1 Community Newsletter February 2019 If you have an item that you would like including in the March 2019 newsletter, then please forward information in electronic form to Susan Rogerson by Wed 13th February via [email protected] (print date: Friday 15.02.19). The Upper Coquet Resource Group has been established over 20 years as a registered charity. We promote the benefit of the inhabitants of the Upper Coquetdale area, consisting of the parishes of Netherton & Biddlestone, Harbottle, Hepple & Alwinton. The charity provides facilities in the interest of social welfare for recreation and other leisure time occupations. If you know of a group that may benefit from some funding and they meet the above criteria, then please contact us via [email protected] ALWINTON VILLAGE Shepherds’ Supper: on Friday 8th March at the Rose & Thistle Inn, Alwinton from 7.00pm. Tickets cost £20 and are available from Stewart Wallace on 01669 631265. NETHERTON VILLAGE Netherton Post Office: in the Village Hall on Monday 4th February, 11.00 am till Noon. Coffee (£1) and a chat in the Reading Room. Everyone welcome. On Monday 4th March there will be no Post Office at Netherton due to Bessie's annual weekend away. Star Inn Netherton Quiz Evening: on Wednesday 6th February from 8.00pm. All welcome. Netherton W.I: will meet on Wednesday 20th February at 7.00pm in Netherton Village Hall for a talk by Barbara Morton on writing a novel. Netherton Gardening Club: will hold their Christmas Party on Monday 18th February at 2.00pm for a talk by Richard Barns on “small gardens”. Visitors welcome. HEPPLE VILLAGE Table Tennis: (self-programming) in Hepple Village Hall every Tuesday evening from 7.00 until 8.30pm. For more information contact Chris on 640012. Basketry Group: meets monthly on third Wednesday of the month 10-3.30pm. Contact Gill Philipson beforehand or drop in on the day. UCRG Community & Parish of UC Newsletter February 2019 2 HARBOTTLE VILLAGE With many thanks and best wishes……… “Glen the Postie” is retiring after 15 years of delivering our letters and parcels. Anne is organising an informal gathering at the Star Inn on Saturday 9th February from 1pm, to which all are welcome to attend. On behalf of everyone up the valley, we wish Glen a long, happy and healthy retirement! Harbottle Christmas tree & decorations: many thanks to the “Christmas Tree Boys” who helped with this year’s Christmas decorations. They were very much appreciated by all and a big thanks to all those who decorated their houses in the village. Special thanks to Ann Hennessy and Angela Atkiss for supplying refreshments to keep them going! Star Inn Quiz nights: in aid of the Christmas lights raised £110. Carols around the Christmas tree: a good crowd sang in strong voice led by Lindsay Johnstone. This was followed by sherry and mince pies, kindly provided by Anne Dunn & Janet Wood and finished off with some fireworks! The Grand Christmas draw followed at the pub where £195 was raised and this was divided between the Christmas Lights fund, the Ladies Darts and the Domino league. Star Inn Christmas Domino Knock-Out Competition: the winner was John Dunn with runner up Joan Blakey. Many thanks to all who support the event, especially those who turned up in their wonderful Hawaiian fancy dress theme! Anne would like to wish everyone all the very best for 2019. Harbottle Carpet Bowls: every Wednesday evening in the village hall from 7.30-9.00pm. All welcome. Iyengar Yoga Sessions: in Harbottle Village Hall every Tuesday evening 7.00 to 8.30pm. For further information please contact Margaret Ranken on 650281. Judali Yoga hatha yoga class: at Harbottle Village Hall on Thursday evenings 7.30 – 9pm. All welcome. No previous experience necessary. Suitable for both beginners and those with more experience. For more information contact Judie: 01669 650045. Harbottle School Community Group: if you enjoy a bit of gardening in your spare time and would like to join us to look after the school gardens, then please contact Margaret Ward for more information (01669 650317). Also, if you have any complete jigsaw puzzles, including children’s jigsaws and any boxed games that you no longer want and would like to donate to the group then please contact Tracey Boldy, Jackie Bickmore, Ann Hennessy or Margaret Ward. UCRG Community & Parish of UC Newsletter February 2019 3 Advance Notices….Save the date: Star Inn Netherton Quiz nights for 2019: Wednesday evenings with 8.00pm start on: 6th March 3rd July 6th November 3rd April 7th August 4th December 1st May, 4th September 5th June 2nd October Star Inn, Harbottle: quiz nights in aid of Harbottle School on Mondays in March (4th, 11th, 18th & 25th ). 8.30pm start. Village Litter Picks: 16th March in Netherton, 6th April in Harbottle and 27th April in Hepple. Organised by Mark Bolton, Ranger Northumberland National Park. *************************************************************************************** Upper Coquetdale Community Transport We would like to thank everyone who returned our survey on local transport. From your responses we have been able to start the new service below and we are still collating some other ideas of services we can provide in the future too. Rothbury Shoppers Route Starts Friday 1st February 2019 Picking up from: Harbottle Sharperton Alwinton Biddlestone Netherton Holystone Collect and drop off at your door. £4 per return trip This service is for the elderly or mobility- impaired. The pickup/drop off points are from home, which means times will be different per person and dependant on how many people are on the bus each week. We are looking to start the pickups from 10.30am and to start our return from Rothbury at 1pm. To use the service people need to contact Lesley Leeson, Transport Manager, both to book and initially to register with some basic personal information (address, telephone number etc.). Contact Lesley: 01669 622264 Monday to Friday 12.00pm to 3.00pm or email: [email protected] Web page http://ucct.btck.co.uk Find us on Facebook too! *************************************************************************************** UCRG Community & Parish of UC Newsletter February 2019 4 Updates from Local Councillor Rothbury Cashpoint: As residents will already be aware, the new cash machine (ATM) went live in Rothbury the weekend before Christmas. I am informed by Barclays that the cash withdrawals from that weekend and into the New Year have been at levels they have not previously seen. Much of this can be put down to the fact that you can't make withdrawals from the bank directly. In recent days this has resulted in some technical difficulties in topping the machine up with new notes. Barclays has given written assurances that, now they are aware of the level of withdrawals they can expect to see in the future and how quickly those withdrawals are taking place, they will update the machine to notify the external contractor to refill it more frequently. Coquetdale Dental Services: Further to my previous update regarding the return of dental services to the Coquet Valley, I had hoped that by now we would have appointed a new dentist. Unfortunately, as you may have already heard, none of the bids/tenders that were submitted to NHS England by potential new providers were compliant against one or more of the published criteria. This is not the fault of NHS England; this is a result of the bidders not submitting the correct details as required as part of their tenders. NHS England has given a commitment to the county council that they intend to re-tender the contract but, given the failure by previous bidders to submit the correct information, there is a legal requirement to begin the whole process again. This will result in the delivery of new dental services being put back to the fourth quarter of 2019. I will continue to push NHS England to ensure that the delivery of the new service is carried out as quickly as possible and I will continue to update residents on its progress. Housing in Coquetdale: At the most recent meeting of the full Northumberland County Council, it was agreed by a majority of councillors present to accept the proposed Northumberland Local Plan (Planning Document) which will be used to determine planning applications in Northumberland and in our area (for those who are not in the Northumberland National Park) up until 2036 and beyond. I spoke against the proposal based on the fact that, in our area, it would see affordable housing on new developments (and possibly some existing) reduced from the current 35% to 15%. Particularly in Rothbury, this is only going to benefit one person/estate that controls nearly all of the developable land. From the 30th January until the 13th March, the council will enter the second stage of consultation on this document. During this time, residents will have the opportunity to comment on the document and the proposals contained within it. The planning policy team from Northumberland County Council will be holding a walk-in consultation event at the Jubilee Hall in Rothbury on Thursday 28th February 2019 from 2:00pm until 7:00pm. I would urge residents to attend this event and comment on any of the proposals and policies within the plan. If you cannot make this event, you will be able to view the local plan documents at www.northumberland.gov.uk/localplan or submit your comments online via the county council website, in writing or via email to the planning policy officers directly at [email protected] Should you have any issues or queries, please do not hesitate to contact me. I wish you all the very best for 2019.