northcrawley - Parish Council Bulletins

Bulletin - January 2026

Hello All! I thought I would start my initial bulletin by first introducing myself. Hi, I’m Laura, one of your village parish councillors. I have lived in the village since July 2020 but grew up not too far away in Great Brickhill. I have three young sons, the eldest of which has just started at the village school and my younger two are both at the local nursery. I am a qualified management accountant, currently working for TT Rockstars, which some of you with school-aged children may have heard of! I am also the treasurer for the FONS (Friends of North Crawley School).

I wanted to start this year off by firstly thanking a few people who do or have done so much for our community and who may not receive public recognition otherwise. All the parish councillors are volunteers who freely give their time and effort to keep our village running smoothly and are always thinking of the community.

Steve Garner, who wrote the previous bulletins and was our PC chair, along with Sheila Bushnell (former PC clerk) both did a brilliant job and served our community for many years.

I would also like to highlight our other councillors:

Jim Armstrong, who ran our “Carols at the Lychgate” for 2025 very successfully and maintains the flower beds by the bus stop.

Neils Kearney, who alongside Jim checks our SIDS (Speed Indicator Devices) and keeps our local defibrillator maintained.

Terry Smith, who is our PC expert on local history and walks our footpaths to report back on any maintenance needed.

And finally, our new Chair, Derek Harpur, who has been a councillor for many years; is the representative for highways, planning, trees and a member of the Neighbourhood Plan Implementation Group. He also maintains the ford at East End.

I would also like to highlight the IMC (Institute Management Committee). Having attended the meetings as the PC representative, they do a wonderful job of maintaining and running the institute. I would like to give a special mention to: Mark Rowe, the chair and sometimes handyman; Roz Hatton, the very knowledgeable secretary; Alison Flint, the detailed treasurer; and not forgetting Teresa Walker, the excellent lettings secretary. All these members of the IMC are not only willing volunteers but do a huge amount behind the scenes to keep the institute safe, maintained and running as a wonderful asset to our community.

The FONS charity ran an event in December called “Carols & a Cuppa” which invited all members from the local community to join the school children at the institute for a cup of tea and slice of cake while listening to them singing Christmas carols. The children loved singing to the wider community, and the feedback has been very positive so clearly the community loved to hear them! This was sponsored by the Parish Council as a community wide event. The FONS and PC are hoping to work together to run similar events in the future.

Our biennial survey is coming soon, we will release more details about how to complete the survey when available. We encourage all residents to complete the survey, as any feedback for the parish council is very useful and greatly appreciated.

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