DIG Update 1 July 2024

Hi All,

               Please find enclosed a short update on DIG activities.

  • Harrow Area Flooding

We have not yet followed up with our reply to Bucks Council regarding the Harrow area floods. We need to do some more checks before writing to the Council and suggesting a plan for drainage improvement in the whole Warrendene and Harrow area.

  • Thames Water

Pumping out at the Surgery has continued through June, although TW have reduced the revs on the overpumping equipment because of lowered sewer levels. A casual inspection at the month end suggests that the sewer levels are now very low and we expect the overpumping operation will likely stop soon.

The tankering from Boss Lane has now stopped and TW are looking to repair verges etc.

  • Chiltern Society & the Hughenden Stream

Paul met with James Donald of Revive the Wye group 17th June for Paul to be able to provide an introduction to the DIG and the upper reaches of the Hughenden Stream (from the park up to the top of Warrendene Rd). Paul will organise a meet up with James Donald late July to provide a walk of the upper reaches.

Since the meeting with James Donald, the DIG has received an invitation to attend a Chalkstream Project workshop on 15th July on the subject of the Hughenden Stream Restoration Plan.

I attended a meeting with the Climate Group who have shown interest in this workshop and up to 4 of us will attend the workshop.

Rgds

Paul Woodford

HVRA DIG

DIG Report End June 2024

  • Harrow Area Flooding

We have not yet followed up with our reply to Bucks Council regarding the Harrow area floods. We need to do some more checks before writing to the Council and suggesting a plan for drainage improvement in the whole Warrendene and Harrow area.

  • Thames Water

Pumping out at the Surgery has continued through June, although TW have reduced the revs on the overpumping equipment because of lowered sewer levels. A casual inspection at the month end suggests that the sewer levels are now very low and we expect the overpumping operation will likely stop soon.

 The tankering from Boss Lane has  now stopped and TW are looking to repair verges etc.

  • Chiltern Society & the Hughenden Stream

Paul met with James Donald of Revive the Wye group 17th June for Paul to be able to provide an introduction to the DIG and the upper reaches of the Hughenden Stream (from the park up to the top of Warrendene Rd). Paul will organise a meet up with James Donald late July to provide a walk of the upper reaches.

Since the meeting with James Donald, the DIG has received an invitation to attend a Chalkstream Project workshop on 15th July on the subject of the Hughenden Stream Restoration Plan.

I attended a meeting with the Climate Group who have shown interest in this workshop and up to 4 of us will attend the workshop.

Paul Woodford

HVRA DIG

HAGA meeting 28th July

Meeting – Friday 28 June 2024 at 8.00pm

Looking forward to seeing as many of you that can make the HAGA meeting on this Friday, 28 June 2024 at 8.00pm.   

Edwin Rye, who was booked to talk to us on “Colour in the Garden for the Summer”, can’t now do his talk.  However, Edwin has promised to give his talk in 2025.

As an example of colour in his own garden, Edwin has sent some photos of his Dracunculus, attached.  Edwin calls it fabulous!

This Friday, therefore, we will be having a social evening.  As the Committee is beginning to plan our programme for 2025, we thought it would be a good opportunity to get ideas from you, the members, as regards speakers, day visits and holidays and have a general chat about HAGA.  Also, there will be time to talk about our own gardens/allotments and our successes and struggles!

We will also be having a raffle so please bring some cash.

2024 Visits     Thenford – Saturday Saturday 3 August 2024

                Wisley –  Saturday 14 September 2024

As we have to pay for our visit to Thenford in early July 2024, we need to finalise our list of attendees this Friday.  Please contact me if you want to check if you have put your name on the list for this trip to Thenford.

You can also sign up for our trip to Wisley on Saturday 14 September 2024.

Lacey Green and Loosely Row Horticultural Society

The Lacey Green and Loosely Row Horticultural Society has a talk on Wednesday 17 July 2024 on “Peat-Free Gardening” at 8pm in the Lacey Green Millenium Hall.

As government legislation is due to come into place banning peat use by the end of 2024 for amateur gardeners and by December 2026 for professional growers, this is a very timely talk.

Non-members are welcome at their talks.

Regards and hope to see you on Friday.

Diana

01494 862032

07871 825 271

High Wycombe Society events

Dear Members

We’ve all been invited to a wonderful event at Bucks New University.

A special concert: ‘The World of the Orchestra’.
To be held in The Atrium, High Wycombe Campus.
 MONDAY 24th JUNE – Time: 7:30-9:30pm

This event is more than just a concert; it’s a wonderful opportunity for our community to come together and enjoy an evening of beautiful music.

We would love for you to take your family and friends along.
Admission is open to everyone. To secure your place, please reserve your tickets in advance using the following Eventbrite link:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-world-of-the-orchestra-a-musical-concert-experience-tickets-906023258957

Next up from the Society, is our ever popular Pann Mill open day.
 SUNDAY 14th JULY – 11am – 5pm 
This coincides with the National Mills Open event. Admission is free and there will be refreshments, flour ground by our Millers, information and other stalls.

HS2 Across the Chilterns – 8th Update (Online Presentation & Discussion) 13 July at 10:30 am until 12:00 pm

Brought to you by the Chilterns Society. Book here

We are pleased to invite you to the 8th in a series of updates, showing the impact as construction of the HS2 high speed railway line continues across the Chilterns.

Construction will soon be completed along certain sections of the route across the Colne Valley Regional Park and the Chilterns.  The Colne Valley Viaduct will be finished later this year as will the Chiltern Tunnel. The five tunnel shafts will all be complete early in 2025.

Beyond the north tunnel portal near Great Missenden, construction is nowhere near complete with much more disruption to come.  Construction of the Wendover Dean and Small Dean viaducts is now well underway.  Construction of the Wendover ‘green’ tunnel has been delayed for various reasons but is also now underway.

Using a mixture of maps, pictures, visualisations and, most importantly aerial photographs. The update will show the impact at a number of locations across the Colne Valley Regional Park as well as the Chilterns.

The talk will last for about 60 minutes with plenty of time for questions and discussion.

Keith Hoffmeister has been photographing the route ever since the plans were first revealed in 2010.  He covered the whole route from Euston to Birmingham and published a DVD in 2012 as part of the stop HS2 campaign.  He was also instrumental in establishing the HS2 Photo Diary which appears on our website.

Hughenden Parish Council – Open Spaces – Little Burnham Meadow

From Cllr Stan Jones.

On Thursday July 11th, from 10am to 1pm, the Parish Council are sponsoring a Community Ragwort Pulling event at Little Burnham Meadow, next to the allotments above Hughenden Valley Village Hall.  The event will be led by the Chiltern Rangers and their Green Thursdays volunteer group. There will be other conservation tasks available around the meadow and spinney for those who don’t fancy pulling ragwort all day. If you’d like to join us, please bring good rubber gloves, as the ragwort is strongly alkaline. If you have your own specialised ragwort fork, please bring it along.

The objective is to make the grass that is cut later in the summer usable for livestock. This, in turn, means we can remove the cuttings, which promotes greater diversity of wildflowers and insects in the meadow.

This is part of our broader plan to promote greater sustainability and biodiversity on the land the Parish Council owns or manages. Please join us whether for an hour or the full session. Please meet John Moorby in the Village Hall Car Park at 10am and he will lead you to the Meadow. We’ve had great turnouts at recent events at Cockpit Hole, in Great Kingshill, and we’d love to see members of the local community join us on July 11th. This will make an immediate positive difference to one of our most ecologically valuable locations.

HVRA – vacancies

Following the AGM at the end of May the roles of Chair & ViceChair are vacant. Any resident who is a member of HVRA can take up one of these roles, subject to nomination & approval by the committee. Please contact the Secretary (secretary@hughendenresidents.org) for more information if you are interested.

DIG Report End May 2024

  • Harrow Area Flooding

We are slowly progressing towards assembling a response to Bucks Council regarding the Harrow area flooding. Paulw has conducted a visual check on the area up to the top of Warrendene Rd and Matt Hopkins is part way through checking drainage at Hatches, Bryants Bottom Rd and Hampden Rd.

We hope to be able to write to Bucks Council by the end of June.

  • Thames Water

Pumping out at the Surgery has continued through this month and tankering from Boss Ln. The latter is becoming increasingly unpopular with the residents of Boss Ln because of noise and access problems.

The DIG met with a small team from TW this month. Results from meeting:

  • We now have a permanent contact for the DIG in Maisie Banks, Custoner Liaison engineer.
  • Mark Dolby (Snr engineer) is in the process of putting forward suggestions for hydro-braking for Hughenden Valley. This has to be data modelled for the whole valley and will include the Naphill & HV sewer junction problem. No timescale available on this.
  • TW looking at reducing the frequency of overtankering with the weather improvements
  • There will be a cleanup done in Boss Ln and the field below the pumping station when tankering /field leakages finished.
  • Chiltern Society

Paul meeting with James Donald of Revive the Wye group 17th June.

Paul Woodford

HVRA DIG

AGM 2024 – parking at the village hall

This is a brief note to let you know that although the Village Hall car park is undergoing resurfacing , the Village Hall will be open with very limited parking.

In the circumstances,  it would be wise to walk to the Hall if you can.  Also, please take extra care because the surface of the car park is bumpy and uneven. 

Looking forward to seeing you this evening.

Would you please, if you are able to, pass this message on to as many residents in your road or patch as possible in case they had planned to attend..