Preston Parish Council
Parish Council Meeting: Thursday 22 October
The next meeting of Preston Parish Council will be held on Thursday 22 October 2020 at 8pm via Zoom video conferencing. Any member of the public who would like to raise an issue to be discussed at this meeting should contact the Clerk. Anyone who would like to join in the electronic meeting should also contact Lisa Lathane, Clerk to the Parish Council by Friday 16 October. A link to join the meeting will be emailed about 15 minutes before the meeting is due to start.
Road Works On School Lane
The Parish Council has been informed by Hertfordshire Highways that School Lane will be closed for road works sometime after 19 October. This will be from the junction with Crunnells Green, which will remain open, and the junction with Church Lane. The Parish Council will provide residents with further information when it becomes available.
Area Opposite Recreation Ground Gate
The area opposite the Recreation Ground gate is registered as Wastes of the Manor and owned by the Parish Council. This piece of land was becoming increasingly unsightly and very muddy in the winter as a result of vehicles being parked there so the Parish Council has installed some short recycled posts, with reflectors for visibility in the dark, to prevent parking.
The area behind the posts will be planted within the next few weeks and when the foliage is fully established to become part of the verge, the posts will be removed and the holes filled in, although this will take considerable time.
Openreach have agreed that their vehicles will park in front of the Recreation Ground gate.
Planning For The Future Consultation
The Government consultation on planning is now open and can be accessed at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/planning-for-the-future.
Details of how to respond are included. The closing date is: 11:45pm on 29 October 20.
St Martin’s Church
Readings and services for October
Please note that during the works at St Martin’s all services will be held at All Saints’ Church, St Paul’s Walden at 10am
| Sunday 4th October | Harvest Festival |
| 2 Corinthians 9:6-15 | |
| Luke 12:22-31 | |
| Sunday 11th October | 18th Sunday after Trinity |
| Philippians 4:1-9 | |
| Matthew 22:1-14 | |
| Sunday 18th October | Luke the Evangelist |
| Holy Communion | |
| Isaiah 35:3-6 | |
| Luke 10:1-9 | |
| Sunday 25th October | Last Sunday after Trinity |
| Colossians 3:12-17 | |
| Matthew 24:30-35 | |
| Sunday 1st November | All Saints Day |
| Holy Communion | |
| 1 John 3:1-3 | |
| Matthew 5:1-12 |
Team Vicar of St Paul’s Walden with Preston:
St Martin’s Church 120 Club Draw 2020/2021
The winners in the September draw in the 2020/21 120 Club (£30 each) were:
No.112 Mr & Mrs G Arno
No.132 Mrs M McLeod
Beds & Herts Bike ‘N’ Hike – 12 September 2020
My sincere thanks to all the generous people who sponsored me on the Bike’n’Hike this year. With perfect weather I visited 25 churches (which sadly were not open due to Covid-19) and pedalled 40 miles. A total of £580.00 was raised.
Half of this will be donated to St. Martin’s here in Preston and the remainder to needy church projects in the diocese.
Many thanks, Ita
Letter From Our Vicar
COVID 19 has driven a coach and horses through our usual certainties, has upset our customary security. We know, if we are honest, that security is a bit precarious at the best of times – that suddenly you can be redundant, or bereaved, or left by your partner, or getting a very poor harvest as a farmer, or an economic crisis suddenly hits. But the pandemic, an unexpected and external enemy, has disrupted our usual certainties in a random, harsh and unprecedented way. And the effects on families, communities and businesses have been drastic and for many incomprehensible.
One of the questions which it may raise is: where do we find a place of security, where is the firm ground to stand on? If we accept that everything passes eventually, we have to look for an enduring foundation. Something immune from the changes and chances, the ups and downs, of every day life.
Christians believe that God is the eternally dependable one, and that Jesus embodies the dependability of God. You can trust him wholeheartedly. To trust in him is to trust that in the end “all shall be well”. To trust that the overruling dependable hand of God is at work.
Every day I invite us to place our trust in the one who says: “Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will refresh you” (Matthew 11: 28-29)
With prayers and blessings
Stephen
Colin Cashin
Thank you for all the kind messages of sympathy received after Colin sadly passed away on the 31st August. They are very much appreciated by us. His funeral took place at Harwood Park Crematorium on the 10th September and only close family and a few friends could attend because of the restrictions placed upon us by Covid 19.
Margaret Cashin and family.
Open Gardens 2021
Would you be willing to be part of a team to help to organise the very popular Open Gardens event for 2021?
We really hope that this hugely popular event can go ahead next year, even if there will need to be some changes to the usual format due to any restrictions that might be in place at the time.
Meta, Liz and Pam will not be running the event, but would be very willing to pass on any help and tips that a new team might want, and to offer general advice.
It might be that a new team come up with a completely different idea for the day, but if it is to go ahead the car park at PHC has to be reserved in October this year.
If you think you would like to be part of a team to help with this event, please contact us.
Neighbourhood Watch
The number to contact at North Herts Police for all non-emergencies (including witnessing of fly-tipping) is 101 or 01707 354000.
For removal of fly tipping which has already occurred, call NHDC 01462 474000 or online at www.north-herts.gov.uk, then follow the links to Transport and Streets, Street Cleaning and Fly Tipping where there is a form to complete to report the details.
PC Johnie Streeter and PCSO Heather Burrows can be contacted regarding local community issues. Their contact details are as follows:
PC Johnie Streeter: 07525 905431 or 01438 757604 Johnie.streeter@herts.pnn.police.uk
PCSO Heather Burrows: 07740 745168 or 01438 757604 or heather.burrows@herts.pnn.police.uk
In the event of an emergency or if you witness a crime taking place please call 999.
Reporting suspicious activity
Please report any suspicious activity or vehicles you may witness in the locality.
Call the police on the non-emergency number 101 or report it online by using the website www.herts.police.uk/report and follow the links.
Hitchin Foodbank
Thank you again to all who continue to donate so generously to the foodbank. This is an up-to-date list of items which the foodbank does and does not require at this time:
biscuits; cereal bars; tinned fish; sweets; dried milk; dried potatoes. The foodbank currently has sufficient stocks of pasta, soup, beans, tinned vegetables and vegetarian foods.
Please ensure items are undamaged and in date. Donations can be deposited in the blue box in the garage at Lychgate House, Church Lane, or at Waitrose and Sainsbury’s
COVID 19: Preston Help Line
Preston Parish Council and The Preston Trust would like to remind Preston residents that the helpline continues to be available during the on-going corona virus situation.
The phone line will be monitored daily from 8.00am to 8.00 pm.
Please note that the answer phone will pick up calls coming in after 8pm and the caller will be linked to a volunteer the following day.
Please stay safe and remember to follow the latest Government guidance, including social distancing when out and about.
COVID-19 and the Newsletter
Producing our Parish Newsletter is a community initiative. Between us, we have taken steps to protect both the volunteers who produce and deliver as well as our readers. We have reduced the number of people involved in production – Howard edited the newsletter and e-mailed it as a Word file for printing; Rae and Wal printed, folded and sorted into delivery rounds this month; each delivery round was laid out separately for contact free collection.