DIG Article for Winter 2022 HNews

Pumping Station

The pumping station is not the prettiest of buildings, but it’s been a part of the village since the sixties serving an essential function and we must all pass it regularly without giving it a second thought. The building houses a large borehole some 250 feet deep and for many years pumped drinking water from deep in the chalk. It no longer does, but the whine of machinery can still be heard close to the building. It is understood that the pumping equipment serves to pump drinking water from the direction of Prestwood up the hill to Naphill and beyond.

Last winter we reported that Affinity Water had visited to site at the pumping station and had agreed to conduct CCTV checks on the two culverts that run under the site. This is needed to ensure that they are clear and able to carry drainage water from the course of the winterbourne that runs across the road from Buildbase, and also the stream and road drainage water that runs in the ditch along Valley Road.

Unfortunately, little has happened since then. We have recently escalated this matter and a further site visit has been made and action has been promised. It’s not urgent work, but the sort that should be carried out on a routine basis to prevent a sudden crisis happening.

Other Drains and Sewer Items

Trees Road

The bottom of Trees Road continues to provide a headache for the residents of the road as the drainage grids at the bottom of the road block up very quickly following heavy rain. Loose gravel and stones rapidly accumulate at the bottom and make it hazardous for drivers turning off Valley Road into Trees Road.

The DIG have approached Bucks CC via the FixMyStreet website and appealed for help this year with clearing the grids and drains. The problem here, of course, is that Trees Road is unadopted and the two road drains and the grids are not the responsibility of the council. We are glad to report that the council have agreed to do this and say they will attend to this when they are next conducting operations in our area.

It would be great if in the meantime the Trees Road WhatsApp group could continue to clear the gravel and stones at the foot of the road.

The Culvert from the Harrow to Deeters

We had concerns about the course of the winterbourne that runs from the Harrow down to Deeters. As far as we are aware, this section of pipework had not been examined for some years. Following a request to Bucks CC, it has now been checked and is reported to be silt free.

Thames Water DWMP

Thames Water provided an update this summer to their draft Drainage and Wastewater Management Plan. This is a 25 year plan covering a vast area, of which we are a small part. So, while we are not able to report on significant details for the Valley, we are able to say that the following is planned for the Little Marlow area, of which we are a part:

  • Upgrade to the Little Marlow Sewage Treatment plant
  • Improved monitoring of sewage risk areas
  • Identifying of  areas where groundwater infiltrates into the sewage network and then carrying out sealing of tops and lining of sewers to prevent infiltration

When the final plan is completed we hope to be able to report some more detail.

DIG Organisation and Constitution

At the October AGM, it was decided to review and simplify the DIG organisation and constitution in light of us being fully integrated with HVRA. This has now been done and a new Terms of Reference document has been produced. It has been distributed to the DIG members and is placed on the document page in the DIG section of the HVRA website.

Paul Woodford

HVRA Drainage Improvement Group

What do you want travel around High Wycombe to look like in the future?

Residents are urged to make their views known on Buckinghamshire Council’s plans for seamless, sustainable and safe travel.

The draft Transport Strategy and Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) for High Wycombe map out proposed improvements which will make green travel options easier than ever.

Drop-in sessions are being held at:

  • Eden Shopping Centre, High Wycombe – Saturday 5 November – 10:30am to 2pm
  • High Wycombe Library – Friday 18 November – 10am to 4pm

Find out more and complete the survey before 28 November at www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/high-wycombe-travel or visit High Wycombe Library for printed copies of the document and survey.

More detail is at https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/news/tell-us-what-do-you-want-travel-around-high-wycombe-to-look-like-in-the-future/

Consultation: Have your say on the Home to School Transport

Buckinghamshire Council has launched its Home to School Transport Consultation inviting residents to share their views on proposed changes to council-run school bus charges (Spare Seats Scheme), the Home to School Transport Policy (0- to 25-Year-Olds) and the Post-16 Transport Policy Statement for 2023 to 2024.

Between Wednesday 19 October and midnight on Sunday 4 December, people in Buckinghamshire will be able to provide their views on proposals for:

  • Spare Seats Scheme charging options
  • Updates to our home to school transport policies

Any changes will apply for the 2023 to 2024 academic year onwards and will apply to both new and existing customers.

More details are at https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/news/have-your-say-on-the-home-to-school-transport-consultation/

Hughenden News Winter edition – call for articles

We are starting work on the next edition of the Hughenden Valley Residents Association magazine. We welcome articles on almost any topic related to life in Hughenden Valley, Bryants Bottom & Cryers Hill. So if you run a club or society, have attended or are planning an event, or think that there is a topic that should be brought to a wider audience then do get writing.

Deadline is 21st Oct. (We’ve moved it out a bit from the date shown in the last edition)

Please send material to magazine@hughendenresidents.org

Any photographs should be sent as separate files.

Bucks Council – Apply for Community Board funding

Budget allocation

An annual budget is allocated to Community Boards from the council’s Annual Revenue Budget which is approved by Full Council each year.

Each Community Board is set an allocated budget. The level of Community Board funding allocated to each area is based on:

  • the population of the area
  • the levels of deprivation

https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/community-and-safety/improving-your-local-community/apply-community-board-funding/

Hughenden Valley comes under the North West Chilterns Community Board. (https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/community-and-safety/improving-your-local-community/north-west-chilterns-community-board/)

More information & contact details

Calling all Road Reps…

At the last Executive Committee Meeting Cllr Jill Armshaw invited us to put our heads together and make use of the PC Grants fund for small projects that will benefit the community. This was recorded in the minutes recently distributed.

So get your ideas in and even if you made a suggestion at the meeting please repeat it now so we can get all the suggestions together in one place.

Send them in to me or Rosemary with as much supporting information as possible.

Remember to identify the benefits of your suggestion as well as the features!

Grants in recent years have been for amounts of £250 – £2,500 so keep your suggestions to a realistic level. We can always match fund for something really beneficial.

On receipt of your ideas we might come back to you for more information; it is important that we have enough information at the November meeting to have a good discussion and even make some selection decisions.

Peter Spence

Chair HVRA

From Hughenden Parish Council

Our new full-time Clerk, Emily Ranahan, started work at the end of June and, after a series of acting and interim Clerks, we can now look forward to a more stable and productive period. We are very happy to have Emily on board. Emily, who lives just outside the Parish in High Wycombe, is the Parish’s first American Clerk – I wonder what Coningsby Disraeli, our founding Chair, would have made of that.  Nina Villa, our current Locum Clerk, will be staying with us until the end of August to support Emily.

Come September, Emily will have her feet firmly under the desk, and the Council will be turning to our goals for the rest of 2022 and 2023. For residents who aren’t aware of our scope of services, the Parish Council maintains the Burial Ground on Four Ashes Road, playgrounds at Templewood and Great Kingshill, provides allotments on eight sites across the parish, responds to Bucks Council on planning applications, looks after certain verges and hedges on behalf of Bucks Council and makes grants to various associations, clubs and projects. We are welcoming grant applications, and if you feel you have a good case, please ask Emily for an application form.

There remains a backlog of issues from previous years that we are committed to dealing with in the coming weeks.  These include our relationship with Hughenden Community Support Trust, the maintenance  of a number of streetlights in Widmer End, our future lease arrangements with the Great Kingshill Cricket Club and the re-establishment of vandalised traffic calming equipment.

During the Autumn and Winter, we anticipate that we will be able to start to address some important issues for the future. One of these will be to communicate the results of last autumn’s residents’ survey,  which will influence our future priorities. It will be no surprise to you that traffic calming and road safety were the issues of greatest concern. We will be considering the next phase in our efforts to discourage high speed driving through our lanes. We have a number of initiatives to consider around playgrounds. We wish to promote tree-planting as part of the Queen’s Green Canopy scheme. And we are considering the pros and cons of a possible Neighbourhood Plan for the parish, including consultations with Residents associations and other groups to get a sense of residents’ appetite for such a plan.

We have room for an additional Councillor for Naphill and Walters Ash. A full Council will help keep up the momentum we’ve been building. If you have the appetite to contribute to the local area as a Parish Councillor, now is a great time to join the Council, as we’re in a good place to welcome new forward-looking energy and ideas.