Parish Council Notices 

Local Elections

The local elections will soon be upon us and the Parish Council will have 11 vacancies. Anyone wishing to stand for election may do so, further information is available here.

Voter ID

For the May local elections you'll need to show ID at the Polling Station, detils of acceptable forms of identification can be found here.

** HOWARD CLOSE **

The Parish Council have been advised by Bedford Borough Council, as the local planning authority, that if somebody has an issue regarding a suspected planning breach, then the appropriate way to engage with the enforcement process is through the local authority. Full details are available on the Borough Council website, search 'Report a planning breach'. 

The Borough Council will investigate a matter when reported through the website form, the council will not action direct emails to Borough Officers. All reports are treated in confidence. 



Wilstead Ready to Celebrate our New King

King Charles III's coronation will be held on Saturday 6th May 2023, and Monday 8th May has been announced as a Coronation Bank Holiday. The Parish Council would be pleased to support any group in the village who'd like to organise a village celebration. The Jubilee Centre and Jubilee Field have been reserved for the event and a small budget has been set aside to assist financially. Anyone who'd like to organise such an event should get in thouch with the Parish Office.

Tea Party

This years Tea Party is Wednesday 1st March, if you'd like to get involved or can assist with catering please speak to Nigel Jacobs 01234 400733.

Wilstead Newsletter 

The January Edition can be found here.  

Bedfordshire PCC

The PCC is consulting with residents on their 2023/24 budget, details here. 

2023 Bin Collections

This years schedule can be found here. 

Wilstead Neighbourhood Plan

Wilstead Neighbourhood Plan is now to be put to a vote on Thursday 24th November. Voting will take place at Wilstead Village Hall.

Voters will be asked if the Neighbourhood Plan should be used to determine planning applications in the Parish. If the majority of votes are YES then the Plan will be 'made' by the Borough Council and will hold as much weight in decision making as the Bedford Borogh Local Plan. This means that future planning will be influenced by the views of residents collected over the last couple of years which form the basis of our plan. If the result is No, then the Borough will determine what happens. 

Please vote to ensure that your say counts. 

What is a Neighbourhood Plan?

Quite simply a way for communities to have a say in the future of the places they live and work. A copy of our plan can be found on the Neighbourhood Page of this website.  

Next Parish Council Meeting

The next meeting will take place at 7pm on Monday 9th January at the Jubilee Centre. The agenda is posted here. 

External Audit 

The Parish Council is very pleased to be able to confirm that the external audit has been satisfactorily completed, with no issues found. Documentation can be found here for the completion notice, here for the annual governance return and here for the external completion letter.  


Access to Wilstead Woods

Residents of Wilstead have Permissive Access to Wilstead Woods and this is being endangered by off road and quad bikes being ridden through the woods and along the Carriage Drive.

If you know who is doing this please ask them to stop.

If they don't there is a real possibility that public access to the woods will be stopped. The current permission is for pedestrian access only.

If you see anyone riding a motorbike or quad bike (anything with a noisey engine) going into the woods please report it to the Police by phoning 101 and let the Parish Council know. 

Updated Planning Portal

BBC have amended the planning portal and guidance notes may be found here. 

Wilstead Neighbourhood Plan - Examiner's Report

The proposed plan has been reviewed by the independent examiner and his comments can be seen here. 

Self Build

Have you ever considered building your own home? If so you might want to check out this document where Bedford Borough Council invite you to join their property register. 

Local Plan

Following consultation with residents you can view the Parish Council's response to the 2040 Local Plan here. 

Community Policing

The current Police priorities for July to September can be found here. 

Audit Notice 2022

The latest Audit Notice may be found here. The audit has been satisfactorily concluded and the statement of accounts is published here. The Annual Governance and Accountability return is here and the Audit Report is here. Residents have rights of inspection of these documents. Please get in touch with the Clerk to organise. The Parish Office is open every Monday from 9am to Noon and is to the rear of the Village Hall. 

Wanted: Parish Councillors

Please come and help shape your village. Are you interested in the life of Wilstead, your local environment, recreational facilities, local transport, planning and housing issues, just a few of the areas where we get involved to help make a difference to our community. 

We currently have one vacancy, will you come and join us? 

If you'd like more details please get in touch with Lizzie and see this notice. An application form can be found here. 

Next Parish Council Meeting

The next Parish Council meeting has been postponed until Monday 26th September. The agenda can be viewed here.

Community Policing

PCSO 7013 Stephen Tarabella has joined the team working alongside PC Craig Bond covering Group 6 Villages. These are Cardington, Cople, Eastcotts, Elstow, Kempston Hardwick, Ravensden, Renhold, Stewartby, Willington, Wilstead and Wixams. 

Register of Interests

The Register of interests may be found here. 

External Web Links 

Throughout our site you will find links to external websites. Although we make every effort to ensure these links are accurate, up to date and relevant we cannot take responsibility for pages maintained by external providers. We take no responsibility for information contained on external links from this website and and views expressed are not necessarily those of the Council itself. 

Reporting Incidents to the Police

There are a few ways to report incidents and information to the Police:

The first is 999 or 101 depending on the immediacy of the situation.

The police have an online reporting function.

There is also CrimeStoppers for anyone who wants to give information without providing their details. 

The local community team can be contacted by email. Please can this only be used to get in touch with the team or to let them know of any events taking place, as this isn't to be used for reporting of crime or intelligence. 

Click here for Bedford Rutal CPT Facebook page. 

And finally, click here for North Bedfordshire's Police Twitter page.

Bin Collections

Bedford Borough Council will no longer provide a bin collection schedule. You can download you calendar here. Please remember that orange sacks are also no longer provided, full updates are on the council website. 

Grants

If your run a not for profit organisation within the village then you may be able to apply for a grant from the Parish Council, application forms are available here. 

Other funding streams can be found here. 

 

New to Wilstead? 

Welcome to the village, there's lot going on to get involved with. For further information please see our village website which can be found here.