June 2021

4 Buckden Roundabout June 2021 Buckden Parish Council Buckden Parish Council News... Council Website For more information, please visit the Parish Council web site at www.buckdenpc.org.uk. You can automatically find out what is going on by subscribing to our Newsletter service us- ing your email address. Annual Parish Assembly This was held on 25th May. A full report of the achievements of the Parish Council during 2020/21 and plans for 2021/2022 is included in the centre pages. We are very keen to hear your views. If you would like to get involved, please contact the Clerk. Neighbourhood Plan The referendum to seek your formal approval to the plan took place on 6th May. A ‘ Yes vote ’ was resoundingly achieved and the Plan would came into force on 18th May. Freeman of Buckden Congratulations to Stan Studd who has been made a Freeman of Buckden to recognise his outstanding service to the village. Buckden Social Sunday There are provisional plans to close the High Street on 27th June for a social event to recognise the end of full lockdown. Further information will be available shortly. Village Green Funding has been acquired to improve the green. This in- cludes a new footpath, a wildflower area, refurbishment of the bus shelter and a new bench. You will see a number of changes. Firstly, a new path will be created, then the wildflower area will be dug out and left as soil for a while to allow any undesir- able weeds to grow. These will be removed prior to sowing a wildflower mixture to include Ox - eye daisy, yellow rattle, buttercup, trefoil, ladys bedstraw and many more besides. To improve the establishment of this area, the seed will be covered in a white fleece called a germination sheet. This will keep birds off, warm the soil, keep moisture in and generally speed up the establishment. Once the seeds have germinated, the fleece will be removed. Please keep off these areas to allow the flowers to establish. In the autumn we will plant bulbs to give an even greater splash of colour for your enjoyment, for more months of the year. We will be involving the school in this project and asking chil- dren to grow their own flowers which can be added to the wildlife scheme. If you have any questions regarding this project, please contact the Clerk. Flooding A full report on the recent flooding issues experienced by residents is available on our website. This report has been used with the various local authorities to highlight the problems and seek resolution. Lucks Lane Attenuation Basins We have raised concerns about the depth of water and the design of the basins with the Flood Agency. They are investi- gating. There are serious concerns about safety. A fuller re- port is available on the web site. Silver Street Development The development remains ‘ on hold ’ whilst investigations into potential surface water flooding are undertaken. The Council have had further conversations with HDC. A full update will be provided at the Annual Assembly meeting. School Streets This initiative which was covered last month begins on 7th June. Letters from the school children to explain why this will make their school journeys safer will be distributed to parents to encourage more to walk and cycle to school where they can, to reduce pressure on parking. Volunteers are still re- quired to help manage the scheme. If you are interested, please contact Elaine Scott on escott@buckdenpc.org.uk. Vacancy for Parish Councillor There is a vacancy for a new councillor following the resigna- tion of Clive Gillam. If you are interested, please contact the Clerk. Thanks to Clive for his contribution to the Council. Council Meetings The next Council meeting will be at 7.30pm on Tuesday 8th June. Under current guidelines online meetings will no longer be allowed. Therefore, this will be a normal face to face meeting in the Village Hall. 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 Subject to any further COVID updates we expect the Clerk to return to the Village Hall for 2 days each week from 17th May. 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.