AVDC grant for village Post Office

Steeple Claydon's village bakery and post office are set to receive a £6,500 upgrade as part of AVDC's rural grants scheme, it has been announced.

Karl's bakery and the post office are a focal point of the village, serving and supporting many local people. The grant will be used to create better access for disabled people and make other improvements to the 100 year old premises in West Street.

This is one of the first grants to be awarded as part of AVDC's Vital Village scheme, designed to support the rural economy in the Vale of Aylesbury.

It is great news that Steeple Claydon has been chosen to benefit from this excellent scheme.

Events Fair for 10-19 year olds

I have received information about an Events Fair for young people in Winslow Centre on Sat 25th April. More information when I get it.

• The event will take place on Saturday 25th April 2009 from 11.00am – 6.00pm at the Winslow Centre.
• It will be aimed at 10 – 19 year olds
• It will promote local activities, volunteering opportunities and offer “hands on” careers advice.

East-West Railway: the work begins !

The exciting news is that at long last work is beginning to reopen the line from Bletchley to Oxford via Steeple Claydon. This week a start will be made on clearing vegetation from the disused stretch of line from Claydon to Bletchley.

The following bulletin has been received from the Milton Keynes Partnership:

Ladies & Gentlemen,

As you may be aware, the East West Rail (EWR) Consortium and Milton Keynes Partnership (MKP) have commissioned work to complete the design of the Western Section of EWR. This work will provide a costed outline design of the infrastructure needed to run trains Oxford/Milton Keynes and Aylesbury/Milton Keynes.

I thought that you would wish to know that, in connection with this project, work is scheduled to start next Monday (26th Jan) on clearing vegetation from the unused part of the Western Section, i.e. from Bletchley through Winslow as far as Claydon Junction. (To the west and south of Claydon Junction the track is used by waste trains.) The clearance is required in preparation for technical surveys and ground investigations by the consultants appointed to carry out the design work.

MKP issued the attached release regarding the clearance works on behalf of the EWR Consortium. They sent the release to the local press and, I believe, will be distributing it more widely to the media in the next day or two.

Press Release:

Clearing the way for East-West Rail design

Around 20 kilometres of disused railway line between Bletchley and Claydon Junction stations will be cleared of scrub, brambles and overgrown vegetation so that survey and investigation work can be carried out for the design development phase of the East-West Rail project.

Starting on 26 January, the clearance will take two to three weeks and some will be done with manual equipment, although the more densely overgrown areas will need to be cleared with chainsaws and tractor mounted flails. All of the waste materials will be left chipped and spread on the site.

Patrick O’Sullivan, East-West Rail Project Manager at Milton Keynes Partnership, said: “While this work is happening the contractors will be making every effort to keep any disruption to a minimum. Once the site clearance is completed, the engineers and surveyors will begin their technical surveys and ground investigations to enable the design work of the new track and associated railway engineering works for the western section of the East-West Rail project.”

The design development work is being undertaken by Atkins Consultancy who were recently appointed to carry out the design work (Guidance for Railway Investment Projects - GRIP Stage 4) on the Western Section of the East-West Rail project.

Residents who have any questions about the clearance works between Bletchley and Claydon should contact Jez Baldock of Atkins Consultancy (who are project managing the works programme on behalf of Milton Keynes Partnership) on 0121 483 5323, or Patrick O’Sullivan of Milton Keynes Partnership on 01908 353752.

ENDS

For more information please contact: Helen Meadows or Nadir Farrell, Milton Keynes Partnership press office on 01908 353981 or 353913 helen.meadows@hca.gsx.gov.uk nadir.farrell@hca.gsx.gov.uk




Notes to editors:

Milton Keynes Partnership created in June 2004 is responsible for growth, development and investment in the new city. It is a sub-committee of the Homes and Communities Agency, the newly formed housing and regeneration agency for England. Milton Keynes Partnership is the lead member of the East-West Rail Consortium.

East-West Rail Consortium is a group of local authorities and government agencies with an objective of securing a new rail route from East Anglia to Oxford via the Milton Keynes South Midlands growth area. More details of the project can be found online at www.eastwestrail.org.uk. The £2 million for the GRIP 4 work has come from the Growth Area Fund from Oxford, Aylesbury and Milton Keynes with support from the DCLG.

AVDC Grants available for small businesses

Business Grants Available

AVDC are encouraging budding entrepreneurs and those businesses that are looking to expand by providing grants of up to £5,000.

The small business grant scheme aims to promote sustainable business growth whilst promoting entrepreneurship, innovation and encouraging employment growth.

Applicants must be able to demonstrate employment and financial growth in their applications to succeed.

To qualify, applicants must be businesses based in the Vale and are starting-up or are businesses with less than 30 employees.

The next Business grants panel meeting is to be held in February and AVDC looks forward to receiving applications from local businesses.

For further information please contact the Economic Development Team by telephone on 01296 585657 or by email economicdevelopment@aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk

2009 Council Tax increase lowest for a decade

Cabinet proposes lowest council tax increase for a decade

Aylesbury Vale District Council’s cabinet has recommended the district’s lowest council tax increase for 10 years.
At a meeting of the cabinet on 13 January, councillors approved a budget for 2009/10 that will see a council tax increase of two per cent. This means people living in a Band D property will pay £128.57 this year for district council services, an increase of £2.53 or some five pence per week.
The recommendation, which runs below the current rate of inflation, will ease the burden on residents affected by the economic downturn.
The district council faces some tough decisions this year as a result of the credit crunch and world wide recession – with reduced income in many areas, lower interest on investments, and rising energy and fuel costs.
In response, the cabinet’s proposed budget for the next financial year includes £1.7 million in efficiency savings, minimising wherever possible any impact on front-line services. Substantial savings will be made on salaries through a series of restructuring plans, retirements and not filling existing vacant posts.

Ring in the New

As we look forward to the hope and promise of the New Year, with a new American President to be followed we hope as soon as possible by a new Conservative Prime Minister, David Cameron, I would like to share with you the beautiful poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson which sums up the feelings and sentiments of the season.

A very Happy Christmas to all.

Ring Out, Wild Bells
Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809 - 1892)

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light;
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind,
For those that here we see no more,
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes,
But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease,
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.

AVDC keeps Council Tax proposed increase low despite pressure on budget

Council on target for low tax increases
A council tax rise well below inflation is being put forward by Aylesbury Vale District Council in its draft budget proposals for next year.
Cabinet members met on 2 December to agree a provisional budget which proposes to reduce the increase in the district council’s tax charge from four per cent this year to two per cent for 2009/10, well below the current rate of inflation.
The proposed rise of two per cent in the district’s council tax charge is an increase of £2.53 per year for an average Band D property, or some five pence per week.
This will take the district’s share of council tax for a Band D property to £128.57 per year. AVDC’s share of the bill is added to by the county council, parish and town councils and the police and fire authorities.
A two per cent council tax increase is being proposed despite another low government grant increase. It was announced this week that the council would receive an increase of just 1.1 per cent.
AVDC has identified a potential £1.7 million in efficiency savings for the next financial year, minimising wherever possible any impact on front-line services. Substantial savings will be made on salaries through a series of restructuring plans, retirements and not filling existing vacant posts.
This year’s budget process has been made even more difficult by the global credit crunch, which has created a £482,000 shortfall in expected revenue income. Two income sources hardest hit are fees for land searches and planning application fees.