Houghton Regis News Desk

A Leighton Buzzard PCSO has been recognised for putting herself in harm’s way to protect a victim of domestic abuse after an incident in the town.

On Saturday 16 November, PCSO Rachel Carne was on patrol in the town centre when she heard a radio call for a domestic assault. Knowing the incident was nearby, she quickly put herself in harm’s way while the response was in transit.

Rachel stepped in to safeguard the victim, get them to a place of safety and stayed to protect them from further harm.

The offender was becoming increasingly violent and attempted to forcibly enter the property, but was blocked by Rachel who held the door firmly shut, turned on her bodycam and provided updates to responding officers.

Once officers were on scene, the offender was detained and taken to custody. He has been released on bail while the investigation continues with the force’s dedicated Emerald team.

Community Inspector Craig Gurr said: “As a PCSO, it is not expected for you to put yourself in such d…

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Since its launch, the NHS 111 telephone service has provided urgent health advice to tens of thousands of people in our region. To make the service even more accessible, an online version of NHS 111 is now available across Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes.

Accessible on smart phones, laptops and other digital devices, the online service is free and easy to use. By logging on to the NHS 111 website, anyone with a medical problem can quickly get advice on what NHS service they might need and how urgently.

After establishing that your condition is not an emergency, you are asked to input your main symptom, for example “headache” or “swollen knee”. A digital search system then returns a list of health conditions that best match that symptom.

On selecting the most appropriate condition, a series of questions with multiple choice answers will appear on the screen that have been carefully designed to assess your health. Healthcare advice will then be provided based on the answers give…

Building work is well underway at a new housing development in Bidwell, Thorn, which will bring almost £5.4m worth of investment to the community.

Ashberry Homes Eastern Counties and Bellway Northern Home Counties will be delivering a mix of 253 two, three and four-bedroom homes in a joint scheme, off Thorn Road. The two developments will form part of a new neighbourhood of up to 1,850 new homes.

As part of the planning agreement, both housebuilders will be making significant contributions to the local area. Almost £5.4m will be put towards early years, primary and secondary education, highway contributions, public transport and bus stop maintenance, off-site indoor and outdoor sports facilities and more.

Alongside the new homes, the developers will also be providing new public open space, including footpaths and cycleways, orchards and a children’s play area.

The first homes have now been released for sale at the Bellway’s Brambleside and Ashberry’s Chalk Fields developments.

Jane Yo…

Trading sleigh bells for bike bells Lower and primary school pupils across Central Bedfordshire are taking part in a Christmas challenge by counting up their walking, scooting and cycling journeys to school to see if they can travel virtually to visit Santa in Lapland.

The challenge organised by Central Bedfordshire Council in partnership with sustainable transport charity Sustrans will take place between Monday 2 December and Friday 13 December and aims to decrease the number of cars used on the school run.

Almost 40 schools have already signed up to take part in this year’s challenge which also gives pupils the opportunity to learn about the towns, cities, cultures and Christmas traditions of the countries they visit along the way.

Using a record card, pupils and their teachers will monitor active travel trips to school. All journeys will then be combined with the goal of achieving 2,000 miles, the equivalent distance from Central Bedfordshire to Lapland. One lucky child will be dr…

Following a successful pilot project at The Linden Academy in Luton, the Signpost Hub and Anne Frank Trust UK now plan to roll out inputs aimed at tackling bullying, discrimination and prejudice in schools across the county using a restorative approach.
It’s International Restorative Awareness Week and the Signpost Hub and Anne Frank Trust UK are working on developing the innovative programme, which is funded by Bedfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner Kathryn Holloway using the feedback given by the school. Year five and six pupils were trained to become peer mediators to act as mediators to resolve conflict or disruptive behaviour within the school environment. Staff members were also given information on how to implement restorative approaches in the school.
A restorative approach is a process focusing on repairing any harm caused. In schools it can be used to challenge the prejudice and discrimination found in hate incidents or bullying, before they escalate. As facilitators the s…

First images have appeared on what the newly enlarged Thornhill Primary school will look like. A reserved matters planning application has been submitted, CB/19/03820/RM, and this number can be searched at the CBC planning applications website.

ECD Architects have been appointed by Central Bedfordshire Council to deliver an expansion scheme to the existing Thornhill Primary School, located in Houghton Regis. The proposal will run parallel to the light refurbishment works of the current facilities at the existing school on-site, considering the masterplan as a whole and ensuring connectivity between the two sites.

This service is delivered via Keegans multidisciplinary design consultancy services.

A pre-application meeting with Central Bedfordshire Council Planners took place in August this year.


The new school would be built on the current northeast boundary of Tithe Farm on former agricultural land, and reuse the old school building after internal reconfiguration and decoration.


The…

At the Gala Awards Evening: 7th November 2019, The Disability Smart Award was won by The Disability Resource Centre based in Poynters Rd/Humphries Rd, Houghton Regis. The award is in recognition of an individual or business that has demonstrated overcoming challenges for themselves or others with a disability, and who has made a positive difference to their lives or the lives of others.

The Disability Resource Centre was very pleased to accept the Disability Smart Award.  they would also like to congratulate Big Health and Fitness who secured highly commended.

Melanie Hawman the CEO of The Disability Resource Centre said “I am very proud and pleased to receive recognition of the services that The Disability Resource Centre’s staff, trustees and volunteers work so hard to provide to the people of Houghton Regis and Dunstable. We are privileged to be able to provide wrap-around solutions to any person needing help in the area and continue to expand the support we offer and the way in ca…

CBC Consultation name: Thornhill Primary School Expansion Consultation

Opened date: Friday, 3 May 2019

Closed date: Friday, 7 June 2019

Next Steps:

Tap/click to enlarge


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A recent council crackdown on Blue Badge disabled parking fraud means that six dishonest drivers are facing possible court action.

Central Bedfordshire Council undertook an exercise on 24 October and 7 November to ensure that disabled parking permits are valid and being correctly used across Central Bedfordshire.

Blue Badges allow a disabled person to park in a disabled bay. These allocated bays provide a fundamental lifeline for disabled people, allowing them to live independently and go about their daily lives more easily by giving them convenient priority parking spaces close to their destination.

During the spot-checks, council officers examined 172 Blue Badges. Out of these, they discovered six instances where the badge holder wasn’t present, which the council will be investigating further. The previous Blue Badge spot-checks earlier this year led to nine successful prosecutions, with fines adding up to over £5,700.

The rules around using Blue Badge parking permits are very clear…

Two principal objections have been lodged by the Wildlife Trusts with Central Bedfordshire Council planning department regarding the proposed building of homes at a site designated as Bidwell Heights — lack of a solid boundary to the quarry and stability of the cliff edge.

And an ecology consultant has welcomed plans for low lighting and the retention of a wildlife corridor between the nearby Bluewaters woodland and the quarry edge.


The site is situated between the northern edge of the Houghton Regis Chalk Quarry and Blue Waters Woodland at Bidwell, Houghton Regis. 336 homes are planned for Countryside Properties Ltd and the planning application is in support of a Reserved Matters submission for residential development of land west of Bidwell, Houghton Regis, Parcels 5a & 5b. Countryside Properties was first founded in 1958. The company has 60 years worth of housebuilding experience with a reputation for high-quality design and build.


In their letter to the planning officer, The W…

I'm ever aware that residents have concerns about the development work going on around the town and so I put a number of questions to the consultants for the Linmere Development. This covers the land being developed between Bidwell, the A5 dual carriageway, the M1, edge of Lewsey Farm, edge of Parkside (excluding the Bellcross proposal), edge of Tithe Farm. Below are their responses.



Who will construct AMP1 houses? 
The houses will be built in phases. We anticipate that there will be a number of different housebuilders working on AMP1  and in turn the rest of the site. (AMP1 is the area to the northeast of Tithe Farm)

When will AMP1 and AMP2 build out start?
The initial infrastructure works for AMP1 have already commenced. At present it is our intention that the construction of homes on AMP1 will commence in the spring of next year. The Visitor Centre is likely to be first construction on AMP2 which is intended to start in the second half of next year.

When will primary school build…