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JULY 2014 | ISSUE 14 AYLESBURY VALE aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk • The cost of contamination • New dawn for an old market • A great summer giveaway! • And Tony Hadley PLUS balancing AVDC’s books, backing business, Buckingham gets sporty, Waterside North, WWI remembered, What’s On and more News from Aylesbury Vale District Council Advertisement feature Affordable homes for sale to local people Finding a home you can a ord to buy, in the Shared ownership allows fi rst time buyers to buy their area you already live in can be a tall order but own home by purchasing a share in a property (normally if you love Aylesbury Vale and don’t want to around 50%) and paying subsidised rent on the remaining share. For example, to get a mortgage for the houses at move further away, Hightown Homes may have Newton Leys, purchaser will need a deposit of at least the answer for you. We’re working with the £5,250 to purchase the minimum share of £105,000. District Council to give priority for our shared Shared owners can buy further shares when they can ownership homes to a ord to, until they eventually people who live or work own the property outright. in the Vale of Aylesbury. “When I saw the shared ownership homes in my area, “I’ve been living in my flat for I couldn’t believe my luck as several months now and things I really didn’t want to move couldn’t be better. I have a away from my friends and brand new home in Aylesbury family. The whole buying which I love and the location is process was really easy and perfect for me.” straight forward. The sales - Hightown resident team at Hightown Homes were very friendly and helpful.” - Hightown resident We have spacious one-bedded apartments ideal for fi rst time buyers at Buckingham Shared ownership is an Park, close to Aylesbury easy and a ordable way town centre, and great for fi rst-time buyers to get three-bedded starter a foot onto the property homes for families at ladder. Our new homes Newton Leys, near in the Vale of Aylesbury Bletchley, all available for o er individuals and shared ownership. families the choice of rural tranquility, with Each new home comes beautiful lakes a short with a fully fi tted walk away, or the hustle contemporary style and bustle of an attractive kitchen with built in market town. hob and oven. There is also the added benefi t For more information of o -road parking. please call 01442 292381 contents • 1 Working for the future We’ve attracted some major Inside this issue: businesses in recent years, of the Vale including Arla, Waitrose and Travelodge and are taking a key 2 AVDC balancing the books role in future development, for 4 Buckingham gets sporty example Silverstone. It’s about growing the local economy and creating employment and you can Schools read much more about it on page 8. remember WWI 7 There’s plenty to be positive about but, as I’m sure you know, when it comes to services we’re dealing 8 AVDC backing business with a shrinking budget from It may be a couple of months back central government. This means a 9 Aylesbury’s new but I’d like to take the opportunity look market continuing drive to change the way to highlight 17 April – a great day we do things and I’m proud to say for both Aylesbury town centre our staff recently won a national Waterside and the Vale as a whole. This day industry award for all its work in North: the marked the ‘cutting of the first sod’ making efficiencies; it goes without of the new Aylesbury Centre. future 10 saying though, that we continue to AVDC is building this first-class keep our residents at the heart of education facility and leasing it to what we do. 12 Let’s cut contamination Bucks New University and Aylesbury That’s the business side of things; it 13 How you can recycle College, who will run a range of just leaves me to wish you a lovely old clothes degree level courses there. We expect summer and to urge you to soak up to generate more than three million some of the many wonderful things Tony Hadley’s pounds over the next 25 years. the Vale has to offer. If you’re in need local loves There will also be a huge of inspiration, look no further than 15 opportunity for businesses which our What’s On guide on page 21. will see an increase in the number of young people entering the local job 17 Buckingham’s on the run market with vocational skills. And 19 Great summer giveaway of course businesses in Aylesbury town will, no doubt, see an increase in their custom! It’s another example NEIL BLAKE, LEADER What’s on of AVDC’s commitment to the future AYLESBURY VALE in the Vale? 21 of the Vale. DISTRICT COUNCIL This edition of Aylesbury Vale Times costs around 13p per copy.* Aylesbury Vale Times is a publication from Aylesbury Vale 01296 585858 (main switchboard) District Council. It is printed on environmentally friendly www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk The editor: 01296 585026 paper; please recycle after reading. or [email protected] Some stock images are used in the production of this magazine If you’d like a free copy of this magazine in large print, or to help illustrate an article, this is in part to ensure costs are kept to a minimum. on tape or CD, call 01296 585026 *Copy price may vary slightly per issue, depending on advertising revenue and postage costs. External advertising in the magazine does not imply an endorsement or promotion of the The views expressed by individuals in Aylesbury Vale Times are not advertisement, nor its content, products or services necessarily the views of Aylesbury Vale District Council. Every effort is made by Aylesbury Vale District Council. to ensure that all information is accurate at the time of going to press. 2 • your council AVDC IS CHANGING Our challenge to save money and generate income continues, as we manage the cuts from central Working in partnership government. In the last financial year, the savings we’ve made and As it stands we’ve got £7.5 million to save by 2018/19 income we’ve generated have amounted to £866,000. and we’re working towards that target with a raft of As well as making efficiencies, which we’ve mentioned in measures, many of which we’ve mentioned in past past issues, we are also working in a number of different editions, including efficiencies and the introduction of ways. One of the things we’re doing more of is working some charges and new services. Our overall strategy in in partnership with other authorities. dealing with a shrinking budget is to operate in a more An example of this is the work carried out by our businesslike way. This will help to protect widely used biodiversity and tree officers. They are still providing and highly valued services. a service for the Vale but, in the last financial year, You can get a broad picture of the changes we’re have managed to generate an extra £46,000 through making by visiting www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/ work for other councils, including Milton Keynes, South change Northants, Hertsmere Borough and Oxford City Council. They’ve also been hired by the National Trust for their £7.5 million - the amount saved in the expertise. last four years but we still need to save Like any businesses, we also have targets and this team the same amount again. has achieved 150% of theirs! Generating income through ‘in-house’ skills Although we’re operating in an increasingly businesslike way, commercial activity isn’t by any means new to AVDC. Since 2000 we’ve served as a ‘payroll bureau’ for other councils. This involves receiving their pay data, processing it and running their payrolls, plus all the tasks associated with that process. The councils and organisations we work with in this capacity include Wycombe District Council (WDC), Chiltern District Council (CDC), South Bucks District Council (SBDC), Dacorum Borough Council, Red Kite Community Housing and Chalfont St Peter Parish Council. From this year, we will also be running election payrolls for AVDC, WDC, CDC and SBDC. We generally have contracts of up to five years and currently generate around £130,000 income. This will rise this year with the start of the election payrolls. When contracts are due to expire we usually have to go through a procurement exercise which may involve competitive tendering, so there’s always the possibility that our levels of business in this area will change. Take the Best advice news • 3 and save money your council • 3 We’ve taken our energy saving expertise and started a new service which will help businesses There’s so much and organisations go green and save money. online BEST (Built Environment Services Team) offers sustainability and energy management advice, You’ve probably noticed that we’re which starts with a free audit. During that audit, our always promoting our website. That’s team will assess the site and its energy needs and because there’s so much you can do on advice will be given on everything from lighting to it and with great ease. This means residents insulation. We can then offer a follow-up service at a can often do things at their own convenience charge, where we can look at improvements, such as and, of course, it saves us staff time and redesigning heating and lighting systems.