12 September 2025
Bedford Ian has been looking at recent goings on across Bedford Borough and tells us what he thinks of it all…
Water palaver
The Universal Studios UK project might be one of the most exciting developments Bedford’s ever seen – but with that excitement comes a tidal wave of speculation, half-reads, and national media in need of a headline.
Take an article in The Times earlier this month, for example. It painted a doom-and-gloom picture of water shortages, sewage crises, and floodplains ready to rise up and swallow us all.
It’s not that the issues don’t matter; of course, they do. But once again, a national newspaper has skipped nuance in favour of headlines that generate shares and comments from people who haven’t read past the first paragraph.
They’ve taken one part of a complex infrastructure discussion and turned it into an eco-disaster thriller.
Meanwhile, our Local Democracy Reporter published a much more balanced overview.
Read: Universal water demand can be managed, say planning documents
It includes what Universal has proposed, what Anglian Water says is needed, and what Ofwat thinks about all of it. No drama, just facts.
Here’s the difference: one article aims to spark outrage and amass clicks. The other helps locals understand what’s happening on their doorstep so they can make up their own minds.
This isn’t about whether Universal is perfect or not. It’s about responsible journalism. And if national newspapers are going to keep weighing in on Bedford’s future, the least they could do is not just sensationalise responsible concerns.
What’s in a name?
Sticking with Universal and the excitable and eagle-eyed theme park gang have been talking this week about how it looks like Universal Destinations and Experiences has chosen a name for their Bedford Borough theme park.
On Monday (8 September), an application by the US-based company to the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) was made for “Universal United Kingdom Resort”.
Now, this could well be a ‘trading as’ name, but it does show progress and the way the team behind the project might be thinking, which should put to rest some of the other names that have been banded around by those who are apparently “in the know”.
These have included:
- Universal Studios GB (an obvious option)
- Universal Studios Luton (as if)
- Universal Studios London (erm, no)
- Universal Studios Europe (Geography aside, this would upset 52% of voters)
- Universal Studios Bedford (My favourite option, but always unlikely)
So, perhaps Universal Studios UK it will be, which is excellent, because that’s how this newspaper has been referring to it all along. We’re sure that had nothing to do with it.
Lost bus
Riders of the number 10 bus in Bedford got an unexpected tour on Wednesday (10 September) after it got lost.
Passengers noticed it was going the wrong way after it turned left at the roundabout at the top of Union Street onto Clapham Road instead of going straight over onto Roff Avenue.
The driver was alerted and apparently said: “Oh no! I’m taking the number 6 route.”
As I’m sure you can imagine, buses aren’t the easiest to manoeuvre, so unfortunately, they had to continue along Clapham Road until the Manton Lane roundabout, where they subsequently got stuck in school run traffic.
One passenger told me it added 30 minutes to the journey, but they did miss getting caught in that afternoon’s downpour while walking back from their bus stop to home. So, all’s well that ends well.
FOMO at FOMA
Last night (Thursday), my colleagues were finalists at the Press Gazette Future of Media Awards in London’s glittering Bankside. I’m told that the glitzy event was a lot of fun, even if the Bedford Independent did return empty-handed.
Unfortunately, Paul Hutchinson’s live coverage of the General Election (all 92 hours of it) was pipped at the post by Teeside Live’s reporting of the Billy Dunlop trial (currently featuring in an ITV drama starring Sheridan Smith). An admirable winner, and my colleagues were the first to congratulate the journalists involved.
I reminded them that it’s the taking part that counts, and to be sharing a room with the likes of The Times, Financial Times, Guardian, Sky News, The Atlantic, The Week, The Economist and more shows that they must be doing something right.
Who knows, we might have another General Election in time for our coverage to be considered for next year’s awards…
See you soon, Bedford Ian.
PS: If you see anything Bedford Ian might find amusing, tell us at news@BedfordIndependent.co.uk.
