Ickleford Parish Council, working for the community; yesterday, today and tomorrow
Below is the work that we have carried out over the past five years. Of course, the Parish Council has been going a lot longer than that, with one current member having served 41 years so far and a recently-retired councillor serving 47 years.
In the past six months, we have:
Put in place arrangements to extend an electricity supply to Upper Green for events
Begun to create a new street plan for the village, incorporating the new developments
Organised the D-Day Commemorations event on Upper Green, and started planning the Christmas Tree Lighting event as well as the VE Day 80th anniversary official commemorations to be held on May 8th 2025
Introduced a digital inclusion and community drop-in session at Ickleford Village Hall in conjunction with CDA Herts where Parish Councillors volunteer weekly
Kept the County Council updated with works that need carrying out on public footpaths and bridleways, which Councillors (and their husbands!) and the Clerk have also been clearing
Continue to monitor, in conjunction with the police, the antisocial behaviour at Little Park including liaising with North Herts Council over reinstatement of the barrier at Little Park; work is ongoing
Arranged for ongoing tree management on common land and Parish Council-owned land to keep residents safe and the trees healthy
Supported the Save Lower Green Farm Group in their mission to preserve an equestrian presence in the village
Requested a meeting with North Herts Council, Highways and Anglian Water regarding flooding
Supported residents by objecting to planning applications which are in danger of changing the character of the village and/or destroying Green Belt land
Granted £2820 to the Petanque club
Arranged for a new bench to be installed on Lower Green, courtesy of Cala Homes (date of installation TBC)
In the past 18 months, we have:
Continued to work with Highways to find a long-term solution to the speed cushions along Turnpike Lane as well as the on-going issues at Cadwell Bridge. Some suggestions have come forward from the Highway authority and we will continue to press for a solution.
Sent a letter of objection to North Herts Council regarding plans to develop the Arnolds Farm site along Chambers Lane as well as objections to the numerous variations to the planning application at Land off Turnpike Lane and Manor Close
Attended the Remembrance Sunday event to lay a wreath
Funded and installed street lighting at the car park next to the play area and burial ground to improve safety
Reported illegal parking at the school and purchased No Parking signs for the school; requested the presence of a parking attendant and the PCSO who regularly attend at school collection times
Installed a new bench at Three Arches which replaced the old bench which was beyond repair
Presented all children at Ickleford School with commemorative Coronation medals
Continued to manage the allotments at St Katherine’s Close
Secured S106 funding and used ring-fenced PC funds to replace the old wooden edging and bark surface at the play area with safer and more accessible eco-surfacing
Planned and held the Christmas Tree lights switch-on event with the generous contributions and support from the Hunter family, William Crosse, the St Katharine’s Bell ringers and Cllr David Barnard
Arranged repairs to the book exchange telephone box after heavy rain penetrated the window panes, which a resident kindly carried out
Arranged the repair of the zebra crossing at the school
Replaced (twice) the drain cover at the play area car park
Installed a new noticeboard at Lavender Grange, with funding contributions from Barratt Homes and FirstPort, to keep our new residents informed of parish news
Installed speed management signs on Bedford Road and are still pursuing an effective solution to speeding along the section north of Turnpike Lane
Liaised with Royal Mail and North Herts Council to try to bring the postcodes at Lavender Grange in line with other Ickleford postcodes – unfortunately unsuccessfully
Granted £4500 to the ISRC, scouts, RHCG and village hall
In the previous three years (January 2020-December 2022), we:
Purchased a village marquee with half the cost being met by a grant from County Councillor Barnard – the marquee is available for residents to hire on application to clerk@ickleford-pc.gov.uk
Continued to make improvements around the Parish including upgrading and maintaining rights of way
Arranged with Highways to replace the old speed humps along Arlesey Road with speed tables, and regularly met with Highways to report faults and obtain updates on work to be carried out
Installed the Bide-a-While bench at the junction of Footpaths 5 and 12, the conclusion of a resident’s fundraising event and personal donation to purchase the bench
Purchased and re-installed a telephone box in its rightful place on Upper Green and worked with residents to create the Book Exchange; arranged the opening event on the Green
Held two Christmas Tree Lighting events (2021 and 2022 – the event in 2020 could not go ahead) and again we were grateful for the support of the Hunter family and Cllr Barnard, as well as to the bell ringers and Hitchin Band
Granted £13,000 to the ISRC, scouts, Community Larder, RHCG, village hall, cricket team and FC Comets
Supported the Neighbourhood Planning Steering Group who continued to work on finalising the Neighbourhood Plan, separately but under the umbrella of the Parish Council
Continued to fight to preserve our valuable green spaces
Reported all instances of HGVs through the village to the police who then contacted the relevant companies
Presented all children at Ickleford School with commemorative Queen’s Platinum Jubilee mugs and VE Day 75 Year medals
Continued to manage the allotments at St Katherine’s Close
Spent weekends (several councillors and our Parish Clerk) assessing damage after a number of storms and reporting urgent work as well as cordoning off fallen trees to ensure paths and roads were made safe
Held a reflection of the long life of our Monarch after the death Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for residents
Held the National Proclamation of the new King
Worked with North Herts Council to consider ways to improve walking and cycling infrastructure within our local area. This included proposed improvements at Cadwell Bridge about which North Herts Council are continuing to liaise with Herts Highways
Liaised with North Herts Council and Highways regarding the planning application at the site of Bowmans Mill and the conditions regarding safe exit to the highway as well as protecting the area of Green Belt between Ickleford and Hitchin
Maintained and repaired many fences and gates along public rights of way within the parish
Replaced damaged benches and renovated the main noticeboard on Upper Green, again with the resident’s expertise
Also:
The River Hiz Conservation Group, led by Cllr Clare Gooden and joined by many volunteers, has spent many months in total over the past 5 years to preserve and protect our very precious chalk stream rivers throughout this time including clearing debris and blockages from the river as well as investigating reports of contamination issues
The Community Larder has been a valuable asset, set up 5 years ago and still run by Cllr Sally Wright, in order to support the village during the pandemic and in these times of austerity
The Parish Council initially liaised with residents and local businesses to make plans for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in June 2022 – and Icklefest was born! The Icklefest team is not part of the Parish Council but has included the clerk and councillors who have volunteered their time
The above does not include all the statutory work of the Parish Council, which includes:
Councillors’ duties: attending monthly meetings; making considered decisions on behalf of the community; agreeing the annual accounts; visiting planning application sites to consider a balanced response; taking responsibility for village projects; approving the budget and resulting precept
The Clerk running the business side of the Council: keeping updated with legislation; keeping accurate accounts; writing/updating policies; setting agendas; writing minutes; responding to and sending all correspondence; arranging insurance; writing risk assessments; preparing internal and external audits; arranging VAT reclaims; arranging elections and co-options; arranging playground inspections; arranging urgent works for reasons of health and safety; managing projects; preparing the draft budget; studying for and achieving the CiLCA qualification
Prior to the 2020s, the Parish Council worked hard on the creation of Alleyfield, the beautiful burial ground on Chambers Lane, the land gifted by an Ickleford resident, Mrs Parker, and the new Ickleford Burial Ground Trust was formed; instigated the building of the Ickleford Sports and Recreation Ground and remain as its landlord; secured land within the village as common land for which we remain the custodian; won outright the Village of the Year in 2006; introduced various speed safety initiatives; improved Hyde Mill; created and distributed the Ickleford Information, Discover Ickleford, The Hicca Way and Barn Owl Walks information leaflets, which are still available; donated three volumes of the Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire Domesday Book to the Hitchin Museum, which were gifted to the Parish Council by Mrs Parker.
Members of the public are welcome to attend all Parish Council meetings and can speak to the council about any matters affecting the community. We look forward to meeting you at future meetings and to continuing to serve the expanding parish of Ickleford.