Petition Here
Please sign the petition to help us build Ollie's Hall.
We urgently need your help to deliver a new Scout hall for Aston Clinton and the surrounding villages.
1st Aston Clinton Scouts (covering Aston Clinton, Buckland, Drayton Beauchamp and Weston Turville) has never had a home of their own and we desperately need one.
At the moment we hire space to meet and store our equipment in a variety of cupboards, containers, lofts and garages.
We are oversubscribed and the limitations on space mean that we aren't able to accommodate all of the children who would love to join us.
We have been looking for a site since 2018 and we have now secured one! Located in a perfect position in the centre of the village, the land is adjacent to the park for outdoor activities and will enable as many of our members to walk or cycle to meetings as possible.
The Scout Hall is to be known as Ollie's Hall in memory of Ollie Gardiner who sadly died of a brain tumour in 2017 aged just 13. Ollie was a keen Beaver, Cub and Scout and the Hall will be a lasting legacy in his memory
Although we have secured the land for Ollie's Hall, neither it nor the adjacent enabling development can be built without the agreement of Buckinghamshire Council as they control the access to both the houses and the Hall. There is also a restrictive covenant in place which prevents development on the land. This restrictive covenant can be released.
We know that this is the best and right location for our new Hall, but at the moment Buckinghamshire Council is refusing to consider allowing access. All local parish councils support the building of the Hall as do two of our 3 Unitary Councillors. An offer of £250,000 has been made to Bucks Council for the access.
The leader of the Conservative run council, Cllr Martin Tett, refuses to give any reason why they are opposed to this community project, despite having granted it planning consent (although the consent is useless without access).
>
We believe the decision made in relation to access should not be made by one or two people and should be debated and decided at a formal Council Committee meeting where there can be a democratic vote. If the Council is to block a proposal which offers clear community benefit then the community should have transparency as to why. We have therefore set up an online petition through Buckinghamshire Council's website to request that this happens. We therefore ask that if you are in favour of Ollie's Hall please go to the top of this page click on the button to link through to the petition where you can add your name. Anyone who lives, works or studies in Buckinghamshire can sign the petition and anyone in your household can also sign (regardless of age) Although we do not know how many signatures are needed, we need as many signatures as possible to force the council to debate this in a formal committee meeting.
Ollies Fund for Ollie Gardiner has generously donated £20,000 to the Scouts. We will be using these funds towards a new scout headquarters in the village in Ollies memory and the building will be called Ollie's Hall. Along with Ollie's contribution, funds from the Scout group and donations pledged by others we already have around £165,000 secured to kick start the fundraising for construction.
Everyone involved with scouting will tell you that the benefits
are overwhelming. Below are just some of the reasons for this:
• Developing young people outside of the classroom
• Engaging them in positive activities
• Skills for life
• Independence – packing their own bags, staying away from
home for the first time, cooking, tidying up
• Confidence
• Team working
• Motivation
• Mixing of age groups to build respect
• Big part of village community – Santa float, Christmas tree
collections, remembrance day parades etc….
•Part of offering a good start in life