Houghton Regis News Desk

A groundbreaking scheme to raise awareness and understanding of dementia is winging its way to Central Bedfordshire. The Dementia Friends initiative, run by national charity Alzheimer’s Society, aims to improve public knowledge of dementia by helping people understand what living with the condition might be like, and the small things they could to make a difference to people living in their community. This could be something as simple as being able to recognise someone with dementia and help them get on the right bus. Locally we are on the lookout for people to volunteers as Dementia Friends. Anyone of any age can become one and there are lots of reasons why you might want to volunteer. Perhaps you have a job that means you might have contact with people who you think might have dementia, at public contact points, meetings or directly supporting? Or maybe you want to learn more about the condition so you can better understand the needs of family members, a friend or ne

Dates have been set aside for hearings for the examination of the application by Central Bedfordshire COuncil for a Development Consent Order for the proposed Woodside Link. The road would connect Woodside Industrial Estate in Houghton Regis to the planned Junction 11A of the M1. Almost 2.5km of new road would be built as a single carriageway, with the remainder as dual carriageway. The express purpose of the road would be to reduce traffic in Houghton Regis and Dunstable, especially HGVs accessing Woodside Industrial Estate. Plans and other details        

Dunstablians Rugby photos by Anthony McGill  ~pictures and comments Pride of Houghton Award Winners ~ photos  ~ pictures and comments Travellers take to the bus to get to and from the footie  ~ picture and comments SUNDAY BLOGS: Cycling in this area, and the work being done by CBC Travel Choices. RSPCA are looking for anyone with information about who may have dumped two cats at Georgina petrol station NEW POLICY ON SEX ESTABLISHMENT VENUES IS MORE IN TUNE WITH WHAT PEOPLE WANT MP Andrew Selous, "Dunstable, the crumpet capital" Has anyone tried the latest incarnation of the Indian restaurant on the square? Arrangements are to be put in place to make Easthill Road, Houghton Regis into two-way traffic for cyclists only. The road is currently one-way for all traffic.  A green high friction surface, with white lines around the outside, will further highlight the cycle route. Walking in Houghton Hall Park at Houghton Regis A number of high wattage, high

A celebration event was held in Houghton Regis on Tuesday this week to mark the first season of a new growing project for people with a learning disability. The gardening project has  been running since March 2013. Customers at the Townsend Day Centre have been involved in a weekly horticultural and therapeutic gardening session. Additionally the group improved their communication, socialisation and independent living skills. Over the last 30 weeks, 15 customers from the Day Centre have each learnt about different aspects of gardening; maintaining soil, the importance of watering, sowing seeds, nurturing plants and harvesting crops. The project received funding from Baily Thomas Charitable Trust, Central Bedfordshire Council, Houghton Regis Town Council, Tesco Charity Trust, Boots plc, and Mrs Karen Lara. The project was set up by Central Bedfordshire Council and local environmental charity Groundwork Luton & Bedfordshire. If you’re interested in Groundwork running a growing pr

The Police and crime commissioner, Olly Martins last night addressed a meeting of Houghton Regis Town Council for over an hour. He gave a talk about his role as Bedfordshire's Commissioner, giving those present an idea of his day-to-day work. At one point he referred to acting like a "yo-yo". It is believed this was a reference to attending a meeting in Bedford, travelling to Luton for another meeting, travelling back to Bedford for another, then back home to Luton. He said this was not a good use of his time ordinarily, but had believed it important to attend all the meetings. The commissioner explained that crime figures were generally going down. 80 police officers were to be recruited just to keep the Bedfordshire force at the level that it needed to be at. Mr Martins went on to explain how he intended to make savings of £7.5million, on top of the £15million taken out of the police budget since 2010, to meet intended cuts by HM Treasury. Olly talked through hi