Friday, 28 February 2020

Chearsley Village Events Errata

Please note corrected date of the AVM :

Chearsley Parish Council Meetings at Village Hall
Next PC Meeting: Mon 16th March 7.30pm
Annual Village Meeting: Mon 20th April 7.30 pm

Also note that:
Town and Parish Council Elections will be held - May 7th 
Nominations open to stand for Parish Council - March 31
(See separate post for election process and details)

TOWN & PARISH COUNCIL ELECTIONS 7 MAY 2020

The following official note is being circulated by the Parish Council for consideration by all electors in Chearsley. Anyone with an interest in becoming a Parish Councillor should seriously consider putting their name forward for election when nominations open on 31st March.  If anyone has further questions they should contact the Chearsley Parish Clerk in the first instance: helen.v.spurgeon@gmail.com


BRIEFING NOTE – BACKGROUND INFORMATION

When are they taking place?

The Town & Parish Council elections will take place on 7 May 2020. Hours of poll will be 7am – 10pm.

What other elections are taking place on this date?

The Unitary elections for the new Buckinghamshire Council and the Police & Crime Commissioner elections will also be taking place on 7 May 2020, hours of poll exactly the same.

How will the elections be administered?

As the Register of Electors are not going to be merged before the Elections, the elections will be administered by the relevant current District offices. For example, if your town or parish council falls within the existing district of Wycombe, your election will administered by the Wycombe Elections office. Similarly, if you fall within the existing district of Aylesbury Vale, then this will be administered by the Aylesbury Vale district office, and likewise for those councils that fall within the Chiltern & South Bucks area, your elections office in the district of Chiltern & South Bucks will administer your election.

What is the process for the Verification and Count, and when will they take place?

As there are three elections taking place on the same day, ALL ballot boxes for all the elections will need to be verified before any counting takes place. This is because the Returning Officer will need to ensure that all votes issued are accounted for, and are also not in the wrong box for the Count.

At close of poll at 10pm, the Presiding Officers will return their ballot boxes, and all associated documentation to the Count venues. Verification for all of the three elections will then take place that evening.

The Returning Officer has determined that the Count for the Buckinghamshire Unitary Council Elections will take place on Friday 8 May 2020 commencing at 10am.

The Count for the Town and Parish Council Elections will take place on Saturday 9 May 2020 commencing at 10am.

The arrangements for the Police and Crime Commissioner elections are being run by the Police Area Returning Officer (PARO) for the Thames Valley region. The Buckinghamshire Returning Officer is still awaiting confirmation on the details of the Count for this election although it is understood that the Count for this election will take place on Monday 11 May 2020.

Area Counts

There will be area Counts for both the Buckinghamshire Council, and Town & Parish Council elections on 8 May 2020 and 9 May 2020 respectively.

The Count for those Town & Parish Councils within the Wycombe ‘district’ will be held in High Wycombe. The Count for those Town & Parish Councils within the Aylesbury Vale ‘district’ will be held in Aylesbury, and the Count for those Town & Parish Councils within the Chiltern & South Bucks ‘districts’ will be held in Denham.

Final arrangements for the venues for each Count is still being finalised and once details are available, they will be circulated to all Town and Parish Councils by the end of February.

Until the close of the nomination period, the number of contested Town and Parish Council Elections will not be known. Therefore, the final arrangements for the Counts will be confirmed at that time.

Ballot papers

As there are three elections on the same day, the ballot papers for each election will be a different colour. Confirmation in relation to what the colour for each election will be is still awaited.

Notice of Election

The Notice of Election will be published on 31 March 2020. The period for nominations will then commence, and the deadline for nominations for the election will be 4pm on 8 April 2020. Nomination forms can be delivered by parish clerks, collectively and individually, but cannot be sent in the post or electronically. Original signed forms must be provided. Candidates can deliver their own nomination forms if they so wish.
Following the deadline, a complete statement of persons nominated will be published.

Candidates/Agents Briefings

The Returning Officer will be holding briefings across Buckinghamshire for all candidates and agents in March, which will provide information on the process for nominations and all confirmed arrangements for the Counts. There will be briefings in each ‘area’, i.e. in the Wycombe ‘district’, in the Aylesbury Vale ‘district’, and in the Chiltern/South Bucks ‘district’. Dates will be confirmed in the next week or so for these briefings, and details will sent direct to Town and Parish clerks.

Nomination Forms/Information

These will be sent to all Town and Parish Councils from the Area Offices in the lead up to the Notice of Election being published. Each Area Office will be in contact with their respective Town and Parish Councils Clerks and it is currently envisaged that the forms and information will be circulated by the end of February. Copies will be held by the individual clerks so candidates can liaise with them rather than having to visit the Area Office in question. Further information will be circulated to all Clerks about Purdah by the end of February (purdah will commence when the Notice of Election is published on 31 March).

Paying For The Election

As per previous Town and Parish Elections, the cost of running them will be absorbed by the Area Offices in the first instance. The Town and Parish Councils will then be issued with an invoice for the costs relevant for their own individual election. It is anticipated that the invoices will be sent out in June. If you wish to receive information of estimated costs of the election for your council, please contact your relevant ‘district’ office who can provide some indicative costings for you. Please bear in mind that the costs will vary depending on whether you have a contested or non-contested election.

Questions/Queries

Please contact your relevant Area Office if you have any questions or queries relating to the Town and Parish Council Elections. (These contact details should also be used on polling day itself).

Contact Details

Aylesbury:
01296 585701
The Gateway
Gatehouse Road
Aylesbury
HP19 8FF


Chearsley Events in March


Chearsley Litter Pick March 5th
Meet at the Village Shop at 9.30 am,  bring black bin liners.
Wear gloves and brightly coloured jackets.
Finish at Bell 11 am for coffee. See poster below.

Oxford Adventure Film Festival March 4th
This being run by Gill & Andy Wight's son James.
The program of films and workshops and tickets can be seen and booked here:
https://adventureuncovered.com/film-festival/buy-film-tickets/

Chearsley Parish Council Meetings at Village Hall
Next PC Meeting: Mon 16th March 7.30pm
Annual Village Meeting: Mon 20th April 7.30 pm
Previous agendas and minutes can be found here:
http://www.chearsleypc.org.uk/

Events at The Bell
 Bingo       Tuesday 3 March 8:30 pm
 Quiz        Sunday 15 March 8 pm (Note this is a week later than usual)
 Mothers Day 22 March 11-3 pm  Sunday Lunch. Book Early
 Wednesdays 6:30-9 pm Pie and a Pint £12
 Saturdays  6:30-9 pm 2 Steaks & Bottle of Wine £25
 Fridays    10 am-12     Coffee and Cake £4.50
 Sundays    3 pm           Meat Raffle 

St Nicholas Church March
 Sun 1st: 10am Family Communion (S&RW)
 4/5th March to 1/2nd April Lent Course
 Sat 7th: 9.30-10.30am Prayers in NW
 Sun 8th: 9am Holy Communion (RP)
 Sun 8th: 4pm Messy Church
 Sun 15th: 10am Chearsley Praise(RP)
 Sun 22nd: 10am Mothering Sunday (JS)
 Sun 29th: 10am Benefice Communion in CH (GN)


Friday, 7 February 2020

Chearsley Good Neighbour Scheme

After discussions with Alicia Howard and John Lewis, I am in the process of setting up a scheme to assist those in Chearsley who need lifts to attend medical appointments. I hope to be able to have this up and running by the end of March.

I am happy to be the telephone contact for those who need lifts and to coordinate this initially, on an informal, neighbourly basis.

First of all, I will need some volunteers to offer to drive, and then I can set up a WhatsApp group to contact everyone. If drivers don’t use WhatsApp yet, it is easy to set up on a mobile phone, and would seem a good way to start. Otherwise contact can be through phone calls and emails.

I understand that most insurance companies are happy to provide cover for this voluntary help, at no extra charge, but drivers would have to check their own cover.

Please do contact me if you feel you would be able to assist with this, or if you are able to help me with arrangements and provide back up when I am away.

Susan Olding

Home number 01844 201134
Mobile number 07960275920
email Susan@chearsley.com

Tuesday, 4 February 2020