Brill Parish Council New Year Newsletter

(Illuminated red Postman Pat van suspended about dark street with New Year greetings in red letters)

Welcome

… to the second issue of our e-newsletter, a compilation of highlights from parish council meetings, projects, and social media. In this issue:

Short and sweet(ish); a strange meeting of the Parish Council
Brill Sailers ahoy!
New year: new challenge?
Queen’s Jubilee poll: the results
Thank you, Brill!
Some holiday reading
And finally…

(Red brick building with notice ‘Brill Memorial Hall’ against blue sky)

Short and sweet(ish): a strange meeting of Brill Parish Council

December 21st was never going to be a good day for a meeting but the uncertainty over Covid made it feel even less welcome. The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) advised “caution” so we decided to hold a very short meeting, fully masked and suitably distanced. (Two councillors stood for the duration to further focus minds on brevity!) The public were admitted but we requested they did not speak. In the end, only our intrepid County Councillor, Micheal Rand, attended, for which we were very grateful since he was able to support our decision-making on the main agenda item: Finance - and the the setting of the parish precept for the year 2022/23.

The parish precept is the parish council’s share of the council tax, collected along with the rest of the council tax by Buckinghamshire Council. Parish councils have the power to raise the precept to meet the cost of the coming year’s planned expenditure; if, for example, traffic calming measures were to be installed. Should unexpected expenditure arise (one thinks of a certain windmill!) then this may be met out of reserves - which may, in turn, lead to an adjustment in the precept in the following year. It’s a balancing act between making sure we have enough money to meet the needs of the parish (bearing in mind our devolved duties, such as grass cutting) - and responsible use of tax-payers’ (our!) money.

Cllr Mark Dickinson and Judith Longman, Parish Clerk, had prepared us well for this item, emailing detailed reports of our current financial situation and explaining the process. We have no ambitious spending plans for 22/23 because we think we need to consolidate on-going projects and stabilise the parish council before embarking on new activities so, after a short discussion, we agreed to raise the precept only to keep pace with inflation, in line with Bucks Council policy.

Our January meeting (scheduled for January 18th) will have a very full agenda to make up for this unusually short meeting. Oh, dear.

READ PARISH COUNCIL MINUTES

(Brill Windmill against story grey clouds with one sail broken off (photo by Tim Andrew))

Brill Sailers Ahoy!

It took a while to get quotes to repair the damage but The Brill Society (who manage the windmill for the Parish Council) have now agreed one from IJP Owlsworth, the team who restored the windmill in 2008. The cost is just over £10,000 and it would be great if the work could be done in the coming 2-3 months, so the windmill can open as usual at Easter. To this end, The Brill Society has launched Brill Sailers, the Brill Windmill Repair Fund.

Find out more on the Brill Windmill website or click the green button to donate.

DONATE TO THE WINDMILL REPAIR FUND

(Line drawing of windmill with Job Vacancy announcement in red letters)

New year, new challenge?

We are sad to announce that Judith, our Parish Clerk, has resigned from the role for personal reasons. She is presently working a 2 month notice period whilst we urgently find a replacement. Could this be YOU (or someone you know)?! Are you organised and patient, with sound IT skills and an eye for detail? Do you have experience of accounting and/or managing finances - or a willingness to learn? Are you a good communicator, verbally and in writing, be it with unitary council officials, councillors, contractors, or worried parishioners?

Imagine: 50 hours/month, flexibly worked (save for the monthly meeting), based in Brill, dealing with people you know about things you care about. How about it?!

PS We’re also looking for a new councillor. There’s been lots of coming and going on the council since May when most of us were elected and we really want to settle down and gel as a team. There’s more about this role on the parish council website.)

Queen’s Platinum Jubilee

We ran this poll on Facebook, backed up by face-to-face questioning of villagers at the Community Market on December 18. Although the sample was small (94 responses) the outcome was clear: 9-to-1 in favour of celebrating the Jubilee in early June 2022. Most responders voted in favour of all three options (the beacon, a village party, and tree planting). Best of all, 30-odd people volunteered to help with the organisation; a great start - but more would be very welcome.

At our December meeting, the Parish Council agreed that Cllr Liz Springs call a meeting to kick-start the planning. This is set for January 17th, 7.30pm in the Memorial Hall and/or online, as Covid determines. Everyone welcome. Let’s make this happen!

For more inspiration ahead of the meeting, click the purple button to visit the official Jubilee website and start thinking about the practicalities of arranging a Jubilee Big Lunch.

JUBILEE WEBSITE

(Tradition red phone box with red brick houses in the background)

Thank you, Brill!

For your generous donations of food, toys and other items for our Phone Box Collection in support of the Aylesbury Vineyard Storehouse. Here's a message from the Bernie Community Bus team, who collect the donations every month:

@The Bernie team has again been overwhelmed this year with the generosity of local residents and businesses in our local area. Because of this we have been able to team up again with the Aylesbury Vineyard food bank to provide the ingredients for Christmas dinner hampers and toys for over 200 hundred families in the vale of Aylesbury!
On our last run in the villages of Waddesdon, Haydon Hill, Stone, Ashendon, Westcott, Oakley, Brill, Grendon, Edgcott and Quainton we collected over a massive 500kgs and we can’t thank you enough for all your support through out the year. We are so proud of the continued efforts from our friends and neighbours. We cannot thank you enough and the difference you are making to the lives of others is amazing.

The first collection of 2022 will be Saturday January 8th.

AYLESBURY STOREHOUSE

(Dark church with windows lit from within)

Some holiday reading: Buckinghamshire Heritage Portal

I came across this whilst I was looking for something on the Bucks Council website (I’ve no idea what now!); it’s all you’ve ever wanted to know about the history of our county - and lots you didn’t even know that you wanted to know. Start with the Parish Summaries. Click on Brill - and then Wotton - and then Chilton - and then -

See you on the other side!

(The picture shows All Saint’s Church, the oldest standing building in the parish, first built around AD 1120.)

BUCKS HERITAGE PORTAL

And, finally…

Please tell others about this e-newsletter. Many people aren’t on Facebook or comfortable with social media - and we want to reach all parishioners equally. Tell friends, family or neighbours to email hello@brillparishcouncil.co.uk and ask to be added to our subscribers - or suggest they fill in the form on the Brill Parish Council website.

Representatives of Brill Parish Council will again be at the Community Market in January. If you can’t come to the market, remember you can always call in and chat to Judith, who usually works in the Old Library on Tuesdays and Thursdays, leave a message on our answer phone (01844 238662), drop us an email (click the blue button) - or even write us a note. We’d love to hear from you!

And all the very best to you and yours for 2022!
Brill Parish Council

EMAIL THE PARISH COUNCIL