October 2021

5 Buckden Roundabout October 2021 From your councillor From Your District Councillor HDC Over the August period there has been little to report, with recent August meetings cancelled for lack of agenda items. A range of HDC meetings take place over the next month and HDC Planning will be pursued. I have formally complained to the Managing Director of HDC, Jo Lancaster, about the many outstanding Planning issues at Buckden. She has kindly undertaken a detailed personal review with her various Teams and has recently written to say that the current situation is expected to improve once the current holi- day period ends and home working reduces. The Valley Refurbishment By the time you read this, work will have started on the Valley Refurbishment Scheme. I have been working for three years to raise Buckden ’ s profile with key decision makers at HDC and other government agencies and since then there have been constant debate and developments. For legal reasons it was not possible to comment on this publicly. On Tuesday 7 th Sept, the BVHT Trustees met to accept and ratify the contract for the HDC Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Grant. The grant to BVHT is one of the first positive developments. I do apologise for this lack of public debate and I hope you can all appreciate the problems updating everyone without the BVHT trustees approving the grant and budget. That said there will be an opportunity for full discussion as the Contractors, Ebsford Ltd, maintain a communications team and will involve all sections of the Community including Schools and all pupils. There will be a website and possibly weekly drone flights to monitor progress! HDC and CIL Once again, I must record on behalf of you all our thanks to Ryan Fuller, Conservative Council Leader and his colleagues on the HDC for their support for this project and the very gener- ous CIL grant. Many thanks as well to the HDC Project, Fi- nance, and Implementation Teams who have worked so hard over a very busy period to bring this plan forward. BPC Council- lors have been most helpful and supportive and again my thanks to them. Hopefully concerns have by now gone and that you have all had a chance to see the Communications program. Luton Airspace CAA are holding a further consultation on the Grafham Water Holding Patterns on 22 September, when CAA will listen to expert opinions from qualified local and regional experts. This at least means that they are still open to considering the issue. We may be able to get improvements as a result. I hope you have all had a good break and as always please get in touch about any concerns. 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. We are hoping to re - open our Community Café very soon: look out for posters around the village. Whilst visiting is still limited at the moment, we can easi- ly 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. Speak to us at the Community Café or email friendsindeed@stmarysbuckden.org.uk. Need a lift to an appointment? Our team of volunteer drivers are able to provide transport for vaccination / hospital / dental / hair ap- pointments 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, ad- dress and details of your appointment (date, time, loca- tion). Please do give us 48 hours notice if possible; 24 hours notice as a minimum and we shall do our best to meet your needs. Want to volunteer? We are always on the look out for new volunteers. Just contact us at friendsindeed@stmarysbuckden.org.uk if you would like to know more. 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.