Images from 2019 and 2020 editions of this newsletter
Deadline for the May 2024 newsletter is 25 April
Parish Council Meeting: Thursday 18 April
The next Parish Council meeting will be held on Thursday 18 April at 8pm in the village hall. Any member of the public who would like to raise an issue to be discussed at this meeting should contact the Clerk.
Members of the public who would like to attend this meeting should register with the Clerk prior to the meeting. Contact: Lisa Lathane, Clerk to the Parish Council:
Update On Temple Dinsley (PHC)
It is hoped the Planning Application for Temple Dinsley (PHC) will be submitted in May. It is expected that there will be 60 + dwellings in total on the site with 45 of these being apartments of varying sizes in the main house. The sports hall and the science block will be demolished and new dwellings, again of varying sizes, will be built in the immediate vicinity to the same volume. Other buildings in the grounds will be converted to dwellings. Parking locations are still being discussed with NHDC and Historic England. A traffic and transport survey has already been undertaken which shows that the proposed dwellings will generate less traffic than the school did and will be spread out, rather than everything arriving and departing within a short time frame. There will be drop in sessions in the village hall so Preston residents can view the plans and talk to the team working on the development.
Preston Primary School OFSTED Inspection
Following an Ofsted inspection in February, Preston Primary school maintained its good overall rating with behaviour and attitudes graded outstanding. The report states pupils thrive at Preston Primary School. They approach lessons with enthusiasm and are eager to learn. This helps them to reach the high expectations the school has of them. The report says the school has designed a curriculum that is ambitious for what pupils will achieve and the school constantly seeks to find ways of developing the education and experiences of its pupils.
The full report is on the school’s website: https://www.prestonjmi.herts.sch.uk/
Open Gardens And Tea: St Pauls Waldenbury: Sunday 28 April 2.00 -5.00 p.m
Would anyone be able to make a cake or two to sell with the tea? Whatever you enjoy making will be gratefully received. All proceeds to St Martin’s Church. Cakes can be delivered to
They will also collect cakes if necessary.
St Martin’s Church and All Saints’ Church Services
| Sunday 7th April
|
10.00am
|
St Martin’s Joint Service of Holy Communion
Acts 4: 32 – 35 John 20: 19 – the end |
| Sunday 14th April
|
8.00am
11.00am |
All Saints Holy Communion (BCP)
No 9.30 service at St Martin’s All Saints Sunday Praise Acts 3: 12 – 19 Luke 24: 36b – 48 |
| Tuesday 16th April | 9.40am | Informal prayers and quiet time followed by coffee |
| Sunday 21st April | 9.30am
11.00am |
St Martin’s Family Service
All Saints Holy Communion Acts 4: 5 – 12 John 10: 11 – 18 |
| Sunday 28th April
|
9.30am
11.00am |
St Martin’s Holy Communion
Acts 8: 26 – end John 15: 1 – 8 All Saints Holy Communion (followed by APCM at midday) |
| Tuesday 30th April | 9.40am | Informal prayers and quiet time followed by coffee |
Team Vicar of St Paul’s Walden with Preston:
Letter From The Vicar
Dear All,
Easter is just behind us, the wonderful celebration of new life that comes from the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. What had been dark and distressing and hopeless became by that event the grounds of hope for all, not just then but for all time.
Easter may be behind us, but it is also and always in front of us, the promised light in the darkness, an inspiration surely to retain our hope whatever is going on in the world.
And my goodness, there are horrors everywhere. On the world stage, in war – brutal and unyielding, bringing unspeakable terrors. And nationally, a sense of widespread division, mistrust and cynicism. I don’t have the answer to these international catastrophes of war, or to our national divisions. But I do know that we are one humanity, it is the being human that unites us, and it is vital that whatever our differences, and however they play out, we should place respect for one another’s humanness at the deep heart of what we do. Jesus said, My peace I give you, my peace I leave with you. It is the deep peace that sees and respects the divine image in every other human.
I am sure you will agree with me that there is really an enormous amount to be thankful for in our lives. And we must focus on this because what we focus on grows.
Let us thank God for his many blessings to us every day, even as we do what we can to lessen hardship that we see others facing.
With every blessing
Stephen
St Martin’s Church 150 Club 2024/2025
The winners in the first draw (March) in the 2024/25 150 Club (£30 each) were:
No. 20 Mrs J E Plotnikov
No. 65 Mrs S Brignell
There are a few unsold tickets and we welcome any more participants – tickets cost £20 for the year, with 25 or more prizes of £30. This is an important source of income for St Martin’s church to help maintain the building and churchyard. 
Herts Connected To Replace The Owl System
Hertfordshire Constabulary will discontinue the OWL System (Online Watch Link) on 31st March. A new community messaging system called Herts Connected replaces OWL and messages will become active from 1st April 2024.
You can choose to receive free messages from Police, Neighbourhood Watch and other agencies. The link below is available for registration now https://hertsconnected.co.uk
Residents currently signed up to OWL will receive messages until 31st March.
Once logged in be sure to “Edit your interests” and tick the “Police” box to ensure you receive the police messages.
Cyber and Fraud Awareness Event: Hitchin Library on Friday 19th April
Stay safe and secure online. All day drop-in with cyber & fraud crime prevention experts to answer your questions. Password & 2-step verification, phishing, text scams and other top tips.
11.00 – 12.30 – Cybercrime & Fraud Prevention – Herts Police
12.45 – 13.45 – Rogue Traders & Scams – Trading Standards
14.00 – 15.00 – Scams & Victim Support – Beacon Victim Care
Drop in any time or join us for the above talks.
Parish Council Survey April 2024
Preston residents will be aware of the Working Group’s proposal to build a shop and coffee house on the old tennis court near The Dower House in the grounds of PHC. Russell Prince, the owner of PHC, will provide the tennis court for this purpose if the majority of the community and the Parish Council support the proposal.
The Working Group, an independent group of Preston residents, has recently been advised by NHDC that they should apply for pre-application advice on all possible locations within the village for the proposed facilities, including those which have been previously considered. NHDC will then comment on each site to enable the Working Group to decide which one they would take forward to a planning application. All the sites are on green belt land. The Working Group has decided that it will apply for pre-application advice for two sites: the old tennis court and Back Lane in the field to the right of Holly Cottages when facing them.
The Parish Council has decided that the best way to find out exactly how many people support the Working Group’s proposal is to undertake another survey in April. While the Parish Council doesn’t want residents to suffer from “survey fatigue,” it hopes that everyone will participate again to ensure that the Parish Council knows the views of the community on what is a very large project for the village. Everyone aged 18 or over living in the Parish will be eligible to participate in the survey. The response to the survey will ensure that the Parish Council has done its utmost to obtain the views of the community on the possible provision of a new build shop and coffee house in the parish.
The completed forms will give the exact number of people who do or do not support the Working Group’s proposal and is the purpose of this survey. It does not prevent any organisation or individual resident from investigating the provision of a shop in existing buildings should they become available at some point in the future if the proposal for new build facilities does not proceed.
Parish Councillors will hand deliver some relevant information and survey forms with envelopes for every adult in the Parish between April 1st and 23rd. An adult is anyone aged 18 or over and eligible to be on the electoral register. Parish Councillors will arrange a day and time to come back and collect the sealed envelopes from each household.
Any resident who is going to be away during April should contact Margaret Trinder by
who will make arrangements for them to complete the survey either prior to departure or on their return.
The envelopes will be opened at an Extraordinary Parish Council meeting to be held on Wednesday 24 April at 8pm in the village hall. The forms will be publicly counted by Lisa Lathane, Clerk to the Parish Council, who is not a resident of Preston. Anyone who would like to witness the count must book their place by contacting the Clerk by
by Friday 19 April.
The results of the survey will be circulated via PNS and the Parish Council database on Thursday 25 April and will be in the May newsletter.
Information relating to this proposal can be found on the village website:
www.prestonvillageherts.com/community-facilities-project
The Preston Trust: The 2024 ‘VILLAGE DAY’, Saturday JULY 6th
Please SAVE THE DATE!
Just a preliminary word or two re Our Annual Scarecrow Competition:-
1. A theme for the Competition, or not? Please let us know.
If you would like a theme to work to, can you suggest a theme which would be an interesting challenge for everyone? The committee will then consider your suggestions. 
2. The Scarecrow Trail: It was splendid last year to have so many entries, from all parts of the village. It made for an enjoyable and fascinating walk round!
Please remember that for those of you who live beyond the main village, ie School Lane near Ladygrove, Ladygrove, Hitchwood Lane, Poynders End, Hitchin Road, Sootfield Green or along Charlton Road, we will arrange a ‘Scarecrow Hotel’ site within the main village, in which your Scarecrow can be displayed.
3. Timing: We would very much like all the Scarecrow entries to be up and in position before noon on Saturday 6th until the evening of Sunday 7th, if possible, please. This gives us all sufficient time and opportunity to walk round The Trail, and judge your entries. And to be amused and amazed by them all!
Adrian, Jax, Liz, Rae, Vicky and Wal The Preston Trust committee
Three Walks along our Parish Boundary, this Summer, 2024?
Years ago, the clergy and laity of each parish used to walk, annually, along the boundary of their parish. This enabled everyone to know the extent of their land, and their rights and responsibilities as parishioners. This tradition was known as ‘Beating the Bounds’, and took place on Rogation Sunday in May.
In this parish, we have walked our boundary in 2012 and again in 2019. The PT committee is wondering whether our present parishioners would like to do this again this summer /autumn. Our small patch of the Chiltern landscape has different habitats, gentle slopes and really splendid views!
Due to the length of our boundary, we need to walk it in sections, on three different days. All three Walks would start and finish on The Green, and will last for c. 2 hours; the 3rd Walk for nearer 3 hours. We would like the group to be not less than 10 people and not more than 25. Accompanied youngsters over 10 years are very welcome. Fit and well behaved dogs on their leads are also welcome.
We need to assess the level of interest among our present parishioners for these Walks, before we plan any more details. Therefore, if you would like to participate, please make contact with Liz Hunter on 
, or drop a note into Rose Cottage’s letterbox, before Tuesday, April 9th. Many thanks.
Adrian, Jax, Liz, Vicky, Wal and Rae The Preston Trust committee