Haydon Wick Admin

Do you enjoy driving and would like to help in your community?!  We are urgently seeking volunteer bus drivers.

Please click here for more information: COULD YOU DRIVE FOR US

2020 is the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII, so this year to mark Remembrance Sunday we would like to invite you to get involved with our community Poppy wall by simply printing a template and colouring. Then return to us at the Parish Council Office Post Box on Thames Avenue SN2 1QQ by Friday 30 October.

 Poppies are worn as a show of support for the Armed Forces community. The red poppy is a symbol of both Remembrance and hope for a peaceful future.

Join us for a bit of frightening fun and help create a petrifying Haydon Wick Halloween pumpkin walk!

Step 1: you put a Halloween drawing in your window

Step 2: kids dress up and hunt around the Parish looking for spooky window pictures

Step 3: Parents reward each drawing spotted with a treat!

Haydon Wick Council Members’ Allowances 2021-2022

The Local Authorities (Members’ Allowances) England Regulations 2003 state that:

Parish Councils may choose to pay their members an allowance, known as a ‘parish basic allowance’, to recognise the time and effort they put into their parish duties.  There is no obligation on the parish and town council to a pay such allowance. However, if a parish or town council wishes to pay such allowances, it should have regard to the recommendations from Swindon’s Independent Parish Remuneration Panel.

Swindon Borough Council appointed an Independent Remuneration Panel and they reviewed the issues of allowances for parish and town councils within Swindon.  The Panel has determined that it will use a formula (based on a percentage of the Borough Council’s Basic Allowance and electoral populations) to create a single recommendation in the form of a scale of allowances that can be applied to all parish and town councils in the Borough.  This scale is linked to any increase in Borough Council allowances which avoids the necessity of undertaking a review of parish allowances when the Borough Council’s levels of remuneration change.  The Panel last reviewed this formula at its meeting on 12 June 2015 in order to ensure its continuing relevance and appropriateness.  It concluded that the Panel’s previously adopted recommendations for parish and town council allowances be endorsed.

Recommendations for the 2021-2022 Municipal Year

Swindon’s Independent Remuneration Panel recommended Haydon Wick’s Councillor allowances for 21-22 be:

£1,757 Per Elected Member
£5,272 for the Chair
Cost approximately £35,141 per annum.

Haydon Wick Councillors are CURRENTLY paid:

£884 Per Elected Member
£1,643 for the Chair
Cost approximately £16,674.46 per annum.

As such, if Haydon Wick adopted SBC’s recommended allowance scheme this would represent an increase of 116.10%.

Haydon Wick’s Renumeration Decision

In August 2019 Haydon Wick’s Parish Councillor considered the Independent Remuneration Panel’s recommendations and unanimously agreed to decline SBC’s recommendations in favour of retaining their existing arrangement which is for any increase to be consistent with its own staff pay increases. The Council decided at the Full Council meeting on 22^nd September 2020 that the decision remains the same as last year, to decline SBC’s recommendations.

In accordance with Section 6 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 and with Haydon Wick Parish Council being classified as a smaller authority (where the higher of gross income or gross expenditure was over £25,000), it is a requirement that we complete Part 3 of the Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR). The AGAR gives the opportunity for electors and local taxpayers to see the Council’s accounting statements and governance arrangements which is then submitted to the appointed external auditor for their approval. The  Notice to view these statements and arrangements was published with a commencement date of Monday 15th June, ending on Friday 24th July.  Following approval by Full Council on 19 May 2020, the AGAR was submitted to the appointed external auditor for approval, in advance of the 31st July deadline.

As reported to Full Council on Tuesday 22^nd September 2020, Haydon Wick Parish Council has received Section 3 approved by the external auditor which confirms that it has successfully completed the Annual Governance and Accountability Return for the financial year 2019-20.

Click here to view: Section 3 – AGAR External Auditor Report & Certificate 2019_20

The newly refurbished Haydon Wick Skatepark opened to eagerly awaiting users and the community this week on Tuesday 1 September 2020 at 3pm. Skaters and scooters of all ages joined the Haydon Wick Parish Council employees and Councillors to showcase their Airwalk, Flip and Pop Shove-It moves. The Council is delighted with the positive community response, and Councillor Ellen Baker Lee, has said:

“It was great to see such a diverse group of young people enjoying the skate park. I was particularly struck by seeing the older skaters helping and encouraging the younger ones”.

The Council’s Parks & Projects Team started dismantling the previous skate park equipment at the end of May and the installation of the new skate park equipment continued in late June by overcoming COVID related delays and obstacles. Vice Chairman to the Council, Councillor Vinay Manro commented:

“From the initial consultation with our stake park users to the final design back in September 2019 to the finished skate park, hundreds of hours have gone into getting the skatepark ready as it is today. We have been pleased to see so many people using it on skate boards, scooters and bikes. This represents a significant investment into the new facility and we hope all users respect it and the surrounding area so it remains available for all to use for years to come”.

The new skate park is designed in such a way that it can be used with skateboards, scooters, bikes and wheelchairs and to suit a range of ages and abilities. Councillor Richard Hailstone, Chairman of the Amenities & Leisure Committee, has said:

“This project has been the result of a great team effort, and we hope that the new skatepark development will provide our community with a fun and exciting form of outdoor activity for everyone to enjoy for many, many years to come”.

The Council is chuffed with the community’s positive reaction to the completion of the project, and has exciting plans for future which include graffiti artist workshops, skateboarding workshops and competitions. It hopes to increase the community use of the facility with further development with local schools and specific user groups. Future installation of CCTV and solar powered lighting are being planned to help increase the hours of use during the darker winter months and to reduce any anti-social behaviour.

Have your say on how you would improve the open spaces within your community!

Haydon Wick Parish Council is consulting with residents, local business and visitors to help enhance the open spaces within its Parish. The purpose of the consultation is to identify the needs of the Parish and to ensure that there is adequate open space provision both now and in the future. The Council is keen to hear from residents, local businesses and even visitors to the Parish with their views on its open spaces and how they use them.

Open spaces include green open spaces that are used for ball games, children playing, scenic walking routes, exercising dogs, etc and the maintenance and enhancement to the 24 play parks Haydon Wick already has.

Local residents are being encouraged to complete the online survey which will help shape the open space across the community that they live in.

The Council will be receiving and reviewing the feedback from the consultation for the next 8 weeks, which may be extended considering the current challenges Covid-19 social distancing rules are determining.

The Chairman of the Amenities & Leisure Committee commented:

“We’re positive this Consultation will help deliver the Council’s vision to serve existing and future communities by guiding the improvements of existing open spaces. I would encourage residents to complete the survey expressing your views on the many and varied open spaces in the local area.”

This survey can be found on www.haydonwick.gov.uk and on the Council’s Facebook page Haydon Wick Council. Or by clicking on this link: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/T88C657. 

You can view the consultation poster here –SPRING 2020 OPEN SPACE CONSULTATION_

Pyramidal orchids growing in the reduced mowing area at Hyssop Close. There is also a good display of ox – eyed daisies. Better results than expected in the first few months of leaving the area fallow!

Thank you to Helen (one of our keen residents who is helping us with the wildflower project) for taking this photo for us when keeping an eye on the area, offering advice and support.

Thank you to the Grass Team for maintaining and looking after the surrounding area and to Councillors Richard Hailstone and Sarah McDermott for the research and planning that has gone in to the creation of wildflower meadows.

Work commences on Haydonleigh Skate Park, Haydon Wick, Swindon

We are delighted to announce that works on the Haydonleigh Skate Park are now underway.

The Parks & Projects Team made a start on dismantling the previous skate park equipment at the end of May and prepared the grounds ready for the project to begin.

The project began this week with the installation of the dropped kerb; a temporary measure that is needed to safely transport the new equipment to site.The next stage is preparing the ground in readiness for the installation of the new skate park equipment and the proposed installation should start by the end of June.  Due to the Covid-19 outbreak there have understandably been delays to the start of this project as our partners have been working with limited resources.  However we are hopeful that once the wheels are in motion and installation is underway it will be a matter of weeks before the new skate park is complete.

The new skate park is designed in such a way it can be used with skateboards, scooters, bikes and wheelchairs and to suit a range of ages and abilities. You can view the 3D model so that you can see just how much of an impressive structure this will be within our parish by following this link:  https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/415-haydonwick-tenderdesign-annotated-1164b2e754244ffc9f259dcfa7d38f8f

Once complete, we hope that we open the park safely and in line with the latest Government guidance at the time.  More about this as the installation progresses.