News of the Community Greenspace project

The project aimed at creating a new community green space for Chilton made some good progress in 2023; an options appraisal for the which site to select was completed, the Parish Council then secured a new lease arrangement from Chilton Home Farms Ltd. for the land on Thame Road (opposite Princes Close which had previously served as a playground in the 1990s), a village survey was completed to gather views on what residents would like to see in the green space and, finally, in December 2023 the overgrown vegetation on the land was cleared. Please visit the site and view its great potential to act as a future community asset for the village.

So, what’s next for 2024? It has started off well with a New Year’s Day litter clearance of the site. Here is one resident, Emilia (aged 7), after collecting four full rubbish bags of mostly cans and bottles (with many of these pre-dating this century!).

 

The remaining Winter and Spring months will see a focus on clearing some of the overgrown hedges & dying trees in front of the land to improve sightlines for both the crossing and to the green space itself, continue to work with Buckinghamshire Council on other traffic safety measure options for the crossing, levelling the land and raising further funds through a range of routes including grants.

There are various phases to this project with the exact timelines, in part, being dictated by the available resources (both in terms of active volunteers and finance).

If you would like to volunteer to join the Project Group and support its further development in 2024, please contact Stephen Pinel (07818 822478 or email  ). We’re particularly interested to hear from anyone with landscape design expertise!