Public Consultations
Cemetery Public Consultation
The Council wishes to capture the public’s views on issues relating to the future of Vandyke Road Cemetery. With approximately 8 years of burial capacity remaining, the inability to find and secure suitable burial land either within the parish or outside means that the council needs to think about ways to maximise burial capacity within its existing site. The public consultation exercise will ask parish residents to consider options that could provide additional burial capacity in order to meet increasing demand by an ever expanding parish population.
In order to capture as many comments as we can, we intend holding consultation events at the following locations and times:
Market 11th June ’19, 29th June ’19 and 9th July ’19 (9am – 4pm)
The Council Offices 19th June ’19 (10am – 5pm), 17th July ’19 (6pm – 10pm) and 18th August ’19 (10am – 3pm)
Vandyke Road Cemetery Chapel 26th June ’19 (10am – 4pm) and 24th July ’19 (6pm – 10pm)
Alongside the traditional methods of public engagement, we will also be using electronic methods for those unable to attend the public engagement sessions.
Have your say here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/7Z7KFLY
It is hoped that the findings will be presented to the 9th September Grounds and Environmental Services Committee for its consideration.
The issue is both complex and for some, will be a sensitive topic. It is important to be aware that the final decision is made by council and may not always reflect some of the views expressed during community engagement and consultation. The council will do its upmost to take all comments into consideration when seeking a workable solution in the interests of the town’s ability to accommodate those wishing to be buried within the parish.
Residents Survey
Between September – November 2018 we undertook face to face surveys with just under 500 residents at a number of locations in the town. The feedback has helped us develop our Five Year Plan for 2019-2024.
The full residents survey report can be viewed here.
Have your say on your local high street shops and services
Central Bedfordshire Council is out talking to residents, visitors and businesses about local shops and services as part of a survey to benchmark 11 of its major town centres. The surveys will help the Council better understand how its local town centres are changing, as well as identifying any issues or opportunities that may arise from this.
The benchmarking report will be used to compare how Leighton-Linslade and our other local towns are performing against similar locations elsewhere in the country. It will look at the types and mix of retail and services found on local high streets, and the number of people using town centres and their local car parks. Local residents will also be able to give their views and comments via online surveys, and local businesses will be provided with a trading focused survey to complete.
Over the last few years, the council has invested up to £4 million in its local town centres as part of its Market Town Regeneration Fund. This investment has seen grants for 21 new shopfronts in seven towns, including £56,500 for four premises in Leighton-Linslade,whilst also providing funding and support for other projects, such as street-cleaning machines, splash parks, more car parking spaces, community bandstands, and improved local signage and events information across the area.
In Leighton-Linslade, the Market Town Regeneration Fund has enabled, in partnership with the Town Council, a relaunch of the town’s market and new events signage, as well as new lighting on architectural buildings which is due to be delivered by the end of this year. The council is also looking to get a better understanding of the state of the current local retail market and future anticipate demand from retailers and others for commercial space in the town centre.
Councillor Kevin Collins, Executive Member for Planning and Regeneration at Central Bedfordshire Council, said: “Our town centres need to be fit for the future. The surveys are a really good opportunity for business and residents to have their say about what they like about their town centres, and what they feel could be better.
“Few of us could have not noticed that town centres have seen several big-name shops close nationally. Other retailers are scaling back or thinking very carefully where about where they locate their premises. Commentators are putting this down to a shift from physical shopping to the convenience of big online outlets.
“While we as a council are unable to control national chains from closing down and people from choosing to shop online, we are doing our upmost to regenerate Leighton Linslade and our other local towns, to make them attractive places for residents and visitors. These latest benchmarking surveys will help provide us with data that will help us, the local town councils and local communities better understand the dynamics in our local market towns, and provide ideas for improving them and looking to the future.”
The online survey for Leighton Linslade is being overseen by an external organisation, called People and Places, and is available here.
The online survey is live until the end of July. A report produced for each of the towns will be published early autumn.
You can view the results of previous surveys by clicking on the link below. This data supports the Town Council in planning town centre focused work.
You can view the 2018 survey report here
You can view the 2017 survey report here
