Milton Ernest Parish Council Village Website

ON YOUR MARKS! BEDFORD BOROUGH TO HOST TEAMS FROM AROUND THE WORLD AHEAD OF LONDON 2012!

Bedford Borough will host 15 Olympic and Paralympic teams and more than 250 sportspeople from around the world in the lead up to the Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer. This means, that with the exception of Weymouth, which will host most nations for the various sailing competitions, Bedford Borough will host more teams than any other town or borough in the country.

Mayor of Bedford Borough, Dave Hodgson, said: “Bedford Borough has a superb sporting pedigree, excellent facilities and a vibrant sense of community, all of which helped make it a very easy decision for many teams to base themselves here. The summer of 2012 looks set to be an exciting time in the borough, with the Kite Festival, Diamond Jubilee celebrations, River Festival and the Olympic ‘Live Site’ at the Athletics Stadium. It is great news that so many athletes from around the world will also be joining us to experience this superb summer.”

The teams will start to arrive from the 15^th of June. The nations which have agreed to be based in Bedford Borough are:

• The Maldives National Olympic Committee
• Central African Republic National Paralympic Committee
• Senegal National Paralympic Committee
• The Gambia National Paralympic Committee
• Morocco National Paralympic Committee
• Ivory Coast National Paralympic Committee
• Tunisia National Paralympic Committee
• Lesotho National Paralympic Committee
• Democratic Republic of Congo National Paralympic Committee
• Uganda National Paralympic Committee
• Niger National Paralympic Committee
• Ghana National Paralympic Committee
• Pakistan National Paralympic Committee
• Angola National Paralympic Committee
• Jamaica National Paralympic Committee

Councillor Doug McMurdo, Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Culture, added: “A lot of hard work has gone into making the arrangement for 15 teams and more than 250 athletes and officials to live in Bedford Borough ahead of the Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer. However, when many of them visited Bedford Borough they were immediately struck by how welcoming the people in the borough were as well as the level of facilities available. I hope local residents will look forward to welcoming these teams from around the world when they begin to arrive in June.”

Howard Darbon, Coordinator, Pre Games Training Camps for BOOST, added: “BOOST was created to maximise the benefits which Bedford Borough and the county as a whole could reap from the Olympic and Paralympic Games and attracting nations to base themselves here was a major part of that.

“There will be many ways for local residents to get involved with the Games during the summer and we look forward to working with local residents in the coming weeks and months.”

DAY OF ACTION – TAVISTOCK STREET

A multi-agency ‘Day of Action’ will be focussing on Tavistock Street on Thursday 16^th February.

Organised by Bedford Borough Council and the Borough Community Safety Partnership, the day runs from 12.30-2.30pm and 5-7pm and aims to raise the profile of the Council’s ‘Why Would You?’ campaign by tackling anti-social behaviour such as littering, dog fouling, graffiti and fly-tipping.

In addition to a targeted neighbourhood ‘clean up’, Council officers will be joined by officers from the Police and Fire services, bpha and other community safety partners to provide advice and support to local residents on a range of community services. This includes home security and fire safety advice, help to deal with anti social behaviour as well as advice on household recycling and energy saving tips. 

Councillor Sarah-Jayne Holland, Portfolio Holder for Community and Regulatory Services, said: “This Day of Action will enable us to work with our partners and local residents to improve the Tavistock Street area of Bedford in an effective and coordinated manner.

“As well as carrying out work to improve the public areas in and around Tavistock Street we will also be listening to local people and finding out what we can do to help improve their lives and local neighbourhood.”

You can report anti-social behaviour incidents at any time by visiting www.bedford.gov.uk and click ‘Report It’.

HELP CREATE A PICTURE OF FLOODING IN BEDFORD BOROUGH

Bedford Borough Council is asking local residents and businesses to tell us about their experiences of flooding in the borough to help reduce the impact of future flooding incidents.

Due to recent changes in legislation which were introduced following the severe flooding in the summer of 2007, all local authorities have been given new responsibilities for tackling local flooding.

Bedford Borough Council is now asking local residents and businesses for their experiences of local and surface water flooding and how it affects communities, property and people. This can be caused by surface water from rainfall which cannot drain away and overflowing of smaller bodies of water such as streams or ditches.

However, while the Council works closely with the Environment Agency, this consultation is only focused on localised and surface water flooding as the Environment Agency is responsible for monitoring flood risk from large rivers, such as the River Great Ouse.

Councillor Sarah-Jayne Holland, Portfolio Holder for Community and Regulatory Services, said: “This is the first time we have asked local residents for their experiences of localised flooding which will help us to develop an effective plan for dealing with any future instances of flooding.

“The summer floods of 2007 devastated many lives in England and it is therefore vital that we have a clear and effective strategy for dealing with flooding if and when it occurs. I would therefore urge anyone who has experienced flooding in Bedford Borough to get in touch and tell us how it affected their lives.”

You can provide your experiences by visiting: www.bedford.gov.uk/floodmemories. The survey ends on 2^nd April 2012.

The results of the consultation will feed into the Council’s Local Flood Risk Management Strategy which is a requirement of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010.