November 2021

4 Buckden Roundabout November 2021 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. You can automatically find out what is going on by subscribing to our Newsletter service using your email address. Flooding You will be aware that there was serious flooding in Buckden on 23rd December 2020, which resulted in 19 properties being flooded. The majority of those residents had to move out. There has since been a number of serious rainfall incidents, 2nd Janu- ary, 3rd January, 18th June, 30th July and yet another incident at the beginning of October. Many residents are due to move back into their properties and are obviously concerned that there is a strong likelihood that they will be flooded again. The Chair of the Parish Council has continued discussions with representatives from Cambridgeshire County Council in relation to the flooding in the High Street. We have been informed that a full survey has been undertaken and this has identified what needs to be done to rectify the infrastructure. We are awaiting decisions on the recommendations in the report and the commis- sioning of the work. The Parish Council is pressing the County Council to take action to implement the recommended works as soon as possible and has requested that they inform us of their plan of action by 22.10.21. Silver Street Development The Silver Street Development has been approved by Huntingdon District Council (HDC) despite the numerous objections and con- cerns that have been raised by both the Parish Council and many residents. We have however been successful in getting several conditions applied to the development, in particular that the changes to the roundabout must be shown to be successful in mitigating the extra traffic before houses can be occupied. More information will be provided in future updates. Buckden Roundabout BPC met with National Highways (previously Highways England) and Cambs. County Council on 7 th October to discuss the re- sponse to our complaint about the safety and effectiveness of the proposed changes to the Roundabout. (HDC failed to attend the meeting.) They did not accept our concerns but agreed to work with us to develop a plan to mitigate the impact of traffic in the village. Nest boxes in Buckden Written by Ken Smith and Chris Smith In 2019 Chris Smith started building nest boxes from scrap ply- wood that he had been given. The first set were an experiment and he and I put them up in Stirtloe Park. There were about twenty boxes in total designed to attract a range of different birds. Two for tawny owls, two for barn owls, four open - fronted boxes for robins and flycatchers and the rest for hole nesters like blue and great tits. Checking these in the autumn of 2019, whilst exciting, showed mixed results. Jackdaws and squirrels had used the owl boxes, nothing had used the open - fronted boxes, so these were removed and converted into hole nesting boxes. Almost all of the ten or so blue tit boxes had been used and nearly all were successful. Encouraged by the success of the first set Chris continued build- ing boxes which we put up around the village this year. Again, they were designed for a range of species, the majority blue tit boxes, but with the addition of some great tit boxes and a few designed specifically for starlings. In total 44 boxes went up around the village, 14 in the grounds of the Towers and the rest in suitable sites along several of the village streets. In total there are now 58 boxes divided between the village and Stirtloe Park. Chris and I have just completed a check on the boxes. Again, the results are encouraging. Half have been used, although not al- ways by the species expected. 5 were used but failed, either the nests were not completed, or the young failed to survive and 23 remained unused. Of the owl boxes, all were used though sadly not by owls. Two had stock doves, one jackdaws and one squir- rels, perhaps next year, who knows. We would like to thank the landowners in Stirtloe and at the Towers for permission to use their land Resignation With regret we have accepted the resignation of Martin Hassell as a Councillor. Martin worked tirelessly on our objections to the Silver Street Development and made a major contribution to the Neighbourhood Plan. Thank you Martin for your contribution, which will be missed. Council Meetings The next Council meeting will be at 7.30pm on Tuesday 9th No- vember. 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. Agen- das 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 01480 819407. 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 out 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.