the application, are at pages 303 to 306. These are dated September and October 2009 and just support the principal of a new Health Centre, not the application as such. Neither the NHS Primary Care Trust or the Surgeries have responded to the latest consultation.

Wednesday, 22 December 2010

Biggleswade Health Centre - Planning Application recommended for refusal

The outline planning application CB/10/00518 is due to go back to the Development Management Committee on 5th January 2011, with a recommendation for refusal.

It was first heard at the meeting held on 21st July 2010 and deferred for three cycles (months) until the October meeting.  Biggleswade Town Council were to provide Archaeological and  Biodiversity reports by 1st September 2010. No information was produced until late October, too late for the November and December meetings. 
   
When the Planning Officers report is published with the Agenda you should be able to view it at :

http://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/modgov/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=631&MId=3332

Biggleswade Ward Briefing & Profile 2010

The CBC Customer Insight Team produce briefing pages to provide Members (Councillors) with corporate intelligence on their wards. The briefing compliments the *Central Bedfordshire Key Facts and Figures

The documents can be found on the CBC web site.

The Biggleswade Ward Briefing can be found at:


The Biggleswade Ward Profile can be found at:

Biggleswade Town Council Offices - vacation of Customer Service Centre by CBC

As part of a much larger project called Total Place, it will involve bringing together the Central Bedfordshire CSC, currently at the Old Court House, together with other community facilities, which could include Citizens Advice and  the Job Centre.

There was a "Final" report in February 2010 to the Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government.


The proposals for Biggleswade  are on page 88.

"For Biggleswade it is proposed that the CSC is initially replaced with a Customer Access Point in the Library until the Community Hub location is developed as part of the town centre regeneration plans."

Whether the report produced in July 2010 complements or replaces the February 2010 report I am not sure.

Link  to July 2010 report:


Gritting of Roads

You would expect the relevant information to be published on the CBC web site, so you go to:

http://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/advice-and-benefits/winter-weather/roads-gritting.aspx

Then you find that although the page is headed 2010 / 2011 the leaflet and map are both for 2009/2010.

It is not easy to identify the roads from the thick red lines on the map, but it appears that these are the gritted roads as of 2009/2010 :

A6001 from Langford / Hitchin Street to Teal Road / Teal Road / St Andrews Street / Shortmead Street / Hill Lane.
Saxon Drive from London Road  / Dunton Lane out through Dunton
London Road / High Street to Shortmead Street
Sun Street / St Johns Street / Potton Road / B1040 to Potton.
_____________________

Whilst looking for something else on the CBC web site the other day, I came across a document that does not appear to have a link from a CBC web page.

I don't know the status of this document which is entitled, Bedfordshire Highways, Winter Service Policy & Operational Plan, 2010 - 2011. The list of roads starts at page 23 and goes onto page 35 but some of the other pages also make interesting reading.

The link is: 

http://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/images/BedfordshireHighwaysWinterServicePolicyAndOperationalPlan2010-2011_tcm5-34686.pdf

Monday, 20 December 2010

CBC Office Opening hours revealed

I have just been advised that:
 
"The Council offices will be closing at 2.30pm on Christmas Eve and on New Year's Eve.  We will also be closed on the public/bank holidays.  Normal opening hours will be maintained at all other times, although adverse weather conditions could affect staffing levels if the weather deteriorates."
 
I have yet to see this information published on the CBC web site.
 
According to my calculations that is:
 
Friday 24th December - closing at 14.30pm
Monday 27th December - Bank Holiday - closed
Tuesday 28th December - Bank Holiday - closed
Wednesday 29th December - 08.30 to 17.00
Thursday 30th December - 08.30 to 17.00
Friday 31st December - closing at 14.30pm
Monday 3rd January 2011 - Public Holiday - closed
 
From then on normal opening hours, which in case you did not know are:
 
Monday - Thursday: 0830 - 1700
Friday: 0830 - 1600
 
 

Safer Routes to Schools - Biggleswade Chamber of Trade press release

I would just like to bring your attention to the press release issued by Biggleswade Chamber of Trade on the 6th December:

http://www.biggleswadebiz.co.uk/chamber/baulk.pdf

Central Bedfordshire Offices - opening times over the Christmas period ??

Wanting to know when the offices at Priory House, would be open to the public, over the Christmas period, my first port of call was the CBC web site. Having finally unearthed the page on opening times, it just showed the standard opening times nothing different for the Christmas period. I searched through Council News and News and Information releases, but nothing.
 ____________________

 On 13th December, I sent an email to CBC Customer Services:

"Can you tell me when your offices at Priory House will be open over the Christmas period please?"

I received the usual acknowledgement, which includes:

"....In the meantime, should you wish to contact us by telephone, our number is 0300 300 8000 and our lines are open between 08:30 - 17:30 Monday to Thursday and 08:30 - 16:30 on Fridays.  Alternatively, you may wish to visit our website www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk or visit our Customer Service Centres.....We hope you find this information useful."
 ____________________

On the 14th December I received a reply:

"Thank you for your email.

We are just waiting for our opening/closing times to be confirmed.

Once we receive official notification of these times I will gladly email you the details.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused."
____________________

Having checked the website agian and not having received a reply, on 20th December (today), I sent another email to CBC Customer Services:

"Surely you must know by now when your offices are going to be open to the public.

Can you tell me please ??"

The usual standard acknowledgement, which includes:

 "....In the meantime, should you wish to contact us by telephone, our number is 0300 300 8000 and our lines are open between 08:30 - 17:30 Monday to Thursday and 08:30 - 16:30 on Fridays.  Alternatively, you may wish to visit our website www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk or visit our Customer Service Centres.....We hope you find this information useful."

____________________

I am awaiting a response.
 ____________________

Saturday, 18 December 2010

Central Bedfordshire Council - Senior Salaries 2010

Corporate Management Team Salaries

Richard Carr, Chief Executive - £185,000 to £189,999.
Edwina Grant, Director of Children's Services - £140,000 to £144,999
Julie Ogley, Director of Social Care, Health & Housing - £140,000 to £144,999
Richard Ellis, Director of Customer & Shared Services - £125,000 to £129,999
Gary Alderson, Director of Sustainable Communities - £125,000 - £129,999

This is from the CBC web site, under Transparency, Spending & Council Departments, which is under Council & Democracy. The quick link which gives the detail and job descriptions is:

 http://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/Council_departments/transparency/default.aspx

Assistant Director Salaries

Social Care, Health and Housing Directorate
Edward Thompson  AD Adult Social Care  £85,000 - £89,999
Anthony Keaveney  AD Housing Services  £80,000 - £84,999 
Children's Services Directorate
Sylvia Gibson   AD Learning & Strategic Commissioning  **Information redacted 
Mark Wheeler  AD Children's Services Operations  **Carlisle Managed Solutions
Sustainable Communities Directorate
Alan Fleming  BEaR Project Director  £90,000 - £94,999
Elizabeth Wade  AD Economic Growth & Regeneration  £80,000 - £84,999
Jane Moakes  AD Community Safety & Public Protection,
  Waste & Leisure
  £75,000 - £79,999
Basil Jackson  AD Highways & Transportation  £75,000 - £79,999
Trevor Saunders  AD Planning  £70,000 - £74,999
Customer and Shared Services Directorate
Matt Bowmer   AD Finance & S151 Officer  £90,000 - £94,999 
Clive Jones   AD Customers & Systems  £80,000 - £84,999 
Gordon McFarlane   AD People  £80,000 - £84,999 
John Atkinson   Monitoring Officer  £60,000 - £64,999 
Ian Brown   AD Assets  **Veredus 
Office of the Chief Executive
Ian Porter   AD Strategy & Performance  £80,000 - £84,999
Georgina Stanton  AD Communications  £60,000 - £64,999


** Three of these Assistant Director posts are currently covered by interim consultants and are not directly employed by Central Bedfordshire Council.

This is from the CBC web site, under Transparency, Spending & Council Departments, which is under Council & Democracy. The quick link is:

http://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/Council_departments/transparency/assistant-director-salaries.aspx

Friday, 17 December 2010

Sub-letting part of 4 Saffron Road, Biggleswade

This looked like a fairly innocuous title on the agenda, under “Items for Consideration” for the Planning Meeting of Biggleswade Town Council, that was held on the 9th November 2010.

That is until you realise this is the Biggleswade Town Council Offices, The Old Court House.

___________________________________________

The minute of the meeting is:

“Members discussed proposals to sub-let part of 4 Saffron Road on or after 22nd March 2011.

It was RESOLVED that Town Council staff move to the front of the building and to sub-let the rear possibly to a Charity and to rent part of the car park.”

___________________________________________

The question now is, what happens to the CBC “Point or Presence”.

If you know the answer, can you let the rest of us know?

 ____________________________________________

There is a CBC document, named “Remodelling of Customer Services” dated 13th July 2010, which was presented to the Executive.


This talks about “Community Hubs” and says:

Initially, we will develop business cases with the Department of Work and Pensions for the co-location of the existing Job Centres with our Customer Service Centres at Biggleswade, Dunstable, and Leighton Buzzard.”

There was a press release (14th July 2010) if you knew the significance of what it meant:

e-Petitions – an update

There are two articles, concerning e-petitions, in the Biggleswade Chronicle today (17th December 2010).
  
1.Save the Music Service – Apparently this petition was closed five days early, (10th December instead of 15th), by CBC because it had been considered at the Executive Council Meeting of 7th December 2010. This petition received 669 signatures, many more than the 100 needed for it to be considered at Council.

The CBC constitution says:

“When an e-petition has closed for signature, it will be submitted to the next available meeting of the Executive or relevant committee of the Council having regard to the subject matter concerned. The Monitoring Officer will send a written acknowledgement of the petition as provided in paragraph 3. If the petition organiser wishes to present the e-petition to the Council, they shall notify the Monitoring Officer within 10 working days of receipt of the acknowledgement.”

This is paragraph 3 mentioned above:

“The Monitoring Officer will send a written acknowledgment to the petition organiser within 3 clear working days of the date of receipt. The acknowledgement will give information about what the Council proposes to do in response to the petition, including the date and time at which the petition will be considered by the Council, Executive or relevant committee and will advise the petitioners of their rights to speak under the provisions of this procedure.”

Was the written acknowledgement sent, was the petition organiser; given the ten days to decide if they wanted to present the petition to the Council; told the date and time the petition would be considered by the Council?

2.  Petition for continuity of service at Sandy Leisure Centre - this petition runs from 8th December 2010 to 19th January 2011, but CBC will be considering the proposals for Sandy Sports Centre at the Executive meeting on January 11th 2011.

According to the CBC web site, the end date for the following e-petitions, also with over 100 signatures,  was 10th December 2010, and they were considered at the 7th December 2010 Executive Meeting :

  1. Proposed cut of Mobile Library Service.
  2. Stop cuts to the Sensory Impairment Provision for Deaf and Visually    Impaired Children.
  3. Stop the closure of Houghton Regis Leisure Centre.

Tuesday, 14 December 2010

e-Petition - Road works at The Baulk/London Road & Safer Routes to School

We the undersigned petition the council to Withdraw Plan "London Road, Biggleswade, 20mph zone extents" and the three associated public notices as shown on the CBC web site under this subject heading. Engage in full and proper consultation concerning the principles and detailed implementation with all interested stakeholders with a complete and coherent plan Safer Routes to School and for the implementation of the roundabout proposal for this junction.


If you agree with this statement and want to sign the petition, then go to :



Central Bedfordshire Council – e-Petitions

An e-petition is just a petition that collects signatures online. This allows petitions and supporting information to be made available to a much wider audience than a traditional paper based petition.

According to the Central Bedfordshire web site at :


“Anyone who lives, works or studies in Central Bedfordshire can submit or sign an  e-petition . 100 signatures are required for an  e-petition  to be submitted to the next stage.

If you create an e-petition you will be required to provide the Council with your contact details. We may ask the relevant service team to respond to you on the issue you raise.

If you sign an  e-petition  on this website, you will be requried to give basic personal information to verify that the signature is genuine. Your name (but no other details) will be published on the  e-petition  website.

The email address is personal to one person, ie you, and can be used once to sign. No other person can use this email address to sign, even if they share it with you.”

Within the CBC Constitution (Part 4, Annex 2) is the full procedure:


The Petitions scheme starts on page 8. The relevant section on e-petitions says:

E Petitions (with effect from October 2010)

4.1 Members of the public may also submit e-petitions through the Council’s website.

4.2 The petition organiser shall provide their name, postal address and email address and indicate for how long the petition should be open to signature.

4.3 E-petitions shall also comply with the provisions of paragraphs 1.2.2 –1.2.3 and 1.3 above.

4.4 The Monitoring Officer shall be authorised to determine whether to host an e-petition and may reject any petition which he/she deems inappropriate. The decision on whether to host an e-petition will be made within 5 working days of submission of the original petition.

4.5 If the Monitoring Officer determines not to host an e-petition, he/she will notify the petition organiser within 3 clear working days of such decision. The petition organiser may, within 10 clear working days, change and resubmit the petition. In the event the petition organizer does not do this, a summary of the petition and the reason why it has not been accepted will be published under the “rejected petitions”
section of the Council’s website.

4.6 Members of the public signing an e-petition will be required to provide their name, postcode and a valid email address. On submission of this information , an email will be sent to the email address provided with a link to confirm the email address is valid. Upon completion of this step, the signature will be added to the petition.

4.7 When an e-petition has closed for signature, it will be submitted to the next available meeting of the Executive or relevant committee of the Council having regard to the subject matter concerned. The Monitoring Officer will send a written acknowledgement of the petition as provided in paragraph 3. If the petition organiser wishes to present the e-petition to the Council, they shall notify the Monitoring Officer within 10 working days of receipt of the acknowledgement.”


Recent and current e-petitions:

Proposed cut of Mobile Library Service
Save the Music Service
Stop the Closure of Houghton Regis Leisure Centre
Stop Cuts to The Sensory Impairment Provision for Deaf and Visually Impaired Children
Save LuDun Industries
Save Silsoe Disability / Horticultural Centre
Petition for continuity of service at Sandy Leisure Centre

Monday, 13 December 2010

The saga of the lights at Kitelands Recreation Ground, Biggleswade

I make no apology for the length of this blog. At the end of it I trust you will be as frustrated as I am in getting Biggleswade Town Council to sort this out.


Planning Application MB/01/00869, which submitted by the then Bedfordshire County Council on behalf of Biggleswade Town Council, was approved in December 2001. It included the construction of a footway / cycleway and associated lighting.

At the time there was concern about the amenity of neighbouring properties.

“There have been a large number of objections from people who back onto this recreation ground. Many of the objections relate to the provision of the lighting. Some people have claimed that the lighting will attract youths to congregate in the area after dark. The Architectural Liaison Officer from Bedfordshire Police has stated that lighting routes is advisable from a community safety perspective, although if there is a concern about youths gathering then the lights should be extinguished at an appropriate time.

The lighting is required for school children coming and going to school during the winter, on the basis that some children may be in school, after normal hours, for outside activities and clubs. The proposed lighting will be fitted with timers which can be set to switch on and off at certain times. In order that the lighting is only switched on when required by school children, a condition will be attached restricting the times during which the lights may be on. This will ensure that there will be no light pollution from the columns closest to residential properties during the late evening and night time hours.,”

One of the conditions of the approval was:

“The lighting hereby permitted shall at no time be switched on between the hours of 8.00 pm to 7.00 am”


In May 2010 one of my neighbours, mentioned that for some time they had been trying to get the Council to do something about the light that was at the end of their garden, as it was on all night.

At that time I was not aware of the condition that applied to the timing of the lighting. After some research I asked Central Bedfordshire Council (CBC), Planning if the condition had been changed. In June 2010 I received a response from Planning Enforcement:

“The condition has not been changed.  The 6m lighting columns are supposed to be on a timer switch so it may be that there is a problem with the timer unit.  I will look into it as the condition needs to be complied with.”

I passed this information onto the Town Clerk of Biggleswade Town Council and on 26th June he told me:

“I am aware of the situation with the lights; I have spoken to the planning people and also the lighting people. I am hopeful that the lights will be rectified any day.”

On the 1st July Planning Enforcement informed me:

“Following your earlier email regarding the lights, I have contacted the Town Council who have assured me that they will get the timing switches repaired.”

On the 7th July I advised Planning Enforcement:

 The lights were still on after 8pm Tuesday night 6th July until first light on Wednesday morning 7th July, today.”

On the 14th July I wrote to them again:

“The lights are still on all night.”

On Thursday 15th July, Planning Enforcement advised me:

“I have been assured that the lights will be disconnected tomorrow. 

Please can you confirm to me on Monday that the lights are no longer illuminated.”

The lights were switched off on Friday 15th July 2010.


29th September 2010, here we go again.

Email to Planning Enforcement:

“Since the lights went off in July they have not come back on again even when it was dark within the permitted times.

Yesterday there were two chaps in high vis clothes and hard white hats over Kitelands looking at the lights. They appeared to be Highways people from Amey.

Last night the lights came on when it was dark and stayed on all night.

I would appreciate if you could get the situation regularised again.”

7th October a response:

“Regarding the lights at Kitelands recreation ground, I have reported this matter to the Town Council, tel no. 01767 313134, who will get the lights changed back to the permitted times. They were not aware that the times had changed, they know that this matter is urgent, but please let me know, or contact the Town Council direct, if the lights remain on at night.”

I responded the same day:

The times were part of planning consent MB/01/00869 (19th December 2001), which was a planning application made on behalf of Biggleswade Town Council.

They are fully aware of the times and have been the same since the permission was granted to them. In June / July, after three weeks of trying to get them to rectify the situation, they just turned them off. Now they have just turned them back on again.

On Sunday 10th October I sent this email to Planning Enforcement:

“Because the lights are back on all night, every night,  this weekend the drinkers returned. They sit under the lights drinking and shouting until the early hours.

The cans and rubbish and broken glass they leave behind is usually cleared up by dog walkers and parents / grandparents as it has been this morning. This problem is regularly reported to Biggleswade Town Council who say they will inform the Police. 

When the Planning Permission was granted, the Police asked for restrictions on the times the lights were in use.

I would be grateful if you could get this resolved quickly.”

On 11th October Planning Enforcement responded:

“I have again contacted the Town Council and forwarded your e-mail (but not your contact details and name). The Town Clerk is to contact Amey again to get this matter sorted out. They have been reminded of the hours permitted by the planning permission.”

On the 13th October, Planning Enforcement forwarded me an email from the Town Clerk of Biggleswade Town Council:

I have spoken with Andy Clark at Amey and asked that the lights at Kitelands are turned off.

It would appear that the time clock is not functioning and no replacement can be obtained.

Amey are currently looking at other ways, too include costs in which the lights can be timed and until a solution can be found the lights will remain off.

Please find the telephone number of Andy Clark should you require confirmation of their actions.

On the 18th & 21st October I informed Planning Enforcement that the light were still on all night.

The lights did not come on, on the night of Friday 22nd  October.



On the 16th November I received an email from Planning Enforcement:

Following your recent correspondence to us regarding the lights I have forwarded you an email I have received from the Town Council.  The email explains that the lights will be on for a 24 hr period as new timers are to be installed so please be aware this will happen sometime this week.  Hopefully the situation will finally be rectified.

Town Council email –

In relation to the problems that we have been encountering with the lights at Kitelands in relation to timers etc, I can advise that new timers are being installed on all lights at some point this week.

The chips that operate the timers when installed will take one full 24hr cycle to establish when dusk and daylight fall and will then set themselves to go off pm and come back on am. During the initial 24hr cycle the lights will remain on for the 24hrs so please accept this as advanced notice.

I am hopeful that after the initial 24hrs the lights will function as they should.

19th November, email to Planning Enforcement:

Hello Sam it's me again !!

Amey were working on the lights at Tuesday lunchtime.

Tuesday night into Wednesday morning the lights were on all of the time, as expected.

Wednesday and Thursday nights all of the lights came on at approximately 1615.

Three of the lights, (Mead End entrance, School Gates and by the Play Equipment), on both nights,  went off between 23.15 and 23.30. The fourth light goes off at thirty minutes past midnight. All of the lights are back on again at approximately 5.15 in the morning and go off when it gets light.

As you, I and Biggleswade Town Council (BTC) know the planning permission says:

The lighting hereby permitted shall at no time be switched on between the hours of 8.00 pm to 7.00 am.

I wish you luck in trying to get BTC to comply.

28th November, another email to Planning Enforcement :

Can you give me an update please as the lights are still on at the same times as per my email of over a week ago.

30th November, email from Planning Enforcement:

I have contacted the Town Council yet again about the timing of the lights and asked that someone check them.  There is obviously a problem with the timers again.

3rd December 2010, email to Planning Enforcement:

It was on 18th June 2010 that you confirmed to me that the lights were in breach of the planning permission and on 30th June I exchanged emails with BTC Town Clerk who said he was aware of the situation. Eventually on 15th July 2010 the lights were completely turned off.

On 29th September 2010 the lights were turned back on again without any changes to the timing, so they were on all night. In your absence on 7th October the BTC Town Clerk said he was unaware the timings had changed and would deal with the matter urgently. It was not until 22nd October that the lights were turned off again.

On the 16th November 2010 the lights were turned on again, apparently with new timers, and now  three go off at approximately 11.30pm and the other at half past midnight and all come back on at approximately 5am and all go off when it gets light.

Quite frankly I think BTC are just thumbing their nose at you. Would you accept this sort of messing about from anyone else who was in breach of Planning Permission. I would have thought by now some sort of legal enforcement would have been threatened.

6th December, email from Planning Enforcement:

“The Town Council have been given 7 days (from today) to rectify the situation otherwise we will be serving a Breach of Condition Notice formerly requiring them to comply with the condition.”

11th December, email to Planning Enforcement:

On Friday morning, 10th December the Amey men were back.

It appears that they have switched the lights off again, as they did not come on Friday night, Saturday morning or Saturday night.

How long do you give it before they are turned back on?

Don't close your file.

Sunday, 12 December 2010

Central Bedfordshire Council - Members Expenses and Employee Remuneration

Central Bedfordshire Council Statement of Accounts - 2009 / 2010
 

This is the link to the 89 page document:


Members Expenses

 

Page 39 - During 2009/10, the Council paid £1,408,000 in members’ allowances. We have 66 District Councillors, so by my reckoning that’s an average of over  £21,000 each.

Employee Remuneration


Pages 40/41 - Remuneration includes bonuses; expenses and allowances; compensation for loss of office; any other emoluments and employer’s pension contribution.

Director of Sustainable Communities – Gary Alderson - £152,306

Director of Customer and Shares Services - Richard Ellis - £153,478

Director Of Children, Families & Learning – Edwina Grant - £195,927

Director of Social Care, Health & Housing - Julie Ogley - £176,011

Chief Executive – Richard Carr - £98,815 (started October 2009, salary £185.000 excluding employers pension contribution.)

Interim Chief Executive - Jaki Salisbury - £368,788 (includes £285,000 compensation for loss of office)

Senior Officers –
AD Financial Services - S151 Officer - £106,485
Head Of Legal Services - Monitoring Officer - £74,929

Remuneration Band                    Number of Employees

£50,000 to £54,999                                  89
£55,000 to £59,999                                  57
£60,000 to £64,999                                  38
£65,000 to £69,999                                    2
£70,000 to £74,999                                   11
£75,000 to £79,999                                    7
£80,000 to £84,999                                    5
£85,000 to £89,999                                    9
£90,000 to £94,999                                    3       
£95,000 to £99,999                                     2
£110,000 to £114,999                                 1
£120,000 to £124,999                                 1
£125,000 to £129,999                                 2
£140,000 to £144,999                                 1

 
Bedfordshire Pension Fund

The Council paid £22.765m to Bedfordshire Pension Fund in respect of employer’s contributions during 2009/10 and £768,000 in respect of early retirements.
Teachers’ Pension Scheme

In 2009/10, the Council paid £8.9m to the TPA in respect of teachers’ pension costs.

Safer Routes to Schools – Part Three – emails from “BiggleswadeUpstart”.

These were sent to various recipients at Central Bedfordshire Council:

8th December 2010

"Having been to the exhibition in the library today I have to say that I was impressed with the concept and the officer responsible for the proposal is very receptive to constructive observation; unlike the nonsense that we see in a related letter in the last issue of the Chronicle on the subject from one of your fellow councillors.

The officer concerned is well aware that this is just part of the problem but it is coherent with the junction proposal.

It is nonsense to believe that an extension of the 20mph limit will reduce the town centre flow; it cannot.  With the town centre at 20 the proposal will serve to slow the approaching traffic and so minimize bunching; as we see on the M25 with the congestion speed limits - just a different scale but same concept. In any case, there will be a need to slow down for the approach to the Baulk roundabout so it is sensible that the speed reduction is imposed by physical means as the existing town centre 20 limit would be ignored when there is a clear road if it was not for the raised speed pads.

Of course this idea was being formulated before the councillors at CBC decided to do away with 'lollipop ladies' so this measure will go part way to mitigate that decision.  It does nothing for the potentially lethal situation at the location of other crossing patrols; I am thinking especially those serving Edward Peake across Potton Road near the school (one that my 11 year-old grandson will have to negotiate and gives me grave concern in part due to the high speed that so many idiots insist on driving at along there) and the other is across Drove Road where the footpath links the east/west route. 

We should be lobbying hard to see these essential services retained; they are NOT a luxury.  If just one child is injured as a result of there being no crossing then I sincerely hope that the Chairman of the committee who made the decision to dispense with their services ends up in court.

Neither is there any form of crossing to serve Shortmead Street east/west at its northern end near the exit from St Andrews school; but that is not the fault of the designer of this proposal.   What we are lacking is a 'whole town' plan for school safety that provides the solutions for all the problems; they don't have to be implemented simultaneously so long as a timetable is given.


I shall be supporting this proposal and I would hope that all those who do respond to the on-line survey to ensure there is a balanced view.  There are on-line plans apparently and I am just heading off to find them as there are no hand-outs in the library." 
 8th December 2010

It was good to talk to you in Biggleswade library today.

The only relevant drawing seemingly available through the Central Beds web site in connection with the above is:
101129 - London Road, Biggleswade, 20mph zone extents_tcm5-34824.pdf
(what terrible forming of a file name with spaces in it instead of underscores!)
I am looking at http://tinyurl.com/257kg7z

Please ensure that ALL the pertinent drawings are added into the on-line consultation process to ensure that everyone has the opportunity of being equally appraised of the situation.

I have received some information that has perhaps been withheld from the public consultation, perhaps I simply missed it. I refer to a notion that the carriageway is proposed to be reduced in width by one third on the town side of the London Road/Baulk junction outside the florists.  This is NOT shown on the only drawing available to the public under this heading.  Surely all the junction drawings should be in the same place as one without part of the plan does not work without the other.  I refer to the two projects; the safe route and the roundabout.

 10th December 2010.

Thank you for drawing 400616-TC-001 and the commitment that all the relevant drawings will be placed on the CBC web site.

I have studied this one drawing in detail and what I see horrifies me.  I have no option but to withdraw my support for the proposal that I saw in the library on Wednesday and, therefore, the entire package. It is now clear that this has been bound together as one hence, despite my approval of having a roundabout and reducing the traffic speed prior to it to 20mph there are too many aspects that are unacceptable.

1.  The removal of the straight-line running of what is after all the Great North Road relief route; the only route that Asda lorries are permitted to use to and from the store, the route taken by bus services (and will increase as the eastern development takes place), the route taken by Plasmor and Mountstar trucks plying between the station yard and the A1 south; plus the many other HGVs, is reason enough to reject this design as totally inappropriate.

2.  The removal of the only means of semi-safe crossing from the Stratton House Hotel to the Red Lion side of The Baulk is totally unacceptable.  This should be enhanced, not removed.

3.  The lack of intent to deliver a whole and coherent package of Safer Routes to School is becoming clearer to me and needs to be addressed as a whole and with all the situations taken account of.  If the CBC proposal to remove the 'lollipop ladies' goes ahead there are road crossings that have a much higher priority than for Stratton pupils; I am thinking of Edward Peake.  These are the youngest age group that usually walk on there own to school; from the age of 9 and they cross at two of the most dangerous points in town.  The first is on Potton Road shortly after the theoretical speed reduction from 40 to 30mph; this is a joke in reality and no amount of occasional vehicle-based speed cameras is going to stop it.  The second is on Drove Road where the crossing point is close to a most dangerous bend and where the vast majority of vehicles persistently exceed the speed limit.

4.  I have examined in the closer detail the height of the 'speed bumps'; they are unacceptable for a frequent bus service route; a relief route for the A1; a key route for emergency services and the progress of heavy goods vehicles; especially the unloaded ones heading for Plasmor and Mountstar.

It is essential that you listen to what the people who live in this town know about the way the town works; none of your design based on text-book theory alone will work so long as you people persist in believing you know best; the people of this town are sick and tired of this breed of arrogance.  How many of you who are working on this project, and all the others for the town, live here; none that I have met so far!

I feel I was mislead in the Biggleswade library as these design features were not drawn to my attention; they were simply left for one to identify on a 'wall' of drawings.

This entire communication is my the formal objection to these plans to Transportation Manager, Bedfordshire Highways, Woodlands Annex, Manton Lane, Bedford MK41 7NU.

I look forward to a much higher level of option-based consultation in the future and will be conveying my views to as many people as I can in order that they may have additional information on which to make their own judgement.