5 June 2026
Bedford Ian has been looking at recent goings on across Bedford Borough and tells us what he thinks of it all…
WTAF?
A new 24-hour gaming centre has been approved for one of the most prominent corner units in Bedford town centre.
- Read: New Bedford town centre gaming centre approved despite objections over crime and vulnerability
- Read: Councillors approve Bedford gaming centre after finding concerns were ‘real and credible’
Now, before anyone writes in, let’s be clear.
There is a place for these businesses, and Bedford already has them, six within 500 metres of this proposed one, apparently.
This isn’t about banning gambling or pretending such venues shouldn’t exist.
It’s about where they are.
When local residents, businesses, councillors and organisations, including Bedfordshire Police, are all raising concerns about crime, anti-social behaviour, vulnerability and the wider impact on the town centre, it is fair to ask whether this is really the sort of flagship business Bedford needs on one of its busiest and most visible spots in the town centre.
Particularly when we’re repeatedly told that the future of the town centre is bright and that our streets will soon be paved with gold.
The frustrating part is that, from what many people don’t realise, the council’s hands are often tied.
Licensing law is heavily weighted towards granting applications unless clear and specific evidence can be produced showing that the licensing objectives would be undermined.
Not that people dislike gambling, not that there are better ideas for the unit, not that local businesses think it’s the wrong fit.
Actual evidence, which is a very high bar.
So while plenty of people will unfairly direct their anger at councillors, there is a bigger issue here.
If local decision-makers, local businesses and local residents can all have serious concerns about a proposal and still find themselves with little meaningful power to stop it, the problem isn’t just the application.
The problem is with the system.
Once these decisions are made, they tend to last much longer than the empty shop they replaced.
Future Leisure still needs planning permission before opening, but regardless of what happens next, this whole saga raises a bigger question.
If local communities can’t meaningfully influence what appears on one of the most prominent sites in their own town centre, who exactly is shaping the future of our high streets?
Dirty business
Everyone seems to agree that Bedford town centre needs a bright future. So it would be nice if everyone played their part.
This week saw several businesses prosecuted in environmental crime cases.
Read: Maison Le Votre, Kashmir Peri Peri and others prosecuted in environmental crime cases
We all know running a business isn’t easy. Margins are tight, costs are rising, and high streets face challenges from every direction.
But there is no excuse for fly-tipping or breaking the law. And when it comes to environmental crime, it’s not a victimless crime; you make all of us the victims, including yourselves.
Every household in Bedford has to dispose of its waste properly. Businesses should, too. After all, if nothing else, it’s difficult to complain about the state of the town centre if you’re also contributing to the problem.
If we’re serious about creating a town centre people want to visit, invest in and feel proud of, then basic standards matter and cleaning up after yourself responsibly isn’t optional.
Off air
Bedford Borough Council is no longer livestreaming council meetings.
The reason? Apparently, converting the recordings for live broadcast requires two council officers to work overtime, and with the council’s finances under pressure, the cost can no longer be justified.
Of course, no sensible person wants money spent on livestreams if that means less money for frontline services. But let’s not pretend this isn’t concerning.
We’re told meetings will still be recorded and uploaded later. Yet there are already meetings from previous weeks that still haven’t appeared online.
Which raises an obvious question. If transparency tomorrow becomes transparency next week, and transparency next week becomes transparency when someone gets around to it, is it really transparency?
This is also particularly awkward because Bedford politicians of all colours have become very fond of talking about openness, accountability and transparency in recent years.
And yet somehow the public is now finding it harder to scrutinise the people making decisions on their behalf.
Perhaps everything will work perfectly, and every meeting will soon begin to be uploaded promptly.
After all, if councillors struggle to get things right while being watched live, what might happen when nobody is looking?
Brucie bonus
Throughout the week’s mentions for Bedford in the national press, aside from the latest on Universal Studios and the England test match debut for local cricketer Emilio Gay, I was pleasantly amused to read about the ghostly return of a national treasure.
- Read: Universal United Kingdom Resort confirmed to open in 2031, promising £50bn boost to economy
- Read: The rise and rise of Emilio Gay : By those who watched him grow at Bedford Cricket Club
Apparently, someone at Bedford’s Parkrun has been perturbed by sightings of a “drunk” Bruce Forsyth.
And he clearly wasn’t playing his cards right either, as he was said to be belting out a dodgy rendition of the Japanese national anthem, while claiming he’d put a fiver on a Japanese victory at the upcoming World Cup.
Confused? So was I, until reading further down this tabloid piece, where the person making the bizarre claim told The Daily Star reporter that, upon discovering Brucie, they’d also noticed that “all of my weekend beers had gone”.
Read into that what you will.
Floating around the course like a cuddly toy on a conveyor belt, it seems ol’ Brucie has chosen our town as his latest haunt, although it remains to be seen whether casual park runners thought it was nice to see him, to see him, nice.
See you soon,
Bedford Ian.
PS: If you see anything Bedford Ian might find amusing, let us know at news@BedfordIndependent.co.uk.
