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Council Bedford Council Overspend: £3.6m Now, £32m Gap Next Year Bedford Borough Council forecasts a £3.6m overspend even with £25m of government support, led by children's care, and a £32.1m gap for 2027/28. · 8 min read Crime Bedford Motorbike Theft: Six Arrests as Vehicle Crime Climbs Police made six arrests and recovered two stolen motorbikes in a Bedford crackdown. Vehicle crime in central Bedford is up five months running, to 44 in July. · 4 min read Council Bedford Elected Mayor: Referendum Vote Set for 16 September An extraordinary council meeting on 16 September will debate putting Bedford's elected mayor to a referendum. Residents can force one with 6,940 signatures. · 9 min read Kempston Kempston Art Trail: Free River Ouse Event, 11am-4pm Sunday A free art trail along the Great Ouse at Kempston Mill runs 11am to 4pm this Sunday, 13 September, and launches the town's new environmental charter. · 6 min read Planning Great Barford 500 Homes: Officers Back Cut to 100 Affordable Bedford Borough owns a fifth of the site and decides it on 14 September. Officers accept 20% affordable housing and £2.65m of the £5.98m consultees asked for. · 9 min read Water Bedford Water Leak on Manton Lane During the Hosepipe Ban A Bedford driver reported a large leak on Manton Lane on Wednesday and was told the road may need digging up. Anglian Water's hosepipe ban began on 11 July. · 9 min read Business Bedford Minimum Wage: Two Employers Named Over £5,230 A Goldington Road nursery and a Wyboston software firm are on the government's minimum wage naming list of 3 September, for £5,230.89 owed to 21 workers. · 5 min read Bins and recycling Bedford Tip: Register Your Number Plate From 1 October From 1 October you have to register your number plate online to use Barker's Lane tip. It is free, lasts two years for a car, and it scraps every waste permit. · 7 min read Schools Bedford School Goes Co-Ed in 2027: Saturday Lessons End Too Bedford School admits girls from September 2027. Its own FAQs end Saturday morning lessons and make Burnaby the girls' house. A petition against has 526 signatures. · 8 min read Bonfire Night Bedford Fireworks 2026: Blues Display Not Dated Yet Bedford's big display is the Blues fireworks and funfair at Goldington Road. The 2026 date is not announced. The fixture list points to Friday 6 November, and tickets never go on sale at the gate. · 6 min read Christmas Bedford Christmas Lights Switch-On: 2026 Date Not Set Bedford's free switch-on is run by the council in Harpur Square, always on a Saturday in late November. The 2026 date is not published yet, and the council's own Christmas page is still offline. · 5 min read Christmas Bedford Panto 2026: Jack and the Beanstalk, 21 Shows Jack and the Beanstalk runs at Bedford Corn Exchange from 19 to 31 December 2026, 21 performances, tickets from £20.25. There is one relaxed performance, on Monday 28 December. · 4 min read

Bedford is a river town. The Great Ouse runs through the middle of it, the embankment is the town’s front garden, and a good deal of local argument is about what happens on the land either side of the water. Kempston runs into it to the south west, and the villages of the borough spread out around both.

Bedford Borough is a unitary council with a directly elected mayor, which means planning, bins, roads, licensing, council tax and schools are decided in one place by people you can name. Biggleswade and Sandy, over to the east, come under Central Bedfordshire instead, and we say so whenever it matters, because it changes who collects the bins and who rules on the planning application. We read what both publish and report what is in it, linking to the source every time.

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  • Bedford house prices: the average home now sells for £332,893, up 6.7% in a year, with median sold prices for every postcode sector from Greyfriars to Ravensden.
  • Trains to London: 42 minutes to St Pancras on the fast train, every 2026 walk-up fare, and what a season ticket really costs.
  • Roads and travel: the Black Cat and A428 rebuild, current closures, and the Bedford parking rules that catch people out.
  • Things to do in Bedford: three museums within a five-minute walk, two country parks and free music on the Embankment, with opening times checked at source.
  • Planning: 3.35 years of housing land, a withdrawn Local Plan, and a Government order permitting Universal at Kempston Hardwick.

All five sit together under Local Info. Every figure links to the document it came from.