www.combwich.org.uk COMBWICH, OTTERHAMPTON AND September 2017 STEART NEWSLETTER Our thanks to EDF Hinkley Point who print this newsletter without charge Welcome to Combwich Otterhampton Parish Project Team (OPPT) Inside this issue £500k is the amount of Community Impact Mitigation (CIM) money allocated to the parish in mitigation for the inconvenience the Page 2 community is experiencing as a result of the Hinkley C works at and Otterhampton Offcuts around Combwich Wharf. After years of delay the money will soon be from the Parish Council available to provide worthwhile projects for our community of Page 3 Combwich, Otterhampton and Steart. Notes from the village As reported in the July issue, the OPPT team which delivered the new play agent and recreation area - reconstituted with some new members - is up and Page 4 running. We are working with the Somerset Community Foundation (SCF) OPRA who will administer the fund on behalf of EDF. Page 5 Building on the community wide consultations and Open Day in 2015, we EDF - Wharf update compiled a project list which we have updated to reflect completed projects &Community Cider Press- and additional comments/guidance as appropriate. We would now like you ing to review this list to confirm the existing projects and ideas are still desired, Page 6 and to add any new projects and ideas that have come to the fore since From the Grapevine 2015. Page 7 Briefly, projects are open to individuals, groups and organisations and will Village Hall & Social Club need to meet the criteria of the SCF which will include both community Page 8 benefit and support, sustainability, value for money and how it will mitigate the impact of Hinkley C. OPPT will provide advice and assistance but we St Peter’s Church Harvest will need people to make these ideas a reality. Generally, people who Festival come forward with ideas and have the plans to design, manage and Page 9 implement them (as long as they meet the criteria) will inevitably have Otterhampton School priority for the funds. Pages 10 This funding is a once in a lifetime opportunity so we must ensure we spend WI Report it responsibly, with lasting benefits. Page 11 Gig Racing & Otter Wheels On Pages 14 and 15 you will find the existing project list. Projects marked Page 12 & 13 in Green are those that generally meet the CIM criteria, but the list is not exhaustive. With your help, our aim is to compile an updated project list WWT Steart Marshes Page 14, 15 & 16 that best reflects the needs, priorities and benefits to the community. Even if you have no new ideas please let us know what you think of the potential CIM Project (OPPT) projects already listed. Page 17 CIM Project (OPPT) Reply Please therefore could you review the list and complete the reply slip so that slip we can start building a foundation for the next stage of the process. The Page 18 slips should be returned to the Mobile Library. box in the Post Office in Diary of Events. Combwich, or emailed to [email protected] by the end of September. Otterhampton Offcuts Snippets from the August Village Walk and September 2017 Parish Council Meeting Parish Councillors Village Walk 3rd August 2017 Contact details for the parish council We traditionally don’t have a meeting in August but have a parish walkabout to try and identify any areas of improvement to PARISH COUNCILLORS enhance the parish. We found minor issues such as weeds in John Berry (Chairman) 01278 652682 walls, kerbs and pavements (SDC normally spray these so we Dick Best (Vice Chairman) 01278 651063 have asked that this is done), the bus shelter floor littered with Barry Leathwood 01278 652399 cigarette ends (now removed), overgrown vegetation on Wharf Bob Birkenhead 01278 653127 Rd (which will be cleared in the next couple of months), and the Julie Evans 01278 652735 noticeboard by the play area needs replacing which hopefully we can do through the Hinkley C CIM funds. The damaged drain Rachel Perrett 01278 652958 cover and surrounding tarmac in Ship Lane has been repaired. If Dave Cather 07720 313041 you see anything that needs attention in the parish, please contact Mrs Aly Prowse (Clerk) 01278 652426 the Clerk. [email protected] Future Parish Councillor Vacancy County and District Ward Members Our existing Chairman will be leaving the area in February 2018, Mike Caswell 01278 652043 therefore there will be a councillor vacancy which we will (District & County) formally advertise towards the end of this year/beginning of next. Julie Pay (District) 01278 732956 We are mentioning this now because if any parishioner feels they might like to become a councillor and wish to find out what the Hinkley C182 road). There was yet another role entails, this will give plenty of time to do some research! accident there recently and a number of near Please contact the Clerk if you would like further information. misses have also occurred. When turning out of Otterhampton on to the Hinkley road, the Hinkley Point C “Fly Parking” blind spot on the right makes exiting very Hinkley C employees parking in the local villages are causing dangerous. Locals tend to know and respect some concerns. Whilst in many cases the parking is not illegal it the dangers, but there are a lot more road users does cause inconvenience to residents. EDF recognises this, now, obviously Hinkley C traffic and also therefore all employees have to sign a ‘Code of Conduct’ which visitors to Steart Marshes. includes the statement that individuals should be “ambassadors for the project through their behaviour and actions when in the community” before they are issued with a site pass. EDF is clamping down hard on individuals identified as repeat offenders. Warning notices are placed on vehicles and number plate details are taken to identify the individual(s) who will then be spoken to. New developments are in progress to add additional controls to bus-stop usage. This will mean that an individual can only access a bus based upon their home location; i.e a resident of Bridgwater will not be able to drive to Combwich to board a bus. You can notify EDF of any fly parking (with vehicle registration numbers if possible) to [email protected] Play Area Youth Club at Cannington The play area passed its RoSPA annual As advised in the previous Otter Tales, inspection in July. However, we are aware children and young adults from the parish there are some issues such as grass growing will be welcome to attend the youth club through the safety surface and some problems which is held on Monday evenings, from with ground settlement. We are seeking advice 18 September, 6.30pm-8.30pm at to address these issues and will rectify them as Cannington Village Hall. The age range soon as possible. Please also note that children is 11 -17 years and the cost is £1.00. The are not permitted to take scooters and bicycles sessions are very well run by Youth into the play area - we did have a sign to this Unlimited, with lots of planned activities. effect on the fence of the play area which was See our notice boards for information ‘removed’. We will be erecting a more detailing the activities and trips. permanent sign shortly. Highways Next Meeting Steart village has a number of dips and ruts in the road which The next parish council meeting will be have just been patched. In addition the road and passing places Thursday 5 October, 7pm, at Otterhampton between the Otterhampton turn-off and the WWT Steart Marshes Village Hall. Please note that draft minutes of compound is due for repair in the next couple of months. We also the meeting are normally placed on the notice continue to pursue with Highways, a solution to remedy the boards and the website safety issues at Biffen’s Corner (Otterhampton turn off from the www.combwich.org.uk within 10 days of parish council meetings. 2 Notes from your Village Agent Izzy Silvester I was talking to a Bank Manager the other day and she was telling me about the alarming number of instances where her customers have been the victims of fraud. There are so many fraudsters about that it’s worth taking a moment to STOP AND THINK when you get a phone call, or an email or even someone knocking on the door who you don’t know. We’ve all had calls like this – “Hello, this is British Bank, there’s a problem with your account, in fact, we think someone is stealing money from it. Can I just confirm your identity? Please tell me your PIN…..” “Hello, this is the Tax Man, you’re due a tax refund, which we can pay directly into your account, the money will be in tomorrow, if you’d just give us your bank details….” Please take a moment to STOP AND THINK even if someone says they’re from a trusted organisation like the Police or the Bank, how do you know? Ask yourself what’s really going on. Because, deep down, you already know the rules for beating fraudsters, so stay calm, take a deep breath, and remember if something feels wrong then it is wrong, and it’s time to put the phone down. There are five basic rules for dealing with the fraudsters – Never tell anyone your security details like PINs and passwords Always assume a phone call or email is a scam Never be rushed into making a decision Always listen to your instincts Always stay in control In Case of Emergency! Break Glass! A little story from a client of mine….she had got into the habit of leaving the key turned in the lock when she went to bed.