August 2021

5 Buckden Roundabout August 2021 From your councillor From Your District Councillor Flooding Many thanks to those of you who have written to me about the flooding. It is becoming clearer by the day that this issue is much more serious than any one, including Councils, Authori- ties and Agencies, ever thought. Unofficial word on the street, is that the true origin of the problem is that our drainage system was installed 45 years ago but the materials and systems used only had a life of 25 years. Probably par for the course in post war Britain, but no use to us. Buckden Parish Council has done a super job in getting the facts and issues on to the radar of the County Council, the Dis- trict Council and others, but we still need to mobilise more attention to our Village. I have been doing a lot of research on this and there may be another route that could help us all. It could also help Anglian Water to get more funding for sorting these problems. The way forward is for as many Buckden residents as possible to contact, join or complain to a very little known agency, namely the Anglian Water Consumer Engagement Forum. This body is very important, because it makes Statutory Returns to another higher level supervisory body called OFWAT. OFWAT in turn makes returns to various Agencies of State, Govern- ment Departments and to Parliament. So, we all need to make a complaint to this outfit now. All of your complaints will go by law into some super report, but someone important, again by law, must read it. So my sugges- tion is those who read this, must go out and talk to your neigh- bours and get them to make a complaint. I know I make these appeals for engagement and action quite often, but honestly we need total support from households, we NEED 100 percent on this one. Diddington Pits Back to Water, but on a happier note. There is some very good news and a lot of progress on the future of Diddington Pits. Never heard of it, well it ’ s the large piles of sand you see daily as you drive south on the A1. These boring piles of sand are incredibly important to the eco- nomic future of Buckden! In a few short years this will all transform into one of the larg- est wild bird sanctuaries and breeding grounds in Europe. The existing Wild Life Park already attracts 200,000 visitors a year, so let ’ s double that, and there is not a lot of space down there so hopefully, some of these tourists will be coming to Buck- den? This is how it works. The area is currently managed by Aggre- gate Industries. They are sorting out the old medieval tracks and rights of way. There was a village called Broughton in the middle of all this, so the rights of way are very old. This will make access into the area easier and link the new area into the current Nature Park. There will even be access to the Ski Lake for the very intrepid. Once this is all completed, HDC and the Friends of Paxton Pits will manage the new area under a new 80 year lease. Basically Buckden is one mile north of one of the newest and most im- portant wildlife projects in Europe. Forget thinking about new double yellow lines and start think- ing how Buckden Business can benefit and park all the people who could visit us. Hello Jason and Luke. Airspace Some of you may remember the consultation on Luton Air- space. Many, many thanks to those of you who did respond to my request to get involved and respond. You have moved the flight path 1,000 ft higher, which will make less of a worry to all those in Brampton and Buckden and Perry! Communities Those of you involved with Care and Community may be inter- ested in a new NHS initiative where NHS are setting out their new vision, its called the NHS Community Promise Website, and looks interesting. Finally with lockdown up or down, can I wish you all a super summer and lots of fun. As always if you have a problem or want help, give me a call. Hamish Masson Councillor, Buckden Ward, Huntingdon District Council FRIENDS IN DEED Friends in Deed is a group of volunteers who offer help and support to residents of Buckden. There are times in our lives when we could all do with a little extra support or companion- ship whatever our age or circumstances. Need someone to talk to? - it is not easy to ask for help, but why struggle when there are people happy to listen and to help? When we keep things to ourselves and struggle on, things can feel overwhelming and a little bit of help can make all the difference. Whilst visiting is limited for our volunteers at the moment, we can easily provide a friendly voice and ear over the phone. This is a free service and can be either a one - off chat or regu- lar chats. If you do want someone to talk to, please call our co - ordinator, Angie, on 07810 006598 and she will make the arrangements. Need a lift to an appointment? Our team of volunteer drivers are able to provide transport for vaccination / hospital / den- tal / hair appointments etc when family, friends or public transport is not an option. There are fixed fees for this service. Please email our transport co - ordinator peter.mount@btconnect.com or call 07914 669967 and leave your name, number, address and details of your appointment (date, time, location). Please do give us 48 hours notice if possible; 24 hours notice as an minimum and we shall do our best to meet your needs. We have contacted Ken Billington, our new County Councillor, to invite him to communicate with his constituents by writing a monthly article for the Roundabout, as our District Councillors and previous County Councillors have done, but we have had no response from him.