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Arlesey Neighbourhood Plan A referendum will be held on 30th November as to whether to accept the Arlesey Neighbourhood Plan as a consideration for planning applications within the Arlesey parish . As distinct from the Arlesey Cross Masterplan and the Draft Local Plan for Central Bedfordshire , the Neighbourhood Plan has been put together by a group of local residents and councillors following extensive consultation with the local community . The result is a set of policies that reflect the views of the people of Arlesey .
ATC urges all registered electors to vote on Thursday 30th November 2017 ; voting cards will be distributed by Central Bedfordshire Council .
A positive vote will mean that the Neighbourhood Plan will become a material consideration for all planning decisions in Arlesey going forward .
A negative vote will mean that planning decisions will continue to only consider policies set by Central Bedfordshire Council and central government .
A full copy of the plan can be viewed online at http :// bit . ly / 2yvUyMn or copies are available in the ATC office .
Christmas Lights One or two eagle-eyed residents may have noticed the Christmas Lights being tested during October ahead of the forthcoming festive season . Our engineers have completed their service and the lights are all set for the switch on which is scheduled for Saturday 25th November 2017 . The event is being managed by the Arlesey Community Events Group and also coincides with a Christmas Fayre that is being held in the Village Hall .
Draft Local Plan for Central Bedfordshire CBC announced last month that they are planning to bring forward the timetable for the submission of their new Local Plan . Due to proposed changes to government policy on calculating required housing numbers , CBC are now planning to submit the Local Plan in March 2018 rather than June , which means that there will be a shortened second consultation period on a further draft now due to be published in January .
The draft plan includes proposals to allocate further land to the east of Arlesey as a potential site for another 2,000 homes , this is in addition to the 1,400 proposed by the Arlesey Cross Masterplan . ATC opposes this and has made representations and comments which can be found at http :// bit . ly / 2yxQrRY
MUGA Refurbishment We reported last month that our planning application for the refurbishment of the Multi-Use Games Area next to the Community Centre had been approved . At the time of writing , we are waiting for confirmation that our application for a grant from the Football Foundation has been approved .
Work on the project , which is a joint venture with Arlesey Town Youth Football Club , is due to start early in 2018 .
Enter the Dragon – Fly
A SHORT STORY BY STEVE MADDOX FROM THE 1980 ’ S . THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED TO ME
Back in the summer of 1983 , my wife and I were looking forward to the arrival of our child . We had about a month until due date and the weather was very hot . After work one night I had gone to a golf lesson before arriving home . As I walked through the front door my wife called to me from the living room . Exhausted from stripping some wallpaper she said “ Steve . Quick come here and close the door !”
Thinking she had started labour , wanted a cup of tea or had some other emergency , I quickly opened the door and closed it behind me . “ I think there is a dragonfly in the hall . It buzzed around earlier and I came in here out of the way . Get rid of it please ”
For the next hour I displayed an amazing show of ineptitude trying to catch or usher out the dragonfly that sounded like a mixture if a helicopter , moped and a masonry drill . I tried trapping it with a broom , throwing things at it as it rested on the polystyrene tiles on the ceiling and even tried sweeping it out the window with a towel . It was getting mad . I had woken the beast and it was going to retaliate . It flexed it ’ s wings and took off . I had never seen such a large dragonfly . So I took off as well . Back to the sanctuary of the living room . My heart was thumping . “ Has it gone ?” said Julie . Not wanting to sound pathetic I replied “ Not yet but I think I ’ m wearing it out ”. I put my ear to the door and could hear no buzzing . So I opened the door and went gingerly back to the battlefield . I looked around checking the walls and ceilings as I turned the corner at the bottom of the stairs . Suddenly there it was on the ceiling again at the top of the landing . Out of reach of
everything except for the broom . So I stalked up the stairs with the broom in front if me like a soldier in the field with his rifle and bayonet at the ready .
I pounced on the top step and pinned it to the ceiling with the head of the broom . It buzzed as it struggled . “ Oh No !” I thought to myself . “ what do I do now ?” It flexed and struggled again . If I withdrew the broom it would attack . If I could just get it to stay on the broom and push it toward the open window it would be gone . But what if it got free ? I was stuck . All I could do was twist the broom , drop it and hope I could pin it down on the stairs and then try and capture it . So in one swift movement I did it . “ Ha ha you ’ re done for !” I had captured it . Eventually I got rid of the huge dark brown flying thing and we could sit down and get on with our evening . I was worn out but triumphant . We had dinner . Watched some television and then went off to bed .
As it was still hot and muggy we had the windows open . With the main road outside traffic went past all the time . My wife sat in bed reading . I lay dozing off in the heat . Just as I was drifting into a restful state of oblivion I heard it ! It had come back !
I sat bolt upright in bed . Shouting and flailing about to bat away the huge dragonfly . Slapping my head all over in an effort to deflect the beast . It was getting louder ! Neeeaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh !!!
It was all around my head . As I opened my eyes wide another sound filtered through the mayhem . It was giggling . My wife said “ What ’ s wrong ?” “ It ’ s back ! The dragonfly ’ s back !” She replied “ You prat ! It was was a moped .” Through the increasing but stifled laughter I heard the small engined motorbike slowly disappear from earshot down the Stotfold Road .
6 on the button issue 63 November 2017 | 01462 834265 | onthebutton . online @ gmail . com | www . on-the-button . co . uk