Central Bedfordshire has a wonderfully diverse natural landscape, which the Council has a critical role in managing access to; both through the rights of way network and a number of Council owned heritage and countryside sites.

People are being asked to view exhibitions and have their say on plans until Friday, 18 January 2013. They can view consultation documents online at www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/consultations during this time as well as visiting exhibitions where paper copies of the questionnaires will be available.

As part of the Flood and Water Management Act, the council is preparing a draft Strategy that will consider the flood risk across the area and identify how these risks can be better managed in a way that enhances the natural and built environment.

The Strategy is at a very early stage, with questionnaires being used to gather together local knowledge about historical flooding.

The questionnaire is available on the Council’s website http://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/surveys/Floodstrategy/flooding_strategy.htm

Residents can feed their comments through using this questionnaire, but a full public consultation on the draft Strategy will also happen in the spring, once more of the information gathering has taken place.

After the information gathering stage, feasibility studies will be run on different areas and suggestions and this will be incorporated into the draft Strategy.

The Council, Biggleswade Town Council and Bedfordshire Rural Communities Charity (BRCC) have worked together to create plans for a ‘Green Wheel’ which will circuit the town, providing a green corridor for Biggleswade residents to enjoy.

The draft plans show that the Green Wheel could provide an important landscape and biodiversity resource for the town to enjoy and encourage walking and cycling both around and in and out of the town.

The council would now like to hear the community’s views on the proposals.

The public consultation will run between Friday, 16 November and Friday, 28 December. There will be a display at Biggleswade Library from Tuesday, 27 November to Saturday, 1 December and representatives from the council and BRCC will be available to talk to on Friday, 30 November between 10.00am and 2.00pm.

There will also be a display at Saxon Pool and Leisure Centre in Biggleswade from Monday, 3 December to Sunday, 14 December. Representatives from the council and BRCC will be on hand there on Wednesday, 12 December from 12.30pm to 4.30pm.

Full details about the proposals and a questionnaire for residents and stakeholders can be viewed online at www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/consultations from 16 November.

Paper copies will be available to view at the leisure centre and library during the display periods.

The Plan will set out how Central Bedfordshire Council will meet the accommodation needs of the Gypsy and Traveller community up to 2031. This will include new policies outlining how planning applications for Gypsy and Traveller pitches will be assessed as well as new sites. More specific proposals detailing how the council will propose to meet identified needs will be put to residents and the wider community in a full public consultation on the draft plan in May 2013.

The proposed structure for the Gypsy and Traveller Plan can be viewed and downloaded from the council’s website  under the ‘planning news and consultation’ section. Everyone is invited to comment using our online planning consultation system or by downloading a copy of the form to print. Paper copies are also available at council offices, customer service centres and libraries.

All comments must be returned to the Council by 5pm on Monday 29 October 2012.

The Local Area Transport Plans highlight the priority issues to be tackled in each area based on information from a range of sources including census data, householder travel surveys, future growth predictions, town plans, previous studies and feedback from working groups.

Feedback from the consultation, which asks people to highlight the biggest transport issues in their area and say what they’d like to see done about them will help to decide which improvements will be funded over a four year period.

Plans have been published for:

• Arlesey and Stotfold (including Astwick, Clifton, Henlow, Langford and Stondon)
• Biggleswade and Sandy (including Blunham)
• Potton, and the surrounding area
• Haynes and Old Warden.
• Chiltern, and the surrounding area

You can view the plans and comment through the online form by clicking on the ‘Get Involved’ tab. The consultation runs until Friday 23 November.

The council has drawn up exciting plans which consider the future management and access to the areas in and around the Southern Bedfordshire Chiltern Arc between the M1 and A6 north of Luton. This area includes the countryside contained within the boundary of the parish of Sundon, much of Streatley and small parts of the parishes of Barton, Chalton, Harlington and Toddington. It incorporates a unique area of national and local historical and wildlife sites.

Residents and members of the public will be able to view and comment on the vision plan online at http://ow.ly/dCLof during the consultation. The consultation runs until Friday 12 October 2012.

The plans are designed to maintain and improve the ecological condition of the area, which includes ancient woodlands, and to improve the access to and involvement in the conservation from the local community.

The Council’s Countryside Access Team commissioned Groundwork Luton and Bedfordshire to jointly prepare a report and written plan for the area. The Countryside Access Team will be on hand to talk about the proposals at three public events. They will be held at Streatley Village Hall on Monday, 17 September between 6 and 8:30pm and Barton Library on Tuesday, 18 September between 1:30 and 3:30pm.

The new local scheme will replace the current national system of council tax benefit payments which is being abolished by the government as part of national welfare changes. The changes will take place from 1 April 2013.

The proposed scheme commits to offering pensioners the same level of protection as the current benefits system. There will also be protections for other groups of vulnerable customers such as carers, lone parents with children under five, some disabled people and war widows.

The proposals take into account a reduction in government financing for local council tax support schemes. Unlike the current council tax benefit system, the new scheme will no longer be fully funded by the government.

With £2.5 million less in future years to fund support for benefit claimants, and with an anticipated rise in the number of claimants, the council has had to adjust support for other groups.

Under the proposed changes, people with capacity to earn will be required to pay at least 25 per cent of the total bill, even if they pay nothing now.

The proposals include added work incentives for low income families. When someone gets a job or increases their hours or earnings, less of their new earnings will be taken into account when calculating claims for council tax support.

The proposals also cover changes to council tax discounts and exemptions that can be claimed in particular circumstances. Empty and second homes, for example, would no longer receive a council tax discount under the new proposals. In keeping with the council’s commitment to tackling long-term empty homes, there is a proposal to charge home owners council tax at a premium rate of 150 per cent on houses left empty for over two years.

The consultation runs until 14 November. Full details of the council’s proposals are in a consultation document which is available online. Copies are also being sent to libraries, council offices and customer services centres across Central Bedfordshire.

The council will spend £179.2m on services ranging from children and adults’ social care to waste collection in the coming year, even though the continuing national economic difficulties mean that £11.3m of savings will have to be made. Executive also agreed £79.7m of capital spending for 2012/2013, forming part of the four year Capital Programme of investment in roads and street lighting, schools, care schemes and leisure projects.

Today’s decisions mark the penultimate stage in setting the budget for 2012/13, as the Executive recommended the budget for approval by full council on Thursday, 23 February.

Earlier in the budget process, through a survey carried out in the Autumn, residents had told the council that savings should be made from the back office and at no extra cost to the taxpayer.

Residents stated that investment was required to improve roads and transport, while services helping vulnerable people should be protected. The results of last year’s Big Library Debate also showed that residents value their local library extremely highly and feel they are key community focal points.

In order to meet residents’ expectations, Executive have agreed a budget which will see the council:

* Streamline management and administration, cut consultants and reduce the number of buildings the council works at;

* Renegotiate contracts in highways maintenance, energy, information technology, vehicle leasing and in leisure services – specifically at Dunstable and Tiddenfoot Leisure Centres and the Grove Theatre – to provide better value for money;

* Encourage residents to engage with the council through our new website by providing more online services and change the way face to face customer service is provided by moving to appointment systems and use of customer access points;

* Deliver services with a more commercial focus and trade some of our services to bring in income;

* Invest £37m in road maintenance over four years;

* Spend an additional £1.4m in social care for older people and an additional £1.7m on services for adults with disabilities;

* Invest in improving services that help people to live independently at home for longer, so reducing the use of residential care;

* Keep all libraries open and invest £850,000 in them over the next two years, to ensure libraries are modern, sustainable and meet the needs of future generations.

Cllr Maurice Jones, Deputy Leader and Executive Member for Corporate Resources at Central Bedfordshire Council, said: “Throughout the whole budget process, we have been very clear that we do not want to put extra pressure on families’ budgets by raising council tax and our focus has been on ensuring that residents receive maximum value for money for the rates they do pay. We’ve proved over the last year that we can do this. We’ve remodelled the former costly music service into the viable ‘Inspiring Music’, which offers exciting musical opportunities in schools and the community.”

This new service invites residents to sign up for regular emails on topics ranging from councillor surgery dates to council tax, news, public consultations, waste and recycling, adult learning and more. 

The council is determined to keep our residents informed and up to date. The new service will update our customers on what’s going on and link to key information on the council website, which is available around the clock.

It’s all part of our drive to provide greater transparency through modern communication channels and builds on the success we have had using social media such as Facebook and Twitter. So if you want to get in the know – get online. 

To sign up for email updates go to www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/updates. The service is being trialled until the end of March and if it is successful will be extended.