Parish Broadband News . Open
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PARISH BROADBAND NEWS . We have been advised by iNorthumberland that Longhirst has been included in their phase 2 fibre optic broadband contract with BT. This means that there is a very reasonable chance that the centre of the Village and Micklewood (the 135 properties connected to the Ulgham exchange) will have access to fibre broadband by the end of 2017. Excellent news as long as it happens! This leaves us with wireless broadband as the best long term solution for the remaining 94 properties in the Parish and for any of the 135 who wish to use a faster service in the meantime. Briskona are currently finalising their proposals for our local network and these should be known shortly. For further information please contact Peter Coates (l). The Parish Broadband Working Group OPEN GARDENS AND CHURCH FLOWER FESTIVAL WEEKEND . LONGHIRST’S BIG WEEKEND – MAKE SURE YOU ARE PART OF IT! SATURDAY 4 th and SUNDAY 5 th JULY is the Open Gardens and Church Flower Festival Weekend when the sun shines in Longhirst, metaphorically if not actually, our community pulls together to put on a quite spectacular event and everyone has a great time! The main activities for the Weekend are :- FRIDAY 3 rd , 7pm in St. John’s Church – Service of Praise to which all are welcome. SATURDAY 4 th , 11am – 5pm and SUNDAY 5 th , 11am – 4pm 10 Village gardens open and Flower Festival in the Church. Morning coffee , stalls including plants and ice cream, classic cars on display (Sat), games and childrens activities all at Barnacre. Homemade lunches and teas together with craft displays and sales at the Village Hall. Entertainment by Mid Northumberland Chorus each afternoon and a Silent Auction running throughout the weekend for the floral arrangements in the Church. Grand Raffle drawn at 4pm on Sunday. If we haven’t managed to involve you, just come along with your family and friends and soak up the atmosphere. Tickets are £5 a day and £8 for the weekend, with accompanied children free and dogs on leads welcome. A big ‘thank you’ in advance for the skills, enthusiasm and just plain hard work that so many give freely to enable this wonderful Weekend to take place. PAGE 1 Here is a check list for the few weeks beforehand:- NOW! – get posters to put up at work, school, sports centre, Church, shop etc. Contact Jill (y) Friday 12 th June 7pm in the Village Hall – gathering of everyone hoping to be involved over the Weekend for a general briefing, final distribution of publicity material and last minute arrangements! Jill (y) Saturday 27 th June – ‘ Clean-up day’ around our own homes and the Parish. Litter pickers needed and volunteers to clean the Church. Chris Lediard (r) Monday 29 th June – Friday 3 rd July The flower arrangers will be working in the Church. It is not too late to volunteer your help and support by donating your time, flowers or cash. Jill (y) Plant Sales – deliver plants you have for sale to Barnacre. Linda (i) Refreshments – get all your baking done for the now well-known delicious homemade refreshments served in the Village Hall. Carol Robson (o) Signage – Can you help on Friday evening to put up signs? Mike Elphick(c) PLEASE NOTE In order to avoid congestion and improve safety, cones will be put out to stop parking on the east side of the Main Street and the north end of the west side. The cones will be put out Saturday morning and removed Sunday evening. Please do not park in the restricted area or you may incur a parking fine. Linda Rudd (i) and Jill Elphick (y) LONGHIRST GARDEN ASSOCIATION . In this edition I am looking at Photographs and Crafts. Photographs :- There are ten classes in the photographic section, all in colour and measuring no more than 35 square inches eg. 5” x 7”. Six of these classes are fixed:- Landscape, Seascape, Person/People , Building/s, Animal/s and Plant/s. Four classes are fluid and this year they will be Texture, a Selfie, Close-up, and Shadow/s. In addition there is an Open Class for a black and white or colour photograph of any size and this is judged by the public visiting the Show. For the 100 th anniversary feature we invite people to enter an old black and white photograph of any subject which will again be judged by the public. These photos can be enlarged or enhanced but should feature a scene from as close to 100 years ago as can be obtained. Crafts :- There are seven classes here :- a Piece of Embroidery, a Hand Knitted Item, a Stitched or Sewn Item, a Three Dimensional Model, a Painting, a Drawing and Any Other Craft Item For the anniversary we would like any craft item which might have been made 100 years ago . We hope these classes will be of interest to all in Longhirst, both old and new residents, and hope to see as much participation as possible. For any queries please contact either Bob Jackson (p) or Gill Featonby (h). Bob Jackson PAGE 2 PARISH COUNCIL REPORT . Notes from the Parish Council AGM on 14 th May. The Chairman of the PC gave a review of events covering the previous 12 months. The issues that electors raised were ongoing and were to be discussed in the following PC meeting. The AGM was then opened with all Councillors present and five members of the public. Bob Jackson retired as Chairman and thanked those present for their support and efforts during the years he had served as Chair. Catherine Farrell was elected the new Chairman and Richard Tordoff the Vice Chairman. Catherine then thanked Bob for all his years of service to the Parish Council. There has been no further news regarding the grain drier and concern over the increase in traffic was again voiced. The annual accounts were accepted by everyone and at present it appears that the costs for the year ahead will be less than the previous year. The planning applications considered at the last meeting have been passed but one is still to be confirmed. There were some new planning applications to be considered which caused some concern and the Clerk was asked to seek advice before submitting a response. The latest information regarding the opencast sites in our Parish, namely Potland Burn and Butterwell Disposal Point, show that Butterwell Disposal Point have now finished coaling but are still extracting brick shale for the building trade. This has resulted in a shorter working week and the time scale for completion is on target. Concern had been raised at the lack of public access in the restoration plans and this is being looked into with the planners. Potland Burn have submitted an application to NCC to extract more coal at the far end of the site where they had originally not intended to mine. The profits from this extra coal will help towards the cost of the restoration and will be completed within the current time frame already allowed. The C126 will be re-opened by Christmas . Peter Coates gave the Council a rundown of the latest news concerning the provision of improved broadband for the Parish (see page 1). There was a letter from Groundworks who have recently improved the pit heaps in Pegswood and Ashington and they asked for our support. We all agreed to support this worthwhile cause. Gill Featonby mentioned that she now has some support re her request to help with maintenance of footpaths and bridleways within the Parish. The next meeting of the PC will be held on Thursday 2 nd July at 7pm in the Village Hall. All residents are welcome to attend. Catherine Farrell RECOMMENDED TRADESMEN . Matthew Boutflour, plumbing and heating engineers , contact on 07723326842 or [email protected]. Window Paramedics, curing your panes – all PVC repairs/problems . Telephone 01670 820864 or check out on www.windowparamedics.co.uk . Jill and Mike Elphick PAGE 3 VILLAGE HALL NEWS . Charges for the hire of Longhirst Village hall remain pegged at last year’s rates. For residents of Longhirst Parish, the Reading Room can be hired for £6 per hour or the Sports Hall for £8 per hour. To hire both rooms only costs £14 per hour and all these charges include use of the Kitchen for drinks and snacks (fairly traded coffee, tea, hot chocolate & sugar are provided but bring your own milk ) and use of the chairs, tables, cutlery, crockery and glasses. If you want a Bar at your event we have to charge an additional £25 for the Alcohol License and there is an extra one-off charge of £6 per event for use of the cooker. Charges for people and groups from outside the Parish are a little higher and we charge businesses and the Government considerably more. A list of all the charges can be found on the notice board in the Foyer of the Village Hall. If you want to hire the Hall just give our secretary, Mike Elphick a ring on (01671) 790 764. The Longhirst Parish Association Trustees MORPETH AND DISTRICT RED SQUIRRELS . During the Easter Bazaar at the Village Hall I was approached by some Longhirst residents who seemed uncertain about how MADRS is functioning. There also seems to have been some doubt cast over the group’s continuation. It may be helpful to clarify our position. Many people who live the village will know MAD RS was formed in 2012 following a public meeting at Longhirst Hall. This was in response to the closure of a former red squirrel conservation group and demonstrated the strength of feeling that the work was too valuable to abandon.