Page 5 - Ickford Informer March 2022

The Friends of An open letter
FOSN
FO S N St Nicholas Church to Peter Blades

http://www.ickfordchurchfriends.com MD of Deanfield Homes
Please see the Chair’s report by Nigel Hillier
delivered at our AGM on 22 March. on behalf of the Ickford Residents Group.
nd
We are very optimistic that we shall be able Sewage bubbling up by the Ickford
to hold events as normal during 2022 so Primary School
please look out for notices in the Informer HILST WE DO NOT AGREE ON ALL MATTERS
and around the village. If you would like to CONCERNING YOUR DEVELOPMENT IN ICKFORD,
join the Friends (and receive notice of events several weeks in advance), Wparticularly those concerning flood risk and the increased
please contact Peter Jordain who will provide all the relevant details. height of the site, I am certain that we agree that there are a
Peter.jordain@gmail.com or 07747 426345. number of inadequacies in local services that should be fixed as a
matter of urgency.
FOSN Annual General Meeting We of the Ickford Residents Group have been working hard for
Held on 22 March 2022 more than two years, applying pressure on those responsible for
nd
the inadequate services in our village and we feel, most strongly,
Chairman’s Report that it is time that Deanfield stepped up and showed some muscle
I in this respect as well.
WOULD LIKE TO WELCOME EVERYBODY TO THIS AGM
– both the committee and members of the FOSN. It is good to be
Our local Primary School, highly rated by Ofsted, is already
able to meet in person this year.
catchment area for this school year yet Buckinghamshire Council,
The FOSN is a separate organisation and charity from the Church and oversubscribed and has had to turn away applicants in its
it exists to raise funds for the maintenance of the Church building and to whom Deanfield have paid large sums of money for this purpose,
the churchyard. The overall responsibility for the Church rests with the are refusing to recognise the need to expand the school and are
Rector, Churchwardens and the PCC but we work together very closely therefore holding onto the money.
and we are kept fully informed about the requirements for maintenance Please join us in our quest to force the Council to make the proper
work. We always try to accommodate requests for funding and are keen decision.
to assist, assuming the requests fall within the constitution of our charity. Thames Water are reviewing the failures in their foul water network
Our activities during 2021 were once again curtailed by Covid. that mean that during periods of heavy rainfall sewage bubbles up
However, we did manage to hold two events; the Ploughman’s Lunch in our streets but six years after they promised the Parish Council
during August and a talk on Beer, Sausages and Marmalade from that they would fix these issues it is still a fact that they will not act
historian Liz Woolley in November. Both events were well attended. swiftly to do so.
We had planned to hold Christmas at St Nicholas in December but
were thwarted by the Omicron variant and decided we had to cancel. Surely you must be disgusted and even angry that TW are not
Our major expenditure during the year was on mower repairs planning to fix their network any time soon and so your new
residents, about whom you state that you care, will walk down into
(£342) and our public liability insurance (£120). There have been no the village and may see raw sewage running in the road by the
requests for expenditure on Church maintenance. entrance to your development.
Subscriptions and donations have remained pretty consistent with last We all know that Ickford floods during periods of heavy sustained
year’s figures and we are very grateful to all our members and donors. rainfall and whilst there is a larger scheme to be considered
Our treasurer will report in more detail on our financial situation. to increase flood protection in the wider local area so far
Looking forward into 2022, we are hopeful that we shall be able to hold Buckinghamshire Council will not even commit to dredging the
more events and will be planning accordingly. We are pleased to welcome River Thame.
Karen Pile onto the committee and look forward to working with her. It is over 50 years since the river was dredged and whilst that step
Unfortunately, Andrew Osborn has resigned from the committee. will not prevent flooding by improving the flow of the river it will
We would like to thank him for all his hard work and contributions to provide some alleviation.
the success of the Friends. As to the Highways’ problems, the responsibility again of
The Church is currently in a very good state of repair and the Buckinghamshire Council, where does one start listing the
Friends are delighted that we have contributed to its upkeep. Of problems. The condition of the busy road between Worminghall and
course, with a building as old as the Church requirements for Ickford is dreadful, also despite pressure from the Parish Councils
maintenance can crop up at any time and can potentially be costly. we cannot even get HGV’s banned from using the twin bridges and
Thank you to all members who support us – your contributions are with the increases in vehicles generated by your development there
so very much appreciated and needed for us to continue as an is a need for some form of traffic control at the bridges.
organisation. Thank you also to all the members of the village who Please weigh in with us so that between us we can make those in
come along and support our events. We hope to see you again the respective authorities suffer sufficient discomfort that they feel
during the coming year. v compelled to fix these failings, failings that we residents of Ickford
Liz Jordain have had to suffer for far too long. v

Ickford Recreation Ground Survey
The recreation area should be for everyone to enjoy and for everyone
OR THOSE OF YOU WHO FILLED IN THE PREVIOUS SURVEY. I’m to have their say, please either use the link below or fill out the survey
sorry but there was an issue with the website, meaning I didn’t have form included within this issue.
Faccess to the results, so if you could please do it again, I would
appreciate it! https://freeonlinesurveys.com/s/lTp5LYJ5
This survey will be available for 2 weeks only! If you know anyone NOT Any questions please feel free to ask Holly Murphy or myself.
on Facebook please forward them this link! If you have a neighbour, Unfortunately we can’t have everything we want, if only money grew
perhaps a bit older and again not on Facebook or not that tech savvy, on trees! But its really important we know if the MUGA is still wanted
please be a good neighbor and fill out the survey with them! for example, or if a little skate park area will get more use. v

ourickfordnewsletter@hotmail.com 5 March 2022