Friday 24 January 2020

STOP PRESS - Hold the Date 18/7 Chearsley Fete

Chearsley Summer Fete 2020 

18th July on the Village Green and around the Bell Public House

Fun and games for all the family
2pm – 5pm

Hog Roast and live muslc
7pm until late

More details to follow soon

Wednesday 22 January 2020

Car crime update from our Thames Valley Police CPSO

Over the past few days we have received reports of thefts from vehicles specifically in the villages of Haddenham and Stone.  CCTV footage from residents has shown persons walking around just trying vehicle doors.  No damage has been reported to any vehicles at this time.   We would like to advise residents to ensure that their vehicles are secure and that no items of value are left within…..

Crime prevention advice:

  • When leaving your car, close all windows and lock your car
  • Park your car in an attended car park
  • When parking at home, use your garage. If you don't have a garage, park in a well-lit area
  • Don't leave anything on display in your vehicle
  • Take all your personal possessions with you
  • Remove sat nav holders and visible sat nav ring marks from windscreens
  • Leave the glove box open to show there's nothing inside
  • Fit an alarm or immobiliser to your car
  • Record the details of your property on the Immobilise website https://www.immobilise.com/
  • Do not store your car's documents in the car
  • Secure your wheels using locking wheel nuts


Please contact TVP on 101 or email the Waddesdon Neighbourhood Team on waddesdonnhpt@thamesvalley.pnn.police.uk , if you have any information or would like any further advice with regard to these issues……….

Sunday 19 January 2020

Update on burst main by the green

Update from Nic Brown 17:15 :
“Just caught up with the Thames water guys and they have located the fractured pipe new clamp on its way so should be sorted in two / three hours max , in the meantime there may be an interval of no water for some houses.”

Friday 17 January 2020

Tuesday 14 January 2020

Village News

Village News   January 14th 2020  by Margaret Morbey 01844 208913  email margmorb@mail.com

A Christmas Wedding in Chearsley   On Saturday December 28, the Wedding Day celebrations for Alex Brown (daughter of Nic Brown, Parish Council chairman) started at lunch time  in The Bell where many Chearsley friends had gathered to greet her in her Wedding finery and wish her well  before  her candlelit wedding in the village church at 2.30pm to Aidan Turnbull.  Congratulations to Alex and Aidan and every good wish for their future happiness.

Christmas Trees  Wanted   for the Chearsley Village Camp in May. Please take your old Christmas tree to the field at the bottom of Lower Green Lane which can be reached by going through the gate at the bottom of the Lane, down the field, through the next gate and leave the tree in the very bottom field over by the fence on the right.

Chearsley  W.I.     Aylesbury Street Angels   Chearsley W.I. have their next meeting on Tuesday January 21 in Chearsley village hall when the guest speaker will be our vicar, Rev. Richard Phillips. He will be speaking about  and sharing first hand knowledge  of the work of the Aylesbury Street Angels who provide voluntary Christian support during the night time and help to make the town centre safe. They work in partnership with the police, door staff, taxis and other agencies, engaging with the public, offering a listening ear and practical assistance.   The meeting starts at 2pm for W.I. business with the speaker from 2.30pm to 3.30pm followed by refreshments. Everyone is welcome. There is a charge of £4 to include refreshments for non-members.  All ages, ideas and new members are welcome. Come along on Tuesday and find out.

Burns Night  will be celebrated at The Bell on Saturday January 25th.  Traditional Burns Night food including Cullen Skink, haggis with neeps and tatties and a vegetarian option is on the menu. 2 courses cost £17.95 or 3 courses for £19.95. Please contact Sharon as soon as possible to book your table for a great meal and traditional Burns Night festivities.  

The Unforgettable Affair  is the second book that Gilly Hall Travers of Chearsley has written which is now published and available to buy from Amazon. It is a semi autographical book which tells the story of her son ,Marcus,  the central character ( Maximilian)  and  her husband (Marco).  Reviewed as “a wonderful read, a real page turner”.  Her first book Italian and Roman Feasts is still on sale with Amazon. 

Road Junction Improvement Study – your opinions are needed.  The Parish Council have considered several options to improve the multiple road junction in the centre of the village, near the Chestnut Tree. They have decided to take 3 options forward for further investigations. The Parish Council is inviting comments from residents on these 3 options. The consultation period will last until the end of January when a further review will be conducted and a decision made on the best way forward. Please send your comments to JunctionStudy@chearsley.com or post them to Orchard House, Church Lane, Chearsley HP18 0DF.

Severe Weather Emergency Provision (SWEP) accommodation for rough sleepers.  The Parish Council have received advice from AVDC Housing team for anyone who may be sleeping rough or at risk of this on the streets of Aylesbury Vale. They should ring 01296 585168. The Council with the Vale of Aylesbury Housing Trust are working to extend the current severe weather emergency provision accommodation for the entire months of January and February.  Although, this is not envisaged as a problem in Chearsley, if you see anyone sleeping rough you can use the contact above or contact Streetlink via http://streetlink.org.uk or phone 0300500 0914 who will notify AVDC Outreach teams so assistance can be provided.

Cuddington Matinee Cinema
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society  is being shown at The Bernard Hall on Monday January 27 at 1.30pm with doors open from 1pm.  This is a 2018 historical romantic drama starring Lily James, Tom Courteney and Penelope Wilton.  Set in 1946 the plot follows a London based writer who begins exchanging letters with a resident on the island of Guernsey which was under German occupation during WWII.  Tickets which can be booked by phoning 01844 291 526during office hours and may be available on the door,  cost £5 which includes tea and cake during the interval. Come and enjoy a pleasant afternoon in front of a big screen in a comfortable seat.

Church Services at St Nicholas

Sunday January 19   Chearsley Praise at 10am

Sunday January 26    Evensong at 6pm

WI Meeting 21st Jan - Street Angels


Oxford Cambridge Expressway - Update

In recent months, the Parish Council has been represented at meetings of the No Expressway Group (NEG) ‘Stronger Together’ group, whose membership includes a significant number of village communities in Oxon and Bucks, who will be affected if the plans for the Oxford Cambridge Expressway come to fruition.

All were all heartened by the news just prior to the December election, as the Secretary of State for Transport, Grant Shapps, announced that an incoming Conservative government would carry out a review of the plans for the Oxford-Cambridge Expressway (OCE). In addition, the recently elected MP for Buckingham, Greg Smith, formally declared his opposition to the scheme and that he would campaign for an abandonment of the project.

The NEG have tried to establish timings for the formal review of the OCE project and have also sought a meeting with Grant Shapps but with no success to date.

They have also had no further information from Highways England (HE) about the promised consultation on their more detailed recommendation on potential routes. The latest information received indicated that HE would publish six possible routes for consideration in Corridors B1 and B3.

In these circumstances and bearing in mind the experiences of the HS2 programme, it is essential that the NEG and other groups continue their campaigning efforts without any let up for the time being.

The NEG will be staging a ‘Westminster Event’ in a room at the House of Commons on the afternoon of Wednesday 26th February, which will provide an opportunity to brief invited MPs ‘face to face’. Following this session, a group of NEG delegates will present a petition to 10 Downing St and seek to gain as much publicity as possible for the cause.

If any Chearsley parishioners would be interested in supporting or attending this event, please contact John Howard (jnh@dbmc.co.uk or 07970 651326)

The NEG have also asked that as many as possible of those opposing the OCE plans should sign their petition to give maximum leverage to the campaign, by visiting this link:


The NEG have also suggested the following ‘template’ for those wishing to write directly to Grant Shapps at this email address - TransportSecretary@dft.gov.uk


Dear Grant Shapps

I am writing to you to ask you to make time to meet with the No Expressway Group as a matter of urgency.

I am incredibly concerned about the proposed Oxford to Cambridge Expressway and its associated over-inflated target for one million new houses across the Ox-Cam Arc.

This scheme would be devastating to the environment, wildlife and communities all across the Arc.

During the election campaign you said you would conduct an Oxford to Cambridge Expressway review, should the Conservative Party be re-elected to Government.   So far, we have heard nothing more about this.  When will this happen?  How long will it take?  Who will be involved?  How will the review be conducted?  What will be done to make sure any such review is transparent to all?

Given that you yourself said before the elections that the review was a priority, I am disappointed to hear that you have now indicated that you are too busy to meet with the No Expressway Group.  In announcing the review, you said that the expressway scheme would go ahead only if it has “local support”.  How do you propose to measure such local support, given that no effort has been made by any Local Authority across the entire Arc to engage with any of the affected communities?  The No Expressway Group has now talked with or given presentations to more than 35 communities from Oxford in the West to Woburn Sands in the East, and so is in a much better position than any other group to inform you of the public opinion about the expressway proposals across a very wide area.

I therefore ask that you agree to meet with the No Expressway Group as soon as possible and look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

Yours sincerely

The more support we are able to give the NEG campaign, the greater their lobbying powers in putting over the message at this crucial stage.

Monday 13 January 2020

Churchyard Burials


Burial of non-residents in the village churchyard
Clarifying when exceptions will be made in future (Jan 2020)

The churchyard is for the whole village, whether you come to church or not, and we are very grateful for the volunteers who give their time and energy, and for the Parish Council’s financial support, to maintain it.
The rights to burial in the churchyard are governed by national law, to ensure that the needs of villagers, past present and future, are preserved for as long as possible. Currently, anyone who is resident in Chearsley when they die, together with anyone on the electoral roll of the parish, has the right to be buried (or have ashes interred) in the churchyard whilst it remains open.
In addition, we currently make exceptions for “long-standing village families” who no longer live in Chearsley but who have expressed a wish to be buried, or have their ashes interred, here. We want to continue to do this, but it is proving difficult to do so fairly, since there is no common understanding of what “long-standing village family” actually means. This was addressed by the PCC on 19th November 2019, when a more-objective definition was agreed.

In future, exceptions will be made for non-residents who have requested a burial or interment of ashes in the churchyard if the deceased:

1.     Lived in the village for more than half of their life
OR
2.     Lived in village immediately before moving into nursing care, or to a temporary address (eg. Hospital or University)
OR
3.     Has permission to be buried, or to have their ashes interred, in an existing family grave in the churchyard

We hope this will enable us to continue making exceptions for our long-standing villages on a fair and consistent basis. If you have any questions or concerns about this policy, please contact Rev Richard on 01844 208987 or reverend.richard.phillips@gmail.com.

God bless you and keep you, and give you his peace.

Monday 6 January 2020

WANTED - your Christmas Trees

WANTED - your old Christmas Trees for the Chearsley Village Camp (23-25th May).


Please go down Lower Green Lane, through the gate at the bottom, down the field, through the next gate and leave the tree in the very bottom field over by the fence on the right.

Messy Church - This Sunday


Thursday 2 January 2020

ROAD JUNCTION IMPROVEMENT STUDY

In December 2018, Chearsley Parish Council commissioned a study to examine options for improving the multiple road junction in the centre of the village. The study was prompted by Safety, Speeding and Verge Damage concerns.

The final report from the study was delivered in September 2019. It details 12 Options for improvement, some of which are sub-options of others and provided at the request of the PC to give a more detailed indication of likely costs. Having studied the report, the PC is of the view that 3 Options should be taken forward for further investigation.

It is noted that all these Options cause the PC some concern at their proximity to the iconic Horse Chestnut Tree. The PC wishes to emphasise that if any of the Options were eventually to be implemented, care would be taken to modify them as necessary to avoid risk to the tree.

Option 2.
This is the simplest and lowest cost of the Options that satisfactorily addresses all the concerns that prompted the study. Essentially is involves re-shaping the entry of Winchenden and Chilton Roads onto Crendon Road.

Option 3.
A more complex and expensive Option that includes not only re-shaping of the junction as in Option 2, but further measures including narrowing of the main road, improved footpath provision, re-shaping of the bus-stop and junction of the Green onto Crendon Rd and closure of one limb at the top of School Lane. The components of this Option would not necessarily all have to be implemented at the same time.

Option 6.
This provides a mini roundabout at the junction; the most expensive option. This might be considered the ultimate way to address the problems, especially if traffic levels on the Winchenden to Long Crendon route continue to increase and has been included for further study for that reason. It could require additional signage and street lighting.

Way Forward
The Parish Council is now inviting comments from residents on the Options contained in the Study. This consultation period will last to the end of January, after which a further review will be conducted and decisions made on the best way forward.
The Junction Study Final Report is available here. Comments should be sent to JunctionStudy@chearsley.com, or posted to Orchard House, Church Lane, HP18 0DF.