24 January 2025
Bedford Ian has been looking at recent goings on across Bedford Borough and has told us what he thinks of it all…
Route E or not Route E? Is that the question?*
There seems to be some confusion amongst Bedford Borough Conservatives following last week’s full council meeting (15 January) where councillors debated how they should respond to the government about EWR and the rail link on ‘Route E’ between Oxford and Cambridge.
Read: Campaigners’ anger as motion to withdraw EWR route support derailed in council vote
The discussion was good-natured and fulsome in its praise for the exhaustive work carried out by the chief planning officer, Jon Shortland, to complete the council’s response. If you’ve got a few hours on your hands, you can watch the full meeting at the Borough Council’s website.
With an amendment from the Lib Dems, the final document included opposition to the ‘six-track’ solution, a demand that homes are not demolished, and concerns about changes to Bedford Hospital’s car park.
The consultation document was then unanimously approved, including by cllr Nicola Gribble (Independent/Renhold and Ravensden) at three hours and 28 minutes into the meeting.
The same cllr Gribble who moments later introduced a motion requesting Bedford Borough Council withdraw support for the project she had just voted to approve. The motion was unsuccessful.
Shurely shome mishtake then, when on Sunday (19 January) Bedford & Kempston Conservatives issued a Facebook post claiming they are the only ones opposed to Route E – the government’s chosen route – and the one they’d all voted for.
One councillor told Bedford Ian, “With the council having already voted to submit the official response, it would have been inconsistent to support a motion rescinding support for the route altogether.”
A cynical person might wonder why the motion was raised in the first place.
*Spoiler alert: it wasn’t the question.
Universal misinformation
It seems it’s not just our local politicians who are trying to get credit for all things Universal Studios.
A local publication in the area continues to insist that back in December 2023 it was they who revealed rumours Comcast, parent company to Universal Destinations & Experiences (UDE), might be looking at building a theme park nearby.
But, the rumours, as reported correctly by the Bedford Independent and many national titles, were actually revealed by the excellent theme park news website Orlando Park Stop.
Their team spent a significant amount of time poring over some very detailed (and probably boring) documents to establish strong evidence of a possible UK-based theme park in Kempston Hardwick, almost 24 hours before any other news desk picked up on it.
Taking the excellent work by Orlando Park Stop one step further, journalists at the Bedford Independent were then the first to get direct confirmation from UDE that the rumours were true, which opened the floodgates for national and international media attention to the story.
Read: Universal Studios confirm they are planning a theme park in Bedford Borough
So, for those who are truly uninitiated, let’s set the record straight. Orlando Park Stop under their editor Alicia Stella are the reason this story was brought to the public’s attention when it was, and they deserve full credit and respect for it.
Luton-ing in circles
It’s tough working in public relations (PR), but there’s plenty those in the trade can do to make their life a little easier, like checking a map from time to time.
Amongst the hundreds of emails the Bedford Independent news desk received this week was one about someone in Luton who is up for an award. Good news for Luton and great news for the nominee.
Unfortunately, the BI hasn’t yet expanded into Luton and the team, out of professional courtesy, replied to let the PR know.
“Sorry, we only cover Bedford Borough and some villages on or near its border,” they said. The PR was not to be deterred, “Does this publication not cover Luton?”, they asked.
“No, we only cover Bedford Borough and some villages on or near its border,” reiterated the news team. Confused the PR tried one more time, “So, does that not include Luton?”
We wished their client the best of luck.
Colm-on!
As if to add insult to injury, I hear one of the Bedford Independent team had a geographical mishap this week too.
Asking if Colmworh was in their patch, the journalist was directed by a colleague to the excellent Let Me Google That For You… website so they could find out for themselves.
They responded by asking “How would Google know if Colmworth is in our patch?”, at which point they were pointed to the first result in the search query that clearly shows Colmworth is in Bedford Borough.
Teach a man to fish, eh?
See you soon, Bedford Ian.
PS: If you see anything Bedford Ian might find amusing, let us know news@BedfordIndependent.co.uk.
