We are a Society of people who live or work in Leighton-Linslade and surrounding area , who care about the town, take an active interest in it and wish to improve the town's environment.
We have recently celebrated 57 years of protecting our town. Keep an eye of threats to our Greenbelt using this interactive map, as a Society we are members of the London Greenbelt Council londongreenbeltcouncil.org.uk/threats_map/ We hold regular meetings on topics of local interest which are open to the public. We arrange visits to local sites of interest, and we distribute a newsletter 3 times a year to our members by email. We use TikTok, Twitter and Facebook to alert members of current issues. The Society's committee consider the implication on the town of Central Bedfordshire Council, Local Plans, mass housing proposals, the impact on the Green Belt, and transport issues be it the railway, highways, new developments, or new landing/departure routes for London Luton Airport. Officers Sue James - Chair John Sharp - Deputy Chair, Transport Officer Mike Shephard - Membership Secretary VACANT Treasurer Gennaro Borrelli -Planning Carole Perham -Secretary Clive Palmer - Committee member |
A plea from The Leighton Buzzard Society concerning the regeneration of the Land South of Leighton Buzzard High Street.
The first priority of Central Bedfordshire Council (CBC) for this long awaited regeneration project should be to address the woeful lack of infrastructure that we as a community are currently suffering from. Due to Government policy our population has increased from around 32,000 in 2000 to over 44,000 today without any increase in the supporting infrastructure that such a significant population growth requires. Facilitating the creation of the long overdue & promised Health Hub, namely additional health facilities that will support our GPs & minimise outpatient & routine hospital visits to the likes of the Luton & Dunstable, Stoke Mandeville, Milton Keynes & other hospitals should be the No. 1 priority of CBC working with the NHS Bedfordshire, Luton & Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board. The CBC owned Westlands Care Home site adjacent to the Duncombe Drive car park would be the perfect central location for this Health Hub. Any reduction in the Duncombe Drive car parking as suggested by CBC is entirely misplaced. There would be an enhanced need for car parking to serve the Health Hub. The Duncombe Drive car park also serves the needs of Market Traders on Tuesdays & Saturdays plus provides parking for Summer events such as the Sunday band concerts & the Splash & Play beach in Parson's Close Park. It is vital that no reductions in parking spaces are made. There is also a need for additional cultural/leisure facilities that our existing theatre & library building cannot accommodate. Again providing these much needed community facilities in this Land South of the High Street should come before any commercial regeneration development. There are two highly relevant public consultation exercises currently available which we earnestly ask that you take the opportunity to participate in to support our campaign to ensure that these two community driven infrastructure developments take precedence over any commercial regeneration proposed by CBC. It is absolutely vital that CBC & our local NHS hierarchy receive a clear message from the public as to the infrastructure priorities that our community needs. |