Winter 2015 Issue 88

CHEPPING WYCOMBE PARISH COUNCIL NEWSLETTER Loudwater Tylers Green

A CHAIRMANS VIEW THE LAST FOUR YEARS... Last May, as happens every four years, Straight Bit Recreation Ground, which your Parish Councillors either sought re- enabled us to make a fl ying start there. In election or stood down to make way for addition to the playgrounds, we have also new members, thus forming a new Parish installed the Parkour facility at Straight Bit Council to represent you for the next Flackwell Heath with funding help from four years. I was delighted to be re-elected the Flackwell Heath Residents Association, Chairman of the Council. In this the fi rst and the Skills and Thrills in King’s Wood Newsletter of your new Parish Council we Tylers Green with funding help from the will look forward to new projects and what Bucks County Council Local Community we plan to do over the next four years, I Partnership. also felt it was appropriate to have a time for refl ection and to look back at what In our woods we have drawn up a we as a Parish Council achieved over the management plan for the Railway Land last four years. The list is actually very long in Loudwater, which we are slowly and we can all be proud of what we have implementing. In King’s Wood, Tylers achieved. Green, we put in the all-weather, all ability footpath and were delighted to be able to To start with we have made sure the complete the Queens Ride bridleway for younger members of our Community have the Jubilee Year for which we were assisted been looked after, as all of our playgrounds by Bucks County Council Rights of Way are looking better with new equipment team and with funding from Transport for and a refresh, although work is still ongoing Bucks public footpath improvement budget. as there is a lot more we want to do. We We have now completed the purchase of are very grateful for the contribution of Magpie Wood in Loudwater and we are £20k from the Flackwell Heath Residents now looking at what plans we want to Association towards the initial phase on implement there. (cont’d next page) 1 On Tylers Green Common we improved Within the offi ce we have reviewed all to what we do. Without Councillors most the banks and paths around Widmer our policies and systems and have been of these projects would not even have SAVE THE DATE Pond and our grounds team have put in busy bringing everything up to date. Our been considered and the creative ideas a lot of work to improve the surface of allotment and cemetery databases are being and unstinting support that Councillors the Common. Last spring with the help brought into the 21st Century and being give to the Committee Chairman to make of funding from the Local Community computerised and our land has fi nally all things happen is truly amazing. I must also Partnership we improved the surface of been registered with the Land Registry. pay tribute to the Councillors that stood one of the main paths across the common down at the election. Pam Mannering, to make it less muddy and easier for You will note that many of the projects we David Johncock, David Onslow and Sharon pushchairs and wheelchairs to enjoy. have undertaken have been joint working Herron all hung up their proverbial hats with other partners and funding put up by for various reasons, and to them we send a We have brought the community together other agencies and we must thank all our special heartfelt thank you for all your hard in Loudwater to create a Community partners we have worked with over the work during your term or terms of offi ce. Orchard which is going from strength to last four years to make things happen. As Some served for only a couple of years and strength and is enjoyed by many including a Parish Council we do not always have some for much longer, but whatever the pupils at the Loudwater School. In future funding available for things we want to do period they served, their input has been we also hope to open Community and working with other partners is one invaluable and the Parish Council could not Orchards in the other two wards. We put way of bringing things about sooner than have functioned without them. in a new footbridge over Back Stream we would otherwise have been able to. The ANNUAL opposite the entrance to School Way world of local government is moving more Whether as Councillors we stayed or with the assistance of Transport for and more towards Partnership working not, we can be proud that when the new to help schoolchildren and we need to make sure we don’t get left Council took offi ce in May 2015, they PARISH cross the stream safely and we fi nally behind where we wish to collaborate and received a Parish Council in excellent shape properly marked the permissive bridleway don’t get drawn into working with partners and with several strings to take forward around Derehams Sports Ground in where there is no benefi t. to the next level to get them started. The MEETING Loudwater. world and the country has changed a lot In addition to all the above we have over the last four years and so has local Wednesday, 6 April 2016 Talking of Derehams Sports Ground, we continued to look after all our land and government. What will the next four years starting at 7pm is the date have done a lot of work on the building and buildings with all our normal duties of hold for us? No one really knows but things for the next Annual Parish site and now part of it is let to a playgroup maintaining, tending, clearing, repairing, are a changing! We have to move with the Meeting and this time it and the other areas are also being well refurbishing, replacing…….. the list is endless. times and not look back as to how things used. The Councillors have all been out have been done in the past, old normal will be held in Loudwater meeting residents and canvassing opinions What we achieved cannot have been ways of working doesn’t mean they can’t at the Loudwater Club, done without the support of our staff in on various subjects at different village be bettered and we have to embrace new Birfi eld Road. events over the years, such as Penn Fun the offi ce and the grounds team led by ways of working to keep up with the times Run, Loudwater Fete and Flackwell Heath Graeme Christie. The last four years have and make sure that the Council we hand over Cherry Fayre and Big Picnic. been rather unsettling within the offi ce, in four years’ time will be fi t for purpose for since during this time some of the staff we 2019. Other projects which we have started but started with have moved onto to better not completed yet by any means include or other things. However, we now have Katrina Wood Chairman replacing our footway lighting with LED a superb team headed up by our Clerk lights, our signage project to replace our Wendy Thompson. We hope now to have worn and outdated signs around the some stability with the team to enable us villages, and the Movable Vehicle Activated to continue to achieve the things we want Speed Sign project in conjunction with the to. Seeing what we accomplished during a Neighbourhood Action Group and we now diffi cult unsettled time, think what we can have a MVAS for each village. The work now do with a settled team! with these projects are all ongoing and have been taken up by the new Council and are Having said that we must not forget to moving forward. thank all the elected Councillors for all the hard work and hours they give so freely 2 3 MEET THE NEW COUNCILLORS OUR FINANCIAL POSITION Haydn Darch has lived in Carolyn Leonard came to the The Precept for 2015/16 rose by 1.5%. The of £90,000 to pay for the costs of further Tylers Green for 34 years, is area in 1976 moving Precept is the term we use to describe the signifi cant improvements to Play Equipment married and has 2 children who to Flackwell Heath when she married parish council tax. The increase offsets the in all our three wards, but we may not need went to the local schools and her late husband Geoff in 1980. loss in what is now a grant from Wycombe it all. now live outside the village. On retiring, having been a teacher District Council and makes up for the all her working life she felt that she He has a Social Science degree loss over the last two years. Previously The purchase of Magpie Wood (see below) wanted to give something back to is already provided for as are the expected and recently retired after 45 the village that had made her so central government used to give us 100% years working in production management and support where housholds on benefi ts were urgent works to make it fi t for public welcome. She retired at a same time as the formation of access. The other major project is management development. He worked at senior the Residents’ Association. After joining she soon became excluded from paying Council Tax. levels in paper making, the oil industry, the Home involved with the Planning & Environment Group (P&E) This fi gure was fi xed two years the LED footway lighting project Offi ce and latterly the Cabinet Offi ce; he also ran his and later became Secretary to the Association keeping ago and given as a grant to which should save money. It own consultancy for 12 years working in the UK and her involvement with the P&E Group and then became Council is being joined to a project internationally for private and public organisations. the Chair of the P&E Group which she still does and is who kindly pass it on. It to renovate a substantial He has chosen to become a Parish Councillor pleased to say that they have developed an important has however been reduced number of the columns at as an opportunity to try to put something back role in looking after the character and environment of the as part of the defi cit the same time. This project village, including setting up and looking after the Jubilee into the community that has provided such a reduction programme. will be funded through the Garden. This keeps her fairly busy but she still has time to use of dedicated reserves and, stable and happy place to live and bring up his be fully involved in the life of Christ Church where she family. He brings with him extensive experience The increase was overwhelmingly hopefully, interest free loans that particularly enjoys helping with Afternoon Oasis. Being a supported in the small numbers of support green projects like this. of committee work, project and procurement Parish Councillor was clearly the next step in her service management, and decision making at senior levels. returns we had to the survey we ran in the to Flackwell Heath and she was honoured that the The Clerk has been very successful in community felt her worthy of this in the recent elections. last two Newsletters. The increase is £0.79 per annum for a Band D house. pursuing opportunities to gain income to Liliane Pinner was born in France and came She looks forward to serving you in this capacity and contributing to make Flackwell Heath a great place to live. supplement the Precept again, and allied to the UK in 1969 after 3 years in the Philippines. Overall there have been no changes to with us challenging what we did last year In the UK she has lived in Flackwell Heath for 46 Elizabeth Johncock our budgets. So at present we are doing there was an operating surplus at our year years. Both her children have been educated in moved more for the same or even more for less end which we will put to good use this year. local schools followed by graduation from English into Flackwell Heath with her if infl ation is considered, so we are being Universities and she too is a graduate of Reading husband David and their two sons effi cient albeit it a small way. Infl ation is increasing our costs and a University. in the mid 80s. Their two boys challenge might be to deal with infl ationary attended local schools and she We have continued to manage to allow for pressures through effi ciencies or small She has taught for over the 25 years teaching in worked at Wycombe Hospital a loan from the Public Works Loan Board reductions over the next few years. preparatory schools through to eighteen year as a nurse until her retirement in olds sitting their A-levels. Whilst living in Flackwell 2007. She has always been involved in community Heath she started a campaign in the 1980’s to activities around the village. Since her retirement she control the speed of cars on the Straight Bit. joined the FHRA executive committee as Chair of ‘It’s 30 For a Reason’, Think! This eventually was successful, with the help of the Decorations group and is also a trustee of the Ken Ross in ensuring the painting of 30mph signs Flackwell Heath Community Library and has recently Working with Parish Council, On some of our on the road. As a keen gardener she looks after a retired as the schools liaison offi cer between the and the local / Chepping Wycombe roads there is not planter in the village and one of her “bête noire” library and Carrington school, she also helps two Neighbourhood Action Group [NAG] the Bucks even a footpath to County Council Chepping Wye Valley Local keep pedestrians CREDIT CARD are the cigarette stubs buried in the fl owerbeds!! afternoons a week at the local Rennie Grove charity Community Partnership LCP have funded the safe. Please do With retirement now permitting more time for shop. She is a member of the patient participation purchase of some ‘Its 30 for A Reason’ speed signs. observe them public service use, she now looks forward to being group at Hawthornden GP surgery and recently These are a further attempt to slow down speeding and better still go an active member of the Parish Council, helping became Hawthornden PPG and Flackwell Heath traffi c and make our worst affected roads safer. even slower. 000 000 000 000 to ensure the Council’s objectives of gradual and Residents Association representative on the Abbey These signs have been installed on Straight Bit and Blind controlled development are realised. She will do Barn North and South developments liaison group, Lane in Flackwell Heath, on the A40 London Road and her best to make a difference for the community. and also represents them on the Infrastructure Treadaway Hill in Loudwater, and on Hammersley Lane, Group. Having always had an interest in the village Church Road and New Road in Tylers Green. and the community, she looks forward to continuing this interest on a new level as a parish councillor. 4 5 ALLOTMENTS SUMMER ROUND UP The Flackwell Heath Allotment BBQ was The Tylers Green Allotment picnic was held this year on Saturday, 8 August. There held on Saturday, 15 August, we had the was a record turnout and the event was a best turnout for this year’s event which great success. Apart from the normal BBQ was enjoyed by all who attended, we fare, which we all enjoyed, we presented also presented the best kept allotment the best kept allotment certifi cates to the certifi cates to this year’s winners who are winners listed below: listed below:

1st Place and Master Gardener 1st Place Mr R J Smith Plot 69 Miss D Davis Plot 13

2nd Place 2nd Place Mrs M Lewis Plot 29 Mr P King Plot 17 COMMUNITY ORCHARD The Loudwater Orchard Group began are found in specifi c areas depending on Highly Commended Highly Commended its third annual calendar of activities with vegetation (so of course we found species a short evening meeting at Loudwater that might typically be found near fruit Mrs A Smith Plot 19 Mrs I Green Plot 16 School. At this time of year, we enjoy trees) and that some varieties only appear Mr D Nicholls Plot 9 Mrs I Green Plot 15 taking the opportunity to refl ect on the at certain times in the evening. Paul also group’s achievements over the past 12 gave us information on the lifecycle of a few Mrs L Lewis Plot 28 Mrs C Slingerland Plot 18B months and think about what we would of our moths, which was fascinating and like to do next. One of the highlights of the some of our younger members were truly 2014/2015 season was our second planting, entranced. consisting of pear trees, blackcurrants and gooseberries. We also pruned the existing This coming year, we plan to hold more row of apple trees and for the fi rst year events with expert speakers ranging from managed to get a signifi cant number of knowledgeable hobbyists to professionals. If apples … which were delicious! you have an interest related to horticulture, wildlife or conservation and would like In August we had an excellent summer to practice your presentation skills in an BBQ, with members, their families, and informal setting by coming to talk to the some friends of the orchard all enjoying group, please contact me on the email freshly cooked food, sun and good company below. If you would like to enquire about whilst sitting amongst the trees. On 22nd becoming a member of the group, attending August, we held a moth identifi cation some of our events, or sponsoring our evening led by Paul Bowyer of the trees, you can also contact me to do so. Wycombe Wildlife Group. Attendees arrived at the orchard around dusk and Paul Caroline Priestley set up a large light box and moth trap. We Chair of Loudwater Orchard Group watched in anticipation as moths, beetles Email: [email protected] and small fl ies arrived at the light traps. Moths were placed in little jars, identifi ed Facebook: www.facebook.com/ and passed around for everyone to have a LoudwaterOrchardGroup look at. They were then released back into the night. We learned that different species 6 7 DEREHAMS PARK ASHLEY DRIVE PLAYGROUNDS It was good to see that all three ward What is Derehams Park? RECREATION playgrounds are being well used and the Where is Derehams Park? children enjoying themselves on the new GROUND equipment over the summer months. What goes on at Derehams Park? The refurbishment of Ashley Drive for We are looking to add further If most residents of Loudwater were asked these questions their probable answer the youngsters of the village was given a equipment to the Flackwell Heath and would be - we don’t know. boost recently when the Parish Council Tylers Green play areas over the next received a substantial donation from few months, and the Loudwater ward is Tylers Green resident Mr Dickinson in looking to add a Static Fitness Exercise Answers memory of his wife. This has enabled trail for adults at its Derehams Park us to order the next phase of the play site. As a Council we have been able Derehams Park is at the top of Derehams School run by a local resident, three local equipment which we dearly wanted but to allocate £90,000 to these projects, Lane which is a left hand turning off the football teams use the football pitches could not afford, and we are very grateful i.e. £30,000 per ward, and over the last A40 just past the mini roundabout at at the weekends, and the Loudwater to Mr Dickinson for his donation. three years we have been able to allocate Station Road if you are coming from High Orchard Group over the last three years an overall fi gure of £180,000, i.e. £60,000 Wycombe. have established a small orchard. All of The new equipment will be in the area per ward to help bring our playgrounds these groups would welcome new people of the old trim trail and zip wire which up to our and your expectations. The Derehams Park is a fantastic site of nearly who are interested in their activities. were all rotting and had to be removed playground working parties for all 14 acres comprising open park land for safety purposes. There will be a new three wards continue to work hard to and a wooded area owned by Chepping We have a long term plan to redevelop style of zip wire, and the mounds of achieve the best value for the cost of the Wycombe Parish Council, which is used the site to include an adult static exercise earth that were removed for the paths equipment. by dog walkers and those who just like to trail and some play equipment for the will be made use of with a small wide follow the well-used trails as part of their younger children, and to try to attract slide, and tunnels. There will also be normal exercise activity. other types of sporting activities for all another multi use piece of equipment. ages outdoor and indoors. We would This has all been ordered and has to What else goes on at Derehams Park? welcome any suggestions you may have be specially made but we hope will be On the site there is a well-established so that we can consider these as well. installed before Christmas. Bowls Club, an independent Day Nursery In the meantime during the summer we received a lottery grant which enabled us to install 4 pieces of outdoor adult fi tness equipment which is already being LOUDWATER SCHOOL FETE well used. On the 4 July the Loudwater Ward members took part in the Loudwater School Fete to show to the visitors the work proceeding in the area by Chepping Wycombe Parish Council. It was a NEWS JUST IN wonderful day and the School did well in providing such an excellent facility. It was well attended and We have just found out that our very own we were all lucky with the weather!! This was an David Onslow has been nominated for a lifetime excellent opportunity for us to display and discuss achievement award from the Wycombe Community the many Parish activities currently in hand. An even Partnership for the work he has done on the MVAS. better opportunity to show our new plans for the Congratulations to David for all his hard work and purchase of Magpie Wood and explain further our tenacity in getting the MVAS project on its feet and ongoing work along the old Railway Land , War fi nally installed. memorials, Loudwater Orchard Group and other activities in Derehams, to mention a few!! 8 9 MAGPIE WOOD THE COMMON, TYLERS GREEN We purchased Magpie Wood in Loudwater in the We did some works on the tracks this summer early summer. The plan below shows the area of to restore their condition and make it better for the wood we now own. It took much longer than the residents who enjoy living on The Common. we had thought to go through the paperwork but On the track opposite the Village Hall, going from we fi nally made it. The wood will be a much needed the former Bowyers offi ce equipment shop to the piece of Amenity Land for Loudwater residents to new house called Menlo, there was a lot of water enjoy. damage, potholes and a drainage ditch that had been partially fi lled in. There were insuffi cient funds to do A small working party has been developing a plan everything, so we got a contractor in to start to deal for the wood and identifying immediate and urgent with some of the issues. A cross drain was put in to tasks that need undertaking this Autumn. We are catch the rain water running down the track and to very grateful to Brian Turnock a Loudwater resident put a stop to the erosion that was creating a small and former parish councillor for his work in drafting gulley down the centre of the track. We also dug the Plan. The Council will need help with comments out the ditch at the lower end of the track and fi lled on the Plan when we publish it in draft form. some of the potholes. Cllr Clive Jordan has contacted those who We will be putting out some more boulders along volunteered to join in working parties. We will need the tracks on the Back Common to prevent cars assistance with clearance of some of the debris (of parking and damaging the grass verges. Boulders are which there is an abundance) and weak trees. A used as an alternative to our normal stakes where ‘Friends of Magpie Wood’ will also be formed to underground cables could be easily damaged. We help the Council manage the wood. may also, unfortunately, have to take down one of You will soon see that a couple of overhanging trees the three magnifi cent chestnut trees that is dying. have been removed as has all the debris from the We will, of course, be seeking expert advice as it house in the woods. Dog owners will also be able may be possible to save the tree by pollarding. to keep the wood clean by using the dog bin in Robinson Road.

KING’S WOOD This summer we have used CP (Community To achieve this during this winter you will see some species for this Chiltern woodland. They were ring Payback) parties to clear areas of holly and small of the paths being opened up with strimming and barked about fi ve years ago to kill them off and trees whilst leaving the more mature trees to grow cutting back being done on cycles that vary from to allow a natural regeneration of native species. and fl ourish. This gives us woodland that is more one to three years, as each cycle will encourage We now have a plantation of dead trees that look enjoyable as people can both walk off the paths and different types of grasses and fl owers. We will also unattractive and a few have already fallen over. see greater distances. The woodland is less menacing be opening up the canopy of the wood on the The good news is that we have some small native as the paths are widened and soon walking beneath path going north east from The Dolphin pub as the trees beginning to mature. A plan will be debated the stately trees will be a great joy. mature trees have completely stopped the sunlight soon and the removal of these dead trees is the reaching the ground. This will be done, sensitively, by recommended option. The Council sees the wood as an amenity wood not felling a few of the less mature trees. a commercial wood, although any income we receive from timber sales is greatly appreciated. In concert The Larch Plantation, also known as the Dead Larch with the Forestry Commission and our own forestry Wood, is up for change this winter. Many, many years consultants we are trying to improve the mix of ago the Council planted this area with larch and fl ora and fauna through some bio diversifi cation hoped to earn a substantial sum when they matured. measures. We are grateful to the Forestry Since then the bottom has dropped out of the Commission for grant aiding part of this work. market and they are now seen as an inappropriate

10 11 DEVELOPMENT OF RESERVED SITES ABBEY BARN NORTH AND SOUTH, GOMM VALLEY AND ASHWELLS

Wycombe District Council has released these complete the Development Brief by the end reserved sites and both will impact upon the area of January 2016 and there will be a full public for which Chepping Wycombe Parish Council has consultation before then. responsibility. The fi rst is adjacent to and the second Anyone may attend the liaison meetings and the is partly within the Council area. There are other presentations and minutes are available on the released reserve sites. Wycombe District Council web site. Cllr Jeff Herschel represents Chepping Wycombe Unfortunately this Newsletter is not the best means Parish Council on the Abbey Barn North and South of keeping residents updated as we do not publish Liaison Group and Cllr Ian Forbes sits on the Gomm it frequently. The most up to date information can Valley and Ashwells Group. We would welcome any be found easily on the Wycombe District Council representations you might like to make on what you website. A screen shot is shown below. see or on what you have heard. The full membership includes district councillors, representatives of residents groups and individuals representing groups of residents. We are doing our best to ensure that a quality and least detrimental option is delivered, but recognise that the planning position is not great and is a cause for great concern throughout our community. The two areas are proceeding at differing speeds although Wycombe District Council plan to http://www.wycombe.gov.uk/council-services/planning-and-buildings/reserve-sites.aspx

PARISH COUNCILLOR CONTACT DETAILS

Jem Bailey 01628 527815 [email protected] Sue Digby 01628 810492 [email protected] Jeff Herschel 01628 521596 [email protected] Liz Johncock 01628 521495 [email protected] Carolyn Leonard 01628 526512 [email protected] Liliane Pinner 01628 521589 [email protected] Flackwell Heath Mike Wilkes 01628 524100 [email protected] Chris Dodds 01494 532411 [email protected] John Gurney 01494 438351 [email protected] Clive Jordan 01494 814775 [email protected] John White 01494 443542 [email protected] Loudwater Les Willis 07855 398041 [email protected] Haydn Darch 01494 813967 [email protected] Ian Forbes 01494 816438 [email protected] Jean Johnson 01494 816231 [email protected] Bill Sadler 01494 815798 [email protected]

Tylers Green Green Tylers Katrina Wood 07827 820531 [email protected] Chairman of Council: Katrina Wood Vice Chairman: Les Willis