I'd like to thank everyone for the tremendous support given to me in the election. I have been returned as the County Councillor for Ivinghoe Division for the third time, with almost the same majority, but a smaller turnout this time. The two previous occasions coincided with the general election so more people voted. The County Council and District Council elections alternate every two years. For the County Council I represent ten villages. For the District I just represent Ivinghoe and Pitstone. I particularly would like to thank everyone who sent me messages of congratulation, as they were so unexpected. Usually it takes a while for the results to become known, but with the Bucks County Council and Bucks Herald running such good websites, not to mention the village websites which are extremely well used, and dare I say it, Twitter. Communications are so much faster today.

I got a lot of good ideas from talking to people during the campaign, and some very good ideas to take forward on a whole number of things. Standing for election isn't very enjoyable, but this time I do feel the campaign has been positively invigorating.

Local Area Forum July 2nd
This will probably be past before this is published, but the Forum needs as much publicity as possible as it is open to the public. This meeting is in Cheddington Village Hall at 7pm and is attended by representatives of all the Parish Councils in the County Divisions of Stoke Hammond, Wing and Ivinghoe. The forum is often taken up with highways issues, but we are moving on from that and in July London Midland trains are attending to tell us how they are going to improve the service, and answer questions. We are going to hear about the Childrens centres that are propsed for Ivinghoe and Wing, Adult Social care services locally, and very importantly Youth Services.

The next Forum will be on October 1st, provisionally in Stewkley, when we hope the local highways area technician will hold a drop in session for parish clerks and the public before the main meeting starts, where local potholes, drainage, signage etc can be sorted out.

You can find out more on www.buckscc.gov.uk/democracy

Election results for Ivinghoe Division
County Council - Thursday 4th June 2009

Avril Davies was elected
%
Avril Davies Liberal Democrat 1637 47.9%
Christopher Poll Conservative 1392 40.7%
Martin Norris UK Independence 389 11.4%

More results - http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/moderngov/mgElectionElectionAreaResults.aspx?Page=1&EID=6&RPID=31055341

Despite all entreaties, the latest edition of News Central, the newsletter of Central Beds Council has been landing on doormats in Pitstone and Ivinghoe from today (Monday, June 1.)

This comes despite the Leighton Buzzard Observer publishing a very prominently displayed letter from us pointing this out a few weeks ago.

If, like us, you consider this a stupid waste of resources, and postman's time, all we can suggest you do is return the publication to sender. Whether you put a stamp on your letter, of course is entirely up to you.

Gareth Davies

The Rose and Crown has recently been sold and we would
like to introduce ourselves, Alistair and Tracella Owens, as the new
owners, effective 2 June, and bring the community up to date with
developments.
We have bought the Rose & Crown with the intention of living on
the premises with our family and re-establishing it as the “village
pub”. We want to provide a welcoming relaxed and friendly
atmosphere for the use and enjoyment of the community.
We believe this is the best way to ensure that the Rose and Crown
can continue its 300 year history and is not lost like so many other
village pubs.
To this end, we need the community’s support. We are keen to get
your views on what you would like from the Rose and Crown, your
pub. Email us at info@roseandcrownivinghoe.co.uk or write or talk
to us if you are not an email user. The website will be live on or
before 2 June and will be an important source of news and
information on all aspects of The Rose and Crown.
We plan to re-open in July and there is a lot of work to do to get
The Rose and Crown to a standard that we hope to achieve.
Wherever possible we intend to use local services and suppliers to
achieve our objectives. So please contact us if you supply any of
these goods and services:
· fresh quality local produce,
· painting and decorating,
· plumbing, electrical, building and gardening services,
Finally we would like to take this opportunity to thank all those in
the community who have encouraged and supported us in getting to
this stage.
Alistair and Tracella Owens
www.roseandcrownivinghoe.co.uk (Live on or before 2 June 2009)

Stop Press - May 6th

Yet another edition of "News Central" - Central Bedfordshire in Contact - will have popped through many Pitstone and Ivinghoe doors this morning, causing even more confusion.

IGNORE THIS PUBLICATION. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH US - WE HAVE NOT BEEN MOVED INTO BEDFORDSHIRE. WE remain in Buckinghamshire.

Local councillor Avril Davies has written to Central Bedfordshire council, asking for this to stop, that they do not waste money delivering a confusing publication which had nothing to do with us, to our villages.

Central Bedfordshire council does not seem capable of filtering out addresses with a LU7 and LU9 prefix. You wonder about the quality of the rest of their services to their council tax payers.

PITSTONE POST MAY 2009

Quarry 2 decision postponed
The decision on an amended application for ‘restoring’ Pitstone quarry 2, due to be heard at the Bucks County Council Development Control Committee on April 21st, has been postponed.

Two years ago this application was given in principle permission subject to legal agreement, as it enabled the damage done by quarrying to be restored with a minimum of disruption. This may sound nonsense, but the principle of restoration of former mineral workings is a national priority, to prevent operators from walking away from the gashes they have made in the countryside when they are no longer commercially viable. In the case of Pitstone, the vehicle movements allowed were no more than those on the roads at the time, working at Ivinghoe Aston. The restoration principle was given higher priority than, or even because of, the AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) status of the site, even though there would be working and disruption for some years.

However the amended application proposed a completely different scenario, with the recycling plant – concrete crusher – being able to operate independently from the landfill. It is proposed that material could be brought here to be recycled, and exported again for re-use or landfill in Leighton Buzzard. As the landfill aspect of the quarry scheme has yet to gain a licence from the Environment Agency, and may not do so, it is possible the quarry will never be restored, but recycling of concrete etc could go on indefinitely.

Also, since the application was first determined, the Interim Development Orders, which were the very old planning conditions governing the site, have been rescinded, leaving no default scheme of restoration in place.

It is now thought that in order to gain a licence from the EA, the operators will have to line the quarry with clay. This would involve extending either the length of time taken to complete the operation, or increasing the daily vehicle movements.
I, as well as several local organisations and individuals, have written to Bucks County Council asking them to seriously reconsider their recommendations in the light of these changes.

Camiers retrospective application to move the Cairns recycling plant onto their site
The applicants say that they will not be handling any more waste than they are at present, but by using the larger equipment they will be able to recycle far more of the material brought to their site. Cheddington Parish Council has told me they have concern over adequate protection of adjacent properties from noise and dust, and are worried that the larger capacity of the plant will give rise to yet another application to increase traffic to the site. I have written in support of their position.
HGVs and all that

For some time I have been pursuing the County to take action on the new wave of vehicles using the B488 and A4146 to get on to the Stoke Hammond bypass. Many of these, but not all, are waste vehicles, avoiding hold ups on the M1 or Dunstable , as there is still no link between the M1 and the Leighton Buzzard bypass, nor likely to be for some time, causing a bottleneck from which we suffer.
Some, but not all vehicles using Cheddington airfield are managed by planning condition, but it is vehicles avoiding strategic routes which are now need to be tackled.

Today, 9th April, I have been talking directly to the Cabinet member for Transportation at Bucks, Mrs Val Letheren, about the freight transport strategy and the Freight Quality Partnership policies which appeared in the Bucks County Council first Local transportation Plan in 2002, but which were taken out of the current plan in 2006. The third generation plan is now being written. She told me that reviving the freight strategy and setting up a Freight Quality Partnership for Buckinghamshire were now of the utmost priority!

I will be submitting a written question to the next County Council to get this confirmed.

A Freight Quality Partnership involves County, District and Parish Councils, local people the freight transport industry, Police, and other interested parties such as the map and satellite navigation people, in advising drivers and their employers of suitable routes for HGVs, to mutual benefit.

A local resident met with me some weeks ago to talk about the problem particularly in Ivinghoe, and has started to find out about local campaigns elsewhere to prevent the inappropriate use of minor roads by HGVs, while I chase up the County on implementing their transport plans. There are a few local actions that can still be taken to improve the environment of our high street, but the solution lies in the long game.

Housing Growth in Bedfordshire

I was surprised to discover the new Central Bedfordshire newsletter on my doorstep this week, not to mention the Bedford and MK yellow pages, and the Luton and Dunstable Local Directory, as I thought we still lived in Bucks.

On April 1st Bedfordshire County Council ceased to exist, with new Unitary Councils taking its place. There was absolutely NO mention in the newsletter of the massive housing growth proposed in Luton, Dunstable, and Leighton Buzzard areas. With the planned development in Aylesbury and Milton Keynes, as well as 900 speculative dwellings at Soulbury in Aylesbury Vale (and 3 other speculative proposals in Winslow, Fleet Marston and Buckingham) it is more important than ever to get protection for rural areas in place before a road building bonanza starts linking up all the new development, with our local roads feeding in to it.

AVDC finally commits to reduce spending on energy- and improve the environment

I can’t resist commenting that it’s nine years since the Energy Saving Trust invited the 380 English Local Authorities to commit to managing their energy use; on March 24th this year AVDC was nearly one of the last to sign, with over 300 councils already signed up.

Pressure from escalating energy bills, and the Environment Scrutiny Committee, has finally persuaded the cabinet to set itself a target of cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 22 per cent over the next five years.

It is quite astonishing that the measures they are undertaking weren’t done years ago. Steps were taken in 1996 to achieve the National ISO 14000 Environmental Management Accreditation, which was the done thing in those days before the Nottingham Declaration, but this got left behind in the ‘too much bother’ tray when political control at the council changed.

The council’s bills for energy are high, around £2.5M a year, with not only gas and electricity for offices, community and leisure centres, but fuel costs for the council’s refuse collection vehicles and business transport, releasing 7,500 tonnes of carbon dioxide in to the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide emissions are a significant and preventable cause of climate change.

Ironically the first measures to be taken reflect the advice AVDC has been dishing out to private homeowners for years: replace inefficient heating boilers, cavity wall and loft insulation in the all the new offices. Better late than never.

Ivinghoe Festival Saturday night party - June 20th, 2009

Following the success of last years 70s theme party night we're going back a decade this year to the 60s. Last years fancy dress set high standards, so we hope the 60s theme will be equally tempting to those closet exhibitionists who turned up in the wildest outfits last year.
The music from the Merseybeat Legends has the genuine sound of the Cavern Club, where they have played in the past. An additional disco will give us the whole range of 60s sounds from Motown to the Stones.
Supper is included in the ticket price, still £15 , available from local stores or Pat Brindle. If you're buying 10 tickets or more and want to be sure to sit together, let us know.

People in Ivinghoe and Pitstone have been both concerned and annoyed by the appearance of the publication Central Bedfordshire in Contact on their doormats recently.

The first thing to say is you can ignore this publication completely. The villages remain firmly in Buckinghamshire, and we have not been moved to this new council in Bedfordshire which was formed on the first of April.

The reason it has been delivered to us is because we have the LU postcode. Other parts of this postcode are in Bedfordshire, where the publication is correctly delivered. However the sender seems incapable of filtering out our villages.

Local councillor Avril Davies has made representations in the past, to attempt to stop these publications at source, and with some success.

Now they have been delivered once more, and this time with the added confusion, because some people might think the new central Beds council includes our villages, the result of some sort of reorganisation. This is not the case.

Avril has taken up the matter with Bucks County Council officers, who will be contacting their counterparts in Bedfordshire to try to put a stop to these wasteful and irrelevant deliveries.

Pitstone and Ivinghoe Network for Enterprise (PINE) are hosting a FREE Spring business networking event at The White Lion, Marsworth on Wednesday 25 March 2009.

Sponsored by Buckinghamshire Rural Affairs Group, this event will be an opportunity for local businesses, small and large, in the Pitstone and Ivinghoe area, to come together, share experience and receive advice and support. The event is organised on behalf of PINE by Buckinghamshire Economic and Learning Partnership.

Alex Pratt, OBE, Chairman of Buckinghamshire Economic and Learning Partnership said,

“PINE is a network that encourages procurement, trading and services as well as sharing knowledge that brings real benefit and positive impact to businesses in the area. It is also a vehicle for developing links to local suppliers, create diversity, and promote economics activity. It is about influencing and helping to sustain business locally and also planning for growth and contributing to Corporate Social Responsibility agendas. Buckinghamshire is the entrepreneurial heart of Britain and PINE is another opportunity for local entrepreneurs and businesses to get together and exchange experience.”

Attending businesses will be able to take to the floor for ‘just a minute’ to introduced themselves and company, in a relaxed and informal atmosphere.

For further details and booking, please contact:

Lynne Cairns, Buckinghamshire Economic and Learning Partnership, Tel: 01296 383801, Email: lynne@belp.co.uk

Dear All,

Many thanks to all of you who were able to attend the meeting at the Town Hall on Thursday evening. Around 110 people came to the meeting and we discussed opposing any application for change of use and the ways in which the community might buy the pub. A representative from CAMRA talked about how to campaign to save a pub and there were many useful contributions from the floor. It should also be noted that two of the people who spoke did not wish to oppose an application for change of use.

We also distributed a questionnaire to find out what financial support there was for a community buy-out. There were pledges totalling 83K for the share scheme (lots of people each buying one small share). Several people indicated an interest in an alternative proposal, which would consist of a much smaller group, each member contributing a considerable amount of money. Many people also indicated that they had skills that may be useful in drawing up a business plan and, along with those who volunteered to serve on a committee, they have been invited to a meeting on Wednesday evening to consider the next step in the campaign.

Those of you who would still like to complete a questionnaire can download a copy from http://www.softeksoftware.co.uk/downloads/tmp/Questionnaire.pdf and return it to 4 Ladysmith Road, Ivinghoe.

We will continue to send you occasional updates unless you ask to removed from the distribution list.

Kind Regards

Andy Beezer