Hollands Farm Development Brief- Consultation now open 6th Jan - 17th Feb

Click on the link for full details and how you can respond to Buckinghamshire Council. https://wooburnparish.gov.uk/hollands-farm-development

Corona virus – please follow the link for latest advice and information https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/coronavirus/

Closing of play areas in our parks. It is correct that playgrounds and parks can remain open but this is only when it is safe to do so. Since the re-opening of the playgrounds, following the first lockdown, our groundstaff has had to disinfect the play equipment in all our 5 parks every day, 7 days a week. Government guidelines say where possible there should be a queueing system with a limited number of users per piece of equipment and each piece of equipment should be disinfected after use. It is also difficult to adhere to the social distancing rules in the fenced areas. Taking all these factors into consideration and the safety of the ground staff, the decision was made to close all play areas until further notice. The Parish Council regrets having to take this action but they are no longer able to comply with the safety requirements and therefore made this decision to protect the public and staff.

The Parish Council has 6 employees in total, including 3 groundstaff. We do not have the capacity to police and make safe 5 play areas on a daily basis. Although the play equipment is off limits, the parks still remain open and are available for exercise.

To comply with Government advice on social distancing and non-essential journeys, the Parish Council offices remain closed to the public until further notice.

The Cemetery -Is open for visitors, however Social distancing rules must be strictly adhered to at all times.

Council meetings - We continue to hold Council meetings via the Zoom platform for the foreseeable future which the public can attend. Meeting details available from the Clerk.

Neighbourhood Development Plan progress

The version of the plan with its Appendices which is on the website is the3rd Draft which wasready for public consultation in March 2020. Unfortunately, this plan became a victimofCOVID-19 and the public consultation had to be postponed to comply with government regulations. Also, we received guidance from Bucks Council after it had reviewed the 3rd Draft, that specific amendments to the content/format would assist its progress through the Independent Inspection process, which cannot start before May 2021.

The positive outcome of the delay is that it has given us an opportunity to update the plan and the 4th Draft is scheduled to be available for local public consultation in March/April 2021before going to the Bucks and Independent stages in May.

In the meantime, if you have any questions or comments our Clerk would be very happy to hear them.

Parish Council – ongoing operations and activities

We continue to be contactable by both phone and email.

Telephone: 01628 522827   Email: clerk@wooburnparish.gov.uk

Sapper’s field sinkhole

The field remains closed to the public as the sinkhole which appeared back in February 2020, quickly grew to a diameter of 60 feet wide by 140 feet deep and is an ongoing issue. We have been seeking expert advice to survey the sinkhole to advise options to mitigate any dangers and to survey the whole field, as there is a risk there may be others. In the meantime, we would ask the public to respect the signage and stay out of the field as we do not know if the sinkhole is stable or whether other parts of the field are safe. More details of the reports we have received can be found under the above News tab.

PLEASE NOTE : As a result of the timing of "going to press", the attached Parish Guide brochure, on page 13, mentions our previous MP's name. Our new MP is Joy Morrissey contactable via...joy.morrissey.mp@parliament.uk