Laverstock & Ford Parish Newsletter
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LaverstockLaverstock && FordFord IncorporatingIncorporating LaverstockLaverstock && MilfordMilford WardWard BishopdownBishopdown FarmFarm Ward,Ward, FordFord OldOld SarumSarum && LonghedgeLonghedge WardWard ParishParish NewsletterNewsletter www.laverstockwww.laverstock--ford.co.ukford.co.uk IssueIssue 175175 May/JuneMay/June 20192019 Laverstock & Ford Parish Newsletter Welcome to issue 175 Written by members of the village research group, a new book on Laverstock and Ford covering important aspects of the parish from prehistory to the 21st century, is being launched at the River Bourne Community Farm at 6.30 - 8.00pm on Friday 21 June. Adrian Green, Director of The Salisbury Museum, will also be at the launch, bringing with him an exciting display of medieval Laverstock pottery from the kilns discovered at Potters Way. Adrian will also bring items from nearby Clar- endon Palace, a favoured haunt of royalty and a place of government and power even before Salisbury Cathedral was built. Details on pages 19 & 20. Following the Spotlight on Bishopdown Farm area in the last newsletter, this issue carries a similar article, this time on Ford. A brief history and interesting statistics are on page 12. The Country Park land has at last been handed over to the parish council. A new Countryside Ranger, Philippa Crooke, has now been appointed by River Bourne Community Farm CIC under licence with the Land Trust for both the Country Park and the Devenish Bradshaw Water meadows which the farm manages for the ben- efit of our community. Details on page 15. Old Sarum & Longhedge Neighbourhood Watch Scheme already has around 100 households registered. If you’d like to join, see page 16 for details. What are LAPS, LEAPS, NEAPS and MUGAS? Hint, there’s one of those on the cover of this issue. Read all about them on page 9. Each year, The Environment Agency carry out a fish survey in the River Bourne. The most recent results, taken from south of the White Bridge in Laverstock, are shown on page 28. It’s good to know that river is in a suitable condition for the increase in fish numbers which the survey shows. The School’s Mini-marathon takes place in Laverstock on Saturday 18th May 9.00am – 12.00pm. This is a huge event in the Salisbury school calendar with around 1,500 children and parents participating each year. Organisers St An- drew’s School have made arrangements to lessen the effect of the high volume of traffic that this event produces. Details on page 10. The Parish Newsletter is published six times a year for the benefit of parish residents. However, articles included do not necessarily reflect the views of the Parish Council. Advertisements for any firm or service does not imply a recommendation by the Parish Council. Cover Picture—Robinson Grove Play Area Longhedge Village Laverstock & Ford Parish Newsletter 3 Inside your Parish Newsletter . 5 View from the Chair 6 Report on Parish Council Meetings 8 Planning Applications 9 The Mysterious World of LAPS, LEAPS, NEAP and MUGAS 10 Schools Mini Marathon - St Andrew’s Primary School 11 Traffic and Road News 12 Laverstock & Ford Communities Neighbourhood Plan - Spotlight on Ford 15 Spring has finally sprung for Castle Hill Country Park 16 Old Sarum & Longhedge Neighbourhood Watch Scheme Update. 17 Laverstock Evening W.I. - Meetings Programme 19 Come and see finds from your superb local Museum. 20 Laverstock and Ford - Chapters from Local History - Book Launch 22 River Bourne Community Farm CIC wins another award 25 New yellow line markings on St Clements Way Bishopdown Farm 27 Laverstock Gardening Club - Meetings Programme 28 Fish Survey - River Bourne at Laverstock 30 Kerry Lemon discusses her public art commission for the Country Park 32 Parish Pump 33 Urgent call for volunteers to support older people 34 Fiver Rivers Health and Wellbeing Centre 36 Laverstock & Ford Parish Council Contacts 39 Contacts around The Parish 42 Parish Diary Dates View from the Chair—Andy Birkett It has been an eventful couple of months in Parish terms (no mention of Brexit here). We have responded to the Local Government Boundary Commission’s Wiltshire Coun- cil recommendations and thank you to all residents who have submitted responses too. You can see details of the review and our response on our website (address as always on the front cover); the final recommendations are due to be published on 2nd July. Since the last newsletter we have actually taken ownership of the Country Park, delayed again due to the developer failing to provide the funds. We have entered a partnership with the Land Trust to develop and then main- tain the Park. We welcome Philippa Crooke as the new Ranger for the Country Park and Bourne Water Meadows (see page 15 for details). Thank you to all the volunteers who have worked hard to make this special place and continue to do so; and particular thanks to David Burton, Andrew Prince and Barry Stay without whom this would not be the fantastic natural space that it will be- come. More detail in the regular update including details of the celebratory open day to introduce the Park. More planning submissions have been made for the Longhedge and Old Sar- um developments, affecting the local centres and allocated business/ employment land in each development. Links to all applications that affect the Parish are included on our website so if you have views or comments on these or any other applications please submit them to Wiltshire Council using those links; your views are critical for the planning officers and councillors at Parish and County to hear. As summer approaches we will all be able to make the most of our open spac- es; the Community Open Space at Longhedge will hopefully be open for use this summer, the paths and minor landscaping will be created in due course but we will open the area for use as soon as we can. The River Bourne Com- munity Farm continues to be a wonderful asset for our community and an ide- al place to spend time, see the countryside and the farm’s animals; don’t for- get about the Live@TheFarm event on 26th May, more details in the farm’s update (page 29). Andy Birkett Laverstock & Ford Parish Newsletter 5 Report on Parish Council Meetings This report covers the meetings held on 18th February and 18th March 2019. The full minutes of these meetings can be viewed on the Parish Council page of our website at www.laverstock-ford.co.uk. The Chairman of Firsdown Parish Council was welcomed to the February meeting of the Council. He was there to express his disappointment at the Boundary Com- mission’s Draft Recommendations that linked his parish to Old Sarum and Laver- stock North and to the Salisbury Area Board. Another resident of Old Sarum ad- dressed the Council requesting a link footpath to join with Monarchs Way. It was explained to him that unfortunately the owners, Dolphin Farms Limited, refuse to agree to this provision across their land. The Council welcomed a new Councillor, David Watson, at the start of the February meeting. Cllr Watson lives in the new Riverdown Park development at Bishopdown and has previously taken a great interest in progress with the new Country Park. He will be a great asset to the Council as this exciting project moves forward. Planning matters took up a lot of time at the February meeting. An application to turn employment land at Longhedge into 65 new dwellings was considered contro- versial, in spite of the fact that it included the construction of 29 small business units. A decision on a response was deferred until the March meeting so that Councillors could see the views of Wiltshire Council officers from both Housing and Economic Development. After a long discussion at both meetings the Council rec- ommended refusal by a narrow majority vote. Further documents in relation to the application to build 14 dwellings on the Farm Yard at Bishopdown were discussed at the February meeting. There was a new ecology report and a proposal to use the original access point on Roman Road along the farm track that crosses the Country Park. At the March meeting this was discussed at length and the Council decided to withdraw its objection to the plan- ning application but only on conditions with regard to access, which have yet to be determined as we go to press. The plan put forward by Wiltshire Council to provide access through Neal Close is very controversial as the roads are totally unsuitable. On the other hand, there are Councillors who are opposed to an access road that crosses the new Country Park. Delivery vans and refuse trucks do not sit well alongside families with dogs out for a walk. The new Virginia Way Play Park at Old Sarum was on the Agenda at both meetings. The site has been moved away from a residential road but the longer footpaths and improvements to the play surface have resulted in a £9,000 increase in the cost. It will now be situated in the middle of an area of chalk meadow grassland, which means the loss of some natural habitat. This has been compensated for by reducing grass cutting around the infiltration basins and allowing them to revert to natural meadows. The delays and re-planning have meant that work will not now start until June, but we hope it will be complete in time for the school summer holidays. The controversial Draft Recommendations of the Boundary Commission were dis- cussed at the February meeting and Councillors met again a few days later to dis- cuss ways of opposing the proposals that will split the Laverstock ward in half and join each half into different parts of Salisbury City.