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Friday 16 November 2012

Council Grants Secure Funding for Key Partners Over Four Years

Houghton Regis Town Council's Grants Sub Committee on Monday night agreed to make grants to the
following Key Partners.

  • SORTED - £3000
  • Dunstable and District Citizen's Advice Bureau - £2200
  • Voluntary and Community Action - £2500
  • South Beds Dial A Ride - £2200
  • Keech Hospice Care - £3740

The Council has the power to award grants. The awards are made annually after the applicants are
approved for Key Partner Status, for a period of 4 years. The Key Partner status gives an organisation
a fair degree of certainty that in each of the four years, an award will be made, and assist the
Council to budget. The contribution made above is just a small help towards the total cost of running
each service.

Chair of the committee, Cllr Alan Winter said, “We hope this boost will continue to inspire others to also support these worthy charities. People in Houghton Regis are frequently very charitable, and there is nothing more worthy than helping those who are less fortunate than ourselves”

“Our next Grants Committee meets in March 2013. I would like to think that local organisations and clubs will come forward to apply for small grants to help them with a project that will benefit
members of our community. If the cash help is required before March, the officers have the power to
grant up to £200. Please don't be shy in coming forward. Our budget is limited, but I'd rather it was used up for the purpose it was allocated, rather than pushed back into general funds. To apply just visit the Town council offices.”


About the organisations awarded.


SORTED is a free and confidential counselling service for young people aged from 5 to 25 in the
Dunstable and Houghton Regis area. The service has contracts with local schools, including All Saints
Academy and Houghton Regis Academy. Play therapy is offered for younger children 5-13 who have
experienced domestic violence.

Dunstable and District Citizen's Advice Bureau is a member organisation of Citizens Advice. They have approximately 28 volunteers at Dunstable and District CAB, and the end user is not charged for their services. They hold outreach services in Tithe Farm and Parkside Neighbourhood Centres, when a paid member of staff visits.

Voluntary and Community Action South Bedfordshire works with voluntary organisations and
community groups on a range of organisational, management and development issues, offering such
things as financial advice, networking events, and volunteer guidance.

South Beds Dial A Ride provide door-to-door transport for the disabled and elderly frail of
Bedfordshire who are unable to use normal public service transport.

Keech Hospice Care cares for adults living in Luton and South Bedfordshire and children from across
Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Milton Keynes, some of whom reside in Houghton Regis. Their aim
is to help patients enjoy the highest quality of life while providing vital support for their family and
friends throughout their loved one's illness and in their bereavement.



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Observations On High Street Houghton Regis

I attended the High Street between 7:45am and 8:15am today to make observations at the temporary roundabout at the head of Bedford Road.





This has now replaced the traffic lights. The pedestrian-controlled crossing across Bedford Road (church to King's Head) has also been removed.

One person was unsure where to cross the road from the Church side. Directed her to a gap between plastic temporary barriers further down. Spoke to site (foreman?) who seemed to arrange for more barriers to be placed around the curb near the church. Another lady on the other side standing waiting to cross, unsure if she should cross there or not. I escorted her across.

Artic lorry turning left from Bedford Road. Wheels go over kerb. Site (foreman?) pointed out to me that the current pedestrian "refuge area" was barriered-off because of the poles still in situ, and tarmaccing work, would be removed so artic lorries would in the end have more manoeuvrability at the junction.

From the Dunstable approach the "straight on" lane is unusable at the moment due to tarmacking and temporary barriers. When it is available to use I am concerned that it might not be used because it is not in alignment with the carriageway on the other side to come off the roundabout. But as this is a temporary roundabout, this may not be a problem in the end.

Observed three vehicles emerge from Dunstable side, in separate incidents continue straight over the roundabout without giving way to traffic signalling right and already on the roundabout. This is dangerous. This occurs because drivers are so used to carrying on from the Dunstable side to the Houghton Regis side while traffic from the Houghton Regis side queues up and signals to turn right. 

Crossing from Co-op to Bedford Square now has no pedestrian lights. Difficult to cross due to now constant flow of traffic.

The speed of traffic now seems much higher than before. Until 20mph is in place, and zebra crossings are down it is going to be tricky for pedestrians crossing the road at all points. It is also going to be harder for motorists to emerge from Church car park and Whitehouse Close.  

Query sent to Highways asking if consideration can be given to painting temporary zebra crossing markings, to assist pedestrians, given the speeded-up traffic, or is the timescale so short before they are properly replaced that it's not worth considering?

Other observations:
“I've seen a lot of feedback from people using the junction Bedford Road / High Street Houghton Regis.
1 People are grateful for the lollipop ladies.
2. People are saying the crossing is too near the junction.
3. People are saying that cars are NOT STOPPING at the roundabout when there is traffic already on it with the right of way.




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Wednesday 14 November 2012

Bus Journey to Luton

More adverse public reactions this week to work going on at Bedford Road/High Street, in Houghton Regis, after an accident occurred on Monday morning.

For those who don't know or aren't aware, I have been down several times to witness. I have reported my observations from day one of the work to Bedfordshire Highways and CBC. I have been told they will revisit their plans. I'm an unpaid layperson. We should expect professional service from the paid professionals, and those who employ them must ask stiff questions.

I took myself off to Luton yesterday. On the bus. Oh, deary me. I used to travel by car from home to Welwyn Garden City in 45 minutes or less, starting the journey at 7am. So I boarded the bus at 8.30am. 

The only bus service from home went all over the place. Someone seemed to get on or off every hundred yards of progress. Thank goodness for bus lanes in Luton. 

When there was standing room only, the driver undid his cash till and got off. A ladydriver got on. She fiddled around in her seat for a few minutes. Then drove about 6 feet, and opened the doors again. A load more people got on. Some who thought they were on didn't want to budge any further down the corridor and were either unable to understand English or so into their headphoned music that others had to speak loudly to get them to budge. Eventually, I arrived in the centre of Luton. Journey time one hour. 

So, roll on the busway. Let's pray we get a faster service for Houghton Regis to take us into the major commercial centre that is local to us.

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Thursday 1 November 2012

Liberal Democrat Leaflet: Woodside Link | Parkside Muga | New Crossings


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