Anger At Axing Of Rural Payhones

British Telecom's plans to remove some phone boxes from villages are another nail in the coffin for rural communities, according to Conservative Councillor for Great Barford, Carole Ellis.

BT have announced plans to remove 28 public payphones from a range of urban and rural locations across Bedford Borough and Councillor Ellis is calling on BT to publicly justify this.

Although fewer people use them in the mobile phone era, many claim they are a lifeline in isolated villages.

Conservative Councillor Carole Ellis, whose Great Barford Ward faces the loss of a payphone, said, “This is yet another nail in the coffin of rural community services. There have already been losses of local shops and Post Offices are now earmarked for the chop. Now, public payphones look set to be the next service to be withdrawn from rural communities.”

“I have yet to see any published usage figures for the payphones and criteria justifying their removal but even if these payphones are making a loss, they are essential for many residents and must not be axed. Not everyone uses a mobile phone and those who do will tell you that reception in the Great Barford area is not always reliable.”

“I am calling on BT to reconsider these plans to protect vulnerable groups.”

Knife crime soaring in Bedfordshire

The battle against knife crime in Bedfordshire must be "at the top of the political agenda", Borough Conservatives have demanded.

This follows new research this month that shows that serious offences involving a knife in Bedfordshire are exceeding national levels.
The official figures from the Home Office show that across Bedfordshire, there were 316 serious offences last year alone involving knives, with 22% of all wounding, grievous bodily harm or robberies being committed with a knife. This is comfortably above the national average of 19%.

Borough Conservatives are calling for a series of urgent measures to reduce knife crime in the Borough, which include:

· Anyone convicted of carrying a knife should expect to receive a custodial sentence. Currently, the Government is planning to let off offenders carrying a knife with a fine in some circumstances.

· Making it easier for police officers to stop suspects and search them for knifes and other weapons, and increasing use of mobile knife scanners on the streets and on public transport.

· Providing more custodial places for young offenders, and increasing support for drugs and education programmes, and tackling the causes of knife crime such as family breakdown, lack of school discipline and welfare dependency.

Conservative Borough Councillor for De Parys, Cllr Paul, commented:“Only last week, Bedfordshire Police announced a 10% drop in overall recorded crime and while this is welcome news, the latest crime figures cannot hide some very chilling facts.”

“Knife crime is a major problem on the streets of Bedfordshire and while it spirals out of control nationally, it is also spiralling above the national average in Bedfordshire. It is appalling that the Police can only spend 14% of their time on the beat fighting crime & families are justifiably worried that the streets and their youngsters are less safe.”

“Action is needed now if we are to get a grip on knife crime before it is too late, and our proposals are designed to achieve this and place the issue at the very top of the political agenda."

Fury at travellers mess in Kempston

It has been announced today that an illegal traveller encampment in Kempston has finally been given its marching orders.

Bedfordshire County Council issued an enforcement notice today, under Section 77 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, giving the travellers 24 hours to move on following a 6-week encampment on parkland near the Southfields Estate in Kempston.

The full extent of the mess left behind is becoming clear, with reports of up to 10 tonnes of household and garden waste being dumped and incidents of human and dog excrement being left near resident’s homes and footpaths.

A massive clean-up operation will have to be carried out, with costs running into thousands of pounds, and not for the first time, Borough taxpayers will be left to foot the bill.

Councillor Jas Parmar, Conservative Councillor for Kempston South, commented:

“I would be fined £75 if I threw a crisp wrapper in the street, yet travellers can get away with dumping tonnes of rubbish on the playing fields and defecating on parkland.”

“The trouble is, local authorities and the police still don’t have the powers they so obviously need to evict travellers as soon as they arrive and instead have to go through a due process of legal checks that can take days, or in this case, weeks.”

“What we need, and what the Conservatives have said many times, is a change of law. The Government in the Republic of Ireland has made illegal traveller encampments a form of criminal trespass, meaning that the travellers are evicted as soon as they arrive.”

“The trouble is, our Government is a ‘soft touch’ when its comes to illegal traveller encampments, refusing to change the law & refusing to give to local authorities and the police the powers they need to evict travellers on arrival, leaving local taxpayers to foot the bill.”

“Let’s now hope this mess can be cleared up quickly so local residents can have safe and free access to the park.”

Conservatives Slam - Great Drain Robbery

Borough Conservatives are urging people to help stop a series of thefts of drain covers across the Borough.

According to new research published today by Borough Conservatives, as many as 40 manhole and drain covers have been stolen across the Borough in the last year, costing taxpayers an estimated £6,000.
It is thought gangs are stealing the drain covers, which cost around £150 each to replace, to take advantage of record commodity prices, fuelled by rocketing demand from China and India. According to Conservatives, the missing covers are becoming a threat to public safety, with drivers being warned to take extra care and pedestrians, too, being told to watch out for holes left in pavements and streets.

Councillor Robert Rigby, Conservative Councillor for Bromham Ward, today said,

“There has been a surge of drain cover thefts over the last year on our Borough streets, as the price of metal continues to soar.”

“This has already cost the taxpayer around £6,000, and it’s despicable that gangs of thieves are ripping taxpayers off for thousands of pounds whilst putting the lives of pedestrians and road-users at serious risk of injury or death.”

“Only a few weeks ago, residents In Great Denham were left without a telephone connection for nearly a fortnight when thieves stole the copper cables.”

“They often operate under the cover of night and I would urge residents to report any suspicious activity to the Police and Council and make a note of vehicle registration plates so we can put these criminals where they belong – behind bars.”