Houghton Regis News Desk

​ ​ Lorraine Moore ,  Fire Safety Officer ​,  is proud to inform you that her Grandson, Cameron Moore (Age 12) is in his fourth year of raising money for The Firefighters Charity. This year he has organised a Virtual Run, a Virtual Run is where you pick the distance that you would like to run during the month of August (you can run, jog, walk or use a treadmill). The distances are 5km, 10km or 20km.  You complete this at your own pace during the month so you can either do it in one hit or you can do lots of short runs over the month. Once you have achieved the distance you signed up for, you send evidence via email to Cameron.  This can be screenshots of the treadmill, Strava App, Nike running App, fitness watch, map my run or similar to prove that you have completed your target. Once Cameron receives this he will send you out your medal. The entrance fee is £10 for adults and £8 for children under the age of 14 (as of 31st August) and all profit goes to the Firefighters Charity. You c

Houghton Hall Park, Houghton Regis Monday 31 July – two sessions The popular Bug Lab event will be returning to Houghton Hall Park in Houghton Regis this summer with two sessions for you and your children to hunt for mini-beasts with experts on hand and do a fun bug-related craft activity. Organisers say that places are limited, so booking is essential - adults are free of charge with tickets available one per participating child at £3 each. Book at  https://www.greensandtrust.org/Event/bug-lab-2017-at-houghton-hall-park  Session 1: 12.30pm – 1.15pm  Session 2: 2pm – 3.15pm  All children must be accompanied by an adult - not suitable for under 4s  Please wear long sleeves, trousers and suitable footwear  Outdoor event with little shelter  No dogs please  While equipment and guides are provided, the session involves group work and sharing of materials

New areas of wild flower planting are being created in Houghton Hall Park. The Park team point out that some bare areas will be appearing over the next few weeks. The areas first need to be prepared by ground clearance and spraying to prevent aggressive weeds from growing back and taking over the more fragile wild flowers. Once the area has been cleared and the soil raked then wild flower seed will be sown and the plants will appear soon afterwards. The seeds to be used are a standard wild flower mix from a reputable supplier and consist of a variety of both native and other nectar-producing plants. This will provide colour, cover and, most importantly, a rich source of nectar and pollen for bees, butterflies and a host of other insects which will use the flowers as food sources. Other wildlife such as birds and bats will also benefit from the increase in insects in the Park. The Park team hope that you will enjoy the added colour, variety and wildlife that these new areas wi

On Tuesday night's Town Council Agenda were a couple of items to do with complaints. Both items were shrouded in mystery with regard to who was involved and the nature of the complaints. The first item acknowledged that a Complaints Sub-Committee had held a meeting on 13th June 2017 and that the complaint was not upheld. The second item was a Code of Conduct Complaint. This had been upheld by the Monitoring Officer at Central Bedfordshire Council who had recommended that training is provided in "Officer-Member relations and the role of the Town Council as an employer". The Town Council were asked to clarify how Code of Conduct complaints and associated outcomes are handled. After debate and demands for more information, the Town Council agreed that the relevant councillor or councillors will be provided with training, and the Corporate Services Committee would develop a Code of Conduct Complaint Handling Policy. After the voting, Cllr James Carroll made a shor

A response to adverse comments made on Houghton Regis News Desk about the blue painted fencing on the inside of the Woodside Link road has been received from Central Bedfordshire Council. The reply is marked Unclassified, which means if shared it would cause little or no damage to the Authority. Many comments on the item were to do with cost and suggested that the money was not well spent. The Council says cost is a common theme on any social media postings about council projects.  The Council says this artwork element is very modest compared to the costs of the overall WSL scheme. One person claiming inside knowledge had stated on the Houghton Regis News Desk thread that the cost of the paintwork was £2341.68. To the charge that 'the art scheme was bolted on after the scheme had bolted, denying the opportunity of any formal objection to it', and that there was no planning application, the Council says, " It was a requirement of the Development Consent Order for the

Houghton Regis Town Council is now so divided that the task of getting work done would appear to be, at best, very difficult. At least, from a spectator viewpoint, the meetings are stimulating, writes Alan Winter, the editor at Houghton Regis News Desk. Last night's meeting was well attended by members of the public, some even from Dunstable, no doubt equally curious as to why the local Labour group leader, Cllr Kennedy (Parkside), had encouraged them to come along. As the same councillor had been barred from a local "Occurring" Facebook group a few days earlier, no doubt this helped to fuel their curiosity. Tithe Farm, was under-represented at the meeting, being two down. It must be noted that apologies were given for one Labour councillor, but not for the other absent Labour councillor.  The numbers were crucial, for they could have made a big difference to the motions that followed, were debated, and voted upon. Under public question time, it was queried wh