Conservative councillor Tom Wootton (Wyboston) has spoken to the Bedford Independent about his plans for Bedford Borough if elected as mayor, saying “Bedford Borough’s best days are yet to come”.
Cllr Wootton says his “exciting” manifesto has been years in the making and is based on speaking to other councillors, candidates, business owners, and Bedfordians. He says they’ve created a “bunch of policies that are absolutely ideal for Bedford”.
His manifesto, which will hit doormats across Bedford Borough for the first time today (Saturday), is based on six main priorities:
- Manage planning and infrastructure more effectively
- Support vulnerable adults, children and families
- Grow the Bedford Borough economy
- Create a safer Borough
- Keep Bedford moving
- Implement a real green agenda
Cllr Wootton says much of this will be achieved with a new portfolio holder for families that will make sure that there is a family focus on every policy his council executive creates.
He has also highlighted some other more specific issues in Bedford Borough, that he wants to tackle.
Town centres
“The days of having fantastic visions of dual-carriageways circling the town have moved on. We need to concentrate on the nuts and bolts of the Borough.
“All over the country, there are councils that are leading the fight back against this recession in town centres.
“Lots of councils have said decline should stop. We would start with making car parks four hours of free parking every day.
“We’d look at the town’s empty shops to create residential properties above and pop-up shops below to invigorate the town centre.
“Bedford has a huge history and fantastic heritage, managed decline is not something in our language.”
East West Rail
“East West Rail hasn’t been led well from the top. It’s left these poor people in the Poet’s area and the north of Bedford in absolute turmoil.
“I’m the only candidate that’s come out strongly against the northern route. I’m not against East West Rail, I voted for it, but trying to push it to the north and knocking down 90 houses is just plain wrong.
“The shorter, flatter route has not been considered. Why has the consultation been so poor, why is public opinion on the back burner? I feel for those local people, they have been sold down the river.”
Funding for local councils
“I think the Government has been exceptionally generous in many parts of Bedford. We’ve had a huge amount of money come to Bedford and he [the Mayor] has had more than his fair share of Government handouts.
“Every council in England and Wales is facing these same problems. Do you bitch and moan about them?
“You actually say no, we’re really proud of coming from Bedford and we’re going to lead and make a difference to people, and we’re actually going to use the money more wisely and probably in a much more business-like manner than has been in the past.”
Public Transport
“We have got a problem with bus routes being cut and sliced and diced. We want to sit down with Stagecoach and talk about what we can do together.
“It starts with cleaning up the bus station and then we want to improve the network by trying to get routes to interconnect, They don’t get around the villages, they don’t connect up.
“We think there is a lot of space for connecting things up and using the resources we’ve got a lot better, reorganise budgets, and getting timetables running better”.
Closing his conversation with the Bedford Independent, Tom said he believes he and his Conservative colleagues can change Bedford for the better.
“Bedford is a wonderful place, I’m really proud to come from Bedford, I have been a councillor for a very long time, I’ve never been the mayoral candidate and this is my big chance.
Read: Bedford Conservatives announce their 2023 mayoral candidate
“We’ve got a wonderful manifesto, we’ve got a wonderful group of councillors and candidates coming up for election. We think we can change Bedford for the better.
“Bedford and Kempston just are lovely places and we think they can be a whole lot better. This is why we think we need a change. The present leadership have been in for a long time, 14 years in power, we think we can do better.
“We have a fantastic manifesto and we recommend everyone read that manifesto”.
You can read Cllr Tom Wootton’s Conservative Mayoral Manifesto in full on his website Tom4Change.uk or here.
