Brill Parish Council Newsletter

March 2026 (vol 7, issue 3)

Brill Parish Council is official!

A message from Jules Newman, Chair of Brill Parish Council:

We are thrilled to announce that the Brill Parish Council and Community website now has a prestigious GOV.UK domain. Instead of brillparishcouncil.co.uk (always misleading; we’re not a commercial enterprise!) you’ll find us at brillparishcouncil.gov.uk. Our new domain also gives councillors and staff official GOV.UK email addresses.

Benefits

• The GOV.UK brand is recognised and trusted, adding an additional level of professionalism and credibility to our online presence.

• GOV.UK domains are overseen by the Cabinet Office Protecting Public Sector Domains Team. Security vulnerabilities are quickly detected and addressed.

• GOV.UK domains are UK-based so have enhanced legal protection.

• GOV.UK email accounts are transparent and much more secure than personal email accounts, making it easier for everyone involved to properly conduct the business of local government.

• Emails sent from GOV.UK accounts are trusted and more likely to be cleared by security filters and delivered to citizens and other public sector organisations.

Responsibilities

All public bodies, including parish councils, have a legal obligation to make their website as accessible as possible for those with disabilities, including impaired vision, motor difficulties, and cognitive impairments. GOV.UK domains are under particular scrutiny in this regard. For Brill Parish Council this meant a complete redesign and rewrite in February. The end result is a more streamlined website, easier to navigate, focusing on content of real value to residents - yet attractive and engaging for locals and visitors alike. We hope you are as pleased with the result as we are!

Links

Visit the Brill Parish Council & Community website.

The Parish Clerk’s email address is now clerk@brillparishcouncil.gov.uk. You’ll find councillors’ email addresses on the Brill Parish Council Team page.

Read our new Website Users Guide and find out how we’ve improved website accessibility.

Community Speedwatch in Action

A conversation with Nigel Allen, Parish Councillor and Speedwatch Coordinator in Long Crendon

Nigel nearly gave up Speedwatch 18 months ago. There just didn’t seem to be any commitment to it in the village and he started to wonder if it was worth the trouble. Then Long Crendon got their SIDs (Speed Indicator Devices - like we have in Brill) and residents noticed a difference and enthusiasm returned.

NIGEL I extracted the data from the SIDs and, yes, there was a drastic change. The average speed dropped from 39mph to 35mph.

HANNAH So are SIDs alone enough to stop speeding?

No. You need both. 35mph is still speeding*! The SIDs only give times and speeds. Speedwatch gives us more information and an extra edge of deterrent.

And Speedwatch lets you go after individual culprits?

They can’t be prosecuted using Speedwatch evidence - but they do get a stern warning letter from the police. And repeat offenders get a visit. We write down registration numbers. You always have three people at the roadside. One person holds the speed detection device - we call it the hairdrier - and another memorises the first four letters of the number plate and another person notes the last three. Things happen quite fast and you have to get it right. We might get 200 cars passing in an hour along the Bicester Road, sometime 300 around school pick-up. Afterwards we upload the information to the Speedwatch website and the police take it from there.

Nigel told me more about setting up Speedwatch in Long Crendon in late 2023. The Thames Valley Police Community Speedwatch Lead is PC Lee Turnham.

Lee’s really helpful. Volunteers sign up online and we’re vetted. The training is online, only half-an-hour, at your own pace. It’s mostly common sense. Lee doesn’t run roadside sessions but he comes along and teaches the assigned coordinator how to use the speed gun and upload information.

Are you obliged to run a certain number of sessions?

No, it’s up to us. I have a dozen signed-up volunteers but only five or six are really proactive. I suggest dates in our WhatsApp chat and people say what they can do. We have to register our sessions - and we can only do them in certain places which have been pre-approved by Lee for safety.

Daytime only?

Yes and only in reasonable weather. Heavy rain and fog reduce visibility and we didn’t run anything in January or February because it was so cold. We try to vary days and times but most of our active volunteers are working so we usually do weekends.

How do passing motorists respond to you at the roadside in their hi-vis?

We’ve run 50 sessions now and we’ve only had one bad incident. A chap stopped his car and ranted about us having nothing better to do. He was pretty aggressive. We reported him to the police.

Was he speeding?

Yes, he was! A few drivers put their middle fingers up but local people are very appreciative. People do still sometimes ask why we can’t get a police van with a camera but they just don’t have the resources.

Tell me about equipment. Do you have to buy anything?

No. Lee supplies everything, hi-vis and clickers to count the cars and so on. The speed guns are old ones the police no longer use. Some villages share a gun. I think Cuddington shares. There’s no cost to the village except for the yellow Speedwatch signs on the village entrances. We got ours from Sign Wizard in Aylesbury.

So we just need to find some volunteers in Brill now?

You only need three volunteers to kick things off but there has to be one enthusiastic person to take the lead and be the assigned coordinator. I’d be happy to come up to chat to them. The online portal is very straightforward but it helps to have someone with you the first time. Yeah, I’d be happy to help.

Thanks. And, finally, what can I say to encourage people?

Look at the data! Speedwatch really makes a difference. Having the SIDs and the Speedwatch signs on the village entrances and the team there in hi-vis on the roadside. It sends a powerful message to motorists that the community takes dangerous driving seriously.

*The 5mph matters. A pedestrian hit by a car doing 30mph has a 1 in 5 chance of being killed. That risk rises to 1 in 3 if the car is doing 35mph.

Visit the Community Speedwatch UK website to read more about the scheme - and email Brill Parish Council if you’re interested in volunteering.

A Day in the Life
of Brill’s Wildlife and Community Ranger

by Fiona Bennett-Meere

There’s a lovely seasonal rhythm to conservation work - and Autumn and Winter is the time for hands-on habitat management.

Much of my time in recent months has been spent working alongside volunteers cutting back scrub - usually dense patches of hawthorn and blackthorn. Doing this helps keep areas of grassland open, allowing a wider variety of plants and wildlife to thrive. We’ve also removed selected trees to open up shaded corners or make safe those that lean a little too close to paths.

When the cutting is done, the branches and brash find new purpose. Some are burnt, whilst others are woven into ‘dead hedges’; quiet shelters where insects, birds and small mammals can find refuge. We’ve opened up an old woodland glade at the bottom of Tram Hill (on the right, between the road and fields) and one of the volunteers, James - who’s also a parish councillor - created a fantastic dead hedge with the cut material. It’s well worth a look if you’re passing by.

Another on-going task is the clearing of an overgrown boundary fence line. A job that began with removing trees and dense scrub will soon lead to a new post-and-wire fence. Work like this is never done alone and I’m especially grateful to volunteer Tim, who has generously given many hours of his time to help move this project along.

Making connections

In the midst of all this I’ve been meeting with various organisations including BBOWT (Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust) who manage a project nearby. Building partnerships enables future collaboration and could help secure funding for conservation work.

I also have a new role of chief fire-lighter with Brill’s Forest School! Helping children toast cheese sandwiches and popcorn over an open fire never loses its charm and is a gentle reminder that Brill Common is not just a place to manage for wildlife but somewhere people of all ages can come to discover nature for themselves.

Looking ahead

As we move into bird nesting season, my focus will shift. Heavier habitat work will be paused so wildlife can breed undisturbed and I’ll turn my attention to surveys, wildlife recording, and helping people explore Brill Common and learning about the wildlife that call it home.

My programme of events and activities is starting to come together. Many of these will be supported and, in some cases, led by other people. Topics in the pipeline include hedgehogs, swifts, house martins and swallows, and wildlife-friendly gardening and ponds. I’m also hoping to organise guided wildlife walks - plus some introductory sessions on habitat surveys. Watch this space!

It’s YOUR common - so get involved!

• If you have knowledge you’d like to share - maybe by giving a talk or leading a walk - please get in touch. Similarly, if you have a suggestion for a community project involving the common, I’d love to hear from you!

• If you haven’t already done so, take 2 minutes to complete my short survey to tell me what events and activities you’d be interested in.

• If the sun is shining and you’re got an hour to spare, have a look at my family nature activity sheet. There’s something there for all ages; print it off or follow along on your phone.

• Keep an eye on the Protect Brill Common Forever! Facebook page. I’ll be announcing new events there and on the website and on the community notice boards.

Finally!

This newsletter is emailed every month to over 320 subscribers. We really appreciate everyone’s interest and support. If you’ve enjoyed reading, please mention the newsletter to friends, family and neighbours. Tell them there are two ways to subscribe:

• complete the form on welcome page of the BPC&C website

• email the Editor

We also publish an abridged print edition a few days after this digital version. There are always copies of this on the Parish Council noticeboard (on the Memorial Hall), in the pouch on the door of the Parish Office, and in All Saints Church and Brill shops.

Remember, you can read past newsletters and access lots of community and council information on the Brill Parish Council & Community website.

All good wishes, Brill Parish Council