Brickhill Liberal Democrat FOCUS Team

01/09/2026

This meeting is taking place on Wednesday evening at Brickhill Community Centre, Avon Drive. It has been organised to allow more residents to raise any concerns, as some residents said that they were unable to attend the recent day-time street surgery.

27/08/2026

Remember that we run regular surgeries in Brickhill. Please come and see us at the following locations. Full details are always on our website, https://www.puttingbrickhillfirst.com/

Avon Drive Shops Saturday 29 August 10.00am
Brickhill Drive Shops Saturday 12 September 10.00am
Avon Drive Shops Saturday 26 September 10.00am
Brickhill Drive Shops Saturday 10 October.10.00am
Avon Drive Shops Saturday 24 October 10.00am

27/08/2026

Liberal Democrats demand urgent action over Bedford’s ‘shambolic’ postal service
Councillor Henry Vann, Leader of the Bedford Borough Liberal Democrats, has written to Royal Mail Chief Executives, demanding urgent intervention to fix the severe delivery chaos gripping the Borough. Henry Vann has called on the Royal Mail senior management to immediately send urgent help to the Bedford Delivery Office.
The local crisis in MK40 – MK45 postcodes is clear in Royal Mail’s own service data. Royal Mail’s website shows that Bedford is suffering from "local resourcing issues" and "sick absence," triggering "rotating delivery" strategies.

Cllr Henry Vann said:
"The state of our postal service in Bedford is completely shambolic. It is the worst I have ever seen it. We have residents concerned about missing critical NHS appointments and small businesses losing revenue because letters are sitting in sorting offices for weeks.”
“Residents have told me about a whole week or more’s worth of mail arriving at once. Letters are not prioritised, meaning that vital medical correspondence, bills and other important notifications are at risk. In some cases, going missing. This is to say nothing of cards and messages from friends and family.”
"Mail is a vital public service. Royal Mail's own statistics prove this is a systemic management failure and our posties need backup. Blaming staff shortages while refusing to invest in permanent local solutions is a slap in the face to our community. We need an immediate end to 'rotating deliveries' and a clear timeline for when a reliable service will return."

Notes:

https://www.royalmail.com/service-update

26/08/2026

Bins still overflowing in Brickhill
The Brickhill Liberal Democrat Focus Team have repeatedly requested that the overflowing dog-waste bins across Brickhill be emptied. It is extremely disappointing that this has not happened promptly, despite our reports. We are continuing to pursue the lack of action with council officers and have passed on residents’ concerns about the health issues caused by the flies and foul smell.

18/08/2026

Free local bus travel is a vital lifeline for many disabled people.

After an almost two-year campaign the Government has finally listened to Liberal Democrat calls to stop restrictions to disabled bus passes.

Disabilities don’t start at 9.30am. Neither should disabled bus passes.

12/08/2026

Burnham Changes on Gambling and Vapes Are Just Baby Steps
Local Lib Dems welcomed the proposals on gambling premises and v**e stores floated by the Prime Minister, but warned they are just small steps and it’s likely to be a long time until any changes come into force to be useful. Currently councils’ ability to refuse new betting shops is highly restricted.
Liberal Democrat Councillor Christine McHugh (Goldington) commented: “These proposals are just baby steps, the changes sound very limited and who knows how long we’ll have to wait for these to come into force.
Currently the rule known as “aim to permit,” means councils have very little power to turn down applications. In my view we need to have similar or greater powers over gambling premises as we do over alcohol sales, where we can have a Cumulative Impact Zone and say, there are just too many gambling premises. And we should be able to consider the social harm that may be caused – currently we can’t.
It’s also wider than just licensing. We need to change the planning regime as well as the licensing regime, so councils can truly shape their town centres.
I’ll be writing to my MP, the Prime Minister and Minister for Local Government to tell them my view and I urge anyone concerned to do the same, now, before the changes are set in stone.”

Image: Antoine Taveneaux

11/08/2026

We have asked the council for speedy emptying of the overflowing bottle bank on Woodland Park. We are particularly concerned that discarded bottles could ignite dry vegetation in the very dry fields along Ashmead Road.

03/08/2026

A nationally significant archeological project right here in Bedford:

31/07/2026

Public toilets closed by Conservatives
The automatic public toilets at Bedford Park and Kempston’s Addison Howard Park have now closed, today (31st July).
The nearest toilets in Bedford Park are now some distance away, and only if the Pavilion, or Robinson Pool are open, with a similar situation in Kempston.
This sad state of affairs is a direct result of cuts to basic services by the Conservative Mayor whilst vanity projects continue to have money thrown at them.

30/07/2026

This is happening today (Friday 31st July). Pop in to Brickhill Community Centre between 11am and 1pm where there will be a number of different things going on, for both young and old. Or just stop by for tea or coffee.

Brickhill Community Centre will be hosting the following event this Friday. Please help spread the word!