Parish councils lay claim to same land (From Bucks Free Press)
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Parish councils lay claim to Well End
2:30pm Wednesday 8th February 2012 in News By Lawrence Dunhill
EITHER a major row or a budding romance could be on the horizon for two parish councils – which both lay claim to a small stretch of land.
The hamlet of Well End has long been part of the Little Marlow parish, despite being widely-recognised as being within the northern section of Bourne End.
Janet Gould, chairman of Wooburn and Bourne End Parish Council, has called for Well End and neighbouring Abbotsbrook to be brought into her parish to ‘put Bourne End back together’.
She said: “The actual boundary [of Bourne End] goes up to Sheepridge Lane and we’d like it back. It seems obvious to have a community based on the village.”
Claytons Primary School and the Abbotsbrook Hall community building are both in Well End.
Last week Cllr Gould and her colleagues voted for a review of the parish boundaries, which is being carried out by Wycombe District Council.
The review could recommend the boundary line be moved to the north, though Cllr Gould said this would be far from straightforward.
She said the parish council would then be “huge”, so may have to split between the two villages of Bourne End and Wooburn Green.
This could prove popular with residents in both villages, who have claimed the council favours one village over the other.
Meanwhile, other authorities would have to be consulted, namely Little Marlow Parish Council.
Chairman Dallas Banfield said the small authority has no intention of losing part of its land – but it could be open to a union with Bourne End were it to split from Wooburn Green.
He said: “Wherever you draw a boundary there’s going to be some anomalies...It’s got to go somewhere.
“Perhaps Bourne End should go towards Little Marlow, that’s something we would consider.”
He said parishioners in Well End and Abbotsbrook “often express their delight that they are part of Little Marlow”.
Do you live in Well End or Abbotsbrook? Which parish would you rather be in? Email: ldunhill@london.newsquest.co.uk
Comments(2)
bourneendboater
says...
1:06pm Thu 9 Feb 12
readerabc wrote:Completely agree.
what a load of waffle! scrap all these stupid parish/district councils lets have one area council that does it all...... and saves money
I live in Abbotsbrook and i'm happy with the current link to Little Marlow with Well End. Feels more appropriate than being linked with Wooburn via Bourne End/Wooburn Councils.
That said I'm not against being tied with Bourne End (which we're in anyway) but not Bourne End AND Wooburn as this feels too large and faceless. It also looks likely to cause a further split of councils, creating 3 in total. A ridiculous waste of money!!!
Small councils are good - they bring meaningful focus on the right issues to the local people. They do lose gravitas though and budgets are small.
Large councils bring gravitas and have better budgets to play with, but they lose the touch of the people and become faceless bores, having little or no impact on those who live there.
Yes i know these are generalisations. I'm just using that approach to make the point.
readerabc says...
3:50pm Wed 8 Feb 12
scrap all these stupid parish/district councils
lets have one area council that does it all...... and saves money