It was a great pleasure to present the 2020 Alan Duggin Memorial Conservation Award to John O’Conner Grounds Maintenance who have been cutting the grass for us for more than 15 years.

The award is normally announced and presented at our AGM but due to the current constraints the presentation was made on the common. The award was accepted by Ian Evans on behalf of the company in front of a small group of local residents who regularly use the common.

With horns lane closed for some road works it was an oportunity for the estst to remove some dangerous and diseased trees. The felled trees will be dealt with in the comming weeks.

We very much hope that by mid-May the need for social distancing restrictions will have reduced significantly but as we cannot be sure, we have decided to cancel our AGM, scheduled for May 18^th.

We must however continue to follow the rules of the society which include the election of committee members and officers for the coming year and an annual report of our accounts. The AGM is also a time when we ask for new volunteers to join our committee.

Committee membership

I am very pleased to advise that the current committee members and officers are all willing to continue.

Given the current circumstances all the existing committee members will therefore be reappointed for a further year.  In addition, to avoid the need for a formal vote, any new volunteers who wish to join this year will be co-opted by the committee.

Annual Accounts

This year, in addition to the membership subscriptions which cover our annual running costs we received two significant donations. In September a donation from Red Kite Community Housing enabled the purchase of hand tools to use during our litter collections and work parties, and in March, thanks to Cllr Brian Pearce, we received a donation from Wycombe District Council to support the maintenance of the Woodland Walk.  We therefore remain financially heathy.

A report of our accounts will be prepared in the usual way by our treasurer, Phil Stagg. 

If you have any concerns about our decision to cancel the AGM please let our secretary (secretary@bookercommon.org.uk) and me (chair@bookercommon.org.uk) know.

Thank you for your continuing support.

The bluebells are out…

Thanks to all the litter pickers who helped out today for our Spring Litter Pick. It was an excellent turn out and the results of this mornings work are clear for all to see…

Thanks to the volunteers who joined our work party today more of the woodland edging has been cut back and two steel posts have also been installed to protect the entrance to the common

Thanks to our small band of volunteers work to control the edge of the woods has been started near the bench by the Coronation trees

A new notice installed outside the hall

Having prepared the ground and created a gap the estate have installed a height barrier to control vehicle access on to the common.

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In support of our efforts to eliminate dog waste and in particular the plastic bags that are being left on the common, an additional waste bin has been installed. This is adjacent to the layby at the junction of Lane End Road and Horns Lane. The new bin was installed by the Society but has been adopted by the Council who will take care of emptying it.

Material to reinforce the bund and help to protect the common delivered today ready for the weekend.

The weather was at last kind to us and we had a good turn out for our Autumn litter pick. So thanks to everyone who helped on Sunday and at other times over the weekend to keep the common and woods clear of litter.

Also a special thanks to for their support by providing funding for the litter pickers and rings for our volunteers to use.

Thanks to Wendy Sally and Tim for their hard work clearing a section of the triangle.

Unfortunately there were not enough of us to clear the whole area but the bottom part has been transformed…..

A date to clear the top section will be organised when we hope to see more volunteers helping us to maintain the common.

Thanks to Hughes and Salvidge who supplied the material and equipment, and Wayne who did the work, closure of the access used by the travellers to get on to the common has now been completed.

Thanks to a local resident a large pile of earth now fills the gap that was used by the travellers to access the common.

This will be smoothed over and become a permanent barrier as part of the existing bund.

A special thanks to the small band of local residents who were up early on Thursday Morning clearing rubbish left by the travellers. A fantastic effort and a job well done.

Thanks also to the Council who collected it the same day.

Thanks to the Police , our local Councillors and the Estate the Common has been reclaimed from the travellers who broke in and set up camp last Thursday.

Now we just have to clean up the mess.