Houghton Regis News Desk

Tree Tops Music: Natasha Seale
Fri 9 Nov from 6pm

Tree Tops Café at Rushmere Country Park

£15 inc parking and glass of wine/juice



Natasha is delighted to announce the amazing Tom Dibb will join her at this event! He played at our Local Food Festival and we loved him!

Natasha Seale's energised and emotional voice is music for music lovers - she returns to the Tree Tops Cafe to present a mixture of original songs and contemporary classics.

https://www.greensandtrust.org/Event/tree-tops-music-natasha-seale





Greensand Trust Talk: Spiders
Thurs 15 Nov 11.30am

Working Woodlands Centre, Maulden Wood

£4 inc refreshments

Volunteer Tom Thomas will tell us why these much-maligned and often feared creatures are in fact "good companions".

https://www.greensandtrust.org/Event/greensand-trust-talk-spiders





Make your own Christmas Wreath
Sun 25 Nov – 3 sessions

Rushmere Country Park

£20 inc tuition and all materials

https://www.greensandtrust.org/Event/make-your-own-christmas-wreath-2018



Chr…

Have you ever wondered how fairies got their wings? Then fly over to SpellView Academy and find out the answer in TADS theatre group’s original family pantomime, Once Upon a Fairy Tale.

Pixie Dust, a shy fairy-ling, arrives at the prestigious SpellView Academy for trainee fairies, after winning a scholarship. She is keen to graduate and receive a pair of prized fairy wings. However, there are others, including Maleficent, who are not so keen to see her succeed and the fairy-ling is soon thrown into an adventure that will take her on a journey of self-discovery.

With the help of her best friend and fellow student fairy, Puck, Pixie must face her fears in order to save not just her school but all of the fairyland. Will she succeed?

The only way to find out is to join the cast at TADS theatre, Conger Lane Toddington, Bedfordshire
Evenings performance: Friday 7th , Friday 14th and Saturday 15th December.
Matinee performances: Saturday 8th , Sunday 9th and Saturday 15th.

You can book and …

Houghton Hall Park, a historic parkland site in Houghton Regis owned and managed by Central Bedfordshire Council, was recently given a ‘Highly Commended’ award in the ‘Biodiversity and Landscape Improvement’ category at the CPRE Living Countryside Awards. Despite its urban environment, the park is a haven for a range of wildlife due to careful habitat management.

Councillor Steven Watkins, Deputy Executive Member for Community Services - Libraries, Leisure and Countryside at Central Bedfordshire Council, said: “Houghton Hall Park has a range of habitats, including grasslands, scrub and woodlands. With so many habitats in a relatively small area, it makes for a rich diversity of wildlife. We are indebted to the Friends of Houghton Hall Park who help us to manage these habitats through regular working parties. They keep the parkland at its best and ensure a rich biodiversity for all to enjoy.

“The park has been transformed to meet the needs of a growing community, whilst retaining its …

Dear Sir,

I'd like to thank everyone at News Desk for sharing my post and to readers who bought 'Luton Town FC - A Season by Season History 1885-2018' which I told you about earlier in the year. All royalties are being devoted to Prostate Cancer UK and are building up nicely. Thank you all.

Two more of my books are now available on Amazon and again all royalties will go to good causes.


'My First Four Lives' is an autobiography covering the first 35 years of my life which spanned the 1940s -1970s. It includes growing up in Houghton Regis, life at the School on the Green and at Dunstable Grammar, working for the Meteorological Office at Dunstable and elsewhere and eventually my life as a police officer in Huntingdonshire and West Wales. £8.99.

There are detailed descriptions of Houghton Regis and its characters as I knew them and some unique photographs.

Included in the second part of the book I reveal the guilty secret behind the arrest of the Phantom Thumper, the …

A new planning application is being proposed for Oakwell Park. The details are not in the public domain yet, but a representative from Optimis Consulting will be attending Town Council Planning Committee on Monday 22nd to discuss their new scheme.

The previous outline application for a residential development of about 100 new homes had proposed the demolition of all buildings and removal of some trees on the site. That application was refused after a petition was raised and the main house on the site was awarded Grade II Listing status. The outline application was refused in July 2017.

In October 2017 Oakwell House was being offered on the market at £2,950 per calendar month.

Oakwell Park is a gated property situated in the Green Belt between Thorn Rd and the A5 dual carriageway. It adjoins Thorn Spring woodland to the northeast which is designated as a County Wildlife Site. This woodland incorporates Thorn Spring moated site and is believed it dates from the 12th or 13th century.


Th…

The annual Pride of Houghton Awards took place last Saturday and once again celebrated some truly remarkable residents of the town. The award nominees, local businesses and the Town Mayor were just some of the guests that crowded into the Houghton Regis Memorial Hall to celebrate achievements and good deeds.

The Pride of Houghton Awards have been held annually since 2003. Nominations are invited from residents from March until August, and the scheme is advertised by the Town Council and on social media pages.

The Town Mayor, Cllr Ken Wattingham, opened the event to an audience of over one hundred special guests, including the High Sheriff of Bedfordshire.

The event included a table buffet, a number quiz, hosted by DJ Big Man Craig, and a video presentation of previous winners.

Mrs Beryl Morton the prestigious award of Honorary Freeman at the Pride of Houghton Awards Ceremony on 13th October.
Although Mrs Morton was unable to attend in person the Mayor Cllr Ken Wattingham made the fol…

14 October 2018
The Pride of Houghton Awards took place in Houghton Regis on Saturday 13th October 2018.

Bedfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner, Kathryn Holloway, has submitted an emergency bid of £4.571m to the Government’s Special Policing Grant fund to continue to pay for the county’s fight against gang, gun and knife crime in a bid to save young lives.

Commissioner Holloway is calling on the Government to cover the unprecedented spend on the fight against the spread of gangs, knife carrying and gun use.

The call follows an incident where a 16-year-old was stabbed to death on the streets of Bedford on a Sunday in September, another where seven young people ended up in hospital in Luton on the same evening with knife wounds after a fight involving teenagers.


Kathryn Holloway said this week, "I’ve personally been present when a single weapons amnesty bin was opened at Halsey Road in Bedford which was found to contain four guns, a serrated zombie knife of over two feet in length, a vast Malaysian machete, a ceremonial sword and a selection of machetes, cleavers and kitchen kniv…

Back in November 2015, outline planning was granted for a residentially led, mixed-use development of up to 1,850 dwellings on the site dubbed HRN2, situated between the Chalk Pit, Bedford Road, and the A5.

Now, under plan CB/18/03530/RM, documents have been submitted seeking detailed permission for 264 new dwellings on plots of land within HRN2, on either side of Thorn Fam, on the northern side of Thorn Road. Known as Parcel 3 and Parcel 4, the plots are sandwiched between Thorn Road and the new A5 dual carriageway. Under the overall HRN2 scheme the plots will be in close proximity to a new primary school and a new local centre.

The locations are marked on the unofficial zoomable Houghton Regis Places Map, compiled by HRND editor, Alan Winter.

Images below are indicative of the view a motorist might have while travelling along Thorn Road and looking to the North (in one continuing view), after construction. At the moment, the view is of open fields.


The developer will be Bellway Hom…

There's an exciting programme of events coming up at Rushmere Country Park with all proceeds supporting the park.


Fox and Rabbit art workshop for adults, Wed 17 Oct 10.30am – tickets £20. Find out more.




Halloween Disco Thurs 25 Oct 6.30pm – 9pm £12 per child. Find out more.





Feed the Birds family fun day 28 Oct 11am – 3pm (free entry). Find out more.




Tree Tops Music: Natasha Seale Fri 9 Nov from 6pm – tickets £15pp. Find out more.


The Greensand Trust has been running an appeal to secure and restore Shire Oak Heath Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) to its former glory throughout 2018.

Now, thanks to a generous donation from the Rotary Club of Leighton-Linslade, the appeal has almost achieved its total and, with a little more help, can raise the £50K needed to restore the site.


To find out more visit the Greensand Trust

It's long been the aspiration of Central Bedfordshire's Housing department to include the Red House in its plans for their new flagship housing and retail development in the centre of Houghton Regis. And now, two years after planning consent to turn the Red House into an activity building for visitors, the Council are applying for permission to carry out extensive remedial works on the Red House.

Scaffolding was erected around the building from 10th August 2017. Since then further reports on the building and the potential works required just to make the building safe have been obtained by the Council.
Structural engineers have written that the task will be,  "a challenging and extensive repair and restoration process". Extensive works are required to the building including works to the timber-framed structure and roof of the main building and outbuilding, works to the chimney structure, works to the staircases, works to windows and external doors, and damp proofing wo…