The Chair's Report from the ANNUAL PUBLIC PARISH MEETING which was held on 6th April 2023 can be found here:

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The View from the Chair – March 2024

 

At last, some sunshine as I write this. After the wet and blustery early spring, it is great to see the daffodils out, the blossom on the trees and a bit of sun! As usual, I have a fair number of things to update you all on, but I also remind you that you can keep fully up to date on Parish news via Facebook, where we share regular updates - details are at the end.

 

 

I wanted to start by expressing the Parish Council’s thanks to Jemma English who, for personal reasons, has recently stood down as a Parish Councillor after four years. In that time, she has been the Councillor responsible for the allotments, established the much-loved Community Book Exchange, as well as supported many other areas and projects – too many to list. Her hours of work have been much appreciated by all and she will be missed. We will be seeking to co-opt another councillor and if you are interested, please contact the Clerk.

 

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Highways and Road Safety

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MKCC has recently implemented parking and stopping restrictions outside the school entrance in response to road safety concerns during school pick up/drop off times. We are aware that some of you feel the scheme design by MKCC is not totally suitable and have contacted us or the school. We have passed the comments onto the MKCC Road Safety team and, after a settling-in period, they have committed to visit the site, at the appropriate time of day, to assess the situation.

 

 

Work is still progressing on the 20mph schemes in both villages. It was hoped that the consultation for the Wolverton Road scheme would have happened in late February, but to allow for the best possible design, MKCC have undertaken additional surveys related to the existing 60mph zone – and due to restrictions on activity prior to the elections in May (known as the ‘election purdah’), the consultation has been delayed. We remain in contact with MKCC as both schemes move forward.

 

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We also expect the consultation regarding the restriction of vehicular access to the gated road at Stanton Low to happen post-election. The scheme aims to mitigate the anti-social behaviour that regularly impacts many residents in the old village. We will aim to let you know when these consultations start via our Facebook page, but details of all MKCC consultations are at www.milton-keynes.gov.uk/consultations.

 

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Sadly, Haversham School was unsuccessful in its application for the School Crossing Patroller grant scheme. At time of writing, we have not yet had any detailed feedback, but it is disappointing.

 

 

On the positive side we have been successful in our Community Infrastructure Funding (CIF) request for 50% funding of two Speed Indicator Devices (SIDS) for Wolverton Road. We will now work with MKCC to finalise the scheme and hope to be able to install these later in the year.

 

 

We believe that the combination of the 20mph schemes and the new SIDS will improve road safety in the Parish, but will continue to work with MKCC to explore new ways to further improve this, in particular for the children and parents on their way to and from the school.

 

We recently published the latest traffic analysis from the Speed Indicator Devices (SIDS) in the old village on our website and Cllr Langham continues to run to run regular Community Speedwatch (CSW) sessions – you can learn more about the outcomes from our monthly CSW update on Facebook and of course, more ‘speedwatchers’ always welcome!

 

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MKCC – New City Plan

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As mentioned previously, MKCC is updating its local development plan – the New City Plan (NCP). Further consultations have been completed in the last couple of months and the draft plan is now being prepared. This could have a very significant impact on the Parish. More details can be found at https://www.havershamltlinford.org/mknewcityplan where there are also links to the MKCC website.

 

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Updating Parish Council Technology

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Driven by a requirement from the Government’s Cabinet Office, we are updating our technology so we have a “.GOV.UK” domain. Based on external advice, we chose havershamlittlelinfordpc.gov.uk and our email and website addresses are now changing. We have also purchased a specialist Parish Council accounting system to improve our financial management as well as reduce the amount of time our Clerk has to spend on financial matters, to allow her more time to work on other activities. This modernisation brings us in line with many other parishes in MK.

 

 

Parish Magazine – AT RISK!

 

Sadly, we still need someone to take on the editor and advertising manager roles from Lesley and Harvey Gilbert when they step down in October. Please do reach out if you would consider taking on one of the positions as without them, this magazine will have to stop publication.

 

 

Playground Renovation Update

 

We have not been successful in two of our grant applications – with the MK Community Foundation (MKCF) and the FCC Communities Foundation. However, both have provided Cllr Parkes-Brincat with helpful feedback and suggested we reapply. A revised MKCF application is already submitted and we are working on a revised FCC one. We continue to work hard towards our overall target of around £100,000 and to help our fundraising we would welcome any letters of support that you would be happy to for us to include with an application – please send to the Clerk.

 

 

Other Local News

 

Have you thought about getting an allotment? We have a few plots available. Our current plot holders report how much they enjoy the fruit and veg they grow, so if you would like to join them, please get in touch – there is an advert in the magazine with the details.

 

 

After the tender process, we appointed Tove Landscapes to mow the Rec, Crescent Green and Allotments – they should by now have completed the first cut, although the weather has made that a little challenging.

 

 

Our latest Parish litter pick, was on 16th March. One of the regular volunteers, John Clifford, has taken over the admin to support Cllr Turnbull and he has provided an update elsewhere in this magazine.

 

 

As a part of my role as PC Chair I continue to support the Haversham Social and Community Centre charity as a Trustee. The charity adopted its refreshed constitution at the recent AGM and are actively looking for ways to better serve the residents of the Parish. I know Jackie and the rest of the Trustees will value any ideas plus any help you can offer with their events.

 

 

Future Updates & Contacting us

 

Alongside this regular article, we continue to use our Facebook page www.facebook.com/HcLLParishCouncil and our website www.havershamltlinford.org (soon to become www.havershamlittlelinfordpc.gov.uk) to share news and useful information - so please follow us on Facebook and visit the website regularly.

 

If you have any issues, suggestions or questions for us, or are interested in helping out in our community, then please either message us via Facebook or email the Parish Clerk at clerk@havershamlittlelinfordpc.gov.uk. We do our best to respond promptly.

 

 

And please do consider helping your community by volunteering your support to the Magazine, Litter Picking, Community Speedwatch or the Social Centre. Without more active support these important Parish activities are at risk.

 

 

I want to end by wishing you all a happy Easter and enjoy the spring now it has finally arrived!

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Richard Pryor

Chair