For those of you who are here for the first time my name is Bob Bellamy and I am one of the 5 P CLLRs who currently represent our community on the BOLNHURST AND KEYSOE PC . There are 2 vacancies.
I am also Chairman and tonight
I am going to talk to you about the past year in the life of this parish as viewed from the perspective of the parish council as well as reflect on some of the matters of interest.
Community Safety
Recorded crime remains low for the Parish in terms of the sanitised figures that we receive ; the majority of incidents have been in Bolnhurst.The mix of crime has included a dangerous dog, criminal damage to vehicles, a domestic incident, a public order offence, interference with a vehicle, Burglary and miscellaneous thefts
We have been working closely with the Rural Policing Team and helped develop the Parish Priorities which is currently SPEEDING AND Anti socialvehicle behaviour.
We have kept the community uptodatewith current policing policy and structure, as well as highlighting a number of police initiatives .We have used the notice boards to display targeted information as requested.
Operation Beneke took place in August; it was a well supported event.
The Police have carried out a number of speed enforcement activities at locations we have highighted. In addition several vehicles have been stopped and drivers reminded about the speed limits .
Good news too :PC Kerry Jones has joined PCSO Laura Hoggard covering our area (23 villages)
Highways –
Pot holes do continue to be an issue; especially so after the winter conditions. The Boroughs App For reporting Highways issues has proved a useful tool.Only potholes that meet the intervention criteria are repaired but its always worth reporting them as they are usually placed on a watch list.
Overhanging hedges remain an issuenot only for the hazard caused but the Cllr time expended to encourage residents to carry out their obligations. And this even after the reminders in the Newsletters.
During the year a complaint was raised that HGVs were often turning into School lane Bolnhurst and getting into difficulties and that this had been occurring for some time. This same issue had been raised in the recent past which had resulted in the establishment of a simple reporting protocol to enable an evidence based assessment of the problem, a practical solution and the identification of the culprits. Contacted now Highways have commented that there is currently insufficient funding.
Apart from Potholes there have been No major Highways issues reported be it repair, remediation or improvement raised.
Planning
This yearwe were consulted on 17individual planning applications all within the Parish ,a drop of 3 or 15% which was the 3rd successive year of declining applications .
The breakdown as follows :30% Rows 35 % Bolnhurst and 35% Brook end /Church End
It should be noted for clarity that we are not consulted on PDR applications.
LOCAL PLAN 2035
Local Plan 2035 consultation process in its various issues has consumed a lot of Cllr hours . We have attendedmeetings , interrogated vast amounts of documentation , done impact assessments , delivered a robust and objective written response with sound backing arguments as well as writing an equally well prepared letter to the Mayor WHILST throughout the entire period keeping the parish fully aware of all developments through our Parish Meetings . We created produced and ???? a briefing note which with the help of the VV distributers was delivered to every household, highlighting not only the consultation but the impacts that we had identified .18 of the 1800 responses to the consultation came from our Parish.
The process is now in its last phase; the current consultation which closes at the end of this month asks for comment on both the soundness and legal compliance of the Draft Plan. We have been reviewing the documentation in detail.
Engagement profile
this is when Cllrs attend meetings representing the Parish –they can be local issue meetings as well as formally organised affairs . OR even completing Consultations and feedback requests on matters specific to this parish
Our Parish council meetings have been well attended . The maximum attendance was 12 , and the average 8
This past year has seen a reduction in the number of external meetings partly due to the business focus , partly due to the staff cuts at other stakeholders. The net result being less F2F contact .The meetings at which we have represented this community include The Police, Ward Forums , Parish Group meetings and BATPC meetings.
Cllr Bellamy accompanied the Police during the Operation Beneke
Cllr Perry met with Highways and toured the Parish to discussand resolve various highways issues
We have, and will continue to highlight Consultations especially those which have the potential to impact on community routine and daily life The responses do carry weight , and whilst You would be correct to expect your PC to examine and make comment as needed , community input is still needed ,be it supportive or otherwise.
There has been a diverse range of consultations and feedback requests which have included : Parish Policing Priorities; Community Safety Partnership, libraries, mobile libraries ,ROW and most recently the UK GovsNPPF .
KEY EVENTS
The 2 bus shelter seats reported at last years meeting as stolen were replaced. Shaun Woodward not only sourced ,a competitive product -such that we could afford to purchase an additional seat for the Church road shelter , but he also arranged the delivery, and personally installed the seats. They have been chained to the concrete base and branded with our council logo.
Unless you are a user of the Play equipment you may not have noticed that they have beenpower washedand re Painted by Shaun ——-and whilst talking about that playing field I feel I must mention Ro, who works so hard , with repairs and essential maintenance to ensure that the equipment meets the ROSPA expectations and that the facilities can be enjoyed by everyone
Cllr Heming organised a very successful Litter Pick.
A mixed year for BT a bit of the good and a lot of bad – two goods–superfast has reached some parts of our Parish and the redundant phone boxes were removed ; there are 7000 phone boxes awaiting removal but we leapfrogged to the front of the queue –thanks to RO who managed to find the right number to call and it was job done !! the major BAD was when they installed new Poles on the B660 as part of the superfast Broadband project , and succeeded to not only fracture the water main but positioned some of the poles on private land and others too close to the highway. And during a recent visit, in which they repositioned only 2 of the poles under query they managed to fracture the water main again.
Bedfordshire day came and went
Graham Boyle, Bedford and District NHW Treasurer joined our October meeting and gave a presentation about the new look Neighbourhood Watch. We learnt that we already had two coordinators in the Parish. He shared with us a number of self helpmeasures to make us safer from criminal activity be it in the home, during our daily routines or on line —thanks to him my whole family now have RFID blockers.
Jeremy Lucas resignedin January , citing the very real difficulties of balancing the needs of the Parish Council and the community with the demands of the workplace.
We decided not to increase the Precept and it was held at £39.18
OFTEN OVERLOOKED are the contributions made by residents during the year be it helping with Council business or fixing things or doing things that help not just this council but also make this an enjoyable place to live.
SO I would like to take this opportunity to mention the residents who have made a contributon during the past year
And in no particular order
All those people who have helped to pick up litter
Penny Heming for taking on the Tree Warden role and making it run so smoothly as well as ensuring that the War Memorial looks its best at all times.
Shaun Woodward , is the Parish Handyman tasked with keeping our bus shelters and notice boards in good order but he has done a lot more than that –he has donated his time, his effort his energy on various projects.
Jan Tarry , who come wind rain or shine ensures that both the PC Official notices and the Community notices are displayed on the three boards
Kathy and Simon Beverley who, having identified an issue with the pull in at Mill Hill took ownership of the issue and having reported it, liaised with the Highways until the work was completed .Ian then cut back vegetation and cleared and cleaned the wider area.
John Madison who cuts the playing field grass for the PC also donates his time and machinery to a variety of other activities all of which ensure residents can enjoy their facilities.
And not forgetting the hard core residents –you know who you are who support our monthly meetings and in so doing play such an important role in the local government process.