NEWS ROUND-UP for 23 March 2012

Posted by Alan Winter on March 23, 2012

Houghton Regis Leisure Centre will be closed between April 1 and April 15 for a £100,000 refurbishment.

MARKET STALLS

There could soon be four market stalls on a Friday, at Bedford Sq. Houghton Regis. The Town Council's Management committee last night agreed to go ahead with advertising plans for stall holders to apply to take part in a four week trial starting in May. If that is successful it is expected to become a weekly regular pull to keep trade in the town.

BUSWAY ART PROJECT

BBC3CR presenter Roberto Perone liked the idea of having a giant flamingo, as there was once a large paper mache flamingo at the Queensway Hall! Do contribute your thoughts and ideas! The highlighted picture below has something to do with the duck bridge in Dunstable.

BUSWAY SHELTERS

As part of Guided Busway project, 32 bus stops on the 38 route through Houghton Regis are soon to be upgraded with raised kerbs and real time information saying when the next bus is coming. Some bus shelters may be replaced. Work will start in about 3 weeks time. Temporary bus stops may be provided close to the original bus stop site.

THOUGHT: If the busway buses allowed people to take bicycles on them imagine how much easier it would be to get from A to B.

COMMUNITY DIABETES SERVICE

Houghton Regis Medical Centre in Peel Street is to provide a new Community Diabetes Service. Patients will not have to travel to the L&D any longer. GPs and healthcare professionals will be able to make referrals locally. Diabetes is estimated to affect 22,500 people in Bedfordshire, mainly caused by unhealthy lifestyles and a rise in obesity.

TOWN CENTRE DEVELOPMENT

A ten week delay to the intended start of works on the new Morrisons store, Houghton Regis means that the store is unlikely to open before November. Difficulties arose arranging for utility meters to be turned off in former industrial units on the High Street site.

Meanwhile, the activities of a car business, in neighbouring King Street, were discussed by concerned town councillors at two meetings this week.

The word on the Co-op site, leased by Central Beds Council and destroyed by fire in 2006, is that it is being dealt with by Central Bedfordshire Council's legal team, and an outcome will not be soon. A definitive statement is awaited from the authority.

FIXING YOUR STREET!

For the period February - through to 9th March locals in Houghton Regis have registered 118 instances of work required to be done by the CBC agents, Amey. They deal with things like roads, trees, footpaths, lighting. To report a problem in your street go to the new-lookhttp://fixmystreet.com - but don't be alarmed by the large number of incident flags for Houghton Regis, it just means that local people are very good at reporting things! For a copy of the incidents spreadsheet, please use the CONTACT link on the left hand panel.