Challenges and opportunities

Chairman’s message from the latest issue (no. 195)
of Chiltern News magazine.

This year heralds a new decade with fresh challenges and opportunities: so what might be in store for our Society?

Can you believe it’s 10 years since some of our more indefatigable members launched the Chiltern Way as the Millennium Project for the Society? Now we can celebrate the 10th anniversary of a successful project and give it a facelift for the next decade. Members of the Cycle Group have covered many miles to find a satisfactory route for a Chilterns Cycleway and this will be launched jointly with the Chilterns Conservation Board during the summer. See this magazine and the Society website for future plans and celebrations concerning both these events.

Elsewhere, look out for the Ewelme Watercress Beds in a programme about watercress to be shown on BBC2 during the spring. Meanwhile, the Rivers and Wetlands Group will be working with the Environment Agency and seeking to build their skills during 2010 by measuring river flow rates.

Congratulations are also due to the Path Maintenance Volunteers in both Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire as they continue to replace stiles with gates and improve access to the rights of way network for both older and younger people in our community. The Oxfordshire volunteers have secured a £12,000 grant from The Trust for Oxfordshire Environment, which will keep them busy for a few years and the Buckinghamshire team have celebrated their 200th gate installation funded by member donations.

These are both excellent examples of Society volunteers working with their respective County Councils to improve the path network for the benefit of the whole community, which seems to me to encapsulate the Society ethos.

There will be many challenges ahead, but one already stands out for 2010 – called ‘the year of the High Speed train’ by Lord Adonis, the Transport Secretary. A report has been lodged with the Government who will produce a White Paper in the spring, but the basic proposition is already clear. If taxpayers invest £60bn to create a mass transport system between London, Birmingham and the main cities of the North, then the economic and environmental benefits to the country as a whole will be irresistible. The downside to this rosy picture is that the four tracks seem destined to cut a swathe through the middle of the Chilterns, with 200mph trains running every fifteen minutes.

Transport policy as envisaged, with a third runway at Heathrow or reorganised flight paths in the North Thames region, has already divided members, and we would like to know what Society members think of this additional or alternative proposal. Are members ready for a full debate on the future shape of the Government’s transport policy for the South East in relation to the Chilterns? Read the Government report and let us know what you think is the correct approach.

Finally, please consider the volunteer vacancies listed here and contact Geoff Wiggett or Jenny Gilmore, who will be pleased to hear from you and can explain what is involved. These roles are very interesting for those who care for the Chilterns and are prepared to get involved in managing the issues facing us.

John Taylor
Chairman
Chiltern Society

 
John Taylor