Houghton Regis News Desk

Central Bedfordshire Press Release
For Immediate ReleasePR 1675: 30 August 2013Council to challenge Mile Tree Gypsy and Traveller appeal decisionCentral Bedfordshire Council has expressed its disappointment and frustration at a recent appeal decision by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government to grant permission for a new Gypsy and Traveller site in Heath and Reach which has been the subject of extensive enforcement action by the Council.Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has agreed with the Planning Inspectorate that temporary permission for a Gypsy and Traveller site in the Green Belt at Mile Tree Road should be granted, after the Council refused planning permission.Cllr Nigel Young, Executive Member for Sustainable Communities (Strategic Planning and Economic Development) said: "We’re really very disappointed with the decision to grant temporary planning permission, despite substantial local opposition and the impact on the green belt.""The Counci…

Central Bedfordshire Council, Bedford Borough and Milton Keynes Council have signed a new contract with BT Openreach to bring Superfast Broadband in from 2014
Central Bedfordshire Council is investing an additional £1.2 million to make this happen.This will deliver ‘superfast’ broadband (24Mbps or above) to 90% of homes and businesses.The councils successfully bid for a share of the £530m government fund to support ‘non commercial’ broadband improvement.BT Openreach will invest £2.6m in addition to the funding from government and each local authority.BT Openreach engineers will now begin to assess the areas which will receive improved broadband from 2014.

Between May and June this year 57% of all reported crime in Houghton Regis was anti-social behaviour. The majority of these reports was to do with noise from cars and motor bikes late at night. Criminal damage and arson made up 11.5% of all crime, and burglary 8.4%. Vehicle crime was 7.1%, violence and sexual offences 6.9%.

In May there were 259 crimes, and June 263.


Crimes reported in June 2013 
Anti-social behaviour(Includes personal, environmental and nuisance anti-social behaviour) 160
Criminal damage and arson(Includes damage to buildings and vehicles and deliberate damage by fire) 25
Burglary(Includes offences where a person enters a house or other building with the intention of stealing) 16
Vehicle crime(Includes theft from or of a vehicle or interference with a vehicle) 15
Violence and sexual offences(Includes offences against the person such as common assaults, Grievous Bodily Harm and sexual offences) 13
Shoplifting(Includes theft from shops or stalls) 7
Other theft(Includes …

News release by Childrens Links2,000 attend  free family play event  for National Playday National Playday was celebrated in Houghton on the village green on Wednesday 7th August with a free family event organised by the children's charity Childrens Links. Opened by the Town Mayor, Councillor Peter Williams the event aimed to get children playing  out in local green spaces and be part of their communities   supporting  families to play together with  children getting  involved in planning of the event.Activities were provided to suit  to suit all ages from archery to face painting , sand and water play for under  5's to  giant  water slides,  trampolines, zorbs, parkour, football, basketball, drama, dance, DJ workshops,  and steel pans. Clare Bryan play developer for Children Links and the organiser of the event said, "The atmosphere was fantastic, numbers were beyond our expectation, and  families loved  the mix of activities, the community sprit, and it appealed to all …

By waste Recycling Officer for Central Bedfordshire:Recycling in Central BedfordshireHaving been out and about in Central Bedfordshire at a wide variety of events and having talked to many keen recyclers; it has become apparent that there may be some confusion over the materials that you can put in your orange lidded recycling container.We have split the materials into 4 categories:Paper, cardboard and cartons  newspapers, magazines, envelopes, computer paper, shredded paper (wrapped in newspaper or in a cereal box) and catalogues. Boxes, tubes, greetings cards and corrugated cardboard (torn up to A4 size). Fruit juice, smoothies, milk, custard and soup cartons;
Metals  food tins, drinks cans, clean foil and empty aerosols,
Plastics  all plastic bottles and all types of plastic food packaging;
Worn out textiles  ripped, torn, worn out or stained clothes, shoes, tea towels or pillow cases etc.We have found that national branding on food packaging has been a cause for confusion. Central…

4YPUK Dedicated Worker Vacancies for the Troubled Families

Salary reflects the payment by results/outcome model of the Troubled Families Programme
£23kpa basic/£26pa OTE

4YP seek six full/part time suitably qualified and experienced professionals to work with families in Central Bedfordshire, identified
for the Troubled Families Programme. The Troubled Families initiative  is a national government funded programme aimed at turning around the lives of families by delivering:

• Improved school attendance and behaviour

• Reductions in youth crime and anti-social behaviour

• Helping to put adults back on the path to work

Ideal candidates will have a background and experience of working intensively with young people and/or adults, in for example Youth Offending, Connexions, Social Work or similar.  The Dedicated Worker must be able to evidence the impact that their involvement has made in facilitating positive and lasting change to families through challenging entrenched thinking, behaviou…

By Olly Martins, Police and Crime Commissioner for Bedfordshire. ------------------------ Police Stations Survey  -  Have Your Say The recently announced Government funding cuts mean that Bedfordshire Police has to make savings of £7.5m - on top of the £15m already taken out of the budget since 2010. With officers and staff already working at maximum efficiency I need to look at new ways in which I can find further savings. Currently, police buildings in Bedfordshire cost £3m annually to run and maintain. Many are outdated and in need of refurbishment and are no longer in the best position to serve the public. Others are under-used and are consuming vast sums of money which could be better spent on protecting front line officers or PCSOs. Meanwhile, technology and different methods of communicating mean that people often contact the police without visiting a police station and I am keen to establish how people prefer to contact the police in a non-emergency situation before I make an…

A resident from Easthill Rd is in dispute with ANPR, the company that enforces parking restrictions in All Saints church car park, next to Bedford Square, Houghton Regis. The man claims he displayed a parking ticket on his dashboard, but a parking enforcement company have sent him letters demanding £40, and later demanding £100 when the first demand wasn't met.The car park is owned by Martin Slowe Estates, who also are the landlords for the shops in Bedford Square. MSE contract ANPR to manage the three hour free parking scheme in the church car park. Drivers should press a green button at the ticket machine to obtain a ticket if parking before 5pm.Twice this week, I found the sign nearest the ticket machine explaining the restrictions, had been swivelled around to face the old cemetery around the church. Earlier this week local councillors criticised the car park for having slopes which means it is difficult for disabled drivers to use. Councillors also called for clearer instruct…

The proposed "Woodside Connection" is a new highway to connect Portz Avenue at Poynters Road junction, to a to-be-constructed Junction 11a (a Highways Agency promoted scheme) on the M1 motorway. The proposers of the scheme are Central Bedfordshire Council. Ultimately, the Secretary of State for Transport will make a final decision on the scheme after being appraised by the Planning Inspectorate.

In its case for the new road, Central Beds Council say that "the new road would be around 2.9km in length and would  be single carriageway with the exception of a short length of dual carriageway at the northern end connecting with the new motorway Junction. There would be one roundabout in the central part of the route and two at the northern end, one providing the connection to Junction 11A and the other on Houghton Road/Sundon Road. The new road between these two roundabouts will be around 0.45km in length and will be dual carriageway. Parts of the new road will be raised abo…