Edlesborough Parish Council

Litter Bins & Dog Bins

Edlesborough Parish Council are responsible for maintaining the green litter bins inside Edlesborough Green.

The Green bins outside the Edlesborough Green are emptied by AVDC. Recently some of these bins have been damaged; Edlesborough Parish Council has replaced these bins with more substantial bins.

Dog bins in Edlesborough, Dagnall and Northall are maintained by the Parish Council and are emptied by AVDC at considerable expense to EPC.

The dog bin inside the main gate to Dagnall allotments will shortly be relocated to Main Road North near Hog Hall Lane. A new dog bin is also being installed at the start of the footpath on Eaton Bray Road, Northall.

Reporting Pavement, Pothole, Fly Tipping & Rights of Way Issues

Please report any pavement issues, potholes, and Rights of Way issues to transportforbucks.net/Tell-us.aspx. If possible please take a photo of the problem and upload it when making the report.

Please report fly tipping to buckscc.gov.uk/environment/.../report-fly-tipping/ or call 01296 480771 or 0845 330 1856.

Allotments

Edlesborough Parish Council currently has vacant allotments. Anyone wishing to take on an allotment should contact the Parish Clerk. Fees are £1:80 per pole and plots range in size from 5 – 20 poles.

Streetlights

At the time of writing this report the installation of the new street lights in the Parish is complete with the exception of two lights, which require further attention.

Please remember to report faulty lights to the Parish Clerk.

Extracts from County Councillor Report January/February 2016

County Council grant settlement means higher taxes and fewer services.

On 17 December councils were notified by government of their grant allocation for 2016/17. It is not good news. The cuts have been far greater than expected and come on top of year on year reductions since 2010. Instead of the anticipated 30% cut for this coming financial year 2016/17, Bucks County Council suffered a grant cut in excess of 40%, being allocated only £23.7 million instead of the £28 million expected. Next year it will receive £8.1 million and grants will cease from then on. This should be offset to an extent by the council receiving a portion of the business rate previously retained entirely by central government, and permission to raise council tax by 2% over and above the 1.9% previous limit, specifically to meet adult social care costs.

However the government applies a funding formula called a top up grant adjustment which has reduced Bucks’ funding this year by a further £1.6 million, and up to a total of minus £52.7 million in the next four years. This negative grant settlement is achieved by holding back the business rate and re allocating it to poorer authorities.

Although the County Council budget is still £335 million, excluding schools, there are continuing new costs to meet for additional duties in health and social care, children services, flood prevention, and more, as well as increasing numbers of people needing care and the introduction of the national minimum wage.

The following link is for the Draft Budget Report.

I could continue, but you get the overall gloomy picture of reduced budgets and services and increased taxes. The conservative administration are vociferously blaming the very government they helped to elect. My group, while equally angry, will face up to the realities of the situation, and challenge them on every priority and 'difficult choice' they have to make to try to prevent the baby going out with the bath water, and protect those most reliant on services.

Tring Station and the London Midland rail franchise renewal

Aldbury parish council have written to me and others about the need to have a plan for Tring Station to improve the parking and reduce the impact on local residents, which I fully support. Although the use of Cheddington station has remained about the same since 1997, Tring station usage has increased by 72%.

The West Midlands rail franchise document published on 15 December is now out for consultation.

It is vital that Bucks and Herts, Dacorum and Aylesbury Vale Councils work together to put their views into this consultation and include in their own local plans of the needs of local residents and the impact of future development. The head of Transport strategy and growth Joan Hancox is attending the next Local Area Forum in Wing on 21st January at Wing.

I have added to the case made by Aldbury Parish Council by reminding them that Hertfordshire is still sitting on money to construct a cycleway along Northfield Road, and that Tring Station is restricted by Green Belt and Chilterns AONB designations which led to the restoration to farmland of the temporary car park created 10 years ago during the West Coast Main Line improvement programme. The bus from Castlemead to Tring Station was withdrawn when funds run out as only about seven commuters used the service regularly at that time.

Ivinghoe conservation area

Gladman Developments lost their Station Road appeal because the proposal failed to meet one of the Government's criteria for sustainable development - the environment. The deciding factor was the high quality of the revised Ivinghoe Conservation Area policy and associated document. It was worth waiting for this to be completed and adopted by the new District Council. It might be obvious to all who live in Ivinghoe that the open aspect from the lawn to Mentmore is unique, but the documentation shows that it is recognised by the whole district, distinguishing Ivinghoe's case from many others.

Avril Davies
County Councillor
Ivinghoe Division

Speedwatch

The EDaN Traffic Management team are looking for volunteers to help man their Sentinel device. If you have an interest in slowing down traffic in the villages or are concerned about Road Safety please contact Louise Turner on 01442 834123 or by email at [email protected]

Edlesborough Parish Council Meetings

The next Edlesborough Parish Council Meetings will take place in Edlesborough Memorial Hall on:

• Thursday 21st April 2016. This evening will include the Annual Parish Meeting where the council will review the achievements of the past year and set out the plans for the future. Parishioners are invited to raise issues and debate them with the council. The Annual Parish meeting will then be followed by the Ordinary Parish Council meeting.
• Thursday 19th May 2016. This evening will include the AGM and will be followed by the Ordinary Parish Council Meeting.

The meetings will commence at 7:30pm.

All Parishioners are welcome to attend all Ordinary Parish Council meetings and may ask questions, raise issues and give suggestions during the Open Forum before the formal start of the meeting. The full minutes of the Parish Council meetings are normally available to view on the website or from the Parish Clerk.