9 November 2026

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Bedford Borough Council

All the latest Bedford Borough Council news from across Bedford Borough. Everything you need to keep you up to date with what’s happening in Bedford Borough on your mobile or desktop via the Bedford Independent.

The Bedford Independent was founded to provide the people of Bedford Borough with a modern news desk that would give them easy access to genuine and unbiased Bedford news. We are independent in ownership and opinion.

Our mission is to inform and inspire the people of Bedford. To do this we will work hard to bring them the news that matters to them from our town centre to the most rural of the Borough’s villages.

Our editorial team are NCTJ trained and follows a standards code set out by the independent press regulator IMPRESS Standards.

Kempston resident petitions Council over Fusion Lifestyle contract

A petition from a Kempston resident calling for an end to the Council's contract with Fusion Lifestyle was debated at Full Council this week. Steve Clark, who has been a member of Kempston Pool since it opened in 1978...

Petition launched as developers eye up Shortstown farmland for up to 1,100 new homes

A residents’ petition has been launched after developers approached the council for expert opinions on the impact 1,100 new homes near Shortstown would have on the local area...

Plans put forward for 500 homes and new primary school at Milton Road, Clapham

Plans to build homes, children’s play facilities and land for a new primary school in Clapham have been submitted for outline planning permission. Following two year's engagement...

Consultation to extend LibraryPlus to Kempston and Putnoe Libraries begins

Extended opening hours and greater flexibility for users of Putnoe and Kempston Libraries are being cited as benefits of the LibraryPlus scheme that Bedford Borough Council...

Council’s £10m to buy properties to house the homeless defended as councillor queries location

Councillors rounded on one of their colleagues when he queried how the council chooses which properties to buy to house the homeless. Bedford Council has £10million set aside to buy 80 properties to provide temporary accommodation...

Yelden village pub rescue plan dismissed as unviable

A plan to bring a dead village pub back to life by building four houses on the same site and injecting the profits into a big refurbishment have been reluctantly dismissed by councillors...

Stagsden pub house plan blocked by government inspector

A village pub near Bedford cannot be turned into a house, a planning inspector has ruled. Even though the Royal George in High Street, Stagsden, was unviable from 2012 to 2015, inspector Rachel Walmsley...

Oxford-Cambridge Arc: What will be the impact on Bedford’s economy?

In the first of a series of articles on the Oxford-Cambridge Arc (OxCam Arc), the Bedford Independent looks at the impact it could have on Bedford Borough’s economy...

Council considering enforcement action against Home Office over Yarl’s Wood asylum seeker plan

Controversial Home Office plans to house 200 asylum seekers at Yarl’s Wood near Bedford are under “investigation” by the borough council. But a meeting heard that the likelihood of Bedford Council...

95 redundancies on the cards as Bedford council almost unanimously sets council tax for the year

Councillors in Bedford have overwhelmingly passed a budget which could see 95 redundancies and increases the Borough’s part of the council tax by 3.74 per cent. Only two Green councillors, who sat on their hands during the vote on Wednesday...