Wilshamstead Parish Council

Planning Committee Consideration For Up To 95 Houses On Cotton End Road

Bedford Borough Council Planning Committee having met on 19th May to formally consider the application 24/02231/MAO outline application demolition of existing buildings and erection of up to 95 residential dwellings at land at Village Farm, 85 Cotton End Road deferred taking a decision due to consideration being given to include certain items in the planning conditions that it was expected would be applied to the application, in light of the Planning Officer recommendation to the elected members for granting approval.

The Planning Committee reconvened again on 16th June to further consider the application.  In line with the Committee regulations, as this was a further consideration taking place, it was not possible for elected Borough Ward Councillors, Parish Councillors or any other parties to address the Committee members during their discussions.  Following the further discussions, the Committee agreed to again defer the decision for this planning application as members had not been satisfied with the proposed planning condition outcomes.  The Committee had also requested a site visit to look at Cotton End Road in terms of the highway access to the application site. The site visit is 9.30 am on Monday 30th June

It is pleasing to see the Planning Committee taking such careful deliberation over this application and the Parish Council will continue to monitor the application closely, with it being expected to return back to the Planning Committee meeting scheduled for 14th July.

Bedford Borough Council Local Plan June 2025 Update

Bedford Borough Council has been working on its 2040 plan to set the agenda for the next 15 years, but the likely impact of Universal means the landscape has now changed.

A letter to the Council from Darren McCreery of the Planning Inspectorate said; “Given the implications of Universal, the likely outcome of a review and the work following it would be the production of a fundamentally different plan to the one submitted...

“Such changes, including how to realise the opportunities of Universal, are instead best discussed with local communities outside the scrutiny of a plan examination. This would more closely align with the National Planning Policy framework's aim of a genuinely plan-led system, with plan-making creating a framework for meeting needs, addressing priorities, and a platform for local people to shape their surroundings.”

He added, “In terms of taking things forward, in the combination of specific circumstances presented in this case, I see no reasonable way for the examination of the Plan to continue.

“Instead, I would strongly recommend that the plan is withdrawn and that the Council resolve to work in partnership with their local community to bring forward a new plan, away from the scrutiny of an examination.”

It is therefore expected that the Borough Council will withdraw the plan and issue an update on their next steps shortly.

Wilshamstead Parish Neighbourhood Plan Review

At the June Parish Council meeting, Councillors discussed the importance of safeguarding the parish against speculative planning applications in light of the current challenging position Wilstead finds itself in.  With unexpected changes to national and local planning policy framework that could not have been foreseen, the Parish Council are taking pro-active steps to expedite a suitable review in a timely manner to protect the village from unsuitable development.

Planning Information Where To Find It….

If you wish to view current planning applications, previous planning applications, see planning decision notices or submitted comments on any application then all information is retained on the Bedford Borough Council Planning Portal, which has an enormous amount of resources available to you.

For more information do head here:

https://www.bedford.gov.uk/planning-and-building-control/planning-applications

Reporting Issues – Where To Raise Them

The Parish Council are mindful that it can be difficult to know where to report an issue, so here is some useful information on where it is best to send items.

If you come across a highway issue on a road, footway, or a public right of way, such as a footpath or bridleway, then please report it to the local authority via the many different reporting forms online at the Borough Council website. These can be found at:

https://www.bedford.gov.uk/parking-roads-and-travel/roads-and-pavements/road-problems

If there is an environmental issue, such as litter, fly tipping, noise, bins, graffiti, abandoned vehicles, then please make contact with Bedford Borough Council again using the online reporting tool so the matter can be recorded and progress monitored.  These can be found at:

https://www.bedford.gov.uk/environmental-issues

Highway Safety In The Village

The Parish Council would like to remind all members of the Wilstead community to be considerate of one another when it comes to keeping the roads, footways, and footpaths safe for all users to access.

This is a polite reminder to ask please do not park vehicles over driveways, or nearby property entrances as this does in fact cause access issues for others. Not only in regard to access but this also brings a highways safety issue for all road users as it also dangerously limits the visibility and sight line when entering and exiting a driveway.

A lot of work has been done by the Parish Council to work Officers across various different departments at Bedford Borough Council, along with the Borough Ward Councillors, the local community Police team as well as local businesses to improve highways safety. So please do not place waste bins, traffic cones or other objects onto the village highways, for a short or prolonged period of time as this causes a hazard.

Please remember that if a situation arises where there is a vehicle parked dangerously, causing an obstruction or limiting visibility then Bedford Borough Council are who should be contacted as the local highways authority do have appropriate powers that can be used.

Bedford Borough Council will issue fines (penalty charge notices or PCNs) for the following types of illegal parking:

·     parking on yellow lines

·     not displaying a valid parking ticket

·     parking on pavements or verges where a restriction is in place

·     parking across driveways or dropped curbs

They do not get involved with neighbourly disputes or inconsiderate parking. To report an illegally parked vehicle, please contact the Enforcement Team on enforcement.team@bedford.gov.uk or 01234 718359. Or text only enforcement requests to 07553895403. An enforcement officer will respond to your request as soon as possible, but they may not be able to do so immediately if they are patrolling elsewhere in the Borough. Please note you won't get a reply about the outcome of an enforcement officer visit; however, the Parish Council would encourage residents to report concerns directly so appropriate action can be followed up.

Overgrown Hedges

As usual at this time of the year the Parish Council's attention has been drawn to problems caused by hedges that have grown to the point that they are either obstructing pavements or are a hazard to users of the pavements. At the extreme pedestrians are required to walk on the road, and in some instances brambles in hedges have caused physical injury to pedestrians who did not see them in the dark.

The pavement is the responsibility of Bedford Borough Council, but anything growing behind the back edge of the pavement and growing over it is the responsibility of the occupier. In extreme instances, Bedford Borough Council can cut back a hedge, but it may then send an account for the cost of the work to the property's occupier.

It is appreciated that in the short term a severe pruning of a hedge will reduce its attractiveness, but hedges, unless they are conifers, do recover quickly. If you have a hedge please check it, and if it is intruding into the footpath can you cut it back, please?

Contacting The Parish Council

The best way to contact the Parish Council is to email Lizzie (the Parish Clerk) at office@wilsteadparishcouncil.org.

Alternatively, you can call 01234 743152 or write to PO Box 1548, Bedford, MK44 5AX.

Please note the Parish Office (at the rear of the Village Hall) is open most Mondays, 9am to midday. It is worth ringing in advance to ensure it is open.

It is always more interesting to attend a Parish Council meeting in person to see what goes on and understand the range of items covered in trying to move improvements for the Wilstead community forwards. Dates and the agenda are advertised on the village noticeboards, with meetings usually on a Monday starting at 7pm in the small hall at Wilstead Village Hall. (Head to the left-hand side of the main hall building and you will see the door open which is where the Parish Council will be).  Everyone is most welcome to join us, with next meetings scheduled for 21st July.

Also, please remember to view regular updates published on local matters through the Wilstead Parish Council website. Do visit www.wilsteadparishcouncil.org to see the latest news and helpful information.

Summer Enjoyments

Despite a shaky start to our first summer outing with some members unable to take up their places and a lack of drivers, we had a great day out at Castle Ashby near Wellingborough.

The house and estate belong to the Marquis of Northampton and is set in beautiful unspoiled countryside. The extensive gardens are open to the public and we were free to wander around the many different garden areas. The formal garden included an enormous palm house, an Italianate garden and stunning island beds. We enjoyed watching the meerkats in the menagerie and the snoring Kunekune pigs!!

Some of us took a picnic but others were tempted by the scones and cream! It was very hot, but the gardens had plenty of shaded seating areas to sit and enjoy the vistas.

Our next meeting is an evening meeting on Tuesday 15th July and is our annual Open Garden and social evening. Some members of the Garden Club generously open their own gardens for other members to visit, enjoy and get ideas for their own gardens. With our clay soils and the challenges of  climate differences, sharing is very useful.

In August we will be visiting a very local attraction, more details next month.

Keep gardening and watering!

Wilstead Garden Club Committee

Wilstead Village Hall

Are you good at/enjoy DIY and are happy to give some of your time when needed to support Ben the caretaker and the Committee with small jobs in the Village Hall? If so, please contact Barbara or Angela with your details and we will get back to you. Some jobs don't need the expense of a professional and an hour every so often would be greatly appreciated.

Also, do you enjoy gardening and have some spare time to help us? The Village Hall garden continually needs attention with weeding, cutting back etc and the Committee would be very pleased if anyone wanted to help, especially with weeding the areas either side of the Hall. Please again contact Barbara or Angela or even walk in and spend 30 mins pulling up the weeds! There is a green bin at the side of the hall. Any time spent there would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.

We still need new faces on the Committee with fresh ideas about how to run the Hall. Many of the present committee will probably retire next year, so now is a good time to join us and learn how the hall works. No Committee next year means NO hall for local people to use!

Don't forget that to find any information about the hall, T's & C's, rates of hire, hall availability and to make a booking via the On-line Diary etc., please visit:  wilsteadvillagehall.co.uk

We would greatly appreciate potential hirers using the online booking system and NOT emailing the Admin team.

Chairperson – Barbara Seamark

seamarkbarbara@gmail.com 07709573475

Secretary – Angela Fosbrook

fosbrookangela@gmail.com 01234 294692

P3 Footpath Group

Meetings

The next meetings of the Footpath Group will be at 10.00am on Saturday 2nd August and Saturday 4th October in the small hall of the Village Hall.

As usual there will be reports on the condition of all the Public Footpaths and Public Bridleways in the parish. Any problems with overgrowth, be that hedges or trees, or undergrowth e.g. long grass, will be identified and action agreed to address them.

The reports will also cover the current state of each path's furniture e.g. kissing gates, waymark posts, finger posts etc and identify where these need to be improved so that it is easy to understand where the paths go.

The intention is to keep these Rights of Way walkable in suitable footwear. (We can't always ensure that all the paths are able to be walked in sandals throughout the year!)

If any of these problems are too large for the Group to tackle or new furniture is needed then help will be requested from Bedford Borough Council

Come along to the meeting if you would like to help ensure that these off road links between the various parts of the village, be they Public Footpaths or Public Bridleways, are easy to find and use

All are welcome.

Working Parties

There have been few problems with the Footpaths and Bridleways around the village so far this year but if you do find any please contact the group on the number below and we will try and resolve them.

Working Parties to address issues raised by the group's two monthly inspection of all the 11 miles of Public Rights of Way in the Parish will be arranged at each meeting.

Any material needed to resolve these problems, e.g. new waymark posts, will be requested from the Borough Council or purchased by the Group.

If you find any problems when going along the paths and bridleways around the village please contact me, see contact details below.

Walks

The Friday 13th June walk around Silsoe was not unlucky! and the Group had a fine evening to walk paths through woodland and open countryside taking in the very small hamlet of Higham Gobian, which still has its own church of St Margaret and ancient fish ponds.

The walk continued back to and through Wrest Park to emerge in Silsoe where refreshment was sought at the Crown and Sceptre.

The next walks are planned for Friday 11th July (probably between Great Barford and Blunham, partly along the riverside) and Friday 15th August. Both leaving the Village Car Park off Whitworth Way at 6.30pm.

Keep an eye on the posters on the village noticeboards for details of these future walks.

Come along if you fancy a wander (4-5 miles) through nearby Bedfordshire countryside

Nigel Jacobs

Wilstead Footpath Group

01234 400733

Wilstead Primary School News

We have only a few weeks of term left at Wilstead, but we are busy as ever!  Over the next few weeks our children will be taking part in their sports day and school fete, engaging in transition sessions to meet their new teachers and learning about business during our enterprise week.  We will be visiting Oxford University with our Year 5s and 6s, welcoming Little City into school for our youngest pupils and of course saying 'goodbye' to our oldest pupils as they move into Secondary school.

We would like to thank our newly formed PTA committee for their commitment to supporting the school.  We couldn't offer the fun opportunities that our pupils enjoy without their help.  We would also like to thank the wider community for their interest in the governor role which we advertised in last month's issue.  Without our governing board, we could not support our leadership team and ensure that the school runs smoothly.

Have a wonderful summer, and we will see everyone again in September!

Mrs Webb

Deputy Headteacher

Wilstead Primary School

News From The Pews

Many thanks to everyone who came along and made our Pentecost Picnic Lunch a great success. The sandwiches were delicious and the Bring-and-Share desserts were very popular. We rounded off our celebration with a beautiful Church-Birthday cake.

We are looking forward to taking part in the Wilstead Jumble Trail on Sunday 20th July from 12 noon to 4pm. Items will be on sale in the porch area and outside if fine, and Hebrews Café will be open serving hot drinks and cakes during the afternoon, so do pop along and meet us.

One to watch out for in August, is our "Four-Legged Friends Pet Blessing Service on Sunday 10th August at 3pm. Dogs, cats, hamsters, rabbits etc. Please bring small animals in a carry container: outside if fine, inside if not.  Hebrews café will be serving refreshments after the service. Please indicate if you would like to join us on Wilstead Parish Church Facebook page, or enquiries to stagsdenopendoor@outlook.com.

Anyone in the village may have a visit from a Church Minister if they wish. We also offer Home Communion. Please telephone Elstow team on 01234 261477.

Helen Harbron-Applegarth

Lay Minister

Elstow Team

Wilstead Netball

Well done Wilstead Warriors Ladies Netball Team, who won the final for the Nicky Merritt Trophy, beating Henlow Hyenas – 10-1 – 7-0 – 4-2 – 7-2.

Nicky has been involved with the team  as a player and umpire also in running the netball team for 20 years.

Our team – Ava Crawley, Freya Norris, Sophie Watt, Emily Mann, Freya Watt, Nicky Merritt, Addie-Mae White, Amber O'Driscoll, Charlotte Tait,  Lily Pigram, Isla Baker

Congratulations to you all

Wilstead Bowls Club

The Open Day at the end of May was well attending and attracted 30 people of all ages including a number of families. We hope to see some of you again on the green.

If you weren't around to attend the Open Day, you are invited to our Friday evening free taster sessions which start at 6pm. All you need are flat soled shoes and the bar will be open.

Captains' Day and the Mary Crease Cup games were well attended by both players and spectators. We hosted the semi-finals of the Ladies County Triples on Friday 20th June, a very warm Friday evening. There were approximately 50 spectators watching the high quality bowling and the two winning teams from Potton and Great Barford will be progressing to Leamington to represent the county at the national level.

A number of other competitions both at Club and County level are now in full swing.  The extra events that have been arranged to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the club are approaching with the Hog Roast Celebration Game taking place on Sunday 20th July, approximately 100 people, members, past members and their families and friends  are planning on attending. As always with outdoor bowls we have our fingers crossed for good weather.

Wilstead Primary School years 3 to 6 are currently coming along and enjoying have a go at bowling, amongst them are a number of budding bowlers.

Please keep a look out on the Wilstead Community Facebook page for more club news and activities or join us on Facebook -  WILSTEAD BOWLS CLUB  or visit our website:

www.wilsteadbowlsclub.co.uk.

If you need any club information please use the contact details below  

Sue Marchant

Club Secretary

07716676383

sue@marchantonline.com     

Wilstead Community Art Group

If you're interested in art and would love to try out your talent, why not join us? Your first session is free and, if you decide to continue and become a member, it will be £3 a session when you're able to come. We meet in the Village Hall on Mondays from 2pm-4pm. We don't meet on Bank Holidays. Our group has members of all abilities, using a variety of mediums. You might like sketching in pencil, charcoal, pen and ink, or painting by numbers. You can also paint in watercolour, acrylic or even oil. Meeting in the large hall makes it a safe space to work in and we are well spaced out. May I remind members and new people that we do have a small variety of art resources for your use so, if there is anything you haven't got or would like to experiment with, we may be able to help. If you need it, several of our members will help and encourage you in whatever your artistic endeavours happen to be.

Wilstead & Wixams Good Neighbours

July Update

Not a lot to report this time, bit of a slowdown in jobs but to be expected in the summer months and also the recent changes in arranging doctors appointments.

Once again, though not a Good Neighbours function, I would like to bring to your attention a Royal British Legion event we are organising.  A horse racing night on Saturday 20th September to celebrate the 80th anniversary of VJ day, and raise needed funds for the RBL, It is being held at the Wilstead Bowls Club, 7:30pm start. Includes Fish & Chips supper and raffle prizes. Look out for posters with details.

Next Wilstead Cafe dates in the Village Hall are Friday 12th & Friday 28th July and Friday 9th & Friday 23rd August at the normal times of 2.00 to 3:30pm. And don't forget Wixams, Lakeview Village Hall every Tuesday 10:30am to 12 Noon.

ALL AGES WELCOME!! KIDS AS WELL !

Rick Baxter

Chairman

740854

WWGNS Phone 07807 408928

Wilstead WI

By the time you read this we will have had our Summer Band Concert in the Village Hall, refreshments were served in the form of scones jam and clotted cream with strawberries, a good night all round.

Our speaker was Dimitra Frango for our June meeting.

Dimitra told us about her interest in fabrics and how she had started to recycle them. She showed us, both with a power-point presentation and with actual examples, what could be achieved. She brought along some of her re-upholstery and items which were used in her work. She had made handbags and bottle bags, wrappings for gifts and greetings cards. She had re-covered stools and chairs and had covered a garden parasol. She kindly donated a couple of her items for raffle prizes and had also made a Greek Prayer Cake which everyone was very happy to sample at refreshment time.

Our speaker  in July was Jonathon Cox  a retired police office and a well known author who has written several books fictional books, his series is known as The Nostril series.

The Committee would like to welcome all our new members who have joined this year I do hope you have made new friends and caught up with old ones.

From time to time we have trips out to various places our next venture will be seeing Christmas lights in London with a fish and chip lunch, more news on this later.

Karen Cook

President Wilstead WI

All Saints Church

United in Faith Welcoming All

The services have been planned for July  as follows

Sunday 6th July 11.00 am

Morning Praise Helen Harbron-Applegarth

Sunday 13th July 11.00 am

Holy Communion  Rev Crispen Nyatsuro

Curate from Transfiguration Church, Kempston

Sunday 20th July 1.00 am

Morning Praise Helen Harbron-Applegarth

Sunday 27th July 11.00 am

Holy Communion Archdeacon of Bedford

Rt Rev Dave Middlebrook

The July  Coffee Morning is on Wednesday 16th July from 10.30 onwards.  It is planned to be at Jackie Lloyd's house, 41A Luton Road.  This is dependent on the weather of course. If it is wet it will be in the Chapter House.

Looking ahead to August we are planning a Pets Blessing Service at Church on Sunday 10th August at 3pm. Bring your 4 legged friends along to join us. More details in the August Newsletter

Robert Heley

Wilstead Village Jumble Trail

Sunday 20th July 2025 12pm – 4pm

Clear your clutter, find some bargains, and enjoy a fun day out in our lovely village!

Visit HeBrews Café. Enjoy tea, coffee, and cake from 12pm at All Saints Church.

Additional Community Goodies:• Bedford Food Bank collection – packets, tins and jars welcome.  Pet food & accessories collection – donations go to animal rescue. Pet treats available.

Trail Maps:

Pick up a map of participating homes.

On Facebook: Wilstead Jumble Trail & Events

at All Saints Church. Displayed around the village on the day.

Please Note:

All buyers and sellers participate at their own risk.

The organisers accept no liability. Please comply with all relevant laws, including parking rules and regulations about what can be sold and to whom.

Let's make it a fantastic and fun Wilstead Jumble Trail!

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