Houghton Regis News Desk

Following last night's demonstration at the offices of Houghton Regis Town Council, Central Bedfordshire Council have issued the following statement, "We want to clarify the latest position on the regeneration plans for the Kingsland site following the protest at the Houghton Regis Town Council meeting last night." "We want to reassure the local community that there have been no decisions, deals or secret meetings. " "Central Bedfordshire Council started discussions with Legacy about the potential redevelopment of the Kingsland site. Although discussions are continuing with Legacy no decisions have been made. We are continuing to explore regeneration options for both the Kingsland site and other areas of Houghton Regis.  We are particularly keen to ensure there is a quality education offer for the area and affordable housing for local residents.  We are still working with Legacy on this. " "To help us with this we’ve recently attracted

CBC has responded to HRND's questions. The chief exec of Kensington and Chelsea council has resigned over criticism of that council's response to the Grenfell Tower fire. No-one wants a disaster locally, whether it's a plane crash, a meteor, or massive fire, but the question is an important one that we'd all like to think that our local authority is organised for. HRND asked Central Bedfordshire Council,  "In the event of a disaster happening in Houghton Regis, who will take charge of the situation, and how quickly will you be able to put people in position to command, control, and re-house any affected members of the public?" A full response has been sent by Marcel Coiffait, the Director of Community Services, on behalf of Richard Carr, the Chief Executive of Central Bedfordshire Council: "The Council has a well-rehearsed Emergency Plan process and a range of staff specially trained to take charge at operational, tactical and strategic leve

NHS England has removed special measures on Bedfordshire's health body, after it delivered on an improvement plan to stabilise its finances and put the organisation on a firmer footing. Bedfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group was placed under 'legal directions' in 2015 after it delivered a £42m uncontrolled loss over the previous two years. The 'legal directions' meant that a new Accountable Officer and Executive team was appointed and the organisation was closely scrutinised to ensure better financial management and corporate governance was put in place. The organisation also increased its clinical leadership, appointing a number of clinicians, including a new chair to the health body, to ensure that all decisions were made with patients in mind. Dr Alvin Low, Chairman of Bedfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group said, "We are delighted that NHS England has lifted 'legal directions'. It is a resounding endorsement of the hard work and commitment show

Two Independent Houghton Regis Town Councillors have formed a group on Houghton Regis Town Council so that they can have representation at 'Leaders group' meetings. The current mix of the town councillors is 6 Labour, 3 Liberal Democrat, 3 Community Independent Alliance, 2 Independent. This doesn't reflect the way the public voted in 2015 as some have changed the label under which they were originally elected. In a statement Cllr David Abbott, Independent councillor for Tithe Farm, wrote on social media, "We have no fixed policies, and although we will discuss issues as they arise and will work in collaboration, we are free to speak independently and vote as each feels is appropriate.' He added, "I fully expect that there will be issues where Councillor Ellaway's view will differ from mine and thus she will thus vote the opposite way, and likewise me, her. Further to this, I understand that our stance is almost the same as those Councillors wh

  Events and Courses Summer Unconference - Tuesday 11 July, 10am – 4pm. Bunyan Meeting Rooms, Bedford. Organised by Bedford Community Network, this is a free, delegate-led event for voluntary organisations in Bedford Borough.   An unconference is an unconventional conference which is organised, structured and led by the people attending it. There is no fixed agenda, no-one has selected the speakers before the event, no-one has decided for you what an 'Important Topic' is, and there will be no 'death by powerpoint' keynote speech!   If you have an idea for a session or a burning issue you'd like to raise then come to the event and pitch it, but you don't need to have all the answers!  If you don't have any ideas for a session, come to the event anyway, see what other people are suggesting and get involved!   The venue has multiple rooms so we can cater for several workshops and discussions. Once we've filled the timetable with all the interesting topics,

Bedfordshire Police's new Schools Liaison Team is off to a flying start; in the team’s first three months they have engaged with over 17,000 students across Bedfordshire. The Schools Liaison Team was introduced to strengthen relationships with teachers and pupils at the 363 educational establishments across Bedfordshire. Through regular visits, the team has been educating young people on a variety of topics and giving advice about how to minimise their chances of becoming a victim of crime. In May, the team engaged with almost 7,000 children and young people across Bedfordshire. Their focus last month was on delivering educational sessions about knife crime and youth violence and the consequences of these crime types. They continue to address concerns raised by teachers, and work closely with them to ensure they are aware of the work going on across the force. Sergeant Ben Dimmock, who manages the team, said: “The team has been receiving some really positive feedback from a

By Alan Winter An official launch event with invited guests was held at Verey Road in Dunstable today. The occasion was the opening of TeamSports 21st Go Karting venue in the UK. Among the attendees were Perry McCarthy (the original Stig), CBC Councillor Nigel Young (Executive Member for Regeneration), Cllr John Kane (Deputy Mayor of Dunstable Town Council), and Cllr Joanna Hillyard (Mayor of Houghton Regis). Guests were treated to two 15 minute track sessions, and being one of the guests,  I can tell you that for a first timer, I felt it very exhilarating to be flying around the multi-level track at up to 40mph. I thought I was doing okay following The Stig, then he put his hand up giving the all-clear for everyone to go faster, and I got left behind a bit. If anything, I'm a bit miffed that Cllr Young had slightly faster lap times than me. I guess I drive like a sedate pensioner. The Stig, from BBC Two show Top Gear, had fastest on the time on track this morning,

FREE FOOTBALL CLUB Do you live in Luton, Dunstable or Houghton Regis and have a child that loves football? All ages welcome from YR2 - YR9. We only have a few spaces remaining for next years YR3 (U8) and YR6 (U11) squads During the past few sessions all the children have had at least 300 touches of the ball as a warm up. We have then focused on 1v1s, Creation of space and awareness, passing and receiving and shooting. ✅NEW YOUTH FOOTBALL CLUB 2017/2018 ✅ZERO SUBS TO PAY, FREE TRAINING ALL SEASON. TEAMS ENTERED INTO BMSL OR CHILTERN YOUTH LEAGUE ✅Teams from U7-U14. - training saturday mornings and playing Sunday mornings ✅Access to Elite football for all. ✅INDIVIDUAL PLAYER DEVELOPMENT PLANS ✅One club playing Philosophy ✅Dedicated Coach for each team ✅GK Specific Training ✅Headed up By Tony McCool (Youth Football coach and Scout for Norwich City & 1st team technical scout for Bradford) and Kevin Gallen (Ex QPR & Luton Town Forward & Now Brighton 1st team te

 An application has been submitted to build 4 new classrooms on Parkside Campus (Kingsland) for The Chiltern School.   The school provides help for pupils with a range of learning needs including Moderate learning difficulties and additional needs  Severe learning difficulties  Autism and autistic spectrum conditions Profound and multiple learning difficulties Currently the largest class has 10 pupils but the average class size is 7 pupils. The secondary school was built in 2000s as an extension to the original primary school building, built in the 1970’s. This proposed new building will provide 291m² of much needed classroom space to accommodate a further 24 pupils to the 106 pupils whom already attend the school.  The need for extra classroom space is derived from the school’s requirement to extend the provision of much needed Specialist Educational Needs facility serving the current catchment area and beyond. The building will be created using 10 prefabricated mo

Members of Houghton Regis Art Town were at Central Bedfordshire's Cheering Volunteering event held at Grove Theatre on Tuesday evening. This summer, Full House Theatre is bringing a programme of live arts events, performances and activities to Houghton Regis as part of Houghton Regis Hullabaloo. Watch out for them at The Houghton Regis Carnival on 8th July, and if anyone would like to bring a class along to Houghton Regis Hullabaloo or would like to host a performance or arts activities, then contact Fullhouse . Taking place in schools, community venues and spaces, this brand new festival is a celebration of local artists and the achievements of local young people, for children and families in Houghton Regis. Children and young people take part in weekly sessions run by trained practitioners every Tuesday during term time at Hawthorn Park Community Primary. Coming later in the year is Houghton Halloween Tales! Become A Community Ambassador And there are opportunitie

By Alan D Winter  6/6/2017 13:27pm Central Bedfordshire Council are ​still exploring, with Legacy, options for both the Kingsland site but also other areas of Houghton Regis, too. What's Happened So Far? In March 2016 the Central Bedfordshire Council Leader Cllr James Jamieson, Rio Ferdinand and Housing Minister Brandon Lewis MP met at the MIPIM conference (a 4-day real estate exhibition, conference and networking event gathering 24000 international property professionals). They announced a 6 month exclusivity period where they would work up proposals for the Kingsland Legacy scheme. After the 6 month period ended, the Legacy team explained their plans to the media. On the BBC website in October 2016 it stated, "They will start work building 1,300 homes just outside Luton in 2017 at a cost of £400m in partnership with Central Bedfordshire Council and Aviva Investors. The players' current project will see 1,300 homes built in one of the most deprived areas of