On the 18th July , the Council held a very successful meeting at St Michael & All Angel’s Church in Hughenden Valley! What a special place for our meeting to take place, by the resting place of Benjamin Disraeli, Prime Minister from 1874 to 1880 and uncle to Hughenden Parish Council’s very first Chairman, Coningsby Disraeli who chaired the inaugural meeting of the Council in 1894.
We discussed many ideas for improvements to be made throughout the parish and within the Council, a sense of excitement and pride could be felt amongst Councillors and members of the public who were present.
The Council confirmed its support for Hughenden Valley Village Hall by pledging to contribute £9600 towards the cost of resurfacing the carpark and agreed to replace a multi-play unit at Hughenden playground, next to the village shop. Removal and installation will be confirmed soon and we will keep our residents informed ! Plans for playgrounds in Templewood and Great Kingshill are in discussion by our Playground Working Group and if you would like to know more about this please contact the Clerk.
We know that Cockpit Hole in Great Kingshill has been of great interest to our residents for some time so we have decided to ask the Chiltern Rangers to produce a site-management plan for us to turn this into a more enjoyable and useable space for us all, we hope to be able to share this with you all soon. A proposal to turn the old bus stop on the Great Kingshill Common into a community space was also approved , a group of volunteers will soon turn this unused space into a place for residents to share books, artwork and notices!
The Garden of Rest at Four Ashes is a special place for many from within the Hughenden Parish and beyond and has grown in popularity over recent years. We have now approved the landscaping of the next field to allow for more ashes burials, works should begin soon. Our contractors will be aware of any internments occurring during this time and will be mindful not to disturb the peace. Please note that works will go ahead outside of these ceremonies and residents will still have full access to the Garden of Rest between 5am and 9pm.
Our office hours and calendar of meetings have both been adjusted to allow our officers and staff time to settle in and catch up whilst we recruit. The office will now be open to the public from Monday to Wednesday 9am to 12pm or by appointment but you can call us any time , any day and leave a message if you can’t get through , someone will get back to you as soon as possible. The calendar of meetings for the remainder of the year and can be found on our website. We are looking for a Deputy Clerk/Parish Custodian, Responsible Financial Officer and a Parish Ranger , job descriptions can be found on the website or by contacting the Clerk.
The Council has appointed Marilyn Heybourn as our new Burials & Allotments administrator, Welcome Marilyn ! She will be working 2 days per week and be the first point of contact for resident enquires regarding burials and allotments. To get in touch with Marilyn regarding either of these areas please email burials@hughenden-pc.gov.uk or allotments@hughenden-pc.gov.uk.
As mentioned in the Clerk’s last update, we are creating site-management plans for all of our open spaces , the Councillors discussed this in length and will be releasing a statement to follow up on this in the coming weeks!
Lastly , the Council has now secured a contract for the maintenance of its hedges and fields across the parish, contractors will begin work on these from the 1st of August to allow bird nesting season to run its course.
If you are interested in becoming a Councillor and being part of something special, please get in touch!
Clerk to Hughenden Parish Council