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THE BARFORD Autumn 2017 BugleIssue 116 The Magazine of Great Barford Parish Council RIVER WARDENS SCHEME Wildlife Trust Bcn Penelope Chaney SOUTHALL’S BUTCHERS Water For Wildlife Officer (Bedfordshire) OPEN AGAIN [email protected] WITH A NEW BUTCHER 01234 364213 Come and meet Kevin Brown Quality meat born and reared on the farm, BRCC Farm to Fork Richard Lawrence WITH CUTS YOU CAN’T FIND IN THE SUPERMARKET Support us today, Local deliveries Ecologist & [email protected] WEEKLY SPECIALS 01234 832618 We are 100% traceable http://ubocp.org.uk/get-involved/river-wardens/ OPENING TIMES TUES-FRI 9.00am -5.30pm Facebook grp “River Wardens (Upper & Bedford Ouse)” SAT 8.30am – 2.00pm www.southallbutcher.co.uk https://facebook.com/groups/362701640779502/ TEL 01234 870333 Tree specific 1_2 page ARTWORK OVL ad_Layout 1 07/11/2012 11:45 Page 1 A comprehensive range of tree services from a local dedicated tree surgeon with twenty years experience within the tree industry + All aspects of Tree Maintenance + Tree Felling and Tree Care + Sectional Dismantling + Crown Reduction/Thinning + Dead Wood Removed + Hedges Reduced and Trimmed + Tree Planting + Fruit Tree Pruning + Member of the Royal + Fully insured and Skilled Arborist Forestry Society Contact us today for a free quote Telephone: 01234 828895 Mobile: 07949 368374 Email: [email protected] www.treespecific.co.uk GREAT BARFORD PARISH COUNCIL The Parish Council Office College Farm 59 High Street Submit Your P hoto! Great Barford, Bedfordshire MK44 3JJ (by appointment only) The Bugle Committee is always looking for seasonal 01234 870245 photographs from around the village to place on the cover [email protected] of the Bugle. If you would www.greatbarford.org.uk like to submit a photograph, please contact the Clerk at: OFFICE OPENING TIMES: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday [email protected] 09.15 am to 12.30 pm (subject to change due to training, Council commitments and holiday) an answerphone is available if calling Contributions for the next outside of the office hours. Issue of the Bugle should be sent to the Parish Clerk Thank you to Allan Payne for the before 6th November 2017. front cover photograph COUNCILLOR CONTACT DETAILS James Rudgley 37 Brook Lane 01234 870003 Noreen Byrne 14 Fishers Close 01234 871919 Derrick Folbigg 25 Maltings Way 01234 870032 Ann Lovesey 43 Green End Rd 01234 870693 Di Ames 123 Chapel Field 01234 870251 Siobhan Vincent 33 Brook Lane 01234 870292 Stuart Southall Home Farm, Bedford Rd 01234 870333 Graham Pendrey 44 Brook Lane 01234 870139 Chris Hutton 01234 870245 Tim Wood 07703 569919 AUTUMN 2017 THE BARFORD Bugle 03 CHAIR’S REPORT Parking The Parish Council is regularly contacted by residents with complaints and concerns about thoughtless and sometimes dangerous parking. Much of the village was built when households owned fewer cars and therefore there is a lot of pressure on the on-street parking that is available around the village. Please be considerate of others when parking, allow enough space for people to get in and out of their driveways and please do not block others driveways. Parking on or partially on pavements is another issue experienced throughout the village. Pedestrians are forced onto the road when they cannot walk on the pavement. This causes real difficulties for our residents, especially for those with mobility issues and those using wheelchairs and pushchairs. Vehicles have been parking with two wheels on the pavement on New Road by the scout camp on a regular basis. This has forced pedestrians to walk on a road where, we unfortunately, have speeding issues. The Parish Council has been advised that parking enforcement officers have been visiting the area and enforcement notices issued. Parking on grass verges around the village also causes problems. Parking on the verge prevents us from being able to maintain the area and causes damage. It also affects visibility for other road users and pedestrians. In many parts of the village sections of verge are on corners and allow a clear view for car drivers pulling out of junctions or passing around corners. Please please bear in mind your neighbours and fellow residents when parking around the village. Thank you Jim Rudgley Chair – Great Barford Parish Council 04 THE BARFORD Bugle AUTUMN 2017 PARISH COUNCIL MEETINGS The Parish Council Committees meet on the first Tuesday of each month and the Full Council meets on the third Tuesday of each month. All meetings start at 7.30pm and are held at the village hall. Meeting dates for the next few months are given below: Full Council meeting dates Committee meeting dates 17th October 2017 03rd October 2017 21st November 2017 07th November 2017 19th December 2017 05th December 2017 Members of the public are always welcome to come along to meetings and there is always the opportunity to raise issues with Councillors at the meeting. Meeting agendas are displayed on the village noticeboards by the river, opposite the shop and at the playing field. Agendas are also posted on the Parish Council website (www.greatbarford.org.uk) as are the minutes of the meetings. If you would like to raise any issues with the Parish Council or have any questions please contact the Parish Council office on 01234 870245 or at clerk@greatbarford. org.uk or just come along to a meeting. COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE LEVY The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) is a levy that local authorities, in our case Bedford Borough Council, can choose to charge new developments in their area. The levy applies to residential development and large retail proposals such as supermarkets, superstores and retail warehouses. A proportion of the levy is passed to the Parish Council for any eligible developments in Great Barford. The Parish Council must use CIL receipts to support the development of our village, by funding— (a) the provision, improvement, replacement, operation or maintenance of infrastructure; or (b) anything else that is concerned with addressing the demands that development places on an area’ CIL funds received to date by Great Barford Parish Council have been used to replace the CCTV at the village hall and to purchase the new swings in the Jubilee Play Area. More CIL funds will be received over the coming year and the Parish Council would like your ideas for projects the funds could be used for. The Parish Council is looking into some projects already some are small such as the installation of a new tap at the allotments and some much larger such as the installation of pedestrian crossings. If you have any ideas that you think would benefit the village please contact the Parish Council office at [email protected] or on 01234 870245 or come along to a Parish Council meeting. The Parish Council meets on the third Tuesday of each month at 7.30pm at the village hall. AUTUMN 2017 THE BARFORD Bugle 05 BOROUGH COUNCILLORS’ UPDATE East Midlands Trains A consultation is being held by the Department for Transport (DfT) on proposals to amend the East Midlands rail service which currently provides fast trains from Bedford to London St Pancras. The consultation is to inform the drafting of a contract for the new East Midlands rail franchise from March 2019. Bedford is served by the Intercity (between London St Pancras and Sheffield / Derby / Nottingham / Leicester) and London Commuter (providing trains stopping at stations closer to London) lines. In launching the consultation, the DfT stated that changes need to be made in order to address issues such as crowded trains and long journey times. It was identified, in particular, that these problems are evident on the Intercity route travelling from the midlands into London. You may have seen there has been coverage in the local press around potential changes to the East Midlands service stopping at Bedford. It is proposed that Bedford will no longer be served by the Intercity service (as set out above) during peak hours, although trains travelling from Corby to London St Pancras will continue to stop here. Our understanding is that Bedford will continue to be served by the same number of trains during peak hours, but these will begin their journey at Corby rather than further north as at present. Nevertheless, no decisions have been made so it is important that service users give their views through the consultation. Along with Alistair Burt MP, we cannot support any reduction in the East Midlands service for Bedford Borough and will be responding accordingly. The consultation ends on the 11th October. You can view the document and details of how to respond at this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/ consultations/future-of-east-midlands-rail-franchise Rural Crime A scheme tackling rural crime has been deemed a success since its inception earlier in the year. In March, the Bedfordshire Police & Crime Commissioner, Kathryn Holloway, announced the establishment of Operation Sentinel Rural. This has seen a team of an Inspector, Sergeant, 4 Police Constables and 4 Police Community Support Officers focus on rural policing issues. Since the initiative was launched, the rural crime team has been involved in a range of operations including 900 speed checks, the seizing of 39 vehicles and carrying out 9 arrests. The rural crime team can be contacted via [email protected] A-Levels and GCSEs In August pupils around the country received their GCSE and A-Level results. 06 THE BARFORD Bugle AUTUMN 2017 BOROUGH COUNCILLORS’ UPDATE GCSEs Pupils undertaking their GCSEs this year did so under a new system which has reduced the emphasis on coursework. It also introduced a new grading system for English Language, English Literature and Maths with numerical grading of 1 (lowest score) – 9 (highest score) replacing the traditional A* - U grades (which remain for all other subjects).