Brill Parish Council Newsletter

June 2024 (vol 5, issue 6)

Meet the Candidates

Someone on Brill Parish Council must be psychic because this event was organised before the general election was called! This meant that Brill residents got to meet five of the seven candidates early in the campaign. From left to right in the photo above:

• Carissma Griffiths (Labour)

• Anja Schaefer (Liberal Democrates)

• Greg Smith (Green)

• Greg Smith (Conservative)

• Yvonne Wilding (Social Democrat)

Note that two Mid Buckinghamshire candidates were missing because they had not confirmed their candidacy when the event was organised: Wisdom Methodious Da Costa (Climate Party) and Stephanie Harwood (Reform UK).

The event was attended by over 160 residents and supporters. It was chaired by Cllr Steven Judge. Candidates were respectful of each other, kept to time and gave thoughtful answers to questions sent to Steven in advance of the event and spontaneous questions from the audience. Questions put by Steven included clean water, affordable housing, support of small farmers, and stance on Gaza. Residents asked about making things easier for families in need, where the candidates lived, thoughts on the government’s Rwanda plan, and longterm support of Ukrainian refugees.

The event was not recorded. Look out for information from the candidates through the post or search online.

Annual Parish Meeting

It was great to see so many people at this event in Brill Sports & Social Club on June 4th. The meeting was chaired by Liz Springs, out-going Chair of Brill Parish Council. Liz thanked community groups and organisations for all they had done over the past 12 months. She also thanked them for sending in their annual reports; a wonderful record of the successes and challenges of community life in Brill - and a useful tool to help the Parish Council plan financial support for local initiatives. Read the reports on the Brill Parish Council & Community website.

Liz then introduced the Parish Council’s own annual report, noting that despite having only four councillors (out of full complement of seven) much had been achieved. This was seconded by Brill resident and Bucks Council Ukraine projects liaison, Ross Tackley, who told us that across the county Brill is considered an exemplar of an effective Parish Council and vibrant community life. It’s nice to be appreciated!

The meeting also included a presentation by PC Lee Turnham on Community Speedwatch. Community Speedwatch uses personalised education to change the behaviour of speeding motorists. Although an effective local Speedwatch programme depends on proactive community volunteers, they are supported at every step by Thames Valley Police. Detection equipment is on permanent loan and speeding motorists are swiftly followed up by police officers.

Brill Parish Council believes that Speedwatch in Brill would be an effective response to the perennial problem of motorists speeding though our village. Please give serious thought to volunteering a little of your time; the more volunteers we have, the smaller would be individual committment.

Finally!

Please tell others about this e-newsletter. Lots of 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 hannahbrillcommunity@gmail.com or fill in the newsletter form on the welcome page of the Brill Parish Council & Community website. Alternatively, if they’d like to read a paper copy, please tell them there are always copies of the newsletter on the Parish Council noticeboard (on the front wall of the Memorial Hall), in the pouch on the door of the Parish Office inside the Hall, on the table at the back of All Saints Church, and in the shops and (usually) the surgery.

Remember you can read past issues of the newsletter on the Brill Parish Council & Community website.

All good wishes
Brill Parish Council