Dunstable Town Council
Grove House and Gardens
Dunstable has a long civic tradition, its first charter, granting independent market rights, was granted in 1131 and re-affirmed and extended by successive medieval monarchs. A charter of 1864 established the modern Borough Council which was absorbed into the new South Bedfordshire district in 1974. The town’s civic traditions were continued by the District Councillors for the town acting as Charter Trustees who annually elected a Town Mayor from their number. The Town Council (comprising the Town Mayor and 20 other elected Councillors) was established in April 1985 following a local campaign and is now one of the largest Town Councils in the country. It exists to deliver local services and to represent the residents of Dunstable on key local issues and is one of two tiers of local government in Bedfordshire. Dunstable Town Council currently employs 38 staff (rising to 50 during the summer), to deliver a range of community based services that comprise the following; Priory House Tourist Information and heritage centre; a full and comprehensive events programme; town centre management and regeneration initiatives; services for young people delivered from two Council owned community premises; an older people’s day care service; a community grants scheme and a children’s summer play scheme. It is anticipated that these responsibilities will grow following the introduction of unitary local government that took place in Bedfordshire in April 2009.
The Council’s headquarters are in the historic Grove House, originally an 18th century coaching inn. Approximately half of the building is let commercially to the Central Bedfordshire Council (Register Office and Marriage Room), Citizens Advice Bureau and the office of the Dunstable Association of Charities. Through an innovative partnership Dunstable Town Council and Bedfordshire Police also provide a Community Policing Access Point, for Police Neighbourhood Beat Officers and Police Community Support Officers to use at Grove House.