Biggleswade - Numbers Up - vehicle plates crime reduction event

NUMBER PLATE SECURITY EVENT

Your Numbers Up – Don’t Let Thieves Get Away With it

There is a growing crime trend whereby car number plates are being stolen to be used in crime. This may be:

• To evade speeding/parking fines
• To sell a stolen car
• To carry out illegal activities i.e. not paying for petrol and avoiding ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) cameras.

Protect your number plates and come along to one of our number plate securing events. This is a free service to secure your car number plates.

The next one in your area will be held on:

Thursday 6th October

Sainsburys car park, Biggleswade

3:00 - 5:00 p.m.

WHO’S GOT YOUR NUMBER?

For details of any other number plate securing events that we are holding visit our website:

http://www.bedfordshire.police.uk/tackling_crime/protecting_you/reducing_vehicle_crime/operation_caps.aspx

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101 Non-Emergency Number

27th September 2011  All Bedfordshire - Press Release - New 101 number

Bedfordshire Police have launched a new number providing people with a new way to get in touch about non-emergency issues. 101 is now the main number to call Bedfordshire Police when it is less urgent than 999

As well as making the police more accessible to communities, it is intended that 101 will reduce the number of inappropriate 999 calls. There will be a single flat charge of 15p per call, regardless of the duration, time of day, mobile or landline.

You should call 101 to report crime and other concerns that do not require an emergency response. For example:

• Stolen cars
• If you suspect drug dealing/taking
• To give us information about crime in your area
• To speak to your Local Policing Team

In an emergency, always call 999 when you need an immediate response, For example:

• Because a crime is in progress
• Someone suspected of a crime is nearby
• When there is danger to life
• When violence is being used or threatened

101 will not:

• Change the way in which we respond to non emergency calls
• Connect people to a large national call centre
• Result in calls receiving a lower priority than if 999 had been called for a non emergency issue

101 should not be used to report:

• Fly tipping
• Noise pollution
• Stray dogs

These should initially be reported to your local council:

• Central Bedfordshire Council: 0300 300 8000
• Luton Borough Council: 01582 546000
• Bedford Borough Council: 01234 267422

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Be Scam Aware - potential telephone scam - overpaid bank charges

Central Bedfordshire Council’s Trading Standards team is warning residents and small businesses to be aware of a potential telephone scam that claims you are entitled to a refund of over-paid bank charges.

We have had a report from a concerned consumer who has received a suspicious telephone call, whereby the caller claimed to be calling from the "Ministry of Justice" and was using the telephone number "0208 1448934". The caller proceeded to inform the consumer that they were entitled to "a refund of £9640, due to overpaid bank charges". In order for this refund to be processed the caller said the consumer had to purchase a "tax voucher" over the telephone at a cost of "£240". The caller then asked the consumer to provide their bank account details, claiming the "money would be transferred into the account within the next twenty minutes".

Based on the information provided we believe that this call is a scam and we would advise anyone to act with extreme caution when receiving such calls.

Our advice to consumers and small businesses is that the Ministry of Justice would never contact you by telephone and ask for your personal or bank account details. You should never give your details to anybody over the telephone unless you are absolutely certain of their intentions. Never be intimidated into making a quick decision and always take a moment to ask yourself whether the offer sounds genuine. If you show any interest in the offer being made, you may be identified as a possible target for a future scam attempt. If, at any point, you are unsure as to whether the offer being made or the caller is genuine, do not be afraid to hang up the telephone.

If you have any information about suspect rogue traders or would like to report a possible scam please initially contact Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06, in order so that all relevant regulatory authorities can be notified.

In the meantime, please visit our website www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/bescamaware for advice and guidance on how to spot a scam and how to avoid becoming a victim.

Kind regards

Trading Standards

(Community Safety and Public Protection)

Library Car Park Flower Bed

Tuesday 27th September 2011

Email to :

Rob McGregor

Town Clerk

Biggleswade Town Council

I had hoped when I brought the desperate state of the library car park "flower bed" to your attention on 22nd July that your response might have been a positive one. All that seems to have happened is that a few of the  larger weeds have been pulled up.

Can you tell me why this "flower bed" is not planted up and maintained to the same high standard as those outside the Stratton House Hotel? It would be preferable if this "flower bed" was turfed over rather than leaving it in the appalling state that it is.

Regarding the beds fronting the Stratton House Hotel, which are a real picture and a credit to the town. Can I suggest that some sort of plaque  be erected within the flower beds, announcing that these are planted up and maintained by Biggleswade Town Council. Many people think they are looked after by the Stratton House Hotel.

regards

Richard Mason

Parking Bay Sensors - White Hart car park, Biggleswade

I have been asked a number of questions about these sensors, but shown below is all I can tell you. I have no knowledge of how the "information" is collected by "who" or how the "enforcement" is carried out.

This is in the specification supplied by Town & City Parking Ltd to Biggleswade Town Council :

Sensor installation profile.

This section will cover the installation principles of a parking bay sensor installation across all sites.

Parking Bay Sensors

Purpose - Detects vehicles in it's parking area and communicates status wirelessly.

Quantity - One sensor installable per parking area such as a parking bay.

Connects to - A "collector" such as a PC which processes the data sent by the sensor.

Slave Collector

Purpose - Collects information from sensors which are a great distance from the main PC.

Quantity - One Slave per 75 parking bay sensors.

Connects to - A main PC via "a line of sight" wireless connection

Main Collector PC

Purpose - Detects vehicles in it's parking area and communicates status wirelessly.

Quantity - One sensor installable per parking area such as a parking bay.

Connects to - The internet and channels the information to "Smartrep".

Sensor Specification

This section includes drawings details of the sensor, which I cannot reproduce here and basically shows its construction. It is powered by three lithium 3.6v batteries, with an 18 month battery life based on constant usage. Average usage 0.0158W constant based on 16 vehicle movements per day with 10s scan rate.

I am no expert on this but it appears that someone has "cut" "purpose & quantity from parking bay sensor and "pasted" it into Main Collector PC, but I could be wrong.         

Town & City Parking Ltd web site.

http://www.townandcityparking.co.uk/

Link to metereye which looks similar to the installed sensors:

http://www.townandcityparking.co.uk/our_services_metereye.html

Link to leaflet:

http://www.townandcityparking.co.uk/downloads/Metereye_DL_Parkex-2010_TCP.pdf

Councillor Steven Watkins

On the 8th September 2011, I published, with his agreement, an email I had received from Councillor Steven Watkins. This link should get you to it:

http://biggleswadeonline.blogspot.com/2011/09/councillor-steven-watkins.html

I emailed my response to him on 13th Sepember 2011.

Cllr Steven Watkins

Biggleswade Town Council

 

I am responding to both of your emails, the one you sent late on Wednesday night (7th September), and the other one you sent Thursday morning, which you don't want published.

Firstly let me remind you what you said on 11th May when you contacted me:

My point is that I do not know of a single town councillor or Central Bedfordshire member who avoids answering questions from the public.

Attendance at council meetings by members of the public is sadly quite poor, but we will answer any question put to us or find the relevent information.

I intend to ask the clerk to the town council to put members contact details on the website to make this easier.

My personal pledge is that I am happy to be contacted at any time by members of the public and during my first four-year term I had many conversations with townspeople on various subjects regarding the town.

I find it extremely humbling that people would give me their vote and have no intention of taking this support for granted.

I took you up on your offer on 18th May and asked you:

1. When are the Kitelands Recreation Ground lights going to be repaired and working?

2. When is the project for the new play equipment over Kitelands going to be progressed following the fiasco last year?

You informed me on the 23rd May:

There are no excuses for TC surgeries not being held, I will arrange one for July when I return fron holiday and make it a regular thing.

I have asked the Clerk for answers to your questions:

- The lights will not be repaired until the evenings draw in again (I am not hapy with this answer, the money is there and so again I will talk to him tomorrow evening)

- Council needs to approve the costs of a soil survey for the plans to advance on the new play equipment. I will be pushing for this to happen as I see no reason for this delay.

At that time I asked if I could publish your emails.

Your response was:

I have no objections to mine being published, not sure why anyone would object but they must have their reasons.

On the 19th June I asked you for an update on the Kitelands issues.

On the 23rd June you said: The lights are still not due to be repaired until August and it was not thought necessary to bring this forward by other councillors so it will just be a case of sitting it out. The soil survey will be on the agenda of the Public Lands and Open Spaces meeting of the 9th August.

On the 4th August I asked if there was any update on the Kitelands situation and if I had missed your July surgery.

On the 19th August I asked for a response on the three issues as it was over two weeks since I had emailed you.

1. Councillor Surgeries

You said on 23rd May - “There are no excuses for TC surgeries not being held, I will arrange one for July when I return from holiday and make it a regular thing.”

Have I missed it?

2. Kitelands New Play Equipment

You said on the 23rd May - Council needs to approve the costs of a soil survey for the plans to advance on the new play equipment. I will be pushing for this to happen as I see no reason for this delay.

You said on 23rd June – “The soil survey will be on the agenda of the Public Lands and Open Spaces meeting of the 9th August.”

It was not on the agenda and the play equipment was only brought up in the public open session at the end of the meeting. The minutes say –“The Town Clerk advised that he was currently waiting 2 forms of information for a survey to be undertaken to move forward. This item would be brought to the next Council Meeting”. The TC also advised that he would send an email to all Councillors updating them. Have you received this yet and can you update me?

3. Kitelands Lights

You said on the 23rd May - The lights will not be repaired until the evenings draw in again (I am not happy with this answer, the money is there and so again I will talk to him tomorrow evening)

You said on 23rd June – “The lights are still not due to be repaired until August and it was not thought necessary to bring this forward by other councillors so it will just be a case of sitting it out.”

Has anything happened yet ??

I have to say that having not heard from you since 23rd June, the tone of your emails was surprising and appear to be out of character with previous correspondence and how you conduct yourself at Council meetings.

I have never questioned your attendance record at meetings so I don't understand your comments on that subject and why you think I should not use Councillor Kerfoot's repeated absence as an excuse. For what ?????????

I am not sure how I have shown you lack of respect. Given the comments you have made in these emails, especially the one you do not want me to publish, I think you may have overstepped the mark and breached the standards in the Local Authorities (Model Code of Conduct) Order 2007. I will take advice on this.

Looking back over the last couple of months, the majority of the posts have nothing to do with Biggleswade Town Council. The ones that do involve BTC are factual.

In June when I spoke to the new Mayor, I asked if there were any achievements / successes and good news from BTC, past and present that I could publish on the blog. Nothing was forthcoming at the time and I have not seen or heard anything since. That offer still stands.

I now have to presume you will not be conclusively answering the only three questions I have ever asked you.

 

regards

Richard Mason

 

I have received this response, which is being published with Councillor Steven Watkins agreement.

 

With the Clerk being away I will speak to Cllr Mrs Smith as head of PLOS committee to look into the lights and equipment, since it appears that the information I have been given in the past has not been wholly reliable.

Hold this space for news on a surgery, which I have had to delay due to personal reasons, thus not allowing me to set a fixed date.

I will update you when I hear from Cllr Mrs Smith.

 

Regards

Cllr Steve Watkins

   

Parking in Biggleswade

On the 12th July 2011 Central Bedfordshire issued a press release entitled, "Public to be consulted on parking management proposals."

This included a paragraph which says:

Local councillors, including parish councils, and key stakeholder groups such as the Chamber of Commerce are to be consulted on the proposals over a three month period. Exhibitions will be held at key locations across Central Bedfordshire as part of the consultation. Details of this will be announced soon.

Since it is now over two months after the press release, I have asked CBC when is the consultation to take place. I am still waiting for the information.

Link to press release:

http://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/news/news/july-2011/parking.aspx

This was a a result of CBC executive councillors approving a proposal to consult the wider community on measures to improve parking in towns and villages across Central Bedfordshire.

Agenda Item:

http://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/modgov/Published/C00000577/M00003715/AI00022682/$11aApproachtoparkingv55411.docA.ps.pdf

Draft approach to parking management:

http://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/modgov/Published/C00000577/M00003715/AI00022682/$11aApproachtoParkingDraftExecAppendixA.docA.ps.pdf

Also on the 12th July 2011, The Off Street Car Parking Committee of Biggleswade Town Council were considering a report by Town & City Parking . I have quoted below extracts from the full report of which I have a copy.  I do not believe I have taken them out of context.

An initial brief was provided to Town & City Parking Limited (TCP) management team for the best possible support, direction and mangement to a new project for the parking service with Biggleswade Town Council (BTC).

The brief was provided by the Town Clerk and a Councillor Lawrence for BTC, to undertake a look at the current parking service and comment on the effectiveness and efficiency of the operation and produce a report on proving a service that is sufficient for the needs of Biggleswade Town Council.

There is a distinct possibility that any press coverage will be hostile and this will cloud the perceptions of the readers, even if they have not experienced any problems and therefore a correct and robust enforcement is critical.

At the Off Street Car Parking Committee meeting, link to minutes:

http://www.biggleswadetowncouncil.gov.uk/minutes/20110712_OSCP.pdf

There was a lot of comments on the report and

It was RECOMMENDED that the report be deferred and a meeting of the Off Street Car Parking Committee is called quickly to discuss what the committee are trying to achieve in terms of parking in Biggleswade.

On 13th September another Off Street Car Parking Committee was held. I have a copy of the minutes which are not yet published on the Biggleswade Town Council web site. The conclusion was,

It was RECOMMENDED that Town Council put pressure on CBC and Highways to implement the Masterplan particularly in relation to parking in Biggleswade.

____________________________________________

Do you know what this is?

It is a parking bay sensor. These are installed in the White Hart Car park, where there is a 2 hour time limit, and no return within 2 hours. It detects vehicles in the parking bay and communicates the status wirelessly. In other words they know how long you have been parked. 

St Andrews Church - Country Fayre - 24th September 2011

The annual Fayre was held  in the church grounds with stalls, sideshows, refreshments, arena events and an exhibition. This years charities are the RNLI and The Mission to Seafarers.

Here are a few pictures

Biggleswade Town Council - New Website

Biggleswade Town Council is looking to rebuild its website and would like residents to have an input. If you have any ideas they must be in by no later than  31st October 2011.

Contacts for Biggleswade Town Council :

01767 313134

enquiries@biggleswadetowncouncil.gov.uk

Biggleswade Town Council

The Old Court House

4 Saffron Road

Biggleswade

SG18 8DL

Be Scam Aware - potential Microsoft Windows scam

Central Bedfordshire Council’s Trading Standards team is warning residents and small businesses to be aware of a potential Microsoft Windows scam.

We have received a number of reports from consumers who have been cold-called by telephone, whereby the caller claims to be from "Windows Support", or similar, and that they have received an 'error message' or 'virus detected message' sent from your computer. The caller then offers to resolve the problem for you by accessing your computer remotely and for a nominal fee, in the region of £70-100, payable by credit card.

The callers tend to use a "Withheld" or "International" telephone number and reports received suggest the calls are originating from the Far East. When challenged or asked further questions, the callers tend to promptly end the call. There has also been one occassion reported whereby the consumer being called did not even own a computer.

Based on the information received we believe that this is potentially a scam and we would advise anyone to act with extreme caution when receiving such calls.

Our advice to consumers would be, do not allow anybody remote access to your computer unless you are absolutely certain of their intentions. You may find that by allowing one of these callers access to your computer, it's security could potentially be weakened to allow access in the future. Also, do not give your credit card details over the telephone unless you are sure the call is genuine. If you have any doubts as to whether a call is genuine, do not be afraid to hang up.

If you have information about suspect rogue traders or would like to report a possible scam please initially contact Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06, in order so that all relevant regulatory authorities can be notified.

In the meantime, please visit our website www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/bescamaware for advice and guidance on how to spot a scam and how to avoid becoming a victim.

Kind regards

Trading Standards

(Community Safety and Public Protection)