INCORPORATING THE VILLAGES AND HAMLETS OF BROOK, ENTON, MILFORD, SANDHILLS, WITLEY & WORMLEY Parish Council NEWSLETTER September 2009 INSIDE Amenities & Environment FROM THE CHAIRMAN . 2 Finance & General The Annual Parish Newsletter take a position with a company ‘up Purposes . .4 is designed to give you an North’ and she tendered her Planning . 5 overview of how your Parish resignation. At virtually the same Litter . 5 Council has been working over time our Assistant Clerk and The Witley Parish Plan the previous 12 months and Responsible Finance Officer (RFO), . 6 Sunnyhill Play Area what is in the pipeline for the Pat Jameson, who had been with the . 7 Grants . coming year. Parish Council for many years also 8 Local Histories In the Autumn of 2008 our decided that she would take early . 8 Highways administration was settling down retirement to enjoy a couple of . 9 after many changes of Clerk in the years of ‘Pat Time’ before her Conservation Volunteers . 9 past five years, our Groundsman husband also retired.These two Bits and Pieces . 10 was back full time and our ‘team’ happenings were a great shock to How to contact your County, were making great headway with the Councillors and an even greater Borough and Parish Councillors the various projects and general loss to our Parishioners. Both Rae . 11 management of the Parish.We also and Pat had a brilliant understanding Dates for Your Diary . 12 had an almost full complement of of how the Parish works and their Council Office . 12 Councillors. knowledge and expertise would be Projects were all heading in the greatly missed. right direction, the Sunnyhill Play However, all is not lost. After many local knowledge, living in the village. Area was on target to open in the hours sitting in interview rooms with Nicki along with Fiona is looking Spring of 2009, the new Allotments prospective candidates for both the forward to working with the rest of at Redgate Farm were being Clerk and Assistant Clerk vacancies, the team and Councillors in serving assessed and the Christmas Trees we believe we have rebuilt the the Parishioners of the Parish of were on order for the lighting ‘Team’. Our new Clerk is Fiona Fox. Witley. So we are back on track, just ceremonies. Fiona comes to us as an one more Councillor to co-opt and We reached Christmas with a experienced Clerk and has, in we will have a full house! great feeling that we were all addition, both a business and local The Autumn/Winter looks to be a achieving something for the Parish government background, all skills busy time, there will be a review of and started 2009 in this light. which she will use extensively within the new play area at Sunnyhill and But, there is always a but! In May her new role. Our new Assistant the working party will be making 2009, our Clerk Rae Evans was Clerk and RFO, Nicki Burg, has a enquiries of the local residents to made an offer she couldn’t refuse to solid finance background along with assess further needs or any Tel:01483 422044 Website: http//www.witley-pc.gov.uk 1 Parish Council NEWSLETTER September 2009 changes/amendments to equipment. was a rise of just over 3% for the consultees on applications of this The first of the Redgate Farm previous year and roughly works out type but we did manage to give a Allotments should be ready for to 35p per week per person in our response to the initial plans.We occupation in October and we supported the application but have a long waiting list to take highlighted things within it up plots. which we felt would have an The Christmas Trees will adverse effect on residents be lit again this year at the living close to the site. As I three village halls and we write, there are still ongoing hope to involve children issues regarding flooding and I from local schools in the can let you know that the Carol Singing – any teachers Parish Council will be there to out there who would like to support those of you that this bring a Choir along please affects and we will continue to contact the Parish Office.The do this until a satisfactory reason I thought it would be outcome has been reached. great to involve a school choir As usual, I would like to was because during the finish by thanking my fellow ceremony at Witley last year, Councillors for all the time my 5 year old cousin asked me and effort they put into when we were going to sing Away helping make this Parish a better in a Manger as it was the only one place for you to live in.They do it all he knew all the words to, sadly we Parish. I do hope you think you get for free – you should come along to didn’t have this on the list but we value for money from your Parish our meetings sometime. I think you could this year if Year One would Council, and I also hope you feel you would be amazed that 15 people like to lead the singing! are supported by us. have such enthusiasm and drive, Autumn is when we sit down and We have had some bad press this even after a hard day at work. study the budgets for the next year in relation to the application to financial year 2010/11.The precept enhance the Amenity Site at Witley. Maxine Gale for 2009/10 was £131,000 which The Parish Council are not statutory Chairman,Witley Parish Council AMENITIES & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE (A&E) The primary focus of this and enjoyment. For example, tractor, but there is only so much Committee is to ensure that every two years we contract a tree one man can do. As you can our recreation areas, village survey – we have hundreds of trees imagine, he has a long list of regular greens and allotments are – it is just underway now.We then jobs including monthly checks on the maintained to a high level, allocate the necessary resources to equipment in our three playgrounds, whether they are used for clear any damaged or diseased trees. emptying bins, grass cutting plus football, cricket or playgrounds Our groundsman, Kevin, is full-time troubleshooting.The Cricket and formally or informally or kept and you have no doubt seen him Football Teams work with us to more natural for general use moving round the Parish in his green maintain the pitches to a good level Tel:01483 422044 Website: http//www.witley-pc.gov.uk 2 Parish Council NEWSLETTER September 2009 print we had a waiting list of 40 At the time of going to print we had people for Redgate and 20 for the Enton Allotments, with some a waiting list of 40 people for Redgate people interested in transferring from Enton.We haven’t an exact and 20 for the Enton Allotments, figure yet for plots but it just might with some people interested in be that we can accommodate everyone on the list.We have transferring from Enton. decided that, from now on, no one household may have more than one allotment, whether in Enton or in both Witley and Milford – the cut the resulting vegetation too low Milford, as the demand is so great. Cricket Clubs, for example, maintain – we can’t have a footpath along A new challenge is that the the square and Kevin does the that edge – and are in negotiation allotments will be organic so we are outfield.The grass cutting season is about how low is too low! currently assessing the implications obviously the busiest and for that Currently the pond looks lovely of that.This is due to the level of the reason Kevin works on a seasonally from the Heath as you will see from water table and the close proximity adjusted timetable i.e. he works the photo. of a water pumping station, longer hours in the growing season. Our two big projects this year were, The next project, just agreed, is to Some jobs we contract out. For and actually still are, the Sunnyhill publish some of our local walks on example, hedges are cut by a Playground in Witley about which the website and we have set up a contractor twice a year and the there is an update on page 7 and the working party to pursue that idea. ROSPA Health and Safety check is development of the new allotments. After that, who knows? done annually by specialists. Preparations to make the Redgate The maintenance of Blackhill Pond, Farm Allotments in Milford available Julie Grist, Chairman, Amenities and on Milford Heath, continues to be a by October are on target. Environment Committee. challenge. I remain between a rock At the time of and a hard place – between the going to residents and Councillors who see it as needing to be a lovely lily pond, always pretty and visible from the road, and residents and Councillors who prefer the more natural look, encouraging a diversity of wildllife. A few years ago we had a natural willow fence, which provided a roadside edge which satisfied health and safety issues, but got very untidy as the season went on, because it couldn’t be woven in until later in the autumn.We had complaints about that and decided to let it go. We were advised by ROSPA not to Blackhill Pond Tel:01483 422044 Website: http//www.witley-pc.gov.uk 3 Parish Council NEWSLETTER September 2009 FINANCE AND GENERAL PURPOSES (F&GP) The Parish Council is funded amount of land to manage.