Stagsden Village Newsletter Issue 181 February 2019 – March 2019 In this Months Issue News from St Keep it local - check Parish Council Village events - Dates Leonard’s our advertisers Update for the diary From Catherine Wilson It’s That Time again! All the Anglican Churches in England have to do it; it’s six years since the last time it happened, and so we must do it again. It is quite a major undertaking for the Church, but thankfully we are provided with the resources we need to help it go smoothly, and it doesn’t take too long. What is it? It’s the creation of the new Church Electoral Roll (not to be confused with the Government’s Electoral Roll which lists all those entitles to vote in political elections). Every six years the Church of England scraps its Electoral Roll, and everyone has to sign up all over again, even if you’ve been on the Roll before. Being on the Electoral Roll of the Church implies a sense of membership – this is your local church and you feel you belong to it. You might not come along every week, and you might not even agree with everything that is said and done, locally or by the Church nationally, but nevertheless you want to be part of it. With membership comes both the right to help choose Parish Church Council (PCC) members, and the responsibility to support the church through prayer and giving of time, money and talents. Membership is particularly in the news at the moment as politicians endeavour to work out the best way to end our country’s membership of the EU, but there are many different organisations that we can join individually. The youngsters might belong to sports teams or to the Scout and Guide movements, while adults belong to a gym, or a professional body through their work – most of us have signed up to belong to something. It brings a sense of involvement and hopefully commitment to the group you choose. St Paul uses the picture of a body to describe the church in one of his letters – every part is important and has its own role within the whole, however insignificant it may appear. Our daughter has just suffered a broken toe – a tiny digit, on the end of her foot and a very long way from her head, it is still having a considerable impact on her well-being and her mobility. When one small part is not working as it should, the whole body is affected. If you want to say that you belong to one of our churches, and are willing to play your part in supporting the church’s mission and ministry, then we’d be very glad to add you to that church’s Electoral Roll. You need to be baptised, and live in the parish or attend church regularly. Electoral Roll forms are available in all the churches – do come and join us! Catherine Wilson --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter Information Accuracy We try to be accurate but please remember we are Publication Dates amateurs so there will be errors. Every effort is The Stagsden Village Newsletter is produced taken to make sure the Village Diary is correct but, every other month on or around the 1st of Oct, Dec, if a date is important to you, please double check Feb, Apr, Jun, and Aug. before you plan to attend. Deadlines Contacts Please submit all contributions by the 20th of the To contact the Village Newsletter please email, the month preceding the publication date. appropriate person below:- Contributions Editor ~ Simon Berrington The Newsletter seeks to provide information, news [email protected] items, reports on recent events and to support / build up the village community. Treasurer & Adverts ~ Simon Berrington We reserve the right to decline to publish articles which are of a personal or critical nature which do not uphold its values and ethos. Distribution ~ Lesley Brown [email protected] Distribution The Stagsden Village Newsletter is distributed by Editorial volunteers to every household in the Parish and some beyond. If you can help with delivery, or Thank you everyone for your article contributions. would like an electronic version of the newsletter, If you see a contributor in the village please do please let us know. express your thanks, we wouldn’t have a newsletter without them. Advertisements The advertisements help to pay for the Newsletter Simon Berrington with any excess going to the Friends of St. Leonard’s. Please support your local businesses. Costs of placing advertisements for all 6 editions (covering 12 months) are as follows; ¼ Page - £18 ⅓ Page - £24 ½ Page – £36 Full Page - £72 Thanks Thanks to all our many contributors, distributors, readers and the NFU for the printing Stagsden Village Hall . Coming in the March Fun Quiz and Curry Night Stagsden Village Hall Look out for fliers with full information and ticket booking form. --------------------------------------------------------------------- MICK BRUMMELL It was with great sadness to hear on December 5th we lost a much-loved village friend. He was a founder member of the TOADS. The driving force and first chairman of the allotments. Our lasting memories of Mick will live on in Stagsden. It was a privilege to have had him as a friend and neighbour. He will be greatly missed. Blunham Giant Book Sale Saturday 16th February 10:00 to 3:00pm Come to our Browse and Buy Second Hand Giant Book Sale at Blunham Parish Church, (St Edmunds or St James, Park Lane, Beds, MK44 3NQ) Selection of second hand/nearly new books, Homemade cakes, teas and coffees, homemade soup and a raffle. All proceeds to Blunham Church Fabric Fund. Toads 50+ Draw Winners Village Hall Donation £58 per draw! Aug 1st L Mackness £58 2nd J Hodson £29 Sep 1st L Mackness £58 2nd C Moss £29 Oct 1st R Jacobs £58 2nd S Hodson £29 Nov 1st M Fensom £58 2nd F Wilson £29 Dec 1st R Heron £58 2nd J Haywood £29 If anybody would like to join the daw please contact Joanne (823454). The draw takes place at the Coffee Pot. Parish Council News Street Lighting It has been brought to the attention of the Parish Council that the upgraded street lights are too bright and have been causing a nuisance to many residents. Other surrounding villages have taken the decision to turn them down to a more suitable level and have turned them off during part of the night (from midnight to 5am). There are several benefits to doing this, firstly it is more environmentally friendly, as it will use less energy. Secondly it will reduce the cost of running lighting when there is very little or no demand for them and thirdly, it has been shown to be much better for wildlife in the local area, including bats, as well as migrating birds and lastly it will reduce the light pollution that we as a village produce. There has been a campaign nationally geared towards helping to create a more natural dark sky that rural areas should be able to enjoy, as opposed to bright urban area's and we would be helping support this. We understand that there may be concerns about an increase in crime, but there has been no reports of increased crime, either locally or nationally when the street lights have been dimmed and turned off. Please feel free to come and talk to the Parish Council (in particular Ashley Kenlock who is heading this up) during the Neighbourhood Plan Event on the 16th Feb, if you would like to know more. Gypsy and Traveller Site Appeal – Ref.APP/K0235/W/18/3195889 LOCATION : Bromham Nurseries Bromham Bypass Bromham Bedford Bedfordshire MK43 8RG An Informal Hearing will be held in the Committee Room 2 Borough Hall, Cauldwell Street, Bedford, commencing at 10:00am on 05.02.2019. Any interested parties may attend and, at the Inspector’s discretion, give their views. Correction to Parish Council update in Dec. to Jan. Newsletter The wording in relation to Update on Current Issues should have read:- Martin Page from Brown & Co, spoke about the planning application for 6 new houses and a new village green area at Spring Lane. A planning application is still being prepared. We indicated the open space needed to be larger and the houses hopefully will not encroach on this area. The open space could be used for village events and also an orchard, wildlife area and pond are being considered. This area is a preferred site for the Village Green which fits with the vision of the Neighbourhood Plan. It should be noted that this is part of the current Policy Map for Stagsden and is part of the current Bedford Borough Local Plan. Speed Watch Update Stagsden Speed Watch team appear live on BBC 3 Counties Radio during their live treasure quest in December. (See Below). Despite Santa’s little helper telling listeners we were conducting a speed watch, we still had 4 motorists that were registered speeding out of a total of 16 vehicles in a 30 minute period. Please be aware of your speed and keep within the 30 mph speed limit and encourage your visitors to do the same. Car Parking The Parish Council has received complaints about inconsiderate parking in the village, this will be monitored on an ongoing basis. Please park considerately, so as not to cause a hazard to either other road uses or pedestrians by not parking on the pavements, verges or too close to road junctions. Christmas Lunch On Thursday 20th December, 23 Stagsden villagers in their golden years sat down to a traditional Christmas lunch in the village hall.