Summer Thoughts

It seems a while since Carnival Day but the memory lingers on of a highly successful Buntingford event and congratulations to all who worked so hard to make it happen. The BCS stand was busy and we gained valuable feed-back on the Journal and Society. As you would expect the Journal wins high praise for its news content,profile articles and local services advertising.Regarding the Civic Society as a whole there is a lack of knowledge of our contribution to the Town's wellbeing which we will endeavour to correct. The good news is, that when visitors to our stand became aware of the range of engagements the Society has, we gained a number of new members some of whom expressed a wish to become active in the Society.

Talking of being active the River Rib clean-up is scheduled for Sunday, 8th. October. Volunteers from several organisations and caring individuals will take part to remove the rubbish thoughtlessly thrown into the river.

Big news currently is the publication of the inspector's report following the Examination in Public of the East of England Plan. The report is now with Ruth Kelly, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government who "will consider it and publish a modified plan around November 2006". BCS is affiliated to CPRE and we concur with their view that the Minister should be encouraged to endorse the positive findings of the report and improve its worrying aspects.(www.cpre.org.uk and www.eera.gov.uk) The plan states housing targets for East of England for 2001 - 2021 should be increased by 27,500 new houses from 478,000 to 505,500. East Herts has a target of 12,000.

I hope everybody is pleased to have had delivered to their homes by the Parish Paths Partnership a copy of 'Discover the Countryside around Buntingford'. This would not have happened without the dedicated work of Bob Jackson a member of the 3P team and Civic Society stalwart for many years.

In addition to underwriting some of the costs of the map other financial commitments the Society has made recently include a new sign for the Seth Ward Community Centre,restoring a vandalised playarea and refurbishment of the town sign on Market Hill which will include the Spanish national flag in recognition of our new twinning relationship.

Finally, the other day a BASH driver told me that a resident of several years said that,in contrast to her previous home town, that "Buntingford was such a friendly place to live". Most would endorse that heartfelt opinion. The challenge is to ensure it endures in an increasingly complex environment.

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