WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH YOUR FEEDBACK?

Over the last 12 months, many of you have taken part in our Love It, Loath It, Older People’s Day and Leisure surveys and we thank you for your support.   In general, you love the fact that we are a rural community, with such beautiful scenery and attractions on your doorstep whilst being fairly easy to reach neighbouring towns.   You don’t want too much more development that may impact on our village atmosphere (no mass scale housing and opposed to HS2 or expansion of Luton airport), don’t like speeding traffic/dog mess and would like more pubs/shops.  The surveys identified some areas where we could improve:

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There was a lot of support for a youth cafe	The parish council selected AVYFC as our chosen partner for this project.   Our youth cafe has been operating each week since October and now has over 100 children registered.   Volunteers from the village have helped them with carpentry, baking, music lessons, crafts and sports.  To keep the cafe open, we need lots of volunteers so please let us know if you can spare one Wednesday evening per month.
	
You would use a skate park and all weather football/ basketball pitch	The parish council is working with a private landowner and a local charity to turn this into reality on a redeveloped recreation ground.
	
You wanted more challenging/exciting/modern play equipment for the young people and possibly outdoor exercise equipment for the grown ups	The parish council is reviewing this with play providers, whilst the existing equipment has to be removed for the other development there may be a cost effective option to update and relocate the playground section of the recreation ground.
	
Some of you showed an interest in tennis and a few in netball	Feedback from suppliers and other parishes that operate tennis courts is that you need an active tennis club in the parish to support it, run it and look after it.    The surface required for tennis, is also suitable for netball.  There is availability at the Cheddington Tennis Club, who would love extra members.   If you would be interested in forming and organising a tennis and/or badminton club in Pitstone that would be willing to take on this task please let us know so that we can explore this further.
	
There was support for enhanced facilities for the junior football club and the cricket club	The parish council is working with both clubs and a local charity to explore options.
	
There was a lot of support for an improved bar and updated/improved facilities at the Memorial Hall and possibly a cafe or internet cafe
	The Memorial Hall Committee has employed an architect and is currently investigating options.   The committee is always in need of more volunteers to help explore opportunities so if you can spare some time to help shape the future of the building and the activities within, please let us know.

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A few of you would like bowls	There is a thriving indoor bowls club operating from the Memorial Hall who would welcome more members.   The outdoor bowls club in Cheddington is currently under-subscribed and would also welcome more members.   It is therefore not cost effective to build another under-utilised facility in the vicinity.  If you would like to go to the Cheddington club but can’t get there please let the club know and they may be able to put you in touch with some of the regular Pitstone users who may be able to offer you a lift.
	
Our older residents would like more computing/internet lessons and more keep-fit type classes
	Following a request from the parish council AVDC are investigating an Energise Gold class for Pitstone but are currently haven’t trouble finding a suitably qualified, available instructor.   We will keep you 
up-dated.

The “silver surfers” club in Yardley Avenue Lounge is currently oversubscribed.   The Memorial Hall has recently had a wi-fi hub installed, so the parish council is now investigating options.   It will need the support of volunteers in the community to help run a club and show these residents the benefits available from computers and the internet.   If this is a project you would like to be involved with, please let us know.

Our older residents would also be interested in attending tea dances or joining a pub lunch club.   If you are willing to organise such activities for our older residents, please let us know.
	
A cinema for Pitstone	The parish council is currently working with members of the community to see if a community cinema can be set up in the village to operate out of the Memorial Hall.   If you have an interest in movies and can spare some time, we could do with the extra help to get this project up and running.
	
A few of you asked for Snooker/Pool 	A table is available at the Memorial Hall whenever the social club is open, pay to play.
	
A few of you asked for a swimming pool	Unfortunately, this simply isn’t cost effective to run in a small parish.   If you are struggling to reach the pool in Tring it may be possible for the community car scheme to take a small group of you, or for you to get a lift with a neighbour.
	
We received a lot of support for all things natural – garden areas, a pond and fruit trees
	The parish council is investigating land options around the parish.   All these schemes will need volunteers to help create and maintain the spaces, so if these are the things you are passionate about and you can spare the time to help please let us know.

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	SO  ....	
Many of you wanted the village to look prettier	As a first step, the parish council is investigating planting daffodil bulbs along the grass verge up Marsworth Road this autumn.  If you are willing to help, please let us know.

We also hope to improve the roundabout.

We are open to other sustainable ideas and initiatives, so if there is something that you would like to see happen to make our village more beautiful, or if you are willing to help, please let us know.
	
Many of you asked for improved cycle paths and footpaths to join Pitstone to our neighbouring villages and for leisure use	We have been working with Cheddington parish council and you are now able to walk between both villages, apart from small sections (like under the railway bridge) where it is impractical to install a path.  If you want to avoid the railway bridge, you can take the footpath off Cheddington Road and over the swing bridge.

Ivinghoe parish council has also been very proactive and there is now an improved footpath and circular walk down to Great Gap.

The parish council is working with Herts County Council on a project to install a cycle/footpath along Northfield Road towards Tring station.   Taylor Wimpey has provided £100,000 to HCC towards this project.

Marsworth parish council is keen to work with us on a footpath along the Lower Icknield Way to join the two villages and we will be supporting them where possible.  We have committed to installing the section of footpath that would fall within the parish of Pitstone, once their longer section is in place.

Many permissive footpaths were introduced around the windmill field and neighbouring area, and you can now walk from the village right up to Pitstone Hill and beyond on footpaths.  If you haven’t already tried them, do go out and explore this summer.
	
You are opposed to any expansion of Luton airport that may affect the air space about Pitstone and are worried about HS2
	The parish council continues to work with all the necessary bodies to fight these causes on your behalf	
You dislike dog mess on the pavements, along the permissive paths and left in the recreation ground	The parish council pays for numerous dog bins and their emptying each year.  Additional units are normally purchased each year.   If you are a dog owner, please be considerate of other people and clear up after your dog.

YOU TOLD US ...
	SO  ....	
You wanted to reduce speeding but were against sleeping policemen.	The parish council worked with Bucks County Council on the reduced speed limit initiative for Marsworth Road, Vicarage Road and Cheddington Road.   We also worked with Thames Valley Police to support these main access roads to the village with speed limit stickers for their wheelie bins.

The council also committed to set up a community speed watch project, where volunteers monitor traffic speeds in conjunction with Thames Valley Police and letters are issued to speeding vehicles.    At present, we haven’t had enough support or interest from the community to do this, but if you want to take part and can commit to spending some time in small groups with a speed gun, please let us know.

We work with Ivinghoe parish council on the Freight Quality Partnership to investigate ways to limit the number of Heavy Goods Vehicles using Marsworth Road.
	
You wanted to reduce traffic congestion and improve traffic safety	Brookmead school has introduced several initiatives to encourage children to walk such as the building of a drop-off zone for morning use, introduction of scooter licences and introduction of the park-and-stride scheme at Pitstone Memorial Hall.

New signage is still promised to improve routing to Pitstone Green Business Park.

VAHT are installing additional car parking provision at the end of Glebe Close.

New signage has been installed near Cooks Wharf to direct vehicles up Cheddington Road instead of trying to turn left out of the turning past the railway bridge.	
You wanted more accessible transport as the buses weren’t always convenient	The community car scheme has been introduced and has now been operational for some time.   Do contact them if you need help getting to your hospital appointments etc.
	
You wanted more shops and pubs	At present, there are currently no businesses that want to relocate to Pitstone as the portfolio of the existing/past local facilities would indicate that there isn’t enough business to support their investment costs and make it viable.   We will continue to explore any viable options that arise.