Wigmore, Luton

Wigmore is a suburb in east Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The area is roughly bounded by Telscombe Way and Someries Hill to the north, Wigmore Park to the south, Buckingham Drive and Wigmore Lane to the west, and the edge of Luton to the east.

Wigmore
Wigmore
Location within Bedfordshire
Population11,681 
OS grid referenceTL123226
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townLUTON
Postcode districtLU2
Dialling code01582
PoliceBedfordshire
FireBedfordshire and Luton
AmbulanceEast of England
UK Parliament

History

Before being engulfed by Luton, Wigmore was a small hamlet with few scattered residential houses. It was centred on Wigmore Hall, a farmhouse built in the early 19th century, which still stands at 66 Eaton Green Road.[1] It was not until the 1970s when extensive development began, consisting mostly of suburban low-density residential housing. The 1980s saw further development, as the estate now stretches from the original eastern edge of Luton to the county border.

Local area

Wigmore Lane, the main road through the area, is the home to Luton's only Asda supermarket, the Wigmore Place retail area, the Wigmore House offices and a number smaller chain stores and independent shops. Wigmore Hall now houses the Active Luton headquarters. The area is also home to Wigmore Primary School.

London Luton Airport

Wigmore is notable for its proximity to London Luton Airport, one of the busiest airports in the United Kingdom. Despite being located directly next to the airport, Wigmore suffers from little aircraft noise due to not being on the flight path and the nearby green space Wigmore Park acting as a buffer zone.

London Luton Airport's growth in recent years spawned proposals to purchase and demolish homes in southern Wigmore to construct a second runway north of the current one. However, the Airport authority withdrew this plan in favour of one to develop without the need for an additional or extended runway.

Politics

Wigmore is part of the much larger Wigmore ward, which also includes parts of Vauxhall Park, Napier Park, Ramridge End and Putteridge. The ward is represented by Cllr Peter Chapman (Liberal Democrats), Cllr Diane Moles (Liberal Democrats) and Cllr Alan Skepelhorn (Liberal Democrats).[2] The ward forms part of the parliamentary constituency of Luton South and the MP is Rachel Hopkins (Labour).

Map of Luton wards from 2006-2007 showing Wigmore.

Local newspapers

Two weekly newspapers cover Wigmore, although they are not specific to the area.

They are the:

References
  1. "Wigmore Hall".
  2. https://democracy.luton.gov.uk/cmis5public/Councillors.aspx
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