James Kirkpatrick

Free online climate change training for Central Bedfordshire residents

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We’re collaborating with the community and environmental charity, Groundwork East, and we’re excited to announce a new initiative offering free climate change training to our residents.

Houghton Hall Park

People will be able to book themselves onto an online course providing an introduction to Carbon Literacy completely free of charge – thanks to the government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). Spaces are limited and available on a ‘first come first served basis’.

The accredited course introduces people to the science behind climate change and equips learners with information and tools to take action in their own lives and communities. It features sections on greenhouse gases and their relation to climate, how the climate is likely to change, and the effect this could have in the UK and other parts of the world. Our knowledge on climate change is constantly changing and the course features a collation of up-to-date information with links back to original sources. This free e-learning module can be completed in your own time to develop your understanding of climate science, climate change and actions you can take to reduce your carbon footprint. You must complete the whole course by 31 March 2024 to receive your certificate. By signing up you will have access to administrative support and troubleshooting, giving you the best chance at completing the certification.

The online course is free for anyone living, working, or studying in the Central Bedfordshire area.

Book online >

Fire service wants public view  

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People in the community are being asked for their views on changing the way Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service (BFRS) measures incident response performance. 

A public consultation has launched regarding response standards, which are the Service’s promise to the public on how it measures things like how quickly it gets to an incident. The number of fire engines sent to different incident types will not change.

The survey is available here: Response Standards Consultation (office.com)

The consultation runs until 16 February 2024 and full information about this consultation and any others are available on the website: Public consultations | Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service (bedsfire.gov.uk)

ENDS

If you have space for additional information, please also feel free to include the following:

The Service is proposing to simplify the way it measures incident response performance, known as response standards, to make reporting clearer and to match how the Government reports it. 

Proposals recommend changing the way the Service reports response standards to combine both the call handling and response to make one standard that describes the life cycle of the emergency call. The new standard will start from when a 999 call is received, until the time the first fire engine arrives at the incident. 

The consultation also covers proposals to remove an existing standard about the number of firefighters riding a fire engine, which gives BFRS more freedom to use the firefighters on shift in a smarter way to maximise the number of fire engines available for the public of Bedfordshire, to increase public safety.

Area Commander Stuart Auger, Head of Response at Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: “Our response times matter and we want this to be clear to you. That is why we are proposing these changes to make it clear that the clock starts from when we receive a 999 call, to simplify the language we use so we can easily compare with other fire services and to remove standards that restrict ourselves from maximising our availability.

“We are adapting to keep pace with the changing communities of Bedfordshire, so proposing these standards is our way of updating our promise to the public and to keep striving forward, working together to keep Bedfordshire safe.” 

Village Allotments

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The Parish Council would like to invite all Wrestlingworth residents to let us know if they have an interest in having an allotment. The land to be used is located behind the new houses at Tree Nursery Close, and in order to persuade CBC to invest in suitable vehicle access we need to know how much interest there is in the village.

Please note that although getting allotments available and allocated is still a long way off, we would expect that those who express an interest do have a real intention to take one on should we be successful.

In the first instance please email Catherine at wrestlingworthch@gmail.com with your contact details if you have an interest. Your details will only be used for the purposes of assessing interest at this time, and to communicate further on the allotments if we get that far.

Many thanks.

W & CH PC.

Winter break for garden waste collections

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Winter break for garden waste collections 

Kerbside collections of garden waste are suspended every winter. This year, the suspension is for 12 weeks from Monday 4 December 2023 until Friday 23 February 2024, inclusive. Depending on where a resident lives, final garden waste collections will take place either the week commencing Monday 20 November or the week commencing Monday 27 November. Collections will resume from Monday 26 February 2024.   

 

Throughout the suspension, residents can take garden waste to one of our Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs). For all waste services, including bin collection dates and HWRC opening times, residents are encouraged to check our website. Households are also encouraged to sign up for our email alerts to receive timely notifications about the resumption of garden waste collections and changes to Christmas bin collection days. By signing up for waste alerts, we can provide an instant notification of changes to collections. This could include last minute changes caused by bad weather, vehicular problems, or other extenuating circumstances.  

 

We are also encouraging residents to ‘tell a friend’ and to spread the word to their neighbours. A similar campaign will follow for the Christmas bin collection changes.  

 

Residents only access at Central Bedfordshire Household Waste Recycling Centres   

 

From 1 November 2023, Central Bedfordshire residents will be required to provide proof of address to gain entry to any of our four Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) – also known as tidy tips. This brings the Council in line with many of our neighbouring authorities who have introduced similar measures and aims to reduce the financial burden on our council tax payers by reducing the number of non-CBC residents using our sites.   

   

Acceptable forms of ID include a current UK driving licence (photo card or paper licence will be accepted); a council tax bill from the current financial year; a utility bill (gas, electricity or water) which is less than a year old; a letter from HMRC or the Home Office which is less than a year old; current bus pass or a current disabled parking permit.   

     

We’re also encouraging residents to stay up to date by signing up for waste alerts and to visit our website for further information and reminders: www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/tidytips  

Cockayne Hatley Bus Survey Update: 30th September 2023

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As a result of discussions at the recent PC meeting (24th September 2023), along with numerous emails with different interpretations and requests based on the survey, the decision has been made to send no summaries or interpretations of the results to CBC. The recently published summary by the PC has now been removed from this site.

By definition any summary by an individual or group of individuals can carry bias, and the conclusion therefore is that the survey results only are the best way to convey feedback to CBC.

The parish council wish to thank all those who took part, and to the organiser of the survey also. We remain committed to representing all residents of the parish, and we recognise that residents are not always in agreement. We have asked that CBC consider the results and let us now their thoughts going forward, and we will pass on any feedback as soon as we receive it.