Plowmans, Pudding & Quiz £8.00Pp

January/February 2016 Issue 69

HELLO

Is it too late to wish everyone a Happy New Year? We hope not. So here’s wishing you all a wonderful 2016. It’s the end of January already and we don’t seem to have been hit by winter yet apart from one brief flurry. So whatever happens now it’s lovely to think that Spring is just around the corner – we have even seen our first daffodil on a grassy verge. Once again we would like to thank Richard Underwood from Oakberry Farm for providing the splendid Christmas tree outside the village hall and for Colin Hill from CH Electrical who made sure it was lit so beautifully.

DUNTON BASSETT COMMUNITY SINGERS

The Dunton Bassett Community Singers have had another busy year. A Summer concert and the Christmas Concert at the beginning of December. The Church was full and once again I would like to thank all those who give us such wonderful support. The ticket price continues to be very good value at £5 or £4 concessions which includes refreshments during the interval. This covers the costs of printing, decorations, refreshments and a donation to the Church for the cost of heating and lighting during our rehearsals throughout the year.

We also performed a Christmas medley at the Cosby Old People’s Welfare Association Christmas Lunch and we also provide a choir for the Women’s Day of Prayer in March.

The Monday before Christmas, for the seventh year running, we went carol singing around the village and helped by Alex Mofford’s excellent mulled wine we collected £70.00 for the Sir Frank Whittle Trust. A small donation which will go towards the cost of cleaning and repairing the E28/29E ‘plane on the roundabout outside Lutterworth. Nevertheless the Trust was very grateful for our contribution.

2016 rehearsals begin on Wednesday 27th January at 7pm, the following week will be on Thursday 4th February and thereafter they alternate between Wednesdays and Thursdays. Reading music is not a must but enjoying singing is. Anyone who is interested do turn up at All Saints Church.

Ann Fuchs 202370

QUIZ NIGHT IN AID OF WHIZZ-KIDZ Please find all the info on the quiz that we are hosting on 20th February -we hope to see you there. PLOWMANS, PUDDING & QUIZ £8.00PP

In Aid of Whizz- Kidz (Helping disabled children become mobile)

by Adele Vines running the London Marathon 2016 Dunton Bassett Village Hall 7.30 Saturday 20th February Prizes & Raffle Maximum 6 per team Please bring your own wine, beer etc Call Jacqui or Jayne on 01455 208064 for tickets or on [email protected]

URGENT INFORMATION FROM PARISH COUNCIL

The Parish Council has received notification of a proposed housing development of 37 dwellings off Station Road, on land between No 23 and Station Farm. The proposed development is outside the developed area of the village, additional to draft proposals for further development and there will be concerns about the extra traffic which will be generated in Station Road. An additional Council meeting has been called to discuss this topic and will be held at the Village Hall on Tuesday 23rd February at 7.00 pm. You can view the plan and associated documents of the Harborough District Council website (http://www.harborough.gov.uk/view-and-comment-on-planning-applications). The reference no is 16/00026/OUT.

In anticipation that some residents will wish to object, you are reminded that each person, any petition and the Parish Council itself each only count as one ‘voice’. Comments should be submitted on an individual basis direct to the District Council.

Steve Blackburn Clerk to Dunton Bassett Parish Council 11 Wakes Close, Dunton Bassett, Lutterworth, LE17 5LL 01455 209398 : 07941 849907 [email protected] www.leicestershireparishcouncils.org.uk/duntonbassett

MESSAGE FROM MARGARET BROOKES

Margaret would like to say a very big thank you to everyone who helped make her 80th birthday so special. She was so surprised but delighted with all the lovely presents she received. Sharing the day, not to mention the delicious cake with all her friends and family gave her so much pleasure – thank you.

LEIRE & DUNTON CUBS & SCOUTS We have reports from both Ceri & Elisabeth – thank you for all your news

The Leire and Dunton Scout Group has been very busy over the last few months, and you may well have seen us out and about. Although it seems a long time ago, we had a fantastic turnout for Remembrance Day in November with most of our young people attending the parade on a very cold Sunday morning making all the leaders very proud of the respect that they showed. The drinks and cakes in the church afterwards were very much appreciated as a chance to thaw out! We have also been actively fundraising as a Group in Leire doing an evening of Carol Singing in December and raising £112 for The Children’s Society; and you may have also seen our entry in the Leire Christmas Tree Festival – which we were delighted to win!

We are currently practicing hard for the Group Pantomime, Hansel and Gretel, which will take place in Broughton Astley Village Hall on Saturday 6th February (6.0pm start). If you would like to come and support our young people, tickets are available from [email protected] at a cost of £5 per adult, £1 per child (ticket price includes a drink).

Although we have a fantastic bunch of young people and a thriving Group, we still desperately need a Cub Scout Leader to take the reins. Our Scout Leader is currently running both the Scout and the Cub sections and this is obviously not sustainable in the long term. We do have 2 assistant Cub Scout Leaders, but we need someone to take on the overall co-ordination for the section. There is plenty of training and help available, so please if you feel that you could give a couple of hours a week to help our Group please give me a ring on 01455 202752, or email [email protected] .

Elizabeth Hope (Group Scout Leader)

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The annual L&D Panto will be taking place on Saturday 6th February, starting at 6:00pm. It will be starring the Scouts, Beavers and Cubs as usual. We will be performing Hansel & Gretel this time, and rehearsals are well underway in all of the sections. Contact Ceri at [email protected], or on the phone number below.

The whole group went carol singing around Leire in December, raising a whopping £112.30 for the Children’s Society.

Also in December, after many years of trying, the group won the Leire Christmas Tree Festival!

The Cubs are this year celebrating the section’s centenary. Many events are taking place at group level, district and county level. In June there will be a huge centenary camp held at Mallory Park racing circuit, at which Cubs will be able to take part in a massive range of activities on and off site. Over the year, the Cubs have been set a series of mini challenges, which we started at the beginning of term. Each term they will have 33 challenges (or as one smart Cub pointed out, 33.333333 recurring challenges) to complete, some small, some larger.

Last weekend, some of the Scouts went on the County Caving weekend. It was in the Peak District, staying in a very posh bunk house near Sheffield. They went down two caves on the Saturday, getting very muddy in one and very wet in the other. Unfortunately, the snow on Saturday night meant that they couldn’t go down the caves on the Sunday, but they all had a fantastic time anyway, and were promised a free caving day trip later in the year to make up for it.

The next camp on the agenda is Soaring Fox. The Scouts are looking to hold onto the trophy for the annual county incident hike, taking place in March.

The group is on the lookout for more Leaders to join our team. If you feel you could step into uniform and assist with as little or as much time as you're able, you would be made very welcome indeed. You would be given all the training you'd need. As Leaders, I think we have just as much fun as the young people, and are a very friendly and welcoming team.

If your son / daughter is between the ages of 8 and 14 and would be interested in joining Cubs (8-10½ years) or Scouts (10½-14 years), or if you would like to become a Leader with either Beavers, Cubs or Scouts, give Ceri Sinfield a call on 0116 2338646 for more information.

CLEAN FOR THE QUEEN Dunton Goes Green together with the Parish Council will be holding a litter picking day on Saturday 5th March from 10 am until 1pm, joining the UK’s largest litter pick on the run up to the Queen’s 90th birthday. The meeting point will be in the Village Hall where directions will be handed out and refreshments will be available later in the morning. The first national anti-litter campaign was carried out in 1953, the year of the Queen’s Coronation and was shortly followed by the establishment of Keep Britain Tidy. So it is an appropriate time, the year of the Queen’s 90th birthday, that Dunton Bassett should band together with the rest of the UK and attempt the biggest clean up in history. Please let us know if you would like to join us either individually or in a team or turn up on the day. Do come in old clothes and boots and it would be very helpful if you bring gloves and high viz jackets. We will have some equipment to lend out. If you want to litter pick at some other time during the weekend of 5th and 6th please let us know.

Contact: Dot Barnard, Dunton Goes Green 208190 [email protected] or Claire Hurford, Parish Council 202184 [email protected]

DUNTON BASSETT WI The WI have a varied programme of events and talks planned for 2016. As part of the meeting on 9th February, the group will learn about tea tasting, and on 8th March the talk by Brian Johnson is called Made in Leicester, All are welcome to attend the group’s meetings. Talks start at 8.oo after a business meeting. Refreshments are served afterwards

MOBILE LIBRARY SERVICE Mobile B Route 9

We have been given the following information and will include it in future Newsletters. The mobile library will now be visiting Dunton Basset on the third MONDAYof the month. The next 2 dates are 15th February &21st March. The stopping place is Little Lunnon.

NEWS FROM ALL SAINTS

Women’s World Day of Prayer – Friday 4th March.

All Saints’ church Dunton Bassett is hosting this popular annual service again, in the benefice, starting at 10am. All are welcome to join in this service, which is written by women from different countries, and as the name suggests is celebrated worldwide. This year Revd. Francis Knight is the speaker and the theme is RECEIVE CHILDREN, RECEIVE ME – written by the women of Cuba. Refreshments will be served after the service.

PARISH COUNCIL NEWS

The Parish Council met on 11 January and agreed a budget for 2016-2017 which requires a precept of £7,000, equating to a 10.2% increase for households in Council Tax Band D.

This decision has to be seen in the context of the increasing demands of the playground which was the subject of major theft in the summer and the purchase of replacement kit which cost over £10,000. Although the loss to the council was only of the insurance excess of £250, this amount represents a significant proportion of the overall budget, which last year was £6,291. This blow came at a time when some of the other equipment is nearing the end of its life and will need to be replaced. A programme for this is being drawn up and will be subject to consultation soon. Whilst every effort will be made to seek grant funding for as much as possible, it was considered prudent to provide for a further £1,100 as no grant bodies will give anything like 100% to projects like this.

The Council is also facing increased costs due to government legislation regarding financial audit, which is likely to increase costs this year, and to the cutbacks at Leicestershire County Council which will remove support for parish council websites. A few years ago a website might have been seen as a luxury but, again, recent legislation designed to promote 'openness' means that a website is now compulsory and that it's content is clearly defined.

Councillors also took advice on the level of reserves which should be considered 'prudent' and have covered some of the anticipated costs by drawing £1,574 from reserves.

It should be noted that the parish council calls on residents for an average of about £21 per household adult per year or £12 per adult per year, covering not only the playground but grass cutting in important areas of the village which may again have to be augmented due to cuts in the County Council grass cutting budget.

OUR THANK YOU

We would like to take this opportunity of saying thank you to the people who deliver the Newsletters, especially Bet Grover. Bet has helped for many years but after a recent bout of ill health she has decided to pass on the baton. So on behalf of the village we would like to say a very big thank you to Bet.

We are very pleased to say that Steve & Anne of Coopers Lane have kindly offered to take over the delivery – so thank you to you both.

Finally a very special thank you to Bob Potterton without whose generosity and help we couldn’t carry on with the Newsletter – cheers Bob.

CRICKET CLUB

This information came in just too late for the last edition, but we feel it is still relevant to include this time.

The Annual End of Season Presentation Dinner was held at Leicestershire County Cricket Club on 14th November and was enjoyed by all 88 people who attended. Following an excellent meal the various awards were presented by Ben Raine Leicestershire CCC’s Player of the Year, who then took part in the Q & A session.

It was great to see so many of the junior members at the dinner. A special presentation was made to Dick Salter who has retired as Chairman of the Committee after serving for the last nine years.

Indoor practice is held on a Tuesday evening from January onwards. New players are always welcome. Anyone interested in joining the club, senior or junior should contact one of the following: Dax Miller 1st Team Captain (07854 571530) Rob Sercombe 2nd Team Captain (0789999446) or Jenny Sercombe Junior Co-ordinator (07788427446)

Karen Pickering

DISTRICT COUNCILLOR REPORT

Residents of Dunton Bassett should now have received their notice from Harborough District Council asking for applications for the collection of your green bin garden waste. The notices came in plastic envelopes and were fixed to your black bin on its last collection. If you want to take up the offer please contact the Council in the ways as set out in the notice.If for any reason you have not received the notice and want to take up the offer of green bin collection please contact the Council on 01858 828282 or myself by email [email protected] or by telephone on 01455 208103. You will no doubt appreciate from previous publicity that the charge for the green bin collection as from the 1st April 2016 will be £40 per green bin.

Some of you may also be aware from press reports that I have been selected as the Conservative candidate for the Police and Crime Commissioner post for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. The election will be held on the 5th May 2016. I don’t consider it appropriate to use my District Councillor report to promote my campaign but I simply wish to assure the residents that I remain as your Disrict Councillor and will continue to represent you to the best of my ability during the campaign. Please continue to contact me on Council issues as they affect you by way of the email or telephone as noted above.

Finally I wish you all a happy and healthy new year.

Neil Bannister

Dunton Ward – Harborough District Council

ENERGY ADVICE FROM HARBOROUGH DISTRIC COUNCIL

Harborough District Council are very aware of the high fuel costs incurred by many households across the district and especially in rural areas. Changes in Government programmes have meant that there is some confusion about how to access energy efficiency advice and measures to make homes warmer. In order to make it easier for residents Harborough District Council are working with Sustainable Harborough and Flourish Partnership to provide a new service.

Flourish Partnership run an energy advice service and installer network. Local residents can access a free phone line: 0800 488 0543 where an operator will speak with the householder and identify potential improvements in energy efficiency in the house. (You can also email [email protected] )

If there are opportunities to improve a home then an assessment of the home will take place. This assessment will identify the best ways to save money and make the home warmer. Some homes will be eligible for free or reduced cost works for cavity wall and loft insulation. Flourish are also able to signpost to accredited installers, many of whom are local businesses that Harborough residents can use to carry out any works that the resident wishes to take forward.

In addition to energy efficiency works there is also advice on installing renewable technologies. This could include the options for community energy projects, perhaps on village buildings, through Harborough Energy, a newly formed Co-op set up by Sustainable Harborough to raise funds for community projects.

If the parish council felt it was helpful we could arrange a half day drop in session in your village to make it easier for local residents to access this information and speak directly to the people who would do the assessments. You may also wish to publish this new service via your newsletter.

I would be very happy to come to a parish meeting to describe the project in more detail and answer any questions you may have.

Helen Chadwick Environment

Co-ordinator Harborough District Council.

DIARY DATES

Saturday 20th February Charity Quiz Night Village Hall 7.30pm Friday March 4th Woman’s World Day of Prayer All Saints 10.00am Saturday March 5th Village Clean Up 10.00am – 1.00pm Meet at Village Hall

We would like to encourage people to submit articles, views or anything of interest you would like to share. Ideally this should be submitted by email, but if pen and ink is still your thing you can always pop it through our letterbox at 4 Main Street or call us on 01455 208064 The email address is [email protected] Please send all reports by March 21st 2016.

Thanks for reading our newsletter – Editors Jacqui Vines & Jayne Thomson