& Parish Council http://bolnhurstkeysoe.bedsparishes.gov.uk

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL PARISH MEETING HELD VIA ZOOM 15th March 2021 AT 19:30 HOURS

PRESENT, PCllr M Gossage, PCllr M Perry, PCllr C Kew, PCllr J Stone, PCllr L Barry, PCllr J Browning, BCllr Wootton, Mrs G Wiggs (Parish Clerk), Police Sergeant John Killick and 26 members of the public.

The Annual Parish Meeting is a statutory meeting of the parish electorate & must be held between March & June each year. It is usually an opportunity to review the previous year. All local electors are entitled to participate in the Annual Parish Meeting. It is not a Parish Council meeting. Any recommendations from this meeting can be taken forward for consideration by the Parish Council if appropriate to do so.

1. Parish Council Chairman’s Report - PCllr Martin Gossage, Chairman The Parish Council has operated with a full complement of Councillors for most of the year 2020/2021. I would start by thanking Simon Bates for his years of service to the Parish Council, both as a Parish Councillor as well as Chairman. As a result of his moving away from the Parish in December 2020 he tendered his resignation at the January 2021 Parish Council meeting and at the February Parish Council meeting I was elected by my colleague Parish Councillors to be Chairman – a position that I will endeavour to fulfil in the best interests of the Parish and Residents. I am most fortunate in having knowledgeable and supportive colleague Parish Councillors and am confident that we have a good understanding of the needs of the Parish and will work together to ensure that we meet the requirements put forward to the best of our ability. As Parish Councillors we are exceptionally fortunate in having Gill Wiggs as our Parish Clerk. Gill has worked with the Parish for somewhere around 10 years and her knowledge and expertise in all issues relating to Council matters – whether at Borough or Parish level – is unsurpassed. As your new Chairman I know that I can rely upon her for advice and support on all matters and at any time and for this I express my most sincere and grateful thanks. The Coronavirus Act 2020 presented challenges which we addressed with Parish Council meetings having to be held remotely using Zoom. I am sure that everyone will agree that these “on-line” meetings have been successful, and we await advice from The Government as regards how meetings will be held effective May 2021 at which time there is a possibility that we may be directed to resume “Face to Face meetings”. PCllr Laura Barry set up a Community Support scheme whereby vulnerable Parishioners were able to seek help and support from a list of persons who volunteered to help with matters such as collecting and delivering prescriptions and shopping. I express the thanks of the Parish Council to Laura for the time and effort that she has spent setting up and administering the scheme and to all volunteers who so generously gave up their time to help members of the Parish. PCllr Jacqui Stone has worked tirelessly with the Borough Council Rights of Way Officer addressing various issues that have been raised in respect of Footpaths and Bridleways in the Parish. The Parish Council implemented a bi-annual “Parish Community Recognition Award” to recognise the hard work and dedication of residents within the Parish of Bolnhurst & Keysoe who go above and beyond to make our Parish such a Friendly and Supportive place. The winner of the first award was a long-term resident of the Parish who was presented with a Certificate in January 2021. Thanks to the hard work in coordinating this event are due to PCllrs Jane Browning and Jacqui Stone. Bolnhurst & Keysoe Parish Council The Parish Council is most fortunate in having a highly effective and efficient “Parish Handy Person” who does much to keep the Parish looking in pristine condition – grateful thanks are due to Penny Heming for all that she does in this capacity. We now have a Bolnhurst & Keysoe Parish Council Facebook Group set up – currently 76 members and more Parishioners would be most welcome. Thanks to PCllrs Laura Barry and Chris Kew for all the work involved in battling the wonders of Facebook and getting it set up and successfully operational. There have been several issues that have affected that Parish during the year which have been addressed with varying degrees of success. Speeding continues to be of concern to Parishioners. At the end of 2020, the Parish Council purchased a Speed Indicator Device which will, when COVID-19 regulations permit, be located at various sites within the Parish at places approved by Bedford Borough Council. Since the installation of the device, we are seeing a variation in the speeds of vehicles that are recorded by the device with a small reduction in the number of vehicles travelling more than the speed limits – the highest speed recorded to date was at Top End, Bolnhurst at 110mph. The speed data is downloaded every 2 weeks and forwarded to Police – it is hoped that once COVID-19 regulations are relaxed we will see the Police in the Parish with their “speed camera” in locations based upon information from our Speed Indicator Device. Monitoring of the data and upkeep of the device is vested in the most capable hands of PCllr Laura Barry – her ability in understanding the complex data that the device records is second to none and the spreadsheet data that she provides will, I am confident, support our efforts to see positive action by the Police as time progresses. An application has been made to Bedford Borough Council for the installation of Average Speed Cameras on the B660 and the Parish Council has set aside funds as a contribution once agreement is given by BBC. However, we are advised that we are “on the list” along with around 90 other sites, so it is unlikely that we will see any movement in this respect for at least 2 years. Bedford Borough Council Highways Department have been very supportive in addressing incidents of potholes when reported to them. The lights adjacent to the Pedestrian Crossing which had failed have been replaced with new LED bulbs which give better light and should last significantly longer and at lower cost than the old sodium lamps previously used. The significant rainfall towards the end of December caused major problems for Bedford Borough Council and parts of the Parish were affected by flooding. The Bedford Borough Council Highways Team responded to all requests for assistance and must be complimented for their general speed of support despite being “flooded” with requests for help. Anglian Water are addressing the problems of the number of water main bursts in the area that have resulted in either no water or a lack of water pressure in parts of the Parish are various times. Work is currently under-way in that will, when completed, hopefully eliminate the problems seen last summer. Local Plan Review - Bedford Borough Council is in the process of updating its Local Plan for development up to 2040. There has been a “Call for Sites” as part of this process. and several possibilities were put forward from within this Parish. There is still a Garden Village under consideration in North Bedfordshire, as well as developments in all parts of the Borough. We will know more in mid-2021 when we expect there will be a Public Consultation. We will continue to monitor progress and report this at our Parish Council meetings. A group of residents have expressed an interest in construction of a Skateboard Facility in the field behind the Village Hall. Fund raising is under-way by the residents concerned and the Parish Council has allocated a sum of money towards this venture should it go ahead. We have just been advised that our Borough Bolnhurst & Keysoe Parish Council Councillor - Tom Wootton - has allocated the sum of £1,000 from his Ward Fund to be used as part of this project and for this both the residents’ group as well as Parish Council are most appreciative. In December 2020 The College Equestrian Centre was sold with the facility being renamed Keysoe International Ltd. The CEO of the business is Sarah Stoute and it is understood that she has plans in hand which will, assuming all necessary approvals are secured, lead to significant changes and improvements made to the Centre. Sarah will, in due course, present her plans to The Parish. As previously stated, COVID-19 presents many challenges, and I am confident that your Parish Council will meet them “head on” and successfully navigate all that come our way.

2. Kymbrook Primary School Report - Sarah Moore Head Teacher School context • Kymbrook is federated with Primary School and share the same Head Teacher. • Number on roll is 79 children from 4 years to 11 years. • 55% of our children are within catchment (Bolnhurst, Keysoe & ), and 45% choose to come to us from outside of catchment. • There are four classes – Reception/Year 1, Year 2, Year 3/4 and Year 5/6. • Summer 2019 was our first Year 6 cohort, after transitioning from a Lower School to a Primary School. Ofsted Inspection • The school was inspected in March 2019 and received a “Good” judgement in all 5 categories: Effectiveness of Leadership & Management Quality of Teaching & Learning Personal Development & Welfare Outcomes for Pupils Early Years provision • We were delighted with this outcome and it reflects the hard work & dedication of all staff at Kymbrook but also in our sister school at Thurleigh. • Our targets for further improvement are: *To strengthen our middle leaders to monitor and improve progress across different subjects. *To improve the teaching and learning of the most able pupils – to ensure they are challenged to reach high standards *To develop the outdoor environment so that children in Reception have a greater range of opportunities for independent learning. Lockdown/Home Learning There was no demand for keyworker or vulnerable childcare places during the first lockdown in Spring 2020. Our home learning activities were posted on our website and each class produced a weekly newsletter to keep in touch with our children and families. Since January 2021 – there has been much more demand for children to come into school in line with most schools nationally. Our Home learning offer to all moved online and teachers delivered live and recorded lessons and posted daily activities on to Seesaw – our learning platform. Teachers were able to interact much more with children and see their videos and messages posted back. During this time, all staff were in school which enabled our children to be well take care off and for us to provide quality home learning to all.

We were delighted to welcome back all children on 8th March with a real focus on the positivity and their mental health and well-being as well as providing our usual broad and balanced curriculum.

Bolnhurst & Keysoe Parish Council Summer 2020 We made the most of the first national lockdown to undertake significant works to the school. The swimming pool, although well loved by the children, was only really used for a few weeks each year and was not deep enough or big enough to actually “teach” swimming and therefore did not meet the requirements of the national curriculum. The pool was removed and a purpose build outdoor area for Early Years created – thus meeting the improvement target from Ofsted.

We also moved the library area and created a library/computer suite for all classes to use. This has been equipped with an interactive whiteboard for teaching and laptops for the children to use. The old library area is now an entrance hall to welcome visitors with learning pods for individual or small group work.

Much needed shading on both the playground and the field has been installed and we will take delivery of over 100 saplings from the Woodland Trust to plan on our school field in the next couple of months.

We are hoping, when restrictions are lifted, to invite the local community in to see these positive changes to our school.

Leadership & Management and Governors • Current Head Teacher, Sarah Moore, will be leaving at Easter. • A new Interim Head Teacher has been appointed – Kathy Augustine – previously the Assistant Head Teacher at Thurleigh Primary School. • The leadership structure for both schools within the federation is a shared HT, an Assistant Head at each school and a shared Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator. • The federation Governing Body is led by a very experienced Chair and Vice Chair who has had a long association with both schools.

School Website • Please have a look to see more of what we do. www.kymbrookprimary.uk

3. Kymbrook Pre School report by Lindsey Walker (read by The Clerk in her absence) After a very unusual and difficult year, we as a Pre-School have had a lot of interest and we are in a very good position, in terms of our number of children attending sessions. We have continued to actively promote the Pre-School on Facebook and will continue to do so to get the Pre-School name out there!

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak we have unfortunately, not been able to have any visits sadly. We were actually closed from March 2020-September 2020 due to the outbreak and having very limited numbers wanting their child/ren to attend the setting. We did however, have a lovely ‘virtual/ pre-recorded’ visit from Santa which all the children really enjoyed. We also put on our annual Christmas Sing Song using Zoom! This went really well and the families were thrilled that they got to see their child take part.

Fundraising: We had planned Easter fundraising last Easter; however, this was unable to go ahead due to our closure. We do have our name the bunny competition this year, and we will also be putting on an ‘Easter Trail & Colouring Competition’ this Easter for all the children within the local community to take part in. Further details will be advertised on our Facebook Page shortly. We had a Quiz Night planned for June 2020, however, due to the outbreak. This was postponed. We hope we will be able to rearrange for Summer 21, so please do keep an eye out for the new date and join us for the evening. We held a Christmas Raffle which was supported by the community in donating prizes and buying tickets. With their help we raised £663. Which we will be using to enhance the outdoor provision/environment. We Bolnhurst & Keysoe Parish Council are currently looking for some quotes to be carried out on the work we need doing. If anyone can recommend anyone, please do get in touch with us! The work includes; Guttering to be replaced due to leak Hole in the bottom of the building (outside) to be fixed. Fencing to be dismantled, and new wooden fencing to be erected. Some sort of permanently fixed covering over the Mud Kitchen (suggestions welcome) Some sort of material/covering that can be removed easily for the outside resources For artificial grass (we have this) to be laid down the sides of the ramp of the Pre-School entrance Water wall to be fixed/designed for the new fencing.

Updates about committee and staffing Our previous Chairman Janet Browning, stood down as Chairman in September 2020 and Lydia Smith has kindly stepped in and is our current Chairman. Last Year, Jane Browning retired from her post with us at Pre-School after being an amazing Manager for over 12 years! We were unable to give her a true send off as she deserved, but I am grateful to inform you all that Jane continues to be a big part of the Pre-School as our Treasurer.

4. Police Report -Sergeant John Killick Sergeant Killick introduced himself to everyone. He explained that it has been difficult to have a community presence in rural areas during the pandemic, but hoped that would change in the near future. Crime & ASB data has been regularly provided to the Parish Council, as well as a new Burglary report that started in October 2020. Levels continue to be very low in this Parish. The Community Police Team set their priorities every quarter after feedback from residents & Parish Councils. Last quarter it was burglary. The new priorities will be set from 1/4/21 & are most likely to be speeding & vehicle crime.

The biggest local crime of note was the discovery of the cannabis factory in Bolnhurst. This was a large operation & the case is still open, although several arrests have been made.

Speeding is a continual priority in this area. The Police Speed Gun is currently being recalibrated, but once it is operational again, & the team is able to come away from lockdown enforcement activities, it can be deployed again. The data provided to the Police by the Parish Council’s Speed Indicator Device is invaluable, & means we can target the right locations at the right times. Thank you to the Parish Council for providing this data.

The Borough Council also has its own Community Speed Van which can be deployed as well, so the issue can be tackled on a number of fronts.

5. Borough Councillor’s Report - BCllr Wootton BCllr Wootton started by thanking the Parish Councillors for being so hardworking and effective. He told residents they should feel reassured that they are represented by an extremely competent Parish Council. He also commented that the Parish Clerk, Gill Wiggs, is very proficient & professional, & the Parish is very fortunate to have her.

East West Rail BCllr Wootton reported that this project has started to gain some local attention recently, as the preferred route from Bedford to Cambridge has just been announced, & a public consultation is about to be carried out. There were 5 routes short listed, some south of Bedford & some north. The preferred option is north of Bedford, which was a surprise given that this was originally considered the most expensive option & therefore unlikely to be taken forward. However, part of the cost related to the upgrade of Bedford Railway Station, & it seems Government grants have been secured to cover that cost. The line was originally a passenger service, but it now seems it may be predominantly night freight. There is no new station planned locally to the north of Bedford, so any impact will be from the line itself. It is understood the trains may be Bolnhurst & Keysoe Parish Council diesel to start with, & but all lines are due to be electrified by 2040. More details will be available in the forthcoming public consultation.

Local Plan Review The proposed sites for development will be published in Mid-2021. Thurleigh Airfield has been withdrawn as a garden village, but it may be considered for something else.

Budget 2021/22 Bedford Borough Council have approved an increase in core Council Tax of 1.99% supplemented by a 1.75% Adult Social Care Precept, totalling 3.74% giving an average Band D Council Tax of £1,624.14 which was agreed at Full Council on Wednesday 3rd February. You can find more details about their budget proposals here: http://www.councillorsupport.bedford.gov.uk/documents/s53056/Item%2014%20- %20Revenue%20Budget%202021-22.pdf

At Full Council on Wednesday 24th February the completed budget was finalised and included the precepts of Police & Crime Commissioner for Bedfordshire, the Bedfordshire Fire & Rescue Authority and the Parish Councils.

Bedford River Festival postponed until 2022 The Council has today confirmed that the River Festival – already postponed from 2020 until this Summer – and also the Kite and Motoring Festival are being postponed until 2022. As one of the largest free festivals in the UK, Bedford River Festival takes months of planning, made harder by changing Covid-19 (coronavirus) guidelines and the uncertainty around mass participation events later this summer. The bi-annual River Festival was originally due to take place in the summer of 2020, but the growing pandemic meant it was postponed until 2021. The planned new date for the next River Festival is 23 and 24 July 2022. The Council has said it will continue to keep traders, exhibitors, local residents and businesses informed.

6. Questions A resident asked in BCllr Wootton could provide details of how the budget deficit will be met. BCllr Wootton undertook to send this information out – Action BCllr Wootton.

A resident expressed concern that the withdrawal of the Rural Skip service may lead to fly tipping. He agreed & asked anyone concerned to contact the Borough Council about this. The Parish Council will also do this – Action The Clerk

Signed…………………….. Date…………………………..