Houghton Regis News Desk

Central Bedfordshire Council has been named Best Social Work Employer of the Year in a national awards event.


The council’s Children’s Services saw off three other shortlisted local authorities to claim the prize at the Social Worker of the Year Awards on Friday night.


Judges praised the work done by Central Bedfordshire to ensure that social workers have manageable caseloads, good supervision and support with access to great learning and development opportunities and an excellent Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE) programme for newly-qualified children’s social workers.


As part of Children’s Services’ ambitious transformation agenda, during the past three years, teams have been restructured into smaller units with non-caseholding managers. The result of this is that front-line social work staff now have manageable numbers of families to support and can devote more time to getting to know the children they work with, in turn building up positive and lasting relationships…

Lidl UK has confirmed that its new store on Luton Road in Dunstable will open its doors for the first time to customers at 8am on 14th December 2017.

In addition to the ribbon cutting, Lidl will be offering customers the chance to sample some of its award-winning products throughout the day. For the first week of trading customers will be able to enjoy up to £40 off selected non-food products including a record player with USB (£29.99, RRP £49.99) from Thursday 14th, a dehumidifier (£79, RRP £119) from Friday 15th, and a professional food processor (£39.99, RRP £79.99) from Saturday 16th December.

The new supermarket forms part of the company’s ongoing expansion and regeneration plans in the UK which will see it open between 50 to 60 new stores a year. The sustainable store with 1424m² sales area has created up to 40 new jobs and boasts state-of-the-art facilities including an in-store bakery, longer-style tills with dual packing, customer toilets, baby changing and ample parking for…

Roger G Giugno of Osborne House, Sundon Road, Houghton Regis has made public the correspondence between himself and lawyers for Aviva.

A letter emailed to him was posted to on the public Facebook Group known as 'Stop The Destruction of The Kingsland Wildlife Site' which he administers. The letter dated 27 November 2017 from lawyers acting for Aviva Life & Pensions UK Limited makes several requests of him to be complied with as early as 4pm on Thursday 30th November 2017, and suggests he should seek independent legal advice.

In reference to land adjoining his property, and not to the land unofficially named 'Kingsland Wildlife Site', Mr Giugno is asked to give an undertaking not enter their land, damage their land, encourage others to enter their land, not to engage in conduct causing or likely to cause harassment, not to use or threaten to use violence towards an employee, nor to publicise any event on the land. If Mr Guigno fails to give the undertaking the lawyer…

Voluntary sector groups, businesses, shops, offices, cafés, pubs, churches, dental practices and surgeries in Dunstable and Houghton Regis can get free cycle parking under the community cycle parking schemes run by Park That Bike (supported by CBC Travel Choices).

The bike parking stands are free of charge, but you are responsible for installing them on your own property (full instructions are provided) in a location agreed with ParkThatBike

A music teacher has landed a five-year deal with an American publishing and licensing firm thanks to a song he penned in memory of his daughter. Mark Ayles currently works with special needs schools in Biggleswade, Dunstable, Houghton Regis and Kempston


Mark's song ‘You Should Be Here’ was written as a way of paying a heartfelt tribute following the death of his young daughter, Maia.

The song was re-recorded with well-known local artist Denny McCaffrey taking on the vocals while Mark plays the piano along with music friends from local bands


The 2013 recording has been picked up by Music Of The Sea, which is based in Chicago and Los Angeles and which provides music for film, television, advertisements, video games and for big-name artists to rerecord.



Mark explained, “My daughter Maia was born in 1999, but she had a very rare congenital condition which affected her muscles, her breathing – everything really. She was at Great Ormond Street Hospital for two and a half years, cared f…

Robin Hines was made the first Honorary Freeman of Houghton Regis during a special presentation on Thursday 23rd November at the town's council offices. Over 25 people attended the awards presentation at which many personal and notable commendations were made to Mr Hines for his tireless work within the community.

Mr Hines has served as a Liberal Democrat councillor for many years and is proud of the fact that he was born and bred in Houghton Regis, and that his family has a long history in the town.

A former civil engineer with the Royal Navy, he is now retired though has felt in recent years like he has worked harder since than when employed.

The Liberal Democrat councillor from Bidwell Hill has lived through the creation of Tithe Farm and Parkside estates.


The award was made to Mr Hines as the council considered that he had served his community for many years in many ways, from officially serving as a councillor to informally helping his neighbours.

Mr Hines first joined the T…

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Schools across Central Bedfordshire will soon be competing in a race to reach 'Lapland'. 
The 'Santa Challenge' is an interschool cycling, scooting and walking competition that will run from 27 November to 8 December, which is being funded by Central Bedfordshire Council's public health team and organised by sustainable transport charity Sustrans.
Children and families will accumulate miles each time they cycle, scoot or walk to school, double if a parent cycles too. All the miles will be added up at the end of the challenge to see if each school has travelled the required 2050-mile trip to Lapland over the 10-day challenge. 
All pupils that take part will be in with a chance of winning a 'Frog Bike'. Other prizes will also be distributed to schools for teachers to give to participating pupils, including slap bands, badges, teddy bears and other assorted bike-related prizes.
Sustrans Schools Officer, Derek Smulders said: "In previous years, the children h…

Two offenders have been fined over £3,000 for fly-tipping and littering, after both were caught on camera. One was caught by Central Bedfordshire Council's closed circuit television (CCTV) and one on a dash cam provided by a member of the public.

Both offenders were caught in separate incidents, the first at the Poynters Road roundabout and the second at the bottle bank situated on the High Street in Houghton Regis. Both offenders were asked to attend Luton Magistrates Court last week. One of the offenders attended court and pleaded guilty. The other did not attend, but was found guilty of failing to respond to a Section 108 questionnaire.

A taxi driver of Lollards Close, Luton was caught fly-tipping on two separate occasions at the Houghton Regis High Street bottle bank. He was caught dumping a small fridge freezer, four black bin bags, a child’s car seat and some boxes during Thursday 22 May 2017 and Tuesday 4 July 2017. Rahman pleaded guilty and was fined £1,200, ordered to pa…

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Houghton Regis Crime September 2017
◘ Overall:
https://www.police.uk/bedfordshire/65/crime/+mj4Avx/stats/

◘ Tithe Farm:
https://www.police.uk/bedfordshire/65/crime/+cue1Sg/stats/

◘ Parkside:
https://www.police.uk/bedfordshire/65/crime/+E8PNGS/stats/

◘ Houghton Hamlets
https://www.police.uk/bedfordshire/65/crime/+BEfPdE/stats/

◘ Churchfields
https://www.police.uk/bedfordshire/65/crime/+PdzM58/stats/

◘ Houghton Hall Park
https://www.police.uk/bedfordshire/65/crime/+mj4Avx/stats/

◘ Industrial
https://www.police.uk/bedfordshire/65/crime/+hg19Ap/stats/

◘ Bidwell and Sewell
https://www.police.uk/bedfordshire/65/crime/+mMjVux/stats/

By Alan Winter

Three members of Houghton Regis Youth Council attended a meeting of the Community Services Committee of the Town Council on Monday this week and were greeted warmly by the local councillors who were pleased to hear of their involvement in the town this year.

Having operated for about three quarters of the year, they had volunteered at local events. At Houghton Rocks they were involved in a tattoo stall and two of their number performed on stage. At Get Growing, they had come straight from school and began planting in Bedford Square. In July they helped at the Town Carnival, running the coconut shy and lucky dip, and other games including a Slimy Sludge Game. Funds raised from these stalls went towards the Town Mayor's nominated charities.

At the Skate Park Competition, Youth Council members had assisted with the colouring-in stall and a bungee activity. While at the Mayor's Inauguration, they gained a view of how the Town Council works and how meetings are run.

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The Top Ten Stories on Our Facebook Page for October 2017
Have you ever been caught speeding in Drovers Way 20mph zone? A complaint about signs has not been upheld by Central Bedfordshire Council. A member of the public is now taking the matter up with the Local Government Ombudsman. 7628 speeding tickets were issued in Dunstable July 2016 to July 2017 exceeding 20MPH . Posted on 29/09/2017. Served to 23819 unique users.Facebook Link

Andrew Selous, MP, spoke in the Gypsies and Travellers and Local Communities Government Policy on the Proceedings of the House – in the House of Commons at 6:29 pm on 9th October 2017. He told the House, "We need an up-to-date Land Registry. We need the Gypsy and Traveller accommodation assessment to require people to answer questions in interviews. If they can avoid answering the council officer’s questions about whether they are Travellers, the system simply does not work. We need immediate court access for local authorities. The planning policy gui…