July 2020

4 Buckden Roundabout July2020 Buckden Parish Council Buckden Parish Council News... New Website Please sign up to our new website so that we can contact you with any important information. The address is www.buckdenpc.org.uk Parish Council Meetings All Parish Council, Planning and Advisory Group meetings will be online only for the moment. If you wish to attend an online meeting you will find instructions on the web site. Annual Parish Assembly 9 th June This meeting was held electronically. Reports were received from: • Neighbourhood Watch • The Almshouses • The Village Hall Trust • Our County and District Councillors These reports are all available on the web site. A summary of the BPC Chairman ’ s report is included below. Overall, this has been a very productive and successful year for the council despite the obvious challenge of COVID 19 towards the end of the period. Key achievements and some of the challenges faced by the council are set out below. Planning The Neighbourhood Plan has been completed and will be sub- mitted for inspection in June. This includes significant feed- back from residents. (Available on the web site) The Community Action Plan is complete and details all the actions and projects planned for the village in the coming years. (Available on the web site) The Council have continued to work with HDC and Highways England to ensure that inappropriate development is not ap- proved in the village, in particular to ensure that additional traffic is not generated. At the time of writing proposed devel- opments at Silver Street and Mill Road have been ‘ on hold ’ for many months due to concerns about increased traffic, partic- ularly at the roundabout. An ongoing dialogue has been established with Bloor Homes to manage the frequent issues with the Lucks Lane Develop- ment. A Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan has been pro- duced, again with significant input from residents. This sets out plans for a much more extensive footpath and cycling network. Funding is being sought for implementation. (Available on the web site) A Welcome brochure aimed at new residents in the village has been produced. (Available on the web site) Climate Change A very successful Climate Change workshop was held in Janu- ary with over 300 attendees. Infrastructure Improvements The Round - about - Buckden Walk was developed and opened in June 2019. Funding for several initiatives was obtained: • A zebra crossing outside of the school installed in Au- tumn 2019. • Traffic calming in Perry Road is due to be installed soon. Installation has been delayed by COVID. • Traffic calming on Mill Road. Details are to follow. • A path across the village green. The paths in the Church yard have been re - laid to a very high standard and there have been several improvements at the cemetery, including new railings and repaired paths. A new notice board has been installed at the Allotments. New Christmas Lights were purchased and installed. The playground at the Village Hall has been repaired following vandalism. Several ‘ clean up ’ initiatives have been undertaken including cutting back vegetation on corner of A1 and Silver Street to improve visibility and safety. Operational Improvements Financial regulations, planning and reporting systems have been updated. Management of the Parish Council ’ s Reserves have been re- viewed, including principles for investment, to help ensure a robust and transparent system to manage increasing costs that are being shifted from County & District Councils to the Parish Criteria have been developed to help the Council prioritise (Continued on page 6) All of the papers and reports for Council meetings are available on the Thursday before the meetings on the Council website http://buckdenparishcouncil.org.uk . This provides the opportunity to see the agenda, reports of work carried out by the Coun- cil 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 Road, Buckden, PE19 SUY Telephone 01480 819407 Email clerk@buckdenparishcouncil.org.uk