Pitstone Parish Council update from Issue 143 (January 2025) of Pitstone Parish Post

A Warm Welcome to Hannah Bates

We are sure that you will join us in extending a warm welcome to our newest member of the council, Hannah Bates.   Hannah is a pharmacist and runs her own skin care business.  She has two children that attend the local schools, and is keen to get involved in helping the community.  Hannah will serve out the remaining term until the election.

If, like Hannah, you have at least 3 hours spare each week to volunteer, and are keen to get involved in the most local tier of government, there is a vacancy remaining to serve until the May 2025 elections.   You may also like to consider standing for election, and taking on a 4-year term of office from May 2025.  Please get in touch on 01296 767261 or email parishclerk@pitstone.co.uk and we’ll be delighted to bring you round an information pack and chat to you further about the duties required as a member of the council and trustee of the two associated charities.  More information can also be found here: https://pitstone.co.uk/localnews/democracy-in-action-free-event-if-you-are-considering-standing-for-election-in-2025/

Bus Service to Tring Station

Buckinghamshire Council have been encouraged by the number of residents getting on/off the bus at Tring Station, and from the positive feedback they have received from Pitstone residents – thank you to all that have taken the time to message them.  They hope to work with Red Eagle to try and tailor the times of the service to better align with the most popular train times.  Please take a moment to email BC Passenger Transport on passtrans@buckinghamshire.gov.uk and Red Eagle on enquiries@redeagle.org.uk to let them know if there are any trains that you are particularly keen to connect with.

Cycle/foot path to Tring Station

Buckinghamshire Council provided the following update “regarding the S106 transport contribution received by Buckinghamshire County Council (BCC) from Taylor Wimpey for the Westfield Road development towards a foot/cycle link to Tring Station. As this link would be within Hertfordshire’s boundary, the S106 contribution was transferred from BCC to Hertfordshire County Council (HCC).  HCC have since considered it to be unfeasible to deliver a foot/cycle link along Northfield Road with the available funding. Therefore, an alternative scheme was proposed and discussed, involving upgrades to the canal towpath that connects at Marshcroft Lane and Station Road, where an existing shared foot/cycle path connects to Tring Station.  Taylor Wimpey have been informed of this proposed alternative scheme and have not raised objection. HCC are therefore now going to be progressing the delivery of these canal towpath works through the Canal and River Trust. They anticipate these works will be completed in the next 1-2 years.  Separately, following public consultation in late 2024, Buckinghamshire Council is proposing to include a ‘corridor’ between ‘Pitstone-Tring’ in the Buckinghamshire Local Cycling and
Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP). This corridor is also referenced in HCC’s
equivalent local LCWIP. Whilst the LCWIPs do not guarantee or provide further funding, the inclusion of the corridor in the plans will support the Council’s in any future in this area, should it be progressed.”  

Thank you to those that responded to the consultation.  When we get the specific details of the Marshcroft Lane route, we will share these.

Bus Shelters along Westfield Road

We are delighted that the bus shelters have now been installed.   Our thanks once again to Safran for funding the shelter outside their premises.  No residents have yet come forward to say that they catch the bus from the stop up by Colbree, which seems to be more of a location for alighting that getting on.  If you do catch the bus from here and feel that an additional shelter is necessary, please email parishclerk@pitstone.co.uk to let us know.

Tun Furlong play space

Bellway are still working through the remedial works, but we hope to be able to adopt this area very shortly.

Multi Use Games Area

The ball court by the Recreation Ground is still owned and maintained by Nicholas King Homes as it has not been constructed to the agreed standards.  Both Buckinghamshire Council and the Parish Council continue to seek recompense from NKH.  It is intended as an open facility for all to share.  There are no individual hire agreements in place.  Please be considerate of the neighbouring properties when using the court and keep music turned low, especially in the evenings or early mornings.

Local Wildlife Site

There continues to be a problem with vehicles parking by the maintenance gates for the Local Wildlife Site and we continue to receive correspondence from residents that have been walking along the footpath and met with moving vehicles.   Thames Valley Police are patrolling the area, speaking to offending vehicles and issuing fines if appropriate.   We are also working with the landowner and tenant farmer to investigate other options to prevent illegal parking there, and further signage will be installed in due course.  Please be aware of other pedestrians and cyclists when using the paths, and give each other plenty of space when overtaking.

Speeding in residential roads

We are working with Thames Valley Police and Brookmead School on a poster campaign that we will be able to utilise on our lamp posts etc.   We’ll let you know more details once they are finalised.   The wheelie bin stickers have been distributed and we still have some spare stickers, so if you feel you have a problem with speeding in your road and would like bright yellow stickers for your wheelie bins, please drop an email to parishclerk@pitstone.co.uk providing your address and we can bring some round to you.

Buckinghamshire Highways

There are lots of long outstanding issues with Buckinghamshire Highways, ranging from potholes to path restoration, and signage lighting to road markings/signs.  We continue to push for resolutions and the Buckinghamshire Councillors are aware of the issues.

Restoration of Pitstone Quarry into a Suitable Alternative Natural Green Space

Thank you to those that attended either the latest drop-in consultation, or the formal presentation at the Parish Council Planning Committee meeting on 2/1/25, by AA Environmental Ltd on behalf of Clark Contracting Ltd.   You can find out more about the revised proposals on their project website at: https://pitstone-quarry.co.uk/supporting-documents/ and a copy of the presentation they gave on: https://pitstone.co.uk/ppcnews/

Defibrillators

The Parish Council is working on a project to increase the number of defibrillators in the village so that everyone can access this emergency life saving equipment within the recommended travel times.   The current defibrillators are located at Pitstone Memorial Hall, Pitstone Pavilion, the Village Health Centre in Yardley Avenue and Pitstone Marina.  As we are 25-30 minutes from the ambulance station at Stoke Mandeville, in the event of a cardiac event, it is really important that there are local facilities.  We are currently seeking grant funding via a number of avenues and also hope to offer everyone training to familiarise themselves with its use.    Further information will be published as soon as the units are installed and operational. 

Grants

We are currently in the process of applying for grants to purchase some additional sport and musical equipment for the Youth Café;
purchase additional equipment and tools to assist the Repair Café; and  expand the number of silent soldiers to include each village gateway.    We’ll provide an update on whether these were successful in the next edition.

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