Archived News - Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire Youth Opera proudly presents... Carmen by Bizet
Carmen will transport you to a world of Spanish gypsies, soldiers, bullfighters and smugglers and is one of the most famous operas of all time. A tragic love story with an outspoken, brash female lead, it is filled with musical highlights, including the famous Habanera and Toreador songs.
1 September - 6 September 2008, 7.30pm
University Theatre, University of Bedfordshire, Polhill Campus, Bedford
Tickets £10 and £8 from Central Box Office Bedford 01234 269519
Group discounts available
Excluding 3 September which will be the successful schools' tour 'Fairytales without Fairies' with performances by acappella singing group Peculi8 Tickets £5, group discounts available
For more details, visit www.bedfordshiremusic.com
Source: Bedfordshire Music
House prices in Bedfordshire double in only seven years
House prices in Bedfordshire have almost doubled over the last seven years, according to figures from the Land Registry.
In December 2000, buyers had to pay £97,556 for the average home in Beds, but by December last year the cost had rocketed to £189,687.
That means prices have risen by £1,096 a month over that time, or £253 a week, and the increase has been almost relentless, with the cost of the average home only dipping twice, by less than £100 in August 2003, and then by £542 between July and December 2005.
However in the past year the number of sales across the county has fallen sharply, from 1,138 in December 2006 to 676 the following October.
Tony Inskip, owner of Urban & Rural Property Services, said: "This shows what a good investment buying a house is in the end.
"Prices doubling in such a short space of time is a surprise. If you had asked me in 2000 whether I expected this to happen then I would have told you that I wouldn't have thought so.
"In the longer term, despite one or two blips, property has outstripped almost all other investments.
"And it is something we can all play with. Everybody needs somewhere to live, and you don't have to be an expert in stocks and shares to enter the market.
"But I do feel desperately sorry for first-time buyers, because how they do it defies logic sometimes. It comes down to a mixture of longer-term mortgages, help from the previous generation, and the fact that first-time buyers tend to be older now than they used to be."
To see the cost of house prices in your area, visit www.landreg.gov.uk/houseprices.
Get the Leighton Buzzard Observer every Tuesday.
Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 19 February 2008
Council encourages us all to get walking
County council spokesman, John Pilgrim, said: "We all know that exercise is good for us but there's so much conflicting advice around about how best to keep fit that it can be confusing. But nothing could be simpler than joining a few friends on a good walk through the Bedfordshire countryside.
"Research shows that taking a walk is good for you and taking that walk along with a group of friends through pleasant surroundings is a real bonus."
To find out about walks in your area, visit the website at www.walk4health.org, or telephone healthy walks manager, Liz Millbank, on 01234 762605.
Mr Pilgrim said the council's countryside access team has also produced a number of leaflets which contain information on some stunning walks in the county.
County council cabinet member for community services, Cllr Bob King, said: "The great thing about keeping fit through walking is that you can do it at your own pace and so those 30 minutes a day that we should all spend walking can also be split up into short 10 minute pieces while you build up your fitness.
"There are also ways that people can keep fit and help the community at the same time. Why not offer your services to one of the teams who work throughout the county on conservation projects? They will be pleased to hear from you".
Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 8 May 2007
The greens v the rats - who'll win?
A magnet for vermin or an intelligent way to get people recycling?
The great bins debate has been rumbling on again, and with bin collections back in the headlines, people up and down the country have been talking rubbish this week.
More than 140 councils have already scrapped weekly bin collections in favour of alternate weekly collections, and South Beds District Council is set to follow their lead later this year.
From September 3, householders in the district will have their black bins emptied one week and recyclables picked up the next.
It's been dubbed a way of reducing the amount of rubbish going into landfill, and the council claims recycling rates are set to rocket.
But when the decision was announced last September the Gazette was inundated with angry responses from taxpayers.
This week the district council confirmed that there are no plans to extend kerbside glass collections, so many recyclers will have to continue taking glass to bottle banks.
Since the council's executive committee decided to scrap weekly bin collections, a lot of the talk has been on whether leaving rubbish in bins for longer poses health risks.
An investigation by the News of the World has claimed that levels of "dangerous organisms" found in bins rise dramatically if rubbish isn't picked up for a fortnight.
But the paper also pointed out that research has also shown two-weekold waste is safe if it's wrapped up properly.
This week South Beds District Council said that so far feedback from the public has been "minimal and mixed".
And a spokesman said: "While some residents have expressed concern about the issue, once it is explained to them, most appreciate that it will lead to improved recycling rates and that it is necessary if the council is to avoid landfill taxes.
"The experience from other councils is that the introduction of an alternate week collection service does not result in any increase in rodents or insects, provided people wrap their food waste safely and securely, and store it in their black-wheeled bin with the lid closed."
People living in flats with communal bins will continue to have their rubbish picked up weekly, the Gazette has learned.
The district council is set to spend around £600,000 rolling out new orange recycling bins and mounting an education campaign.
This money comes from a local area agreement grant from Beds County Council.
Two national newspapers, including the News of the World, have mounted campaigns against alternate weekly collections.
It's been one of the big talking points ahead of local elections across the country tomorrow, but it's not one that divides easily along party lines. Councils controlled by all the major parties have switched to alternate collections.
Among these is neighbouring Mid Beds, where the district council claims that the project has been a success.
More than 15,000 tonnes of household waste were diverted from landfill to be recycled, and the recycling rate doubled between April 2005 and March 2006, according to Mid Beds District Council.
And research by the Local Government Association (LGA) suggests that areas where rubbish is picked up less often have higher recycling rates.
LGA chairman Sandy Bruce Lockhart said: "Britain is the dustbin of Europe with more rubbish being thrown into landfill than any other country in the continent.M
"For decades people have been used to being able to throw their rubbish away without worrying about environmental consequences or rising costs.
"Those days are now over."
Source: Dave Burke, Dunstable Gazette, 2 May 2007