Houghton Regis News Desk

Travel on the M1 will be disrupted during late March and early April in Bedfordshire while new bridges are constructed between junctions 11 and 12. Traffic flow will be managed using temporary lane closures and a reduced 50mph speed limit. Over the period of the works, the speed limit will be in place and monitored by average-speed cameras. Work has commenced on both carriageways.  Highways England will maintain a minimum of three lanes of traffic in each direction on the motorway. While the new junction is being built, the hard shoulder on the M1 will be closed between junctions 11 and 12 in both directions.  Three lanes will remain open during the day with traffic running on lanes 1, 2 and 3 with occasional overnight lane closures in place.    The schedule below lists only road works which include full carriageway closures requiring diversions. All planned roadworks are subject to change due to weather conditions or unforeseen circumstances. 1/4/2016: Change to

Rio Ferdinand teams with Central Bedfordshire Council in bid to leave lasting Legacy in Houghton Regis Former England captain Rio Ferdinand has today announced Government-backed plans to partner Central Bedfordshire Council and regenerate one of the most deprived areas in Houghton Regis with a world-class sports academy and education and community facilities to transform the lives of young people. Legacy – the former Manchester United defender's regeneration company, set up in 2015 with footballers Mark Noble (West Ham United) and Bobby Zamora (Brighton) – will partner Central Bedfordshire Council to revitalise Kingsland area of Houghton Regis. Set in the 22-hectare Kingsland site, this is an innovative pilot scheme which Legacy aims to roll out across the UK. It will see Houghton Regis benefit from a leading sports academy – with potential as the base for the Rio Ferdinand Foundation – while the former England international will personally coach aspiring young f

      Funding E-Bulletin   Newsletter   March 2016   Voluntary and Community Action     Welcome to the March 2016 issue of the Funding E-Bulletin from Voluntary and Community Action. ACT Foundation ACT provides grants to individuals and other charities, with the aim of enhancing the quality of life for people in need, (specifically the mentally and physically disabled). Applications can be submitted at any time. The Grants Manager, The ACT Foundation (ACT), 61 Thames Street, Windsor, Berkshire, SL4 1QW, Tel: 01753 753900 E-mail: info@theactfoundation.co.uk   Website: http://www.theactfoundation.co.uk/ The Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation Funding is available to not-for-profit organisations, including charities, companies and community trusts, for projects in the areas of culture and the arts that m

Bridge beam lifts are due to start this evening, 16th March, for the Luton Road bridge over the M1 at Junction 11A. The main bridge for the new Jct 11a will follow on. The first six closures are for the Luton Road  Bridge.  The overnight carriageway closures take place between 10pm and 6am, and are between junctions 11-12, and the diversion routes are: Southbound: M1 southbound traffic will exit at junction 12 and turn right along the A5120. At the roundabout in Houghton Regis, traffic will turn right towards Dunstable when reaching  the cross road junction adjacent to the National Tyres and Auto Care Centre diverted traffic will turn left and head south to the A505.  Northbound: M1 northbound traffic will exit at junction 11 and turn left along the A505. At the junction with the A5, diverted traffic will turn right and at the traffic lights adjacent to the National Tyres and Auto Care, diverted traffic will turn right towards Houghton Regis. At the roundab

​Central Bedfordshire ​ Council is seeking to procure an arrangement for the management and operation of its Waste Transfer Station (WTS) to be built at Thorn Turn ​ in Houghton Regis.​ The facility has been designed to accommodate all CBC waste apart from green garden waste and HWRC recycling ​, and will mean that the Tidy Tip at French's Avenue can be decommissioned.​ ​The Council are expecting that the new  Transfer Station will be ​come​ operational ​by this time next year.  The operating contract term ​will be  14 years with a break clause at 7 years. ​  Closing date for the  receipt of PQQ (Pre Qualification Questionnaire) 12 noon Thursday 21st April 2016, closing date for receipt of ITT (invitation of Tender) 12 noon Friday 17th June 2016. ​ More information from CBC website  . ​Council's tidy tips ​   ​Photo: The Thorn Turn Site, north of Houghton Regis Chalk Quarry; A D Winter​

As part of the Central bedfordshire Council's plan to develop an Independent Living Scheme on the former Co-op site in Houghton Regis, a number of physical land surveys will need to be carried out in coming weeks. The proposals to include some 170 apartments and shared community spaces and shops, are being drawn up and designed at the moment. Part of that process includes carrying out some archeological and land surveys ahead of submitting a planning application. The first of these surveys will be carried out next week by Terrain Surveys Limited from Monday, 14 – Friday, 18 March 2016. The survey itself will be done from the street with no anticipated impact to residents but we wanted to keep everyone fully up to date. More will start on 21 – 24 March and 4 April respectively – again, with no anticipated disruption.

Road closures for 16 to 18 March 2016, 21 to 23 March 2016 and 30 March to 2 April 2016 There will be road closures on the M1 north and southbound junctions 11 to 12. These closures are to enable beam lifts to take place on the carriageway.  The schedule below lists only road works which include full-carriageway closures requiring diversions. All planned roadworks are subject to change due to weather conditions or unforeseen circumstances. Please note that in the schedule the date given for a night-time closure is the date on which the closure begins. For example, a night-time closure will take place between 10pm and 6am - They will begin at 10pm on the first night and end at 6am on the last night. 16, 17 and 18 March The M1 northbound will be closed between junctions 11 and 12. 21, 22 and 23 March The M1 southbound will be closed between junction 12 and 11. 30 March to 2 April The M1 southbound will be closed between 12 and 11. This information i

Living healthily in midlife can double your chances of being healthy at 70 and beyond ​. Start Quiz! ​ This week has marked the launch of 'One You', a ground-breaking new campaign to help adults across the country avoid future poor health caused by modern day life. Everyday habits and behaviours – such as eating too much unhealthy food, drinking more than is recommended, continuing to smoke and not being active enough – are responsible for around four in ten deaths in England. The 'One You' campaign aims to encourage adults, particularly those in middle age, to take control of their health to enjoy significant benefits now, and in later life. The new campaign from Public Health England will help adults in Central Bedfordshire to be more active, eat well, drink less and be smoke free. One You will also provide information on how people can reduce  ​​ their stress levels and sleep better. It is encouraging adults to start by taking a new online health quiz, called 'Ho

Bedfordshire Police are claiming a proactive approach to tackling online crime. Launched in 2015, the force Cyber Crime Investigation team provides support to inquiries taking place across the force as well as own cyber-dependent crimes. In 6 months they have examined 870  laptops, phones, hard drives, USBs and cameras. 323 cyber crimes have been reported, 243 of those were for harassment, 35 for fraud, 18 for sexual offences. 42 crimes were resolved, with 26 resulting in a suspect being charged. Interestingly, they reckon that the estimated height of data which can be extracted from a 1 terabyte hard drive – a standard on many laptops – if printed onto double-sided A4 paper sheets would be 11.25 miles high.  That would a lot of trees! Click for Further details

Thomas Whitehead Primary School, Houghton Regis Across Central Bedfordshire, groups of residents, town and parish councils and local organisations turned out in force and with national pride to Clean for the Queen, the nationwide tidy-up event over the weekend (Friday, 4 March to Sunday 6 March). There were 28 organised litter blitzes, which were mainly led by ward councillors and town and parish councils, whilst a number of spontaneous clean-ups also took place across Central Bedfordshire, in streets, parks and grass verges. Altogether across the UK, more than a million people have been out and about clearing up the places where they live to help celebrate the Queen’s 90th birthday in April. The campaign, backed by organisations including the Women’s Institute, the National Trust and the RSPB, as well as businesses including McDonald’s, Costa, Greggs, KFC and Wrigley and anti-litter charities such as Keep Britain Tidy and the Campaign to Protect Rural England, was the bigge

Here is a brief summary of the crime information for the past two months: December 2015 January 2016 All crime 670 671 Anti-social behaviour 258 242 Bicycle theft