Welcome to the Town Council’s first digital newsletter for 2021. Everyone at the Council wishes the community a happy and most importantly a safe new year. January 2021 is starting with another lockdown but this is necessary and I appeal to everyone in Bletchley and Fenny Stratford to comply with national restrictions and keep our community as safe as we can.

Your Councillors and Council employees will continue to support the community during this new lockdown, as we did during 2020. Our premises at Spotlight on Serpentine Court will continue to be used as a Foodbank Xtra collection point. The Community Larder will continue to operate. Our joint working with partners goes on and we offer community grants and in kind support to local organisations who need help. We also support individual residents either directly or by referring them to other agencies for help. Please contact us if anyone in your neighbourhood needs help so we can spread this work further.

In addition to responding to problems caused by the pandemic, it is business as usual for the Town Council with meetings and decision making taking place online and most of our premises and facilities are open even if for permitted activities only.

In 2021 we will be working on some new and exciting projects including progressing our climate action plan, working on the new Neighbourhood Plan and developing new services in response to what residents have told us they need. So please keep in touch with our work via our social media and newsletters. To contact with us by phone please ring 01908 689969 and leave a message or email us at info@bletchleyfennystratford-tc.gov.uk we will come back to you within one working day.

Please continue to follow current government measures. Together we can all help reduce the spread of Covid-19.

 

If you have any symptoms, request a test and do not leave home for at least 10 days after your test. Please visit the GOV.UK website for detailed guidance and to request a test.

We continue to stay in contact and work with local community organisations, faith groups and statutory authorities to share information about support which is available locally. Find out more on our Support and Advice webpage

The Town Council continues to accept Community Grant applications. You can find out more on our Community Grants webpage.

On 1 January 2021, the Town Council took over direct management of George Street Community Centre in Fenny Stratford when a previous lease ended. Historically this building has been a hub of community activity since its early days as a Temperance Chapel. The Town Council wants to continue this tradition. We are planning for GSCC to be a vibrant and attractive space which is available for different activities and enjoyed by a wide cross section of the local community.

For the time being the building is not open to the public because of the Covid-19 restrictions. We undertook structural repairs to the exterior of the building during 2020. This year the Town Council will be undertaking further work to the premises before re-letting any facilities. We also hope to consult with previous users and the local community as we determine our plans.

We will continue to provide information about the Community Centre on a regular basis but meanwhile contact Will Allen, Environment and Premises Manager on 01908 633789 or email info@bletchleyfennystratford-tc.gov.uk if you have questions or are interested in using the building in the future.

Allotment gardeners are very resourceful, often making use of unwanted household objects in creative ways, for example using filing cabinets as planters or turning wooden pallets into compost bins or raised beds.

Whilst the Town Council welcomes this ingenuity, it does mean that some plot holders keep a number of items waiting to be used on their plots. Allotment plots are inspected each month and scored for their tidiness, condition and the variety of fruit and vegetables being grown. We therefore have to occassionally ask plot holders to cut back on the amount of these unused items being stored on their plots.

 

With this in mind, this year we held a waste amnesty, giving tenants an opportunity to remove items from their plots, placing it in an allocated location where it would be removed by our Ranger team. This opportunity was met with great thanks by many plot holders, giving them a chance to freshen up their plots and to remove any unwanted items in readiness for the new year and the new growing season.

Hopefully the plots this year will look all the better for this service and plot holders will think again before bringing items to the allotments that they might later struggle to remove.

Thames Valley Police have released and shared with us useful advice on how to try to prevent Catalytic Converter thefts.