April 2024

4 Buckden Roundabout April 2024 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. Become a Councillor We currently have two vacancies for Councillors. If you are interested in your local community and would like to help improve local services and facilities, please consider joining us. We run a monthly Council Meeting in the evening. We also have several groups including Flooding, Highways, Planning, Green Infrastructure, Climate Change and Allotments. Meetings take place at times to best suit attendees. It ’ s a great way to meet people and is really enjoyable. If you are interested please contact us via the Clerk. Speedwatch Buckden Parish Council undertakes the organisation and im- plementation of the local Buckden Speedwatch group. We aim to run two Speedwatch sessions per month which we are currently managing to maintain on a regular basis - but it would be really good to get some more volunteers to help spread the load! So if you have a little spare time do consider getting involved. We are a very friendly group, dedicated to keeping Buckden streets safer by regularly monitoring traffic flow at various times of day in several locations around the village. We work closely with Cambridgeshire Constabulary whose aim is to reach the goal of zero avoidable fatalities on our roads. If you can spare an hour once a month, or every two months and you want an enjoyable way to contribute to our wonder- ful local community it would be great to hear from you! Per- haps you are new to the village and want to find a small way to get involved locally? It involves undertaking some straightforward online training which takes about 25 minutes. You can do this whenever it is convenient. Speedwatch sessions are scheduled at various points during the working day so if you have flexible working hours, then this could be a great way to make a valuable con- tribution to your local community! There will be a free community - themed giveaway to any new volunteers joining the Speedwatch volunteer team - and also to any residents who respond thoughtfully to surveys in rela- tion to our streets as we seek to make our village work better for everyone! If you are interested in joining the local Speedwatch team then please contact the Clerk Hedgerow Importance and Management Hedges play a crucial role in supporting wildlife, providing various ecological benefits for both flora and fauna. Please see our full article on Page 11. Fly Tipping We are still seeing too many instances of rubbish being dumped in the village. It is a particu- lar problem near the water works at Leaden ’ s Lane. Please report any instances to mail@huntingdonshire.gov.uk. A1 footpath links from Bloor Estate The new footpaths between the Bloor Estate and the A1 are now complete. These should provide better access to the vil- lage. Buckden Community Hub. We are in discussions with the North Care Partnership Inte- grated Neighbourhood Team (part of the NHS) about develop- ing a Community Health & Wellbeing Hub for the residents of Buckden. A very successful Hub already exists in Brampton. The main purpose of the Community Hub is to bring together partners from health, social care, and the independent and voluntary sectors to collectively support people of all ages to stay well, be independent and live happier and healthier. The hub: • identifies all the support services that are currently available locally, • makes sure that all services are well advertised, and coordinates and enables referral between the services. For example, a GP may decide that a patient would benefit from more exercise and social activity and refer them to a Walking Group and/or a social group. In Buckden many groups and activities already exist, and we have met with most of them to consider how the Hub can be established. The next step will be to issue a questionnaire to residents to understand which services are currently used, by whom, what people would like to see made available, wheth- er that be related to health, social or care aspects, and where people go for support. Council Meetings The next Council meeting will be at 7.00 pm on Tuesday 9 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 both meetings are posted on the Parish notice boards no later than the Saturday preceding the meeting. 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.