Avril Davies

Campaign to restore road gritting cuts

In October BCC announced a reduction in the winter gritting schedules, affecting many roads in this area, to meet a savings target of £200,000 by reducing the vehicle fleet. On October 17^th I wrote to protest and challenge the decision and after much prompting received a response confirming and endorsing the decision on November 22^nd. Local residents were by this time adding their voices of protest to those responsible at County Hall.

My concern for the roads affected in Ivinghoe Aston, Cheddington, Slapton, Edlesborough, Marsworth and Pitstone, was not only for motorists safety, but particularly for children waiting for school buses, often in the dark, and where there are no pavements. They are vulnerable to any skidding vehicle.

The cabinet member for transportation, Mrs Val Letheren, responded by agreeing to ask for the restoration of the budget cuts for next year – which is not the same as agreeing to restore the budget cuts next year, and totally inadequate for this year.

Unfortunately on Tuesday 19^th December there were multiple accidents on Ivinghoe Aston hill. I had had enough by then, and alerted the Bucks Herald, unnecessarily it transpired, as their own reporter had been involved in accident on an unsalted road at Aston Abbots.

On January 18^th I formally presented the dossier of correspondence, photographs and newspaper cuttings to the leader of Bucks County Council and the cabinet member for transportation, with a request for emergency funding to grit Ivinghoe Aston this winter by re-routing or the use of contract vehicles. By putting the matter on the public record as a petition, the issue must be addressed and a formal response made to the Local Aylesbury Vale committee.

On Monday 22^nd January the Cabinet member wrote to the residents of Ivinghoe Aston informing them the gritters would be routed down the hill in the afternoon.

Ivinghoe Youth Hostel Proposal

In December an outline proposal written by myself, Dave Sivers and Julie Lloyd Evans, was submitted to the chief executive of YHA.

The essence of the proposal is to create a Trust within which the YHA remains an active partner, but with others to establish a ‘high quality, nationally recognised, integrated centre for education and leisure in the Chilterns area of Outstanding naturl Beauty, offering overnight accommodation, tailor made activity programmes, and ‘signposting’ services to visiting schools, organisations, families and individuals’.

The only copy so far distributed has gone to the YHA out of courtesy. As soon as their response is is known it will be posted on the website and made available to anyone.

If the proposal is viewed favourably the next step would be to seek funding for a feasibility study.

Tring station car park and bus service.

Dacorum DC have granted permission for the proposed 2 storey car park at the lower end of the existing car park to go ahead as soon as possible, and temporary re-opening of the car park extension. Hertfordshire County Council have been interviewing bidders for the rail franchise currently run by Siverlink. Now that is complete, the Herts County Councillor, Nick Hollinghurst, and myself will be approaching Red Rose Buses directly to look at the feasibility of combining the Tring station bus service with Ivinghoe and Pitstone.

Cheddington Station parking

Parking restrictions for station road are on the council list for consideration! However, thanks to the District Councillor for Cheddington, Corry Cashman, undertaking correspondence and meetings with railtrack, parking at Cheddington is now free after mid day.

Local Government Reorganisation

The government white paper published last year challenged councils to cut costs and make decision making more local. It offered councils a choice to remain as separate Districts and Counties but save money by working together, or reorganise as unitary councils.

These proposals affect Districts and County structure, but not Parishes. Councils wanting to meet the challenge with change must submit proposals by 25^th January, for the government to accept or reject by March.

Over the past weeks and months two competing proposals have been prepared that in Buckinghamshire. One proposal is to form a single new council to represent Bucks (but not Milton Keynes which is already a Unitary Authority). It would have 19 community forums to reflect the diverse localities of Bucks, involve Parishes in decisions and offer more choice to Parish Councils about services they would like to undertake themselves. This proposal has been independently costed to save £9.2M.

The other proposal began as simply to improve two tier working between Districts and County as at present, but merging some services, eg legal, financial and IT, some planning, some public transport, some social care and housing. These proposals were estimated to save between £7.5 and £6.4M.

On the morning of January 18^th a deal was reached between the County Council and all the Bucks Districts to beef up the proposals for ‘Enhanced Two Tier’ into a ‘Pathfinder’ bid which is much more radical than the enhanced two tier working originally envisaged. This was voted on and agreed by the County Council in the afternoon.

Because this was a compromise, agreed on by all, there are as yet no published details of what will happen and how it will work!

The District Councils have agreed to pass the same deal through their Councils by the 25^th January deadline.

If the proposals don’t work, of if the Government doesn’t think they can work, the government will still reduce Bucks funding by it’s own estimated amount, probably around £10M. and it reserves the right to impose structural change to achieve the saving.

Whatever happens the District and Parish Council Elections will still take place on May 3^rd this year. Elections for the County Council will be in 2009.

Avril Davies