First £500 fixed penalty notice issued to motorist caught littering on dashcam
A woman caught by another driver’s dashcam, throwing litter from her vehicle, has become the first person to be issued with a fixed penalty notice at the new, higher rate of £500.
On Monday 9 September 2024, on Friarage Road in Aylesbury, a vehicle was recorded littering by a dashcam belonging to another driver. This dashcam footage was crucial for the investigation, as it clearly captured the offence, including the vehicle’s registration number and an image of the litter being thrown from the driver’s side window.
Buckinghamshire Council’s Litter Enforcement Team investigated the incident and subsequently contacted the registered vehicle keeper. After further investigation, a woman admitted to littering while driving her vehicle.
The woman was offered a £500 Fixed Penalty Notice to discharge her liability for prosecution regarding the littering offence. If the penalty had not been paid within 14 days, the case would have been referred to the council’s legal team for prosecution.
Council launches extra support to help adults stay independent for longer
Buckinghamshire Council is launching a range of new online resources designed to help adults who need some extra support to maintain their independence for as long as possible.
The council supports more than 5,000 adults at any one time, with varying degrees of extra help, including providing care packages to those who need it. Our overarching aim is to provide the right care to allow people to maintain their independence for as long as possible, and for our residents to feel that they are managing and directing their own care needs.
The improved website content makes it easier for people to get online information and advice about their adult social care needs. We have also listened to and worked with carers to introduce new online support for them too.
The new-look Care Advice Bucks website includes content that outlines how a resident goes through the care assessment process, how individuals can arrange and pay for their care and guidance on what home support and equipment is available, as well as some helpful health and wellbeing advice.
Alongside this, the council has also improved the online resources available to carers in Buckinghamshire too, joining up for the first time with ‘Mobilise’, providers of specialist online support for people who are caring for others including family, friends or neighbours who could not manage without this unpaid support because of a disability, illness or vulnerability. ‘Mobilise’ offers Buckinghamshire carers free access to online information and resources, support sessions, one to one support from a dedicated carers coach and access to a network of other carers to provide invaluable support and a listening ear.
We are also offering free fact sheets that have been co-designed with residents, and an online care directory that helps our residents to find professional health and care services, equipment and resources, such as:
- home care services
- housing and residential equipment
- living aids
New Family Hub Network set to provide more help and advice for local residents
Families will soon benefit from easy to access help and advice in their local communities, with the launch this week of Buckinghamshire’s Family Hub Network (FHN). The FHN brings together professionals and community groups to help families and residents get the help and advice they need at the earliest opportunity.
The FHN covers Aylesbury Vale, Chiltern & South Bucks and Wycombe areas, involving a wide variety of local and county-wide organisations including Buckinghamshire Council, Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, Oxford Health Foundation NHS Trust, education providers, social enterprises and voluntary, community and faith groups.
The role of the network is to support families visiting network sites where possible or signpost to a relevant organisation when other support is needed. The aim is to direct families to the support that best meets their individual circumstances, using local network connections and knowledge to match needs with the wide range of services and providers available in the area.
On a mission; tree planting season gets underway again in Buckinghamshire
National Tree Week began on Saturday 23 Nov making it the ideal time to mark the tree planting season. Buckinghamshire Council will be kicking off with over 4,000 trees being planted near Winslow and Great Horwood; this new woodland will be named Roddimore Wood.
Weather permitting, the 4,625 new trees will be planted before Christmas. Species include native Black Poplar, Oak, Eared Willow, and Blackthorn which is particularly beneficial to brown hairstreak butterfly larvae.
Tree planting is one of the ways in which the council is working towards its goal of reducing its carbon emissions by 75% by 2030, on the way to achieving net-zero no later than 2050, as part of the Climate Change and Air Quality Strategy.
Other new woodlands we will be creating this planting season include Isle of Wight Wood in Gerrards Cross, Innisfree Wood in Great Missenden, Huntsmoor Park Wood in Iver and Lower Munt’s Wood in Saunderton. We are also planning to plant another of our ‘Tiny Forests’ in Desborough.
Local schools and communities are getting involved by volunteering to help with our tree planting mission including planting the Desborough Tiny Forest with pupils from Millbrook Combined School. Councillor Derek Town