February 2022

4 Buckden Roundabout February 2022 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 automati- cally find out what is going on by subscribing to our News- letter service using your email address. Flooding At the time of writing, we were still awaiting confirmation of the start date for the drainage works in the High Street. Residents have been advised that the work will include ‘ The installation of 2 sections of 300mm pipe and associated gullies to outfall into the culvert under High Street ’. Cambridgeshire Highways have advised that the start date is dependent upon several factors including, financial approval from the council for the work and the lead times for delivery of necessary materials e.g. concrete pipes. Solar Farms The Council is generally supportive of renewable energy de- velopment. However, we believe the location of these is a critical factor. We have recently been advised of two potential solar farm developments locally. Both are at the pre - application phase prior to formal planning permission being sought. The first is off Vicarage Lane, Diddington and runs alongside the west side of the A1, south of Buckden. Together with Southoe Parish Council we have raised several issues with the proposals but are generally supportive. More information is available on the BPC website. The second is on land south of Mill Road, west of Offord Clu- ny, PE19 5SN. More information on this is also available on the BPC website. This is a proposed ‘ development in the coun- tryside ’ and specifically in the Great Ouse Valley. The Buckden Neighbourhood Plan, approved by residents in May 2021, specifically prohibits development in the Ouse Valley (see Great Ouse Valley Policy 1 – Protection of Ouse Valley) Therefore, the Parish Council is unable to support the applica- tion. Further information will be available from Hunts DC if/when there are applications made for these potential develop- ments. At that time, you will be able to make comments ei- ther on the HDC planning website or by writing to them The Queen ’ s Platinum Jubilee Two oak trees were planted in the grounds of the Towers on Tuesday 11th January on behalf of the Parish Council and the Friends of the Towers to mark the Queen ’ s Platinum jubilee. Further details will be provided next month. Please let us know of any plans you have to celebrate the Ju- bilee. We would like to produce an article later in the year covering all Buckden Celebrations. Water Pumps The Council have purchased 2 water pumps for use in an emergency. These are currently being held by the residents at most risk of flooding. Telephone Box in the High Street As you know in 2020 the Telephone box on the High Street was transformed into a book swap and information point. Unfortunately, some people have been using it as a place to leave bags of unwanted books, as well as pamphlets, maga- zines and in one case files from a conference they attended. The book swap has to be kept tidy and we are lucky to have volunteers to do this, but the dumping of large numbers of books and other papers and files make the task difficult. It was intended to be a facility for people to use, it takes regular work to maintain it, please do not use it as a dumping ground. Please take large numbers of books to the Charity shops and other papers magazines etc can be disposed of through recy- cling bins. Christmas Lights There were several problems with the Christmas Lights in the High Street over Christmas. We are talking to the contractor concerned to understand the underlying cause and what ac- tion is required. Vacancy We have a vacancy for a Parish Councilor. If you are interest- ed, please contact the Clerk for further details. Please see the article in the centre of the magazine which provides more information about the work of the Council. Council Meetings The next Council meeting will be at 7.30pm on Tuesday 8th February. 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 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.