Dates of next Forums are listed here: https://ertarail.co.uk/events/
Instant Karma!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLy2SaSQAtA
As one goes about one's business, one observes as well.
1. The disabled toilet at the Bus Station has been out of action 4 weeks now. This is a principal gateway to Bedford Town Centre. Other cubicle occupied or out of action. X5 is 2.5 hours to Bedford from Oxford, most out-of-town journeys 1 hour or 1.5 in the case of Northampton-Bedford No. 41. So having good working toilets properly stocked and serviced at the Bus Station is important for civilised values to be shared and adopted. Yes, after closure, there is nearby Pilgrims Progress, but not all will know that and whether to use a toilet scheme is still operational?
2. No. 21 Grant Palmer withdrawn. Had reliability issues but also if it served Bedford Midland as part of its over all journey, may have had more use as well.
3. No. 8 Queens Park and Great Denham. 08.01 Monday, 08.41 Sunday. But is it too much to ask for a consistent clock face past the hour x per hour departing Bedford Bus Station and keep to it please? Ideally it could be half hourly. Loadings seem high with standing room only and an aging population. Buggies, wheelchairs and shopping bags on wheels take up precious space, but larger buses may find parked both sides of the room and careful maneuvers hazardous? Could Grant Palmer be contracted to do a Bedford Bus Station-Ford End Road - Old Ford End Road-Great Denham-loop Stagsden, Bromham and back or via Bromham Road, Ashburnham to serve the railway station and Midland Road to Bus Station? That would act as a relief and enable more buses and supplement the bi-hourly No. 41 gaps more locally.
4. X5 loadings seem very healthy with sometimes every seat taken and 1 hour to wait if turned away. Is it time, post pandemic, to revisit a half hourly time table between 9am-6pm?
5. MK1 seems to be healthily loaded. When I think how some scoffed at the idea of extending the old Bedford-Luton bus to the airport, now it is booming usage wise! Could running Hitchin buses to loop round by the Hitchin Rail Station also boost overall usage?
6. No. 905 - could it loop round Longsands to serve St Neots Rail Station and vice versa - surely a gap and long walk in the dark currently between rail access and bus links. The town orbital is patchy, slow and useless. 905 regular and with plusbus style rail-bus ticketing would boost footfall mutually.
7. Town centre: Lurke Street Car Park used to have a mens and womens toilets with 4 cubicles and 4 space urinals (mens). Now reduced to one cubicle for all with a growing population and desire for more footfall via free parking to the town centre? People who park, visit, eat, drink need ample toilet access. Cost cutting here seems retrograde to what we are trying to achieve? Likewise Beales, Debenhams and M&S gone, lost toilet capacity there and basically town centre and Embankment, there's a dearth and some study or consultation should be done to see what people want and need. I think a toilet cubicle akin to Cambridge with baby changing facilities on lands north of the Butterfly Bridge may be prudent. Long walk from Cardington Road Tesco to Russell Park or Aspects to town centre... and food and drink is being consumed, we are trying to want people to come here and spend time enjoying the area?
8. Selfish plea, but again 53 Wootton service is used and Hillgrounds has no bus on a Sunday. Could something be done to restore a part-time 53 say 2 hourly or something? I used it to get to Grace Community Church Bedford which meets at the Addison, but there's the sports centres, open spaces and residential communities down there who should be served. They are all potential users and contributors.
9. Personally, I want a library service which is open to all, accessible 9-5 Monday - Saturday. I dislike pins and passwords culture, and feel also the staff need training to know what and where. How can we reduce cost and make the stack more accessible? Do we need a new, bigger central library? Maybe move Borough Hall to Debenhams and relocate the library at Cauldwell Street with a hotel and respite centre? What is the vision. Suffice to say I have been asked to queue when no one else was about, just to comply with the taped lineage. I feel the system is dumbed down and we need to nurture serious study and a culture of learning and growth, civic and personal life long development. Adult Learning has taken a tumble and on-line costs are prohibitive for low income people. Again, who is thinking about this?
10. Mill Street in brief:
a. buy and turn the former Howard Chapel into a walk-in community, civic, display, arts and gallery centre - it has pavement access. Mill Street needs revitalisation. Open the side passage from Ram Yard to Mill Street via Howard Chapel. We lost amenity when the Civic Theatre was closed. North-side pavement is too narrow for thoroughfare walking and window looking. Make road-way one-way from east to west and narrow like High Street, single lane. Make pedestrian and cycle friendly and encourage footfall with safe access for all. You can put solar panels on the roof for a bit more income.
Hope these ideas and feedback are not shot down, but considered. Chicken and egg, no buses, congestion fills the gap, add buses, congestion can modal shift more with incentives.
Next Forum - All Welcome. Bedfordshire Forum at The Swan Pub, Flitwick (opposite the railway station served by Thameslink: https://www.swaninnflitwick.co.uk/ Suggested Wednesday 24th January 2024. Enquiries welcome via richard.erta@gmail.com
ERTA Bedfordshire Forum meets Wednesday 25th October 12 Noon food, 1-3pm business Upstairs, Costa Coffee, 20 Silver Street, Bedford, MK40 1SU All Welcome.If you wish to join us, please notify Mr Simon Barber
T. 0208 940 4399
E. simon4barber@gmail.com
Key reference on-line portals are: https://ertarailvolunteer.blogspot.com/ (scroll down) and https://ertarail.co.uk/ (electronic joining/donating options).
Do nothing and it may not happen, do something and be part of the answer of whether it may!
Agenda:
1. Apologies for absence
2. Consideration of A Station serving the Retail Park, Kempston et al.
3. Consideration of the Ampthill Parkway Station Narrative doc and
discussion in the light of the issues raised
4. Consideration of Stations North of Bedford (Sharnbrook) -Bedfordshire only.
5. How best to take these projects forward?
a. What is needed – more members, volunteers, and team building
b. An on-going leaflet campaign - £100 gives x1000 flyers (Bedford and Kempston), £50 a shot (SNOB/Sharnbrook, Ampthill/Flitwick).
6. Existing Rail, Thameslink, East Midlands, Bedford-Bletchley, Station redesign.
7. East-West Rail Update and discussion
7. Better Buses, Pedestrian Issues and Cycle shared access/safety.
8. ERTA Needs
- Leafleting
- Funding
- Area rep and team of local support9. Date, Time Place of Next Meeting: Bedfordshire Forum at The Swan Pub, Flitwick (opposite the railway station served by Thameslink: https://www.swaninnflitwick.co.uk/ Suggested Wednesday 24th January 2024. Enquiries welcome via richard.erta@gmail.com
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