While having a new bench in this location is great, the closure of this project brings far more to celebrate. This seemingly simple initiative took the best part of four years to complete. How could that be?
The initiative was born through a collaboration between the GMPRG and the Prestwood Co-op at the end of 2019 to replace the Prestwood notice board and provide a bench. However, just as the project started, COVID stopped it.
As we began to emerge from isolation, the Notice Board shown below was installed but Buckinghamshire Council was considering various locations for EV charging points, Prestwood car park being one of them. The concern was that if chosen, the cabling for the project might need to run under the proposed bench location and no one wanted to install it only to have it ripped up again.
However, a few months ago, Buckinghamshire Council gave the go ahead to install the bench. The Parish Council helped the GMPRG team meet the licensing requirements, ALIGN offered to cover the cost of installation and the resin foundation, and Chesham Town Council Works team completed the job.
While this project took way longer than anticipated, it is testament to the resilience of the teams and their capacity to work together that it’s finally complete. As our learning increases, projects like this become easier and the sense of community grows. If you are interested in exploring how you could be part of a project like this, feel free to contact us at secretary@gmprg.org.uk. We would love to hear from you.