Archives: PPC News

We would like to thank the family of Mike and Jean Morris for the kind donation of memorial picnic benches. They have now been installed in the Hever Close play area, bringing this play space up to the same standard as all our other play grounds and meaning that young families can now picnic whilst at any of our parks.

10/1/22: Taylor Wimpey have advised Buckinghamshire Council that works are a few days behind schedule but they hope to be complete by Friday 14/1/22.

Taylor Wimpey’s contractors are behind schedule. Their original target to complete the remedial works to Westfield Road and the residential areas had been by 24/12/21. Earlier in their works schedule, they had hoped to complete ahead of schedule by 17/12/21. The works to the residential roads have yet to be completed, and therefore they have not yet moved out to undertake the remedial works to Westfield Road.

Taylor Wimpey has now arranged a new completion date (weather permitting) with Buckinghamshire Council of 10 January 2022. Taylor Wimpey’s contractors are now on Christmas shut down, and due to return from 4 January 2022.

(Note that the current phase of remedials/adoption does not include the final phase of the residential area of Castlemead, nor the business park, both of which will follow at a later date.)

We are pleased to let you know that work on our skate park is now confirmed to start on 11 January 2022. At the moment, everything should be complete by 6 April 2022.

The contractors will also join up all the sections of existing footpath providing pushchair / disabled access to the Memorial Hall, the new housing development and the play space.

We apologise to recreation ground users for the inevitable disruption at the site during the construction period. Please take extra care in this area.

As the tree at the entrance to Pitstone Memorial Hall sadly had to be removed by that Charity earlier in the year, the Christmas lights have been relocated closer to the roundabout this year. We hope that you all enjoy the new display at both the Recreation Ground and the Pavilion.

The parish council offers grants to local community groups and local charities that specifically benefit Pitstone residents.  Applications are considered quarterly.   The next opportunity for grants to be considered is coming up next month on 27 January 2022.

Some of our most recent recipients include Windmill Pre School for outdoor play equipment, Pitstone Memorial Hall Charity to fix their roof and South Central Ambulance for a further dedicated kit for our Community First Responders.

Please see the grant policy on this web site (http://pitstone.co.uk/ppcinfo/grant-policy/ ) for further information or contact the parish clerk.

Applications must be received at least 10 days ahead of the meeting date so that the information can be circulated to all members ahead of the meeting and your application can be advertised on our agenda.

As a further update on Westfield Road, Buckinghamshire Council confirm today (6/12/21) that the Taylor Wimpey works (within which they have included the Westfield Road amends) are due to be complete by 17/12/21.  TW apparently hope to move out to Westfield Road, from the estate roads, within the coming week.  They still plan to also undertake the road markings, weather permitting.  We will obviously continue to monitor the situation and liaise with BC during the forthcoming 2 weeks and beyond. 

November 16th every Tuesday until March 15th with 2 weeks off at Christmas  (🎄December 28th and January 4th🎄) 

£8 per week. Pay upfront for 10% off or pay in 2 instalments (by 16th November and by January 11th) 

Pitstone Pavilion 📍

Ages 4-7 – 4pm-4:45pm 

Ages 8-11 – 4:45pm- 5:30pm  

Please message me to secure your place as there are limited numbers available! Don’t miss out – 07928667099

At the parish council meeting on Thursday we were asked by a member of the public to provide an update on the Westfield Road amendments that Buckinghamshire Council agreed to action. 

You will recall that delivery of the works was divided between Buckinghamshire Council (BC) and Taylor Wimpey (TW).  BC installed the street light columns back in May.  TW then needed to complete the bulk of the remedials before BC will install the speed monitoring strips.  It is the works that are due to be delivered by TW that keep failing to materialise.

The latest information we have from Buckinghamshire Council is that Taylor Wimpey will undertake these works during the current 6-week remedial work period for all the works they are due to complete both within the esate and along Westfield Road.  All Castlemead residents have already been advised of this work, via a leaflet hand-delivered to all properties by TW.

We have not been posting updates during the intervening months, because every other date we have been given for BC/TW to rectify the issues has not been fulfilled and there seems little benefit to disappointing residents again and again by passing on information from BC/TW when we are not confident it will be accurate.   The works were incorrectly carried out by TW in June.  At the time we were advised they would be rectified immediately.  In July, they advised that they would be rectified shortly as needed to source additional materials.   In August, BC advised that the work would  be done by the end of the month.  By September, TW advised that the works were being incorporated into their remedial program and they were waiting for authorisation of the expenditure.  In October, we were advised that the works were approved and scheduled to start in mid-November.    The works are now in progress.  We chase BC reguarly, members are updated monthly and updates are posted within the parish council minutes.

The parish council therefore hopes that the works will be completed correctly, as stated, within the current remedial program.  In honesty, we remain doubtful.  Back in the spring, when the remedials were first agreed, BC had advised that the bulk of the work would be completely ‘shortly’ but that the painting/road markings would need to follow ‘in the summer’ as they could not be applied during winter weather.  We have been reminding BC of the ever decreasing window of seemingly appropriate weather, but suspect that as these were not applied at the start of their 6-week program, that at the conclusion of their current remedials TW will advise that they will be unable to carry out this aspect until the spring.   BC continue to advise that the works commissioned include the painting and all works should be completed.  We hope that our fears are unfounded.  BC will not attend and install the traffic monitoring strips until the TW works have been installed, so this aspect will not be completed by TW during their current works.   We will continue to liaise with BC as the TW works progress, and beyond, until all the works agreed by BC are delivered.

At least one of our Buckinghamshire Councillors always attends our meetings and we regularly discuss both Westfield Road and all the other outstanding BC matters.   The Wing & Ivinghoe Community Board also regularly provide updates from BC Development Management (the department in charge of liaising with TW) on this matter.  Representatives of the Parish Council attend all the Community Board meetings.  These meetings, and their minutes, are also open to the public should you wish to attend.  However, the Community Board also has no power to ensure delivery of these works, you will recall that they had agreed to look at the Westfield Road situation after all the current remedials were in place if further activity needed to be considered.  BC Development Management is itself beholden to TW for implementation, as no bond was taken from this developer by BC, and therefore BC can’t carry out the works itself & deduct the costs from the bond held.

We completely understand, and share, the frustration and disappointment felt by residents relating to the poor service delivery provided by BC and TW in relation to this matter and will continue to liaise with both BC and our Buckinghamshire Councillors until the matter is successfully resolved.

Recall training classes, 5 weeks from 10 January 2022

For more information contact Caroline on 07896835993 or carolineswaggytails@gmail.com

To find out more about Hartbeeps classes for your babies and toddlers, please click here: https://www.hartbeeps.com/

All your nominations for the Pitstone Volunteer of the Year 2022 need to be sent to the parish council by Friday 14 January 2022, so if you know of someone that is giving up their time and making a difference to the lives of the people in Pitstone, then please let us know.

A huge army of volunteers make our village special.  Did you know that volunteers manage the Memorial Hall; the Pitstone Heritage Park/museum; the Pitstone Windmill open days; are parish councillors; form the governing body of Brookmead school; deliver and edit Pitstone Parish Post; operate Pitstone Youth Café; form the management committee for Windmill pre-school; drive for the Community Car scheme; run mums & toddlers; run Brownies/Rainbows/Cubs/Scouts; are trustees for The Williamson Trust and Pitstone Town Lands Charity; run sporting groups such as I&PUCC, P&IUFC and P&IJFC; check street lights; provide ground-keeping on the cricket square; manage our allotment site; help at the Beacon Villages Community Library; organise community events and form the Friends of St Mary’s church in Pitstone. Just think what our village would be like without all these facilities!

As well as being an opportunity for you, and the parish council, to thank our Volunteer of the Year in public, the winner receives £50.00 and a framed certificate.

Previous winners include: Linda Howarth, Geoff Bratt, Gill Arney, Rob Spiller, Margaret Cole, Klaus Ginda, Dave Clifford, Mary Saintey, Joe Marling, Michelle Lee, David Hawkins, John Groom and Elaine Thorogood.

Please email or write to the parish clerk on: parishclerk@pitstone.co.uk or at

Pitstone Pavilion, Marsworth Road, Pitstone, Beds, LU7 9AP

providing the full name of the person you wish to nominate and the reasons why you think they deserve to win.

If you have some spare time and would like join this volunteer army and start enjoying the benefits that volunteering brings, please do get in touch or check out the list of opportunities published here: https://pitstone.co.uk/ppcinfo/vacancies-and-employment/

The parish council offers grants to local community groups and local charities that specifically benefit Pitstone residents.  Applications are considered quarterly.   The next opportunity for grants to be considered is coming up on 28 October 2021.

Some of our most recent recipients include Windmill Pre School for outdoor play equipment, Pitstone Memorial Hall Charity to fix their roof and South Central Ambulance for a further dedicated kit for our Community First Responders.

Please see the grant policy on this web site (http://pitstone.co.uk/ppcinfo/grant-policy/ ) for further information or contact the parish clerk.

Applications must be received at least 10 days ahead of the meeting date so that the information can be circulated to all members ahead of the meeting and your application can be advertised on our agenda.

Sad to see that one of the picnic tables installed in the recreation ground play space just last year has been badly burnt by someone using it as a base for a portable barbecue.

It is not appropriate, nor safe, to light barbecue’s anywhere in any of our playgrounds or open spaces, and least of all on wooden tables.

Please take care in this area until we can arrange a repair.

Are you the person we are looking for, to take a pride in and care for, our lovely new community building (Pitstone Pavilion)?

We currently have two vacancies:

Facilities Manager

We are seeking a Facilities Manager for the new Pitstone Pavilion. This will be a varied role encompassing everything to do with the pavilion including the maintenance, liaising with customers, promotional activities, policies, systems, overseeing contractors etc.

Estimated at 5+ hours per week, £12 per hour.  Must be able to work some weekend and evening time if required, and able to attend at short notice if hirers encounter a problem.  Must be flexible and able to adapt to meet the needs of our hirers (both those hiring the community room and those holding outdoor sporting events).

The applicant must be reasonably fit, self-motivated and trustworthy.   Must be happy to work alone at the site and be IT literate.

Cleaner

Estimated 2-4 hours per week (exact hours paid from worksheets submitted).  We can often be flexible with the work windows but the candidate must be able to work weekends as well as evenings/early mornings if necessary (based around our bookings).  Must be flexible and able to adapt to meet the needs of our hirers (both those hiring the community room and those holding outdoor sporting events).

Duties will include:

The applicant must be reasonably fit (as the cleaning work after muddy footballers can sometimes be strenuous), self-motivated and trustworthy.   Must be happy to work alone on site.   Experience of cleaning similar premises an advantage, but training can be provided.

Please find attached a full Job Description, Person Specification and Lone Working advice for both roles.

If either are the role for you, please apply in writing to: Mrs Laurie Eagling, Clerk to Pitstone Parish Council at email: parishclerk@pitstone.co.uk or via mail at Pitstone Pavilion, Marsworth Road, Pitstone, LU7 9AP, enclosing a curriculum vitae or providing written details about yourself, your experience and your suitability for the post.    

Some of the volunteers that have been with us for very many years (some since the cafe opened in 2011) have sadly had to step down this term, so we are desperately seeking local adults (must be over 18 years to comply with adult/child ratios, no upper age limit) that can help at the youth cafe on Wednesday evenings during term time.

There is a happy, relaxed atmosphere. You can join in with sports & games, do crafts or activities, or just chat/supervise.

If you can come each week, that is wonderful. If you prefer to come every other week, that is also fine.

Some more information about the youth cafe is available from the link below.

Please do consider coming forward to help ensure that our vital youth service can remain operating. Thank you.

https://pitstone.co.uk/ppcinfo/youth-cafe/

We are looking for a local volunteer with an eye for detail and layout & an ability to create an eye catching cover, to pull together our quarterly magazine – Pitstone Parish Post. You’ll collate articles, adverts and photographs, work up the artwork, proof read and send to the printers. Once published, you’ll upload the digital artwork to the website and ensure the hard copies are delivered to the Distribution Manager. You’ll become a valuable source of local information.

You’ll work alongside our Advertising Manager, Distribution Manager and the Parish Clerk.

Below we have listed some of the technical and personal skills we are seeking but if you don’t match completely please do still get in touch.

PPP is only produced quarterly, so this role would suit someone with a concentrated window of time available to volunteer once every 3 months.

If you would like to discuss this opportunity further, please contact either Laurie Eagling (Parish Clerk on 01296 767261 or parishclerk@pitstone.co.uk) or Sue Nicholls (current PPP Editor on 01296 661910 or pppeditor@pitstone.co.uk)

We look forward to hearing from you.

Technical Skills

MS Publisher. Use of Styles and paragraph formatting an advantage.

MS Word. Most articles arrive in this format. They might need reformatting for Publisher.

Photo-editing skills. There is the ability within Publisher to crop and edit photos but an understanding of the difference between screen and print requirements is needed. Adobe photoshop experience preferable. Also understanding of copyright imperative.

Email. Contributions arrive by email. There is an auto-reply set, which is managed using webmail. You’ll also send an email with the upcoming PPP deadline advice to a mailing group.

Personal skills

Organised: able to keep to a routine of sending deadline email, completing magazine, sending to printer, maintaining and sticking to the table of dates.

Literate: editing, precis, language, communication

Teamwork

Reliable

Methodical

Careful

Design: helpful

Following the consultation events with various sectors of the community, Bendcrete have considered all the feedback received and made the following revisions to the Pitstone skate park design:

• The street platform has moved sides
• The volcano has moved from the side of the jump box to after
• The grind rail has moved
• The euro gap has been removed and replaced with a stair set
• An additional quarter-pipe has been added after the jump line replacing the corner brick bank
• A rainbow end has been added to the descending rail

The design is still very inclusive and features elements for all skill levels, ages, wheel types and course styles, whilst maximising the number of users that can participate at any one time.

Updated images of the proposed skate park are shown below.

If anyone would like to submit any further thoughts/comments, please email them to parishclerk@pitstone.co.uk by 5pm on Thursday 26 August 2021.

The designs will then be submitted to RoSPA for a pre-installation inspection report. Assuming the report is favourable, Bendcrete will then be able to commence scheduling and production of the components etc.

Thank you to all those that have participated and helped to shape the skate park being proposed.

Buckinghamshire Council have made us aware of the following: They recently wrote to the parents of all children eligible for home to school transport and issued the bus passes for the forthcoming year. The same letter also advised that full bus timetables and route information would be added to their website by 15 August. Hard copies will not be sent in the post. Link to the timetables available here: https://www.buckscc.gov.uk/media/4517079/2021_timetables.pdf

It is important that parents do check the new bus times, numbers and stops, for the forthcoming year, as most services have changed.

Tring school parents please note that the bus services are now the MTRC910 and MTRC911. There are now only 2 buses instead of 3 (Cheddington children are now on a different route which doesn’t stop in Pitstone). Both collecting from Vicarage Road (by the Memorial Hall) at 8.13am. Buckinghamshire Council are aware that some children have been issued bus passes which don’t show a bus number, in which case your child can get on either bus service.

Cottesloe school parents please note that the bus service MCOT900 will be collecting from Vicarage Road (by the Memorial Hall) at 8.10am. This service no longer routes via Westfield Road.

Buckinghamshire Council’s policies allow for children to walk up to 1 mile to access the bus stop. The Vicarage Road location being the most central point in Pitstone.

Please check the Buckinghamshire Council website for full details : https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/schools-index/school-transport/

Should any parent have any queries, please contact the Buckinghamshire Council School Transport team on 01296 387439.

Residents may be aware that Nicholas King Homes PLC, the developers of the PDA Site (being marketed by them as their “Ravensmoor” development), have recently submitted a planning application for the two small remaining pieces of the overall site.

These are the land parcels which the Pitstone Neighbourhood Plan, adopted in 2016 following a referendum in which 97% of the votes cast were in favour of the Plan, requires to be made available (subject to viability) for community purposes such as a pub/restaurant and nursery.

The planning application which has been submitted is for residential housing.

You can view the application and supporting documents on the Buckinghamshire Council website, by clicking here.  The reference number of the application, which you will need to enter in order to find it, is 21/02999/APP.  You can also submit comments online (and will need to indicate whether you support or oppose the application, or are neutral about it).

The application will be considered at a specially-convened meeting of the Parish Council at 7.30pm on Thursday 19 August at Pitstone Pavilion.  Residents who would like to express any views about the application can email the Parish Council in advance, or attend the meeting, or indeed both.

The Parish Council has no power to decide this application.  It is simply being consulted by the Local Planning Authority (Buckinghamshire Council), as part of its overall consideration of the application. 

We would therefore encourage any residents with views about the application to submit them to Buckinghamshire Council online so that they can be taken into account.  The deadline for comments is Thursday 26 August.  If doing so, please send a copy to the Parish Council at the same time.

We would also encourage any potential operators of community facilities, that might be interested in purchasing either land parcel, to make themselves known to the Parish Council.  We can therefore put them in touch with the developers / its agents to initiate discussions about a potential purchase.

6 August 2020

Skate park

The long-awaited skate park will sit between the multi-use ball court and the new play space on the recreation ground, to enhance our facilities so that there are activities that all age groups and abilities can engage with and the whole family can spend recreation time together.  The tendering process has now been running for a while and the parish council appointed a suitably qualified contractor at the end of June, subject to a number of conditions.   Initial designs have been produced, based on the features specified by local users and these will be published shortly.   A further public consultation & design meeting, hosted by the contractor, has been held, where everyone was invited to come along and provide feedback on the initial design and discuss any different features or flows etc that they might like to be considered. Feedback is being reviewed by the contractor and we will provide an update in due course.

Youth Café

Youth café re-opened and has been operating from the new Pitstone Pavilion each Wednesday evening during term time.   We held introductory sessions for the Year 6 Brookmead pupils on 30 June, 7 July and 14 July during the first part of the café session.  Our regular users attended the second sessions on each of these nights.   Thank you to all the young people that have come back to café – it has been amazing to be able to see you all again.

Pitstone Pavilion

We were pleased that the covid regulations lifted enough to permit both outdoor sports, yoga and meetings to resume at the new pavilion site and look forward to even more activities taking place there as the restrictions lift further as time passes.

Westfield Road speed mitigation

At the top end of Westfield Road, BC’s proposed mitigation measures have started to be installed but the process has not run smoothly.  Firstly, the Buckinghamshire Council contractors installed the lamp posts in the wrong place, once that had been resolved, the Taylor Wimpey contractors then installed the signage incorrectly.   We understand new signage is on order and the contractors will return to fit and rectify the other errors.  Carriageway painting will follow later in the summer.  The parish council will continue to try to ensure that Buckinghamshire Council deliver their promised measures.

At the other end of Westfield Road, the 30mph signs have now been relocated to their correct position at the junction but 40mph signs for the backs of these posts have not yet been installed.  Again, we understand the Taylor Wimpey contractor is due to return and retrofit.

Multi Use Games Area and replacement car park

These items are being installed by Nicholas King Homes.  We are currently working with the developer to resolve a number of outstanding issues and queries.

Picnic Table

We’d like to express our thanks to the Morris family for their kind donation of funds for the purchase of a memorial picnic bench to be located in the Hever Close playground. The unit is currently being manufactured and will be installed once complete.

Due to a change in personal circumstances, we are seeking a new cleaner for Pitstone Pavilion.

Estimated 2-4 hours per week (exact hours paid from worksheets submitted).  We can often be flexible with the work windows but the candidate must be able to work weekends as well as evenings/early mornings if necessary (based around our bookings).  Must be flexible and able to adapt to meet the needs of our hirers (both those hiring the community room and those holding outdoor sporting events).

Duties will include:

• cleaning the pavilion including the community room, kitchen, toilets, corridors, walkways and changing village (depending on hirers usage),
• monitoring and refilling dispensers as necessary,
• litter picking the grounds,
• periodic deep cleaning (such as descaling shower heads),
• completion of accurate records of work undertaken.

The applicant must be reasonably fit (as the cleaning work after muddy footballers can sometimes be strenuous), self-motivated and trustworthy.   Must be happy to work alone on site.   Experience of cleaning similar premises an advantage, but training can be provided.

For full details, please see the attachment below.

If this is the role for you, please apply in writing to: Mrs Laurie Eagling, Clerk to Pitstone Parish Council at email: parishclerk@pitstone.co.uk or via mail at Pitstone Pavilion, Marsworth Road, Pitstone, Beds, LU7 9AP, enclosing a curriculum vitae or providing brief written details about yourself, your experience and your suitability for the post.    

Deadline: 12 August 2021.

Tonight is the last youth cafe before the summer holidays. Please remember to book a space by calling Dave Rollins if you wish to attend 07977926596.

We wish you all a happy and healthy summer break.

We are seeking a Facilities Manager for the new Pitstone Pavilion. This will be a varied role encompassing everything to do with the pavilion including the maintenance, liaising with customers, promotional activities, policies, systems, overseeing contractors etc.

Estimated at around 5 hours per week, £12 per hour.  Must be able to work weekends and evenings, and able to attend at short notice if required.  Must be flexible and able to adapt to meet the needs of our hirers (both those hiring the community room and those holding outdoor sporting events).

The applicant must be reasonably fit, self-motivated and trustworthy.   Must be happy to work alone.   Must be IT literate.

Please find attached a full Job Description, Person Specification and Lone Working advice.

If this is the role for you, please apply in writing to: Mrs Laurie Eagling, Clerk to Pitstone Parish Council at email: parishclerk@pitstone.co.uk or via mail at Pitstone Pavilion, Marsworth Road, Pitstone, LU7 9AP, enclosing a curriculum vitae or providing written details about yourself, your experience and your suitability for the post.    

Deadline: 12 August 2021.

Come along to Pitstone Recreation Ground at 6.30pm on 28 July 2021 to meet the skatepark designers and have your say in the final design for the skatepark.

To view the proposed skatepark including the list of features & heights, please click here:

We are delighted that our Community Right to Bid application to Buckinghamshire Council to re-list the land to the south side of The Crescent as an Asset of Community Value has been successful, and the parcel of land has been re-entered onto the register (listings expire after 5 years).

Buckinghamshire Council’s decision notice is attached below.

Pitstone Parish Council would like to extend a warm welcome to two new councillors. Here they tell you a little about themselves:

“My family and I moved into the area in 2015, we feel lucky to have found such a wonderful community that is so warm and welcoming. I jumped at the chance to join the Parish Council so I could help add to it, as much as anything else, for my two young children and to give back to the community.  My father and I run a family business in haberdashery and I’m hoping to utilise some of my skills in sales and problem solving.  I have great passion for our village and will put my all into it.”

“I have lived in Tring, Berkhamsted or in one of the surrounding villages all of my life. I settled in Pitstone with my now family of four 8 years ago and we love where we live. I have always been keen aware of local community projects & local news and feel it is now the time to serve the local community as a parish councillor. I have attended Pitstone Parish Council meetings prior to submitting my interest in joining the parish council and hope I can add to the great work undertaken by the both current and previous parish councillors. I have always believed in working together with other local parish councils and look forward to supporting my local community.”

Spaces available at tonight’s Youth Cafe. Please call Dave on 07977926596, anytime before 6pm, to book your place.

Buckinghamshire Council has confirmed that no local election has been called and therefore the parish council will be co-opting 3 individuals to fill the current 3 vacancies for members of the parish council.

We thank everyone that has expressed an interest and/or submitted an application to date. Please do continue to reach out to us if you are interested in becoming a parish councillor. Initial information can be found in the web post link below, along with the associated links that explain who is eligible to stand and how much time might be required. We are happy to provide full information packs about Pitstone Parish Council specifically, so do give us a call.

Voting and appointments will take place at the next council meeting on 24 June 2021. Appointed members will then serve a 4-year term of office until the next election.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Buckinghamshire Council have today advised the following:

• Both Buckinghamshire Council and Taylor Wimpey visited the site yesterday and Taylor Wimpey’s contractors have been instructed to carry out the following remedial works:
• The badger and exclamation mark signs to be relocated next week (they did not have the correct size clips available yesterday).
• The duplicate derestriction signs on the gates to be removed.
• The old post that housed the badger signs to be removed.
• The 30mph signs to be re-ordered (as they are still too small) and to be fitted once available.
• At the other end of Westfield Road, the 30mph signs have now moved to the correct position by the junction but 40mph signs need to be added to the back.

We are aware that the BC/TW installers have made a number of errors when installing the new signage on Westfield Road today (9/6/21) which is incredibly frustrating.

The parish council is trying to liaise with Buckinghamshire Council and we will update residents as soon as we have any news.

Update: Taylor Wimpey are now due to visit site tomorrow (10/6/21) with a contractor to try and sort out the latest issues. If necessary, Buckinghamshire Council will come out later in the week. They are hopeful that the current issues will be sorted in the next couple of days.

Spaces available at tonight’s Youth Cafe. Please call Dave on 07977926596, anytime before 6pm, to book your place.

This week is Volunteers’ Week.

Today is an opportunity for us to say thank you to all our Street Light Champions. Thank you for helping to ensure all our lights are operational.

The parish council owns and maintains 120 street light lanterns within the original residential part of the village. The columns along Marsworth Road are maintained by Buckinghamshire Council. Those within Castlemead and along Westfield Road are maintained by Taylor Wimpey, those in the new development off Rushendon Furlong are still maintained by Croudace and those within the development off Vicarage Road are still maintained by Bellway. There are also a couple of columns around the village which are maintained by housing associations.

Each month a team of volunteer residents & councillors walk the road in which they live (or those they jog past) once at night to check that all the lanterns are illuminating, and once during the day to check that none of the lanterns are on when they shouldn’t be. If any issues are identified, they drop a quick email to the parish clerk who can then get the matter reported to the appropriate body so the remedial works can be carried out.

This volunteering opportunity takes up hardly any time and helps to ensure the lights in your road are maintained in a timely manner. The checks can be undertaken at any time to suit you, within a one week window. We simply send out a reminder at the beginning of the month & you only need to respond to us if there is anything that needs fixing.

If you would like to join this team please do get in touch with the parish clerk on 01296 767261 / parishclerk@pitstone.co.uk.

This week is Volunteers’ Week.

Today is an opportunity for us to say thank you to everyone involved in the production and distribution of Pitstone Parish Post. Everyone on this team is a volunteer – including the Editor, the Cover Designer, the Distribution Manager, the Advertising Manager and the small army of distributors that pop the magazine through your letterbox. We are most grateful to each and every one of you for the vital role that you play in helping to keep all residents informed of local affairs.

We are always open to expanding the content of our quarterly publication if we have willing helpers to produce it, so if you’d like to get involved with reporting on local events, taking photographs, writing articles, producing regular features etc then please do get in touch with Sue, our Editor, via email on pppeditor@pitstone.co.uk or phone 01296 661910.

If you have time once a quarter to pop some copies of PPP through letterboxes (the magazine is delivered to every home and business in Pitstone), then please contact Rachel, our Distribution Manager, on 07717 471584. Also reach out to Rachel if you would be willing to provide relief cover for those that might be unable to complete their round, as there are often a few routes that need covering if people are away on holiday etc.

If you would like to place an advert in the magazine, or have some time to help us contact potential advertisers to let them know about our magazine, please contact either Klaus, our Advertising Manager, on 01296 668911 or the parish clerk on 01296 767261 / parishclerk@pitstone.co.uk.

Volunteering as a PPP distributor is a more solitary role than some of the other volunteering opportunities with the parish council but takes hardly any time and gets you out in the fresh air once a quarter. The other roles can evolve around your available time & skill set.

Please do get in touch today, and start reaping the benefits of volunteering within your local community.

The parish council offers grants to local community groups and local charities that specifically benefit Pitstone residents.  Applications are considered quarterly.   The next opportunity for grants to be considered is coming up in July.

Our most recent recipients include Windmill Pre School for outdoor play equipment, Pitstone Memorial Hall Charity to fix their roof and South Central Ambulance for a further dedicated kit for our Community First Responders.

Please see the grant policy on this web site (http://pitstone.co.uk/ppcinfo/grant-policy/ ) for further information or contact the parish clerk.

Applications must be received at least 10 days ahead of the meeting date so that the information can be circulated to all members ahead of the meeting and your application can be advertised on our agenda.

This week is Volunteers’ Week.

Today is an opportunity for us to say thank you to all those that volunteer at the Pitstone Youth Cafe. The parish council employs one qualified youth worker and all the other adult helpers are volunteers, so without you our young residents wouldn’t be able to access youth support, participate in informal sports & games, nor have somewhere safe and dry to hang out with their friends that have gone to other senior schools.

More helpers are always needed as we need at least 4 on site each week. Sadly many of our volunteers are having to travel to us from Aylesbury and the villages surrounding Pitstone, as there have not been enough local helpers (despite most of the young people that attend coming from Pitstone). If you enjoy skateboarding, netball, basketball, badminton, frisbee, console games, board/card games or table tennis then this is the opportunity for you. Likewise if you can run craft, digital photography or music sessions with a group of young people then we’d love to hear from you too as this enables us to put together a varied program of activities for the young people to participate in (in the past the teenagers have helped to build go-carts, skate ramps and bird houses, made jewellery or light pictures using digital cameras). So if this is something that appeals to you, please do call Dave, our Cafe Manager, for an initial chat on 07977 926596 or email youth.cafe@me.com

You can find out more information about the youth cafe here: https://pitstone.co.uk/ppcinfo/youth-cafe/

Volunteering at the youth cafe (Wednesday evenings 6.30-8.15pm in term time) is a lot of fun – you get to meet lots of lovely new people, keep active and feel more connected to our local community. There is no age limit, many of our volunteers are retired and enjoy attending the cafe as much as the young people do. You don’t need to commit to coming each week, some volunteers just come once a month. The cafe operates in a covid secure manner.

Please do get in touch today, and help us to support more young people. They are the future of our village.

This week is Volunteers’ Week.

Today is an opportunity for us to say thank you to all those that volunteer to drive for the Pitstone Community Car Scheme. All drivers are volunteers, so without you our residents wouldn’t be able to reach their hospital, doctors and medical appointments – thank you very much.

More drivers are always needed as there are sadly sometimes people we can’t help, so if this is something that appeals to you, please do call our Community Car Coordinator, for an initial chat on Tel: 01296 767116 or email communitytransport@pitstone.co.uk

Driving for the car scheme is very rewarding – you get to feel good about helping someone, meet lots of lovely new people and feel more connected to our local community. There is no minimum or regular commitment required – you only accept a booking if it suits you (some volunteer a few times a year, some a few times a month, some people only need to get to the doctors surgery & safely back home so the time commitment isn’t huge). Petrol expenses are paid so you are not out-of-pocket. The scheme operates in a covid secure manner.

Please do get in touch today, and help us to help more people.

Still lots of spaces available at both youth cafe sessions tonight. Please call Dave on 07977926596 to book your place.

ARE YOU PASSIONATE ABOUT OUR VILLAGE?

WOULD YOU LIKE TO JOIN PITSTONE PARISH COUNCIL? 

3 VACANCIES

We currently have 3 vacant seats on the parish council.  At the 6 May 2021 election 1 seat remained unappointed (for which we can co-opt).  2 candidates that were offered seats (Dr Frearson and Mrs Stoddart) have been unable to take up their posts due to unforeseen changes in personal circumstances (for which we can co-opt if 10 electors do not request a by-election within 14 working days, see attached notices).  Therefore, there are 3 remaining positions available on the parish council.

Each member will serve a four-year term of office with the parish council, until the next election.

The corporate body of the parish council also acts as Sole Trustee to two local charities.

Initial information about the role of parish councillors, and charity trustees, is available on our website www.pitstone.co.uk.

If you are interested in joining us, have plenty of spare time (an average of 3 hours per week) to volunteer (councillors receive no wages or allowances), and are passionate about the village we live in, please contact the parish council for a full information pack as soon as possible to ensure you have plenty of time to read through all the materials.

Applications for co-option should be submitted by email to parishclerk@pitstone.co.uk by close of:

THURSDAY 17 JUNE 2021

If no by-election has been called, the parish council will arrange interviews and seek to appoint 3 individuals to fill all 3 vacancies at the next full council meeting on Thursday 24 June 2021.

If a by-election has been called, the parish council will seek to appoint 1 individual to fill the initial seat at the next full council meeting on Thursday 24 June 2021 and the remaining 2 seats will be filled by local election (dates will be confirmed by Buckinghamshire Council in due course).

If you are interested in calling for a by-election, please see the information in the attached two notices and replicated below:

PITSTONE PARISH COUNCIL

Local Government Act 1972- Sections 87 and 89

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that due to the resignation of Councillors Dr Frearson and Mrs Stoddart (who were unable to take up their elected posts due to a change in personal circumstances) two casual vacancies have arisen in the Office of Parish Councillor for Pitstone Parish Council.

If by 14 June 2021 (within 14 days excluding Dies Non after the date of this notice) a request for an election to fill the vacancies is made in writing to the Returning Officer, Buckinghamshire Council, King George V House, King George V Road, Amersham, HP6 5AW or via email to elections@buckinghamshire.gov.uk* by TEN electors for the Parish, then an election will be held to fill the vacancies, otherwise the vacancies will be filled by co-option.

Dated: 24 May 2021

Signed: Laurie Eagling, Parish Clerk

Pitstone Parish Council, 9 Warwick Road, Pitstone, Beds, LU7 9FE

** Residents of the parish who wish to request an election must include their names, addressses and a signature and if using the email address we recommend a scanned copy.

We received so many nominations for volunteer of the year this year, and it was such an exceptional year, that the parish council resolved to award ‘Volunteer of the Year’ to two people.  Both these people received numerous nominations each:

Geoff Bratt is our main local Community First Responder.  This means he volunteers for the ambulance service, and if Geoff happens to be on call when your 999 call is made, it is likely to be Geoff who is sent to provide immediate assistance until the ambulance can reach us.  Those extra minutes can make all the different in life-and-death situations.  Between October and December alone, Geoff undertook nearly 200 hours of voluntary service as a Community First Responder for our villages.   During the coronavirus pandemic, when most of us where avoiding close contact, Geoff was actively having to go into known covid infection areas to provide much needed assistance to our residents.

Many of you will already know Linda Howarth from the community events she organises at Halloween, for the Freecycle weekend and on behalf of Windmill Pre-School.  She has also been busy helping the pre-school to clear and prepare their new premises (they have been able to take over the adjoining old Children’s Centre to increase pre-school capacity) as well as volunteering at the pre-school on a regular basis.

The parish council would like to congratulate both our winners, each of whom received a framed certificate and £50 cheque at individual, socially distanced presentations at Pitstone Pavilion.   We also extend our sincere thanks to both individuals for all their hard work and support of our community.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to send in a nomination.  If your nominee wasn’t successful on this occasion, do consider nominating them for the 2022 Volunteer of the Year.  Nominations for anyone who has undertaken voluntary work that has made a real difference for the residents of Pitstone, can be submitted at any time between now and January 2022 by emailing parishclerk@pitstone.co.uk or writing to Pitstone Parish Council, Pitstone Pavilion, Marsworth Road, Pitstone, LU7 9AP.

Our plan is to re-open the youth café (for school years 7 and above) on Wednesday 19 May.  We have needed to put some changes into place to make sure it is covid secure, so please read on:

• Pitstone Youth Café will currently be operating from Pitstone Pavilion (not Brookmead School).  The Pavilion is located on Marsworth Road, opposite the junction with Westfield Road.  There is vehicular access for those children that need dropping off/collecting.  It is also connected to the footpath and cycle path networks (please be careful in the car park, as our football pitches may also be in operation on the same night, so there may be other vehicles etc at the site).  We have relocated most of our equipment down to this site.
• We can only have 15 young people per session, so anyone wishing to attend will have to book in advance.  We are very sorry, but if you have not booked, you will not be admitted. 
• Session times will also need to be reduced, so that we can operate one bubble of 15 young people from 6.30pm to 7.15pm, then break for a full clean of our space, followed by a second bubble of 15 young people from 7.30pm to 8.15pm.   
• The cost will be reduced to £1 to session, to reflect the shorter time.
• Activities will be mainly outdoors unless the weather is too poor so please make sure you come suitably dressed.  Our Café Manager has made 4 new skate ramps for the young people to try, so bring your helmets.
• There will be no tuck shop at present.

We appreciate that this may not be ideal, but the youth café would normally have had between 30 and 40 attendees per week, and to keep everyone safe we must operate within the government guidelines in place at the time.  As the covid restrictions ease, we will continue to review our operating processes and let you all know if there are any changes.

How do you book?

• Anyone who has already re-registered with the youth café should receive an email communication from the café manager.
• If you have not re-registered onto the new system, please register via this link:  http://youthcafe.pitstone.co.uk/register/
• If you want to find out more above the youth café, please click here: http://youthcafe.pitstone.co.uk/
• To book your session, please email youth.cafe@me.com with the date, session time, and  name of child
• Please try to stick to a regular session time, so that we can keep the children in each bubble consistent
• The café manager will contact anyone who has booked a session if any changes are required to follow guidance in place at the time, for instance if café has temporarily to cease.
• If you need to contact the Cafe Manager for any reason, you can call 07977 926596.

On the day:

• Please only come to the café session that you have booked.
• Please only come to café if your child has tested negative for covid on their twice weekly lateral flow test and is not displaying any symptoms of Coronavirus.  If your child is unwell, please do not come to café.  Anyone with a raised temperature will be sent home.
• Your child should also not attend if they have been in close contact with anyone with Covid symptoms, nor if they have been contacted by Track-and-Trace.
• Please make sure your child has a face mask and brings any food or drink they require.
• Please drop off and collect promptly, so that the bubbles do not mix.
• Please bring £1 in correct change to reduce the cross handling of coins.

Covid safety:

• Our volunteers and staff will be kept as consistent as possible and will only attend if they display no Covid symptoms.  We encourage all volunteers and staff to carry out twice weekly lateral flow tests.
• Hand sanitizer will be available and your child may have to apply sanitizer or wear gloves before/during an activity (depending on the activity).  Your child may need to wear a face covering indoors.
• Surfaces likely to have been touched will be cleaned at the end of each session eg door handles, taps etc.
• There will be no tuck shop at the moment.
• Just like when they are at school, your child should avoid sharing any items with other children.
• We will keep a register of those attending each session for track-and-trace purposes and may need to provide your information to the government for these purposes.

Keeping up to date:

• Please like our Facebook page(s) – Pitstone Parish Council and Pitstone Youth
• Follow our Twitter feed
• Register via the link above
• We’ll post updates to keep you informed of any changes in Government guidelines etc.

We look forward to seeing all the familiar faces back at café again, after such a long-enforced break, as well as welcoming new members.   Later in the summer term we’ll review if we have the capacity and ability to offer sessions to the year 6 leavers.

Cafe operates during term times only, so proposed dates for the remainder of the school year are:

• 19 & 26 May
• 9, 16, 23 & 30 June
• 7 & 14 July

Having seen the two new lamp posts installed and connected on Westfield Road, we were sad to find out yesterday (from a resident) that they were being removed and relocated.

Buckinghamshire Council (BC) has confirmed that unfortunately the columns were incorrectly installed by the contractor and they were aware that the re-work was required (although they didn’t know that it had been scheduled). The information from BC reads as follows:

1. “It is the contractor that is having to move the columns not BC (or TW).
2. The contractor did not adhere to the detail of the order they were given and installed the lamp columns too far apart.
3. The overall distance covered by the new columns was around 91 metres rather than 70 metres as agreed, so could not be accepted.
4. The costs of the new columns are being picked up by Taylor Wimpey and the changes are to be covered by the contractor, who owned up to having made the mistake. There is, therefore, no cost whatsoever to the taxpayer.”

It is frustrating that having been installed, the columns couldn’t remain in those locations (ie nearer the gate than anticipated) and just as frustrating that Buckinghamshire Council didn’t engage with the parish council and residents to let us know in advance what was happening.

Buckinghamshire Council confirms that their proposed installation plans have not changed and that they will be delivering to the previously advised specification.

Buckinghamshire Council advise that work has commenced on Westfield Road in preparation for installing the additional street light columns. These works are anticipated to take a few weeks to account for trenching, installation, cabling and connections.

We are advised that once installation is complete, Taylor Wimpey will move the existing speed limit signs whilst they await supply of the larger, with yellow backing, signs (which will follow once available).

Buckinghamshire Council advises that the remainder of the features, such as the 30 roundels and dragons teeth markings, will follow in the summer, when road marking works are generally carried out.

We continue to feed any comments received from residents through to Buckinghamshire Council.

Please click below to access the Notice of Uncontested Election for Election of Parish Councillors for Pitstone.

Elected members will take up their seats at the Annual Meeting of the Council on 20 May 2021.

10 seats have been filled, which leaves 1 seat vacant. The Parish Council will seek to fill this vacancy via co-option, details will be available in due course. Please do contact the parish clerk if you may be interested in joining the council.

There are often lots of little jobs that need undertaking at parish council property to ensure that everything remains safe for residents to use and in good condition.

This might be :

• minor electrical works such PAT testing our youth cafe and pavilion equipment
• undertaking playground equipment & bench repairs in any of our play spaces
• minor tree and/or shrub works
• repairing or replacing fences or gates
• repairing or installing litter and dog bins
• minor remedial works such as putting up signs or repairing equipment
• addressing minor ground works such as worn surfaces
• moving our mVAS equipment around the village, downloading the data and forwarding to the parish clerk
• etc

The parish council wishes to form a list of ‘approved contractors’ that are registered with us to undertake any of the above type of work, if and when the need arises. Your services may be required at short notice, for instance if a fault develops with an item of play equipment it will need to be addressed immediately.

Interested contractors will also need to possess £5m public liability insurance, be able to demonstrate their competence in their chosen field eg be accredited to the right trade organisations and be able to provide references that the parish council can follow up.

So if you are a local electrician, ground worker, builder, plumber etc and would like to be considered by the parish council when works arise, please do send your company details, proof of insurance/competence and reference information to parishclerk@pitstone.co.uk, along with details of any hourly rates (or day rates) that you charge for the work you undertake to assist our decision making process.

https://www.marketingforce.co.uk/buckinghamshire.html

A company called Marketing Force handle all the roundabout sponsorships for Buckinghamshire Council. Your company gets their name, logo and message on signage at each approach to the roundabout. In return, Marketing Force then take over the upkeep of the roundabout planting/grass from Transport for Bucks.

They are now offering the opportunity to sponsor the roundabout at the junction of Westfield Road/Northfield Road/Upper Icknield Way. This provides an opportunity for one local business to raise awareness of their services to traffic that passes the edge of the village.

Please click the above link to visit the Marketing Force website and find out more information.

The Buckinghamshire Council Wing & Ivinghoe Community Board have provided the parish council with 10 x canvas tote bags containing leaflets on ways to improve your wellbeing and exercises you can do from home, an Active at Home booklet, 10 Today short ten-minute DVD routines to get you stretching & moving and a 10 Today audio CD of short ten-minute routines.

The packs & exercises were developed to support older people and those that have been shielding to be more active and healthy at home.

If you, or someone you know in the village, would like to receive one of our 10 free packs please telephone the parish clerk on 01296 767261 (please don’t leave your home address on any social media posts).

We only have 10, so please contact us as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Thank you.

Reminder that anyone wishing to stand for the parish council election needs to hand deliver their completed nomination papers to Buckinghamshire Council before 4pm on Thursday (8 April 2021).