News In Full February 1st 2010 At the time of writing we are waiting for a delivery before we can refill the grit bin at the Garden Centre but hopefully life will return to normal as soon as possible.- we would like to thank John Hardwick of Chorley Road who has given of his own time and collected supplies of salt and delivered it to the Garden Centre. The bad weather will have caused a large number of potholes and it would be very helpful if the pubic could report them on the Bucks CC telephone number 0845 230 2882 or on tfb@buckscc.gov.uk Let’s hope that by the time you read this we are starting to see the signs of spring with snowdrops coming out and other spring flowers in bud and then the snow can be forgotten for another year. Hopefully it will be many years before we see the same amount of snow on the ground for such a long time which makes it hard for all local authorities, including us, to decide if we should develop contingency plans or consider purchasing equipment which would help solve a short term problem. With the whole country in debt and local authorities at the end of their financial year it could take a while before the road network will be back to the standard we all expect so please drive carefully and avoid and report those potholes.
Potholes Due to the severe weather conditions we have experienced in the last few weeks the conditions of the roads on our network have deteriorated significantly in relation to potholes. Therefore to tackle this problem a report has been signed off by the Head of Transport, Jim Stevens detailing actions to be taken. I am pleased to inform you as of: Monday 4th January: Tuesday 5th January until Friday 22nd January All defects are to be repaired using hot material and are to be of a first time fix standard. Any requests received via the Transport for Buckinghamshire Contact Centre reporting potholes that are not on the precautionary salting network will be passed to the Local Area Technician who will inspect and prioritise accordingly. Category 1 defects on these routes will be dealt with within 48 hours. I would encourage you to continue to use the Contact Centre (0845 230 2882) to report any potholes.
January News from the Parish Council A Happy and Healthy New Year to everyone. At the December Parish Council meeting we set our precept at £30,000 – this means that the cost of the Parish Council to everyone in the Parish will be slightly lower than this year as the amount will be divided between more properties. The allotments are all occupied and a visit to the site shows great progress – congratulations to everyone who took this new hobby on. We are waiting to have fencing erected on the front boundary of the Pedestal Playing Field and once this has been done the next project will be to consider equipment and a hard standing area within the field Hithercroft Football Club have totally agreed to our request not to park on the pavements during matches and they are nearly always parked inside the field, with the occasional car on the far side verge. We are very grateful for this responsible attitude as it makes using the pavement much easier and safer for our residents. Bucks County Council will be installing extra bollards on the junction by Chorley Road to act as a better reminder to drivers that there is a bend that needs negotiating. It will not solve all the problems for Ness Cottage but will help. The next Parish Council meeting will take place on Thursday 14th January 2010 at 8pm in The Church Room.
Consultation on Gypsy and Traveller Sites Please find below links to complete an on line consultation with respect to gypsy and traveller sites. Wycombe District Council is giving local residents and stakeholders the chance to have their say on new sites for Gypsies and Travellers, during a public consultation that started this week. http://www.wycombe.gov.uk/council-services/planning-and-buildings/gypsy-traveller-services.aspx
High Wycombe Crime Prevention and Reduction Advisor.
December News from your Parish Council We would like to wish everyone a Peaceful and Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and to thank Sir Edward and Lady Lucinda Dashwood for kindly donating the two Christmas trees. Also a big thank you to Mr Dave Swallow, The National Trust Team and Mr John Hardwick for all their hard work cutting, erecting and lighting the trees. At the November Parish Council meeting we looked at budgets and expenditure prior to setting our precept in December. Our initial discussions would indicate that we will not increase the Precept and try to keep it at the same level as the current year. We do want to develop the Pedestal Playing Field but equipment will be installed in stages and we will be encouraging the community to carry out some fund raising We have had favourable and helpful discussions with WDC Planning Department, BCC Highways and The National Trust in trying to find a solution to protect Ness Cottage from further damage caused by irresponsible drivers. We would like to remind everyone who walks the land in the parish that there are plenty of official footpaths with gates, stiles or simple field openings – please use them – we have been advised that some dog walkers are making breaks in hedges to access fields – please have more consideration for the farmers and landowners and use the official routes. At the November meeting we had a representative from West Wycombe School come to talk to us about the School’s Travel Plan. Recently there have been a large number of complaints about the appalling parking by some parents with absolutely no regard for the safety of children or for the residents of the village who regularly have their garages blocked and also use the Child Bereavement Trust Car Park. It is always the minority who spoil it for the majority. The Head Teacher is continually asking parents to be more considerate but it seems to fall on deaf ears. The Parish Council will do anything they can to support the School Travel Plan Team in ensuring the safety of the pupils and encouraging better behaviour by drivers whether parents or those speeding through our community. The next Parish Council meeting will take place on 10th December at 8pm in The Church Room. The Clerk works part time for the Parish Council, however we will always be happy to receive emails and please feel free to telephone 01494 448048 and leave a message on the answer machine. Sharon Henson
October News from your Parish Council The Parish Council has to start thinking about budgets and expenditure prior to setting our precept in December/January. The precept is the amount of the money we ask Wycombe District Council to provide and we all pay for through our Council Tax bill. We would welcome any suggestions you may have for improving our parish community. Our next meeting will on Thursday 12th November where discussions on projects will take place. If you are not able to come along you can always send an email to the Clerk. A reminder to everyone with hedges next to footways – please make sure they are cut back to your boundary to make it safer for pedestrians to walk along the pavement. All our allotments are now taken and with the concerns over the loss of our bee population we wondered if there was anyone out there who has hives and would like to place them on our allotment land. Please contact the Clerk if you think that you can help. We are currently working with Bucks County Council and Wycombe District Council to discuss solutions to the issue of cars ploughing into Ness Cottage on a regular basis. We do accept that most of the drivers who have had accidents at that site have either been drunk and/or driving at ridiculously fast speeds and to some extent whatever we do will not stop these people driving irresponsibly, we may however be able to come up with ideas to protect the cottage and it’s residents. The Christmas trees will be erected on Monday 16th November but will not be lit up until nearer Christmas. Cllr Roger Seymour and Mr John Hardwick as well as West Wycombe Estate and The National Trust all get very busy before Christmas and it is easier to cut down the trees and put them up in November. They will be lit for this year’s Festive Fair which will be on the first Wednesday in December. By the time you read this The Pedestal Playing Field will have had the hedges cut, repairs to the front fence and some of the trees tidied up. We will start looking at the play equipment and bye laws in the New Year. The next Parish Council meeting will take place on 12th November at 8pm in The Church Room. The Clerk works part time for the Parish Council, however we will always be happy to receive emails and please feel free to leave messages on the answer machine. Sharon Henson
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September News from your Parish Council We hope everyone has had a reasonable summer, holidays in England will not have been and warm and sunny as predicted but a break away from the usual routine should have refreshed and revived! For many years the Parish Council has sponsored the School Crossing Patrol by the Garden Centre as it did not originally meet the criteria for a Bucks County Council crossing. Just before the Summer Break the site was visited and re-classified they now agree that the volume of children crossing and the traffic on the road mean that it should be paid for by Bucks County Council. If the need ever arose again the Parish Council would take the same stance – the safety of everyone in our community is very important and if the Parish Council can do anything to improve safety then we will always do our best. With safety in mind, please could everyone check their hedges and boundary? If you have a hedge which borders onto a pavement or footpath, please can you ensure it is cut back to your boundary. With the heavy rain we have had this summer, all plant growth has been excessive. Pedestrians need clear footways without shrubs/tree branches etc hitting them in the face. With cars parked on some pavements it is even more important that hedges are cut back to provide enough width (1.2m) for people to use the pavement safely. The allotments are now up and running. The hedges have been cut, the land ploughed and the final piece of fencing is soon to be erected. All our tenants can now start planning for the future. The Pedestal Playing Field is now being cut regularly and Hithercroft Football Club have started their season. We will be tidying up the hedges and trees and carrying out repairs to the fence facing the Bradenham Road. The Parish Council will be re-applying for Quality Status during the Autumn as our current status has to be renewed by November. The next Parish Council meeting will take place on 10th September at 8pm in The Church Room. The Clerk works part time for the Parish Council, however we will always be happy to receive emails and please feel free to leave messages on the answering machine. Sharon Henson
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Summer News from your Parish Council We hope that you found the Annual Report enclosed in the June issue of Contact informative and even, dare I say, interesting. It shows everyone what your 7 Parish Councillors do for the community and how your money is spent. It was good to see some of our residents at the Annual Parish Meeting – thank you for spending your time with us. We have started the process of preparing the land for the new allotments along Chorley Road and over the next few months the new tenants will be able to start cultivating the land. We have also been working on the Pedestal Playing Field – a fence has been erected between the agricultural field and the play area and the grass has been cut. We have also had a tree survey produced as we need to be able to manage the trees and hedges to ensure that they are safe and are properly maintained. Our next stage will be to tidy up the boundary of the field and to get the hedges cut although this part of the work cannot take place until late September. We have received correspondence from some residents concerned that the area will attract unwanted anti –social behaviour. We went through a bad patch several years ago but it has been quiet since then and anyone can access the field at any time so we hope that their fears are unfounded. If anything does happen the Parish Council, who have been working very closely with Thames Valley Police through the Police Neighbourhood Action Group (NAG) will deal with it very swiftly. If anyone would like to join the NAG please contact the Clerk who will be able to tell you when the next meeting is. We cover the priority issues raised in surveys of our Parish the meetings are about every 6 weeks and last for a maximum of 2 hours, but are often shorter. Our NAG covers West Wycombe, Piddington, Wheeler End, Lane End, Radnage and Stokenchurch. We hope you all have a wonderful summer and we have the sun shining on us.
May News from your Parish Council The lease for the Pedestal playing Field has been signed and we now start work on the area to make it secure by repairing the fences and replacing gates and stiles. We will then need to start working on the grass and hedges. Watch this space to keep up to date with the progress we are making. The land for allotments along Chorley Road has been cleared, and although we had not budgeted for this project within this financial year we will undertake some fencing and have created the Rules and Regulations and Tenancy Agreements. Prospective tenants will be contacted and as many people as possible will be offered either a half or whole size plot. Hopefully with better weather on the horizon, please think about your neighbours when burning your garden rubbish. No one wants to have their day off with good weather, spoilt by their neighbour having a bonfire which burns all day. Make a small bonfire which will burn off quickly and not smoke all day long. Please join us for the Annual Parish Meeting which will take place on the 7th May in the Church Room at 8pm. If you would like to come along, air your views, find out what the Parish Council has achieved over the previous 12 months and find out what other organizations within the Parish our currently doing please put the date in your diary. It is not a Parish Council meeting it is a more social occasion than Parish Council meetings and we usually finish the evening with a glass of wine. We look forward to seeing you. The next Parish Council meeting will take place on 14th May at 8pm in The Church Room.
April News from your Parish Council Spring is here and we can all look forward to the warmer weather and lighter evenings. Our announcement that West Wycombe Estate and the Parish Council are going to re-create allotments within our Parish created a great deal of interest and 14 residents put their names on the list. By the time you read this the land will have been cleared and we will be marking up the plots and will have created a set of Rules and Regulations. If you put your name on the list please be patient – everything has happened very quickly from our initial discussions and we did not financially plan to have them available for this year. We will make sure that everyone is working on the land as soon as possible. The lease for the Pedestal Playing Field is now being drawn up and the first thing the Parish Council will do is obtain prices for having a fence erected between the playing field and the crop field and ensure that the Dog Fouling Regulations are applied then we will have all the trees inspected and have the hedges tidied. We will then start the process of applying for grants for play equipment. Advance notice that the Annual Parish Meeting will take place on the 7th May in the Church Room at 8pm. If you would like to come along, air your views and find out what other organizations within the Parish our currently doing please put the date in your diary. It is a more social occasion than Parish Council meetings and we usually finish the evening with a glass of wine. We look forward to seeing you. The next Parish Council meeting will take place on 12th March at 8pm in The Church Room.
March News from your Parish Council Even as I write this looking out at the snow, we look forward to Spring. With this in mind the Parish Council has had discussions with Sir Edward about re-creating allotments for our Parish. In the past there was a field along the Chorley Road which was used for allotments which gradually became unused. However there is a resurgence of interest and we have the names of several residents who would be keen to use their gardening skills on an allotment. There is also another piece of land closer to the village on the way up to the top of West Wycombe Hill where there is one allotment which would need some work to be active again and a further two which would need to be reclaimed from nature. If you would like to be considered for an allotment, which we hope we could get operational by April this year, then please contact either the undersigned or Roger Seymour (78 Chorley Road or 01494 439081). Sir Edward has undertaken to have the ground rough cleared on the Chorley Road site and the Parish Council will manage them. Our plan would be to eventually have the fence repaired and create an area where allotment holders will be able to park their cars whilst on site. We hope to sign the lease for The Pedestal Playing Field in March and we will then spend the first year repairing fences, sorting out hedges and keeping the grass cut. We would then like to encourage local people to organize fund raising events for play equipment. To create a very basic play area will cost £20,000. We will be applying for grants and the Parish Council will contribute to the cost, however there is no guarantee that we would get grant funding and to have a better play area will cost around £40,000. This therefore has to be a longer term project which we would hope to add to by community fund raising and via the Parish Council Precept. We will be sharing the land with Hithercroft Football Club for the next two years and possibly longer, but there is room for a play area as well as the football pitch. The Parish Council has been involved in discussions with other members of the community and landowners to discuss the issue of parking in the High Street. The purpose of the meeting was clarify what parking was available for residents, traders, businesses and visitors. There is no freely available extra land in the Parish, particularly in the High Street area. The Parish Council has investigated creating a lay by on highways land as you enter the village but this would cost £30,000 to create six spaces. Everyone will encourage more people to park on the road between The Pedestal and the beginning of the cottages as there are no restrictions and this would also have the effect of slowing traffic as they approach the zebra crossing. The Parish Council is also talking to Bucks County Council about Traffic Regulation Orders. Thames Valley Police Neighbourhood Action Group will be launching a competition for local schools to create posters to deter motorists from speeding through our parish. If your child is involved in this competition please encourage them to participate and use it as discussion point for road safety. The results of the competition will be announced and winners awarded their prizes in the last week of March.
February News from your Parish Council As we move into 2009 we wanted to take the opportunity to look back at what we’ve achieved in 2008 and look forward to 2009 and beyond. During 2008 we focused on small projects around the Parish rather than the bigger schemes of the previous years such as the lighting projects. So we dealt with a lot of maintenance issues like the problem of flooding outside the Swan, dangerous parking on West Wycombe Road, grasscutting and weedkilling where needed and planting the bulbs to improve the look of the entrance to the village. We’ve also been heavily involved in local plans to give communities more say about their local area. For 2009 we have decided not to undertake any major projects because we wanted to be able to reduce the amount of Council Tax that the Parish Council charges local residents during the current financial downturn. However, we are still looking to the future and one of our aspirations for the future is to create a childrens’ play area within the Parish, which we will be investigating during this year. This is a really exciting opportunity for the whole community to work together to really make a difference. Although we have some plans for the future, what we really want is to hear from the community and find out way you, the tax payers, want from your local area. We are always willing to listen to ideas no matter how big or small, sane or crazy they seem. The Parish Council meets every month in the Church Room and there is a part of the meeting specifically dedicated to public questions and suggestions. We would welcome more people coming along and finding out what we do for our community and taking the opportunity to get involved. The dates of this year’s meetings are shown below. One of the topics that we are currently discussing is that of the parking in the village. The committee that runs the Village Hall have suffered greatly in recent years with the effect that illegal parking has had on their ability to hire out the hall and have now decided to start clamping – as a commercial organisation with a privately owned carpark they have a duty to protect their business. This has again raised the issue of parking in the village. Because there is no publicly owned land in the vicinity we have struggled to think of a solution so we’re looking for any ideas as to how we could create some extra parking spaces at an acceptable distance from people’s homes. If you can think of anything, please do get in touch with us.
December News from your Parish Council A Happy Christmas and a Peaceful 2009 to everyone in our Parish from your Parish Council. We would like to thank to Sir Edward and Lady Dashwood for kindly donating the Christmas trees for the parish and to John and Hilary Hardwick, Roger Seymour and Neil Harris and his team from The National Trust for all their hard work in erecting the trees and making the lights work. Our Parish has been a guinea pig for Wycombe District Council – we have produced a plan in case we should ever have a major emergency in our community and on 24th November we put this to the test as a paper exercise at the Council Offices. In the New Year as part of this project we will be issuing information for every household in the Parish to ensure that should any of us ever need to evacuate our homes we would know what papers and practical items we would need to take with us. The next Parish Council meeting will take place on 11th December at 8pm in The Church Room.
As a Parish Council this has been the quietest time for us for many years. Obviously Government has had other things on its mind and left us alone for a whil We have attended meetings on Planning, Local Community Partnerships and the Thames Valley Police NAG. We are looking at ways of working more efficiently in order to keep our Precept request to Wycombe District Council to a minimum. We are aware that everyone will be watching their finances more closely than ever over the coming year. If you have any projects that you feel we should be looking at then please let the Clerk know. We start the budget process at our November meeting and submit our request by early January. You will be pleased to know that we have our small financial reserves in the Bank of Ireland so they are safe! We have booked a portable Speed Indicator Device and this will appear for a total of 8 weeks over the next year along our Parish roads. With autumn upon us please look at your hedges if they front pavements and cut back to your boundary line this will make life easier for all our residents when walking their children to school and for everyone walking in and out of the village. Please remember if you have Highways issues to report e.g. potholes, loose kerb stones, street lights not working etc you can ring 0845 230 2882 to report it, remember to ask for a reference number and then you can track it, you can also report it online at www.buckscc.gov.uk/hoc. You can of course always report it to the Clerk or any of your Councillors
House Painting in the High Street Why start a painting project in October? As usual thank you for your patience and email me, nick.phillips@nationaltrust.org.uk if you require further information. Older reports can be found in the News Archive
Website Parish Office Sharon Henson, Clerk to the Parish Council
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