Buckden Parish Council NewsheetOctober 2000Jointly Funded Minor Improvements Scheme The bids for a place in the 2001/02 round of this scheme have been asked for and the Parish Council is again putting together a case for the reinstallation of traffic lights on the Mill Road bridge. We will be working closely with our neighbouring parishes of Offord Cluny and Offord Darcy and also with Great Paxton. The closing date is October 20. If you have any strong feelings about the traffic lights please contact the clerk well before then.
Village Hall Trust In a report to the Parish Council, the Chairman of the Trust, Ray Millard, said that the new Centre was becomingly increasingly well known, with approaching 40 bookings for one-off events such as parties and weddings between September and Christmas - and even 7 weddings already booked for next year. These are, of course, in addition to the regular bookings, where old faithfuls such as Buckden Theatre Club and the Monday Club were being joined by several new activities, including line and ballroom dancing (not at the same time!), yoga and Pilates. Festival Week had been very successful in raising funds, and the accounts for 1999-2000 were now almost ready for audit. Less happy was the continuing problem with vandalism of the small children's play area. Speeding Following a request from the Parish Council, the police carried out traffic speed surveys on Silver Street and the High Street for a week in July. (These surveys recorded the volume and speed of traffic; they did not identify individual vehicles. The High Street survey showed that
And in Silver Street
Unfortunately (or from another point of view, fortunately) these
figures are too low to justify the police putting extra resources
into monitoring these streets - surveys of Perry Road and Mill
Road will almost certainly show a higher total of offenders in
these areas and a recent survey in Eaton Socon showed that some
two-thirds of traffic was speeding - but our new community
police officer, Pc English, is qualified to use the speed gun
and from time to time will do so.
Air Cadets At its September meeting, the Council agreed to donate £200 towards the cost of a replacement minibus for the local Air Cadets squadron. Past sons and daughters of Buckden have benefited from being in the cadets and the Parish Council felt it should encourage others to do so in the future.
St Neots Museum The Museum has introduced a scheme whereby
the residents of parishes that make a contribution to the Museum
can have free entry. For the time being, the Council decided
against making a contribution. PLANNING MATTERS New Applications considered by the Planning Committee: Erection of lean-to for storage of waste, 43-45 High Street (00/01406/FUL, 00/01407/LBC) The Committee had no objections to this proposal. Erection of conservatory, 8 Park Road (00/01411/FUL) The Committee had no objections to this proposal. Erection of bungalow and garage following demolition of shed, land to rear of 1 and 3 Mill Road (00/01477/FUL) The Committee had no objections to this proposal but asked that as condition of planning the applicant be asked to contribute towards the cost of resurfacing the parking area outside the Hunts End shops (the access to the proposed bungalow will be across this car park). Decisions by Huntingdonshire District Council: Extensions to residential care home, Hardwick Dene (00/01273/FUL) - application deferred for further consideration of the traffic management proposals suggested by the Parish Council Erection of 2 dwellings and garages. Erection of a double garage. Land including and adjacent to 64 Manor Gardens (00/01197/FUL) - approved, subject to details of foul and surface water drainage for the site being approved (a condition the Parish Council had asked for) Installation of LPG fuel tank and dispenser, Shell Buckden (00/01227/FUL) - approved Erection of 49 houses and 4 bungalows, Silver Street/High Street (99/01336/FUL) - APPROVED, as readers of the Town Crier will already know. Members of the Parish Council who attended the meeting of the Development Control Panel that passed this application were disappointed - to put it mildly - by the decision. In their view, the Council's detailed objections to the site were not properly taken into account, especially on the question of traffic access to and from the site. As the scheme stands, the great majority of traffic will have to use the Silver Street entrance; as most drivers are likely to be heading for the A1, the result is almost certainly going to be a rat-run down St Hugh's Road. . More on this in the next Newsheet.
And.......a survey of Lucks Lane Cemetery showed that a few headstones were in an unstable condition; the Council is grateful to Mr Bush for making these safe.... some residents have expressed concern about cyclists speeding on the footpath between Monk's Cottages and the Valley - the Council will look at ways of trying to combat this, but in the meantime it would help if parents reminded their children of the need to cycle with care for other users.....
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