April 2023

4 Buckden Roundabout April 2023 Buckden Parish Council Buckden Parish Council News... Council Website For more information, please visit the Buckden Parish Council (BPC) web site at www.buckdenpc.org.uk . To automatically find out what is going on. Subscribe to our Newsletter service using your email address. Coronation of King Charles Details of current plans are included on page 12 of this issue of the magazine. Annual Parish Meeting This will be held on 23 rd May at 7 pm in the Village Hall. The agenda will be published nearer the time. Please join us, eve- ryone is welcome. Speedwatch Update After a break due to the Covid - 19 pandemic, Speedwatch ses- sions re - started in January. We currently have a great team of 15 trained and active volunteers on the rota. Our current aim is to run 1 - 2 regular sessions per month - weather permitting! To date, we have run four sessions; two in January, two in February with two further dates booked in for March. As the weather improves, it should be easier to maintain frequency of sessions. Each session requires a minimum of three trained volunteers and runs for approximately 90 minutes during daylight hours. We record the speed of passing vehicles which exceed the speed limit, and the data is submitted to the police. We are currently allowed to operate in seven different loca- tions within the village which are agreed by the police. The locations have been highlighted by residents as areas of con- cern about speeding. We are in the process of being granted additional police agreed locations within the village. It has been good to receive positive acknowledgements from residents who have spotted us out on the last few Speed- watch sessions! We do appreciate your positive support. We are keen to have fixed Speedwatch Notices installed at various entry points to the village. To retain the Notices, we must run regular Speedwatch sessions. So, if you have some time to spare during daylight hours Mon - Fri please contact cgrigg@buckdenpc.org.uk . Training, created by the Speed- watch team of Cambridgeshire Constabulary is easily accessi- ble via an online video - – and lasts about 25 minutes. Parking and speeding in the village. Many residents are concerned about both speeding and dan- gerous parking. We have contacted our local police who have explained that they have very limited resources. Within the St Neots team there are only 3 PCs and 1 PCSO covering a signifi- cant area. Parking is something that they do tackle but on a sporadic basis. They have added Buckden to their list of problem are- as and will look to attend and issue tickets where appropriate. If you have significant concerns about park- ing this link to Cambridgeshire Con- stabulary gives advice on reporting the issues https:// tinyurl.com/bdrw7z4c Friends of Buckden Footpaths We set up a “ Friends of Buckden Footpaths ” scheme last year and several volunteers adopted a section of footpath which they check regularly to ensure that it is passable and well signed. Some volunteers also carried out litter picking and cutting back to help residents access the paths. Many thanks to those who have done this over the last year. We still need a few more volunteers to cover the whole foot- path network. If you are interested in helping with this, please email the Clerk with ‘ Friends of Footpaths Group ’ in the sub- ject line. We will then let you know which paths still need cover and to ask what level of support you can give. We would be very grateful if you could spare some time to help our community in this way. Swift Boxes We are planning to put up swift boxes next year. To choose the best sites we need to know where they currently nest. If you spot swifts and know where they are nesting, please let us know via the Clerk. or on our WhatsApp chat group Buck- den Swift Spotting on https://chat.whatsapp.com/ KDpDi9z2AjsFjZmBiLUXCT . The RSPB also have an excellent Swift Mapper webpage and a swift information leaflet. Here is a link to their page: https://www.rspb.org.uk/our - work/ conservation/conservation - and - sustainability/safeguarding - species/swiftmapper/ Council Meetings The next Council meeting will be at 7.00 pm on Tuesday 11 th April. The meeting will include a 15 - minute open forum. If you want to speak at the meeting, please let us know what you want to say, by contacting the Parish Clerk. You will get a three - minute slot. The Council Planning Committee will also meet if required. Agendas for these meetings are posted on the Parish notice boards no later than the Saturday preceding the meeting. Office opening hours The Clerk is operating flexibly between the office and home. If you wish to meet with the Clerk, please call on: 07483 033357. All of the papers and reports for Council Meetings are available on the Thursday before meetings on Council website www.buckdenpc.org.uk .This provides the opportunity to see the agenda, reports of work carried out by the Council as well as reports from our County and District Councillors. Any questions or comments on this report should be addressed to the Parish Clerk at: Buckden Parish Council, Buckden Village Hall, Burberry Rd, Buckden, PE19 5UY. Telephone 01480 819407 Email: clerk@buckdenpc.org.uk.