CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

For

Edlesborough Annual Parish Meeting

 20^th April 2006

My report covers the period May 2005 - April 2006

First and foremost I would like to introduce your Parish Council and explain how they contribute to the running of your Parish. Northall Ward. Cllr Kevin Cubbage, Kevin is the Vice Chairman of the PC and the whiz kid behind our website www.edleborough.gov.uk.now in its very successful 3rd year, Kevin assists our Clerk if needs be with the accounts and is on the GPC. Cllr Phil Conacher. Phil is responsible for planning in Northall and represents the Council in community events. Edlesborough Ward. Cllrs John Wilkinson, David Brown, Marilyn Pryce-Jones, Julie Ratheram and Steve Munday. John is responsible for planning in Edlesborough he also represents the council on several committees, including the GPC and deals with Luton Airport Issues. David is Chair of the GPC and Marilyn is his deputy they also help with community events along with Julie and Steve. Dagnall Ward. We sadly said goodbye to Cllr Geoff Spencer after many years service. his replacement is Cllr Karen Coppen, Karen is responsible for planning in Dagnall and is taking a leading role in the Parish Plan, I also represent Dagnall on the GPC. I would also like to mention our County Councilor Avril Davies and District Councilor Pauline Hannelly both these ladies work tirelessly on our behalf, and finally our Clerk Mrs Lin Sargeant who deals with all phone calls, correspondence, burials and the everyday running of the Council. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them all for their help, support and contribution to the smooth running of our Parish.

Committees

The General Purposes Committee chaired by Cllr David Brown continues to do sterling work, responsible for making decisions on the Churchyard/Cemetery, Memorial Hall, allotments, lighting and open spaces, thus reducing the time spent in full council when these decisions are ratified. Some of their decisions will be commented on later in my report.

Aylesbury Vale Local Committee. These meetings are run by Bucks C.C. and cover all issues that are dealt with by them and give Parish Councils an opportunity to have their say on local issues Cllr John Wilkinson attends these meetings on our behalf. John has already raised many issues of concern and tabled questions for discussion in Open Forum.

Parish Plan. This is a project we tried a few years ago but unfortunately had to shelve due to lack of funding. I am pleased to report that we have revisited this important project with Karen, assisted by Kevin, at the helm. Funding has been secured and all associations and groups in the parish have been invited to participate, we have had a very good response. A meeting will shortly be arranged to plan our next step forward.

The Remembrance Day Service was very successful. For the first time pedestrians were directed up onto the bank at the rear of the war memorial, this certainly was much safer for everyone involved, worries that people on the bank would not be able to hear the service were proved unfounded, this arrangement will certainly be used again. The work has now been completed on the Chancel roof just in time for the Easter Day evening service held there. Discussions are still taking place with the Church Conservation Trust. CCT will prepare Technical Architectural reports with a possibility of altering the approach to the Church via the zig zag path at the rear of the Church and most importantly the Cemetery access. Cremated ashes can now be buried within existing graves if the families so wish. Burial and internment fees have been increased in line with other cemetery’s in the area, a list of the fees can be found on our website.

Allotments throughout the Parish continue to be well used; there are still plots available in all three villages. Permission has been obtained for a footpath for the use of children and accompanying adults to walk through Dagnall allotments instead of along the A4146 to the school during term time, the work will be carried out and financed by Safer Routes to School. Water pipes have been laid to Edlesborough Green Allotments by the tenants for whom we congratulate. Dagnall Gardeners Society continues to flourish, supplying everything any gardener needs, if it’s not in stock they will be able to get it for you, a service used by our parishioners and many more.

The hall continues to be well used by a large range of local organizations. Plans for the new floor are progressing well under the watchful eye of the General Purpose Committee the cost is in the region of £20K so it needs to be right for all the users and the hall itself. All bookings for the hall can be arranged by contacting the hall bookings secretary and caretaker Mrs Sue Parker. We continued to support Dagnall and Northall halls with a donation of £1,000 each, to help with the everyday running and maintenance costs.

Edlesborough Green

The green is still the central feature of the village and continues to be used by every section of the community. The tennis club continues to flourish as does the cricket and football. I would like to take this opportunity to thank these organizations for all there good work especially with the youth of the parish. We continue to maintain all the facilities on the green to a high standard so it can be enjoyed not only by people interested in sport, but also for the dog walker, young families using the playground, or if you just wish to sit and watch the world go by, I’m sure a bench will be available. St Mary’s carnival continues to use the green for their very successful annual event which raises large sums of money for local good causes and we are pleased to be able to offer this venue to the carnival committee. It was intended to erect two basketball nets, one in Dagnall, the other in Edlesborough, if you the parishioners wanted it, Dagnalls is currently being erected but unfortunately the response has been very poor in Edlesborough, so come on lads and lasses let us know by word of mouth, letter, or get your parents to write, in support, if you do not wish to lose this proposed facility.

Pavilion

The pavilion continues to be well used by the local clubs. New lockers have recently been installed and all new keys have been issued to registered users and the key register has been set up, so if you require a key please make sure you know who the key holder is for your organization as keys will no longer be available from Mr. & Mrs Parker. The shower heads will be upgraded in the very near future continuing the on going maintenance plan.

We continue to report any holes or problem areas in our parish, as do our conscientious parishioners. Highways on call have been very successful and a response is usually very swift, although Taskers Row proved to be a different matter, but I am pleased to report that thanks to Mrs Lorna Cubbage’s persistence supported by the Parish Council and our MP that this has now been attended to.

Yellow backing for all the 30 & 40mph signs, along with roundels painted on the road have been ordered for all accesses into our Parish. A request for costing and suitability for gates is also under consideration for the entrance to Edlesborough on the A4146 southbound from Northall. The hard standing for the school bus pick up and drop off point outside Knolls View Northall is now completed. We continue to investigate all forms of traffic calming for the High Street in Edlesborough but this is proving quite a difficult task due to all the regulations involved. We have requested the Speed Limit Revue Committee, to extend the speed limit through Northall, northerly, to Slapton turn. We have also requested that the 40mph limit in Northall be reduced to 30mph., but this decision has unfortunately been delayed by County until 2008. The criteria for Vehicle Activated Signs are being investigated for various sites within our parish and we continue to support our schools via the Safer Routes to Schools scheme.

Mr. & Mrs Webster are no longer our PPP representatives but we thank them for the many years they gave to walking and reporting any problems on our footpaths. The new PPP representatives are Mr.& Mrs Thomas and a big thank you to them for taking on this important roll of keeping our footpaths open. Reported repairs necessary etc. continue to be carried out By Buck CC and The Chiltern Society. If we carry out any works we are reimbursed through the PPP scheme.

When reported, Aylesbury Vale D.C. continues to react quickly, removing large items of rubbish dumped in our hedgerows and gateways. The freighter service which allows you to remove difficult to dispose of rubbish twice a year, continues to be well used, larger items can be collected from your households by AVDC for a small charge. Unfortunately rubbish is still been emptied in our car parks and left around the green by uncaring people, we no longer have the three ladies who kindly gave their time to keeping our open spaces litter free, they unfortunately resigned at Christmas after many years of dedicated litter picks, although we notice someone is still clearing certain areas. Your efforts didn’t go unnoticed ladies so thanks again to Gill Sue and Julie.

We continue to support the dog bin emptying scheme at a cost of £4,000.00 per annum but we feel this is money well spent. To be able to enjoy our open spaces without having to check where we’re walking is certainly a bonus, thankfully the majority of our dog owners are responsible and caring people who make good use of this very necessary facility.

Discussions are still taking place with safer routes to schools, BABTIE and the PC with regard to the best way forward for this project. Safety is the prime factor and it’s proving quite difficult to find a suitable SAFE crossing, The path will not be opened until this is in place.

106 Agreement Dagnall.

All the legal papers have been signed for the monies to be spent on a multi purpose recreational track which will be installed on Dagnalls recreation ground. The monies become due to the council when building commences.

Our Community Police Officer PC Rob Barker joined us during the year and what a difference he has made to our Parish, he along with his colleagues has brought a visible Police presence to our villages especially in Edlesborough. Parking tickets have been issued and speed checks have taken place in the High Street, late night checks have also taken place. Speed checks have also taken place outside Dagnall School. PC Barker suggested to the Parish Council the possibility of a PCSO in our village might help put a stop to our increasing and very expensive low level crime problem. Although our crime wasn’t problematic enough to warrant a funded PCSO we did qualify for a part funded officer, we duly took up this suggestion in conjunction with Pitstone and Ivinghoe and I can confirm recruitment has taken place and we will have our own officer in the summer.

We continued to have stalls at the Dagnall Fete, St Mary’s Carnival and we were present at the Christmas Fayre where we received various comments on what you think we should or should not be doing as a PC on your behalf, all these suggestions are taken onboard. In the coming year we will again be in attendance at the village functions with lots of new ideas so we look forward to seeing you there. This concludes my report.

Anne Thompson

Chairman, Edlesborough Parish Council