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Parish and ward information (Houghton Regis Houghton Hall Ward) Houghton Regis (Houghton Hall Ward) parish topic Value Number of councillors 5 Electorate as of 1 May 2025 7,487 Forecast electorate for 2030 7,968 Current ratio of electors to councillors 1,497 Forecast ratio of electors to councillors 1,594 Central Bedfordshire average ratio of electors to councillors 331 Parish and ward information Houghton Regis (Parkside Ward) Houghton Regis (Parkside Ward) parish topic Value Number of councillors 4 Electorate as of 1 May 2025 4,072 Forecast electorate for 2030 5,218 Current ratio of electors to councillors 1,018 Forecast ratio of electors to councillors 1,305 Central Bedfordshire average ratio of electors to councillors 331 Parish and ward information (Houghton Regis Tithe Farm Ward) Houghton Regis (Tithe Farm Ward) parish topic Value Number of councillors 5 Electorate as of 1 May 2025 4,885 Forecast electorate for 2030 6,218 Current ratio of electors to councillors 977 Forecast ratio of electors to councillors 1,244 Central Bedfordshire average ratio of electors to councillors 331 Houghton Regis parish has a town council. It is warded and has 14 seats on the council. The forecast planned development to March 2030 is estimated at a further 1,741 dwellings which will generate approximately an additional 2,960 residents over the next 5 years.
The parish boundary adjoins the neighbouring parishes of Chalgrave, Chalton, Dunstable and Totternhoe. The parish is coterminous (i.e. they border each other in the same area) within the Central Bedfordshire wards of Houghton Regis East and Houghton Regis West.
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Houghton Hall Ward
Seats and candidates Number of seats 5 Number of candidates in 2023 8 Number of candidates in 2019 13 Number of candidates in 2015 12 Number of candidates in 2011 10 Parkside Ward
Seats and candidates Number of seats 4 Number of candidates in 2023 11 Number of candidates in 2019 5 Number of candidates in 2015 7 Number of candidates in 2011 8 Tithe Farm Ward
Seats and candidates Number of seats 5 Number of candidates in 2023 15 Number of candidates in 2019 6 Number of candidates in 2015 11 Number of candidates in 2011 8 As can be seen from the tables there have been contested elections across all the wards since the creation of Central Bedfordshire.
Statutory changes since the 2017/18 review
The Central Bedfordshire (Electoral Changes) Order 2021 amended the number of councillors for the parish of Houghton Regis (Houghton Hall Ward from 6 to 5 and Tithe Farm from 4 to 5).
Parish council initial proposal for consideration for the 2025 review
At the HRTC town council meeting held on 14 May 2025 its formal response to CBC on this initial CGR consultation, reflecting on the deliberations of the nominated councillors and the discussion held with Chalton parish council. The following resolution was agreed:
Alteration – Houghton Regis Town Council (HRTC) wishes to suggest that that part of Chalton Parish Council’s land bounded by the Houghton Regis parish boundary, the Luton Borough Council boundary, the M1 motorway and the A5-M1 link road (Dunstable Northern Bypass) be transferred into the parish of Houghton Regis.
Number of councillors – to ensure adequate demographic representation given the population growth of Houghton Regis it is requested that the number of Houghton Regis parish councillors be increased to 16 (from 14).
Parish warding – given the recent growth of Houghton Regis, a fourth ward to cover the growth area of Bidwell would support suitable demographic representation. This new ward should be named Thorn Ward as it is reflective of the historic name for this area. The suggested ward boundary would be from Bedford Road following the line of the public right of way to Blue Waters.
At this time HRTC are unable to comment on how 16 councillors should be split across the four wards (as proposed) as CBC have not released population or electorate data in support of the CGR process. HRTC request that HRTC councillors be split across the proposed four wards as evenly as possible such that each councillor represents the same number of electorate.
Parish Warding - Democratic Services Comment
The current polling district HH1 has 3045 properties and 4251 electors. The creation of a new polling district to incorporate all the new development and a small number of the properties in Bedford Road would have 2249 properties with a further 283 planned over the next 5 years making a total of 2532. This would generate a forecast electorate 4304 electors which could served by 3 members ( 2 new and the reduction of 1 member of the existing HH polling district (5 to 4).
