The Central Bedfordshire Forum was set up by Central Bedfordshire Together to enable engagement with a broad range of partners and stakeholders in deciding how we tackle the big issues facing Central Bedfordshire.

Partners from across the public, private and voluntary and community sectors in Central Bedfordshire took part in the first Central Bedfordshire Forum on 14 January 2010 at the Cloisters, Whipsnade Zoo in Dunstable.

The conference was dedicated to supporting the development of a new Sustainable Community Strategy for Central Bedfordshire that will set out our long term ambitions for the area and shape the future of Central Bedfordshire by:

• setting a collective local vision for Central Bedfordshire that we all share;
• making explicit our priorities for tackling quality of life issues, which must be rooted in a clear analysis of local needs; and
• informing the development of other key area-wide strategies and plans, such as the Local Area Agreement, that will help deliver the Strategy.

Getting involved

The highly participative event tasked delegates through roundtable discussions, the Central Bedfordshire Marketplace and presentations on key challenges to:

• agree what sort of place we want Central Bedfordshire to be by developing a long-term vision for the area
• create a shared understanding of our high-level priorities and key challenges facing Central Bedfordshire

Conference organiser Peter Fraser, Head of Partnerships & Insight at Central Bedfordshire Council said ‘Our Sustainable Community Strategy needs to be a living document – responsive to local needs as they are now, but also able to adapt as these needs develop and change over time.

It also needs to reflect the tremendous ambition that we all have for Central Bedfordshire. I know that we all want the very best for Central Bedfordshire and all of its communities. We need to demonstrate this by not just settling for what is acceptable but instead striving for excellence across all public services.’

It is our intention to hold these events once a year. Details of the next event will be published as soon as possible.