A surprise for residents in St Albans (Sinkhole) - Top Stories: 1 October 2015

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A surprise for residents in St Albans last night!

Posted by Houghton Regis News Desk on Thursday, 1 October 2015
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Police Appeal After Man Robbed in Houghton Regis

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Bedfordshire Police are appealing for witnesses after a man was robbed in Houghton Regis.
At around 10pm on Saturday 1st August, the man was on Bedford Square, near the park, when he was approached by five offenders. The group attacked the victim and stole his phone, his bank card, and a quantity of cash.
During the attack, the victim sustained superficial cuts to his face, stomach and forearm, which required medical attention but are not serious or life-threatening.
The offenders are described as young men, wearing face masks with their hoods up, riding bikes.
PC Helen Pecorini, investigating, said: “Thankfully the victim only suffered minor injuries, but was left distressed by this incident. We are appealing to anyone in the area who may have the offenders before or after the incident.”
Anyone who can offer any help in this matter is asked to get in contact with the police, or contact Crimestoppers.  Alternatively, information about this incident can be reported via police reporting webs…
Read on ...

Consultation on New Secondary School in Houghton Regis

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Initial designs have been produced for a new 1,120 place secondary school, to be built on the Kingsland Campus, Houghton Regis, for September 2022. The proposal includes all the specialist and non-specialist teaching space required, as well as providing a sports hall, outdoor sports provision and car parking. The external appearance of the school buildings is subject to further design work. 
The concept for the new school is based on the superblock model and includes a 3-storey main classroom block, with a separate sports hall. This type of design is suggested by the Department for Education (DfE), and has been used for many new secondary schools across the country
The Council is currently at the pre-planning design stage, and is taking the opportunity to seek the views of the local community ahead of the planning application being submitted. The date for submission of the planning application has been tentatively set for the end of August 2020. 
This consultation is an important part of…
Read on ...

CBC Move to Tackle Anti-Social Drinking in Public Spaces

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Bedford Square: alcohol drinking restrictions
Central Bedfordshire Council has approved the areas covered by their Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) for the next three years.
The council’s Executive committee yesterday, agreed the new PSPO, following a consultation in November 2019, which consulted on the existing order.
Such orders are not complete public drinking bans, but they give authorised officers additional powers in designated areas. They can request that individuals do not drink alcohol or hand over alcohol in their possession if behaving anti-socially.
The council has agreed the new areas covered by the PSPO across Central Bedfordshire. The full details will be available on the council’s website with maps showing the specific areas in due course.
Locally, for Houghton Regis and Dunstable, the public consultation results for these proposed areas were:
• 100% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with a PSPO for Bedford Square, Houghton Regis • 98% of respondents agreed or stro…
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A Public Space Protection Order agreed for dog control across Central Bedfordshire

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Central Bedfordshire Council’s Executive has agreed to keep the existing rules as it renewed Public Space Protection Orders (PSPO) in relation to dogs, for the next three years.
A blanket rule requiring dogs to be on leads in any open space with a marked sports pitch has been retained and renewed.
Dogs will also be prohibited from fenced play and games areas and parts of the council’s country parks. Dogs will also still need to be on a lead in cemeteries, picnic areas and A and B roads as well as on public footpaths.
The decision was made following a consultation in November 2019 which revealed that 56% of respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed with the proposal to remove the requirement that dogs are kept on leads near sports pitches.
The results also showed that 97% of respondents strongly agreed or agreed with the proposal to retain the dog fouling order. With 90% of respondents strongly agreeing or agreeing with the proposal to retain the dog exclusion zone orders.
Cllr Ian Dalgar…
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Marl Lake at Houghton Regis Chalk Pit Reduced to a Puddle

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Shocking pictures of Houghton Regis SSSI Marl Lake show that the lake has practically disappeared.

These pictures shared by local environment supporter, Sally Gray, were taken today.




The blue flag was placed in the lake at a point at the far end where, in the second week of August, the water was seen draining away.  See Video. The water's edge has receded another few feet since then.

Alan Winter on 13 August, wrote, “I'm no expert, but it seems likely to me that the Marl Lake waters have been trickling away through cracks and fissures for years. The movement of water underground could have been accelerated by earthworks movements on the developer's fields to the north and east of the water treatment centre (sewage works) where another lake appeared.”

To the rear of the edge of the lake, Sally Gray reports that yesterday the ”Water is still flowing into this boggy wooded area"


A hydrological expert from Natural England has now seen the video Alan Winter made during Au…
Read on ...

Give blood during the Easter holidays

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Children who depend on life-saving blood transfusions are encouraging donors to give blood during the Easter holidays to ensure NHS Blood and Transplant has the blood stocks necessary to meet demand. Eight-year old Sophie Thorne is one of several youngsters contributing a 'thank you' picture to remind people in Luton and Bedfordshire that donating blood saves lives. Blood stocks are more vulnerable to shortfall around public holidays like Easter as the weather improves, and people go on holiday or enjoy days out with family. It is vital stocks are constantly replenished as blood has a shelf life of 35 days and platelets only seven days. Hospitals across England need more than 6,000 blood donations every day to treat patients. Blood or the components of blood are used to treat patients with medical conditions such as anaemia, cancer blood disorders, and those having surgery.
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Catherine Thorne, Sophie's mother, of Wootton near Bedford, said: "Sophie has a rare blood condi…
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Supermarket Responds to Criticism that Shelves & Fridges were Empty

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Morrisons supermarket in Houghton Regis has responded to complaints that fresh food stocks were depleted and freezers were empty. The complaints were made on a popular public Facebook Group.
The Houghton Regis store is located in a residential area and does have restrictions on the times when lorries can make morning deliveries to the store. 
Writing on the Facebook Group, 'Houghton Regis ......Whats Occurring in our Community???' Laura Donovan, a Logistics Supervisor at Rank Xerox, started off by writing, on Saturday 1st August,
 “Don’t know what’s going on at Morrison’s lately but these past two weeks replenishment of fresh foods is just not happening. This morning at about 10.15am there was no fresh salad products & very little fresh veg. I am not blaming the floor staff as there was a lot of them trying to replenish but it was obvious to me that someone/somewhere in management got it wrong with delivery expectations. I’m sure it’s difficult but if you shop in the 4th larg…
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Lidl Plans For 1.2million sq ft Regional Distribution Centre

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by Alan D Winter, Houghton Regis News Desk
Lidl, a family supermarket that takes pride in providing its customers with the highest quality products at the lowest possible prices, is on the verge of starting work on building its biggest ever Distribution Centre on Houghton Regis' doorstep.

Outline plans for the development were agreed under the existing Central Bedfordshire Council consent (CB/12/03613/OUT) and now a reserved matters application has been submitted. The company is now seeking approval for these plans, which could be concluded in March 2020.

The development proposals comprise the construction of a Regional Distribution Centre (RDC) of over  1.2 million sq ft of warehouse floor space, 612 associated car parking spaces, 141 HGV stacking spaces, 196 loading docks, 20 E-charging spaces, a drivers lounge, smoking shelters, two bicycle stores with 104 spaces for bicycles, four haulier cabins, three battery enclosures, a generator enclosure, sprinkler tanks, pump house hydr…
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Angry Resident Wants Peace Back as Chalk Pit Tourism Takes Off

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By Alan Winter updated 27 May

 An irate resident has contacted Houghton Regis News Desk to vent their frustrations about visitors to the Chalk Pit clogging up their unadopted roads.

The resident, who did not want to be named, wrote, “As a resident on Fieldstone, we’re after some help. The quarry has been advertised on social media so it now has visitors from a wide area. They are blocking our residential roads, leaving rubbish and glass everywhere in the quarry. Having BBQs, drinking and meeting for social gatherings. They are drinking and dancing in the streets gone 11pm. There needs to be parking and the quarry managed before all the recent hard work is undone. We want peace back.

“This parking and quarry issue has been going on for the last few weeks after advertising has appeared on social media. We heard someone say they had driven from Milton Keynes, and a neighbour has stated that 5 people he knows from Hemel Hempstead have attended. Just this morning, a friend from work saw it …
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L&D Hospital Mani Car Park Closes From 13 July - Bigger Car Park To Be Built

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Parking for visitors and patients at the Luton and Dunstable University Hospital will get a welcome boost by the end of the year, as work gets underway on a new four-level car park on the footprint of the existing Lewsey Road car park.
The new car park will double the current provision for patients and visitors, and also provide more accessible parking as well as bicycle parking for patients, visitors and staff.










The new design will also improve the flow of cars, and reduce queuing and congestion on Lewsey Road.
The existing main visitor and patient car park (on Lewsey Road, opposite the main entrance to the hospital), will be closing on Monday 13 July.
Alternative parking will be available on site, in Farringdon Fields, off Calnwood Road. The Trust is reallocating staff spaces for the period.
But overall numbers may be limited so the Trust is asking patients and visitors not to bring their car if they can possibly avoid it, but to be dropped off instead. A new temporary drop-off point will…
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Bidwell Heights - Go Ahead for New Build Despite Crime Concerns

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A development of 336 homes has been given the go ahead under delegated powers by Central Bedfordshire Council despite Bedfordshire Police having concerns that the layout would encourage crime.

The site is situated between the SSSI Houghton Regis Chalk Pit edge and Blue Waters woodland.




Bedfordshire Police Liaison Objected to the scheme, 'as it is considered that the proposed layout and design would present opportunities for crime'.

See planning layout - (pdf)

Another key concern came from Wildlife Trusts BCN who also drew attention to anti-social behaviour. Their concerns are listed as,

'Concerns regarding development so close to the chalk cliffs associated with the SSSI. The Trust strongly recommend that a robust engineering operation is designed and incorporated into the plans, at this stage of the process, to ensure that the stability of the chalk cliff is not weakened as part of any development that takes place in this location. The Trust also consider that there should…
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Houghton Regis Academy Closure - Public Meeting 10 March

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Updated 2 March 2020

The Secretary of State for Education, in mutual agreement with the Trust, has now made the substantive and final decision to proceed to the closure of Houghton Regis Academy.  However, in order to reduce the impact of the closure,  a proposed closure transition plan has been agreed to which means the Academy will remain open for some year groups until 31 August 2022.

There will now be a ‘listening period’. The listening period is an opportunity for stakeholders and interested parties such as pupils, parents and staff to be provided with more information about the proposed closure process. It is also an opportunity for stakeholders to submit their views on how the process can best be managed. This period started today, 28 February, and will end at 5pm on 27 March 2020.

Parkside ward Central Bedfordshire Council (CBC) councillor said, “I am aware of the concern the current position will be causing pupils, parents and the wider community at Houghton Regis. I am worki…
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Plans For 66 bed care Home, Nursery & Shops at Lower Thorn Village

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(updated 14 June 2020)As part of the already approved outline development plans for the Lower Thorn area of Houghton Regis, detailed planning applications are now being submitted for a local centre. A decision for these applications is hoped for by mid-August 2020.
Houghton Regis Town Council will discuss the plans on Tuesday 16th June. A final decision will be made by Central Bedfordshire Council. The Town Council's virtual meeting agenda is available to download. If you wish to participate in this meeting you will need to supply an email address before 3pm on the day of the meeting in order to attend virtually by emailing your request. Instructions on Remote Meeting Guidance can be found here.
In all, three planning applications have been submitted to develop a local integrated centre on behalf of  HDD Houghton Regis Retail Limited. 



1. 66 Bed Care Home A 66-bed care home and its associated car park, means of access and landscaping.  Split over 3 floors. If permission were granted…
Read on ...

Consultation on New Secondary School in Houghton Regis

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Image
Initial designs have been produced for a new 1,120 place secondary school, to be built on the Kingsland Campus, Houghton Regis, for September 2022. The proposal includes all the specialist and non-specialist teaching space required, as well as providing a sports hall, outdoor sports provision and car parking. The external appearance of the school buildings is subject to further design work. 
The concept for the new school is based on the superblock model and includes a 3-storey main classroom block, with a separate sports hall. This type of design is suggested by the Department for Education (DfE), and has been used for many new secondary schools across the country
The Council is currently at the pre-planning design stage, and is taking the opportunity to seek the views of the local community ahead of the planning application being submitted. The date for submission of the planning application has been tentatively set for the end of August 2020. 
This consultation is an important part of…
Read on ...

Marl Lake at Houghton Regis Chalk Pit Reduced to a Puddle

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Image
Shocking pictures of Houghton Regis SSSI Marl Lake show that the lake has practically disappeared.

These pictures shared by local environment supporter, Sally Gray, were taken today.




The blue flag was placed in the lake at a point at the far end where, in the second week of August, the water was seen draining away.  See Video. The water's edge has receded another few feet since then.

Alan Winter on 13 August, wrote, “I'm no expert, but it seems likely to me that the Marl Lake waters have been trickling away through cracks and fissures for years. The movement of water underground could have been accelerated by earthworks movements on the developer's fields to the north and east of the water treatment centre (sewage works) where another lake appeared.”

To the rear of the edge of the lake, Sally Gray reports that yesterday the ”Water is still flowing into this boggy wooded area"


A hydrological expert from Natural England has now seen the video Alan Winter made during Au…
Read on ...

Houghton Regis Academy May Close - New Build To Be Proposed by CBC

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At the Central Bedfordshire Council meeting on 26 September 2019, Cllr Susan Goodchild raised a query with regard to Houghton Regis Academy:

Council - Thu, 26th Sep 2019 - 6:30 pm - Central Bedfordshire Council Webcasting

Cllr Pat Hamill also raised the matter:

Council - Thu, 26th Sep 2019 - 6:30 pm - Central Bedfordshire Council Webcasting

Prior to the meeting, Central Bedfordshire Council responded to news that Houghton Regis Academy may close. And next month they are proposing that work is started to build a new secondary school on the Kingsland site at Parkside. Below their response is the letter sent out by the Greenwood Academies Trust.
Cllr Sue Clark, Executive Member for Families, Education and Children said: “The Greenwood Academies Trust have announced their decision to apply to close Houghton Regis Academy and the Secretary of State has agreed to a listening period, or consultation, on this. The likelihood of closure of the academy has accelerated the need to bring forward …
Read on ...

Police Appeal After Man Robbed in Houghton Regis

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Bedfordshire Police are appealing for witnesses after a man was robbed in Houghton Regis.
At around 10pm on Saturday 1st August, the man was on Bedford Square, near the park, when he was approached by five offenders. The group attacked the victim and stole his phone, his bank card, and a quantity of cash.
During the attack, the victim sustained superficial cuts to his face, stomach and forearm, which required medical attention but are not serious or life-threatening.
The offenders are described as young men, wearing face masks with their hoods up, riding bikes.
PC Helen Pecorini, investigating, said: “Thankfully the victim only suffered minor injuries, but was left distressed by this incident. We are appealing to anyone in the area who may have the offenders before or after the incident.”
Anyone who can offer any help in this matter is asked to get in contact with the police, or contact Crimestoppers.  Alternatively, information about this incident can be reported via police reporting webs…
Read on ...
Houghton Regis local news, events, council news, going on in Houghton Regis and nearby villages, Bedfordshire, UK. Editor Alan Winter

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Houghton Regis News Desk

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