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Please either select a category below for a particular article or scroll down to read the whole Newsletter.

• Chairman's Introduction
• Councillor David Hampton 1945 - 2007
• Whitmore Village Agent
• Information Center
• A Parish Councillor's Perspective
• Community Bulletin Board
• Whitmore Village Hall Regeneration – Update
• Wanted Lifesavers
• St Thomas's Church, Butterton

From the Chairman

Although this is the dormant time of year, it is definitely not a quiet period within the Parish and surrounding area.

Firstly it was with sadness that we received the news on Monday 15th January that Dave Hampton had died. The contribution that Dave made to our community will be missed.

The Council has had a change of Chairman following Peter Ford's resignation from the post due to ill health. I would like to thank Peter for his leadership following the retirement of John Booth. Peter will continue as a member of the Parish Council.

It was with mixed feelings that I took on the role. On the one hand it was very pleasing to find that I had such support from my fellow Councillors; on the other hand how could I provide the leadership as given by my predecessors, whilst being in full time employment as a company director and balance all this with my family life. Well, after three months I just about have the balance - my wife is still speaking to me!

There are two Parish Council projects that have progressed significantly, the foundation stones of which were set by John Booth.

We now opened the Information Centre. John and Audrey Pedley along with a number of other volunteers have agreed to provide the necessary support. The Information Centre is set within the village hall and will be open between 2.00 - 4.00 pm on a Thursday. There are a number of facilities available including Internet access, photocopying and fax along with an array of leaflets including applications for bus passes. So please go along and see what the Information Centre can offer.

You may remember back in 2005 receiving a copy of the Parish Plan. The Parish Plan is a document that tries to define the important services that Parishioners require. The Parish Council is now challenged with progressing the findings of the Parish Plan. A 'Village Agent', an individual assigned by Staffordshire Community Council, is assisting the Parish Council in this matter. One important task is ensuring that the findings of the Parish Plan are communicated to third party agencies.

September saw the announcement of Claymoss to try to develop Maer Hills. The Parish Council resolved to oppose such a development. There are numerous reasons for objection, but two key issues are the destruction of such a beautiful place and the unacceptable consequential increase in traffic. As Parishioners your voices are needed if we are to reject this unacceptable development. Up-to-date information can be obtained from the website www.savemaerhills.co.uk run by the Save Maer Hills Protection Group. We await further planning applications.

December saw the announcement from central Government that 2,500 Post Offices are to close. I fear that a significant campaign will be needed to save our local Post Office. No doubt throughout the country there is going to be a concerted effort to object to such proposals. This ground swell of opposition will perhaps persuade the Government to change their minds. In the meantime "use it or lose it".

2007 will see the election of a new Parish Council. If you are interested in serving the community, then speak to a Councillor or the Clerk, Bob Haysom. Finally it remains for me to thank my colleagues for their work in 2006 and to hope that everyone is enjoying a Happy New Year.

Nick Hopper

In September, I began working as part-time Village Agent for Whitmore Parish. The Village Agent scheme is already operating very successfully in the Staffordshire Moorlands area, and is being extended.

I am employed by the Community Council of Staffordshire, and would like to work closely with the people in Whitmore, Whitmore Heath, Baldwins Gate, Madeley Park Wood, Acton, and Butterton to identify key issues, and implement the Parish Plan. The overall aim is to support regeneration in the Whitmore area by preparing a varied programme of short term, and longer term actions, and by encouraging new ideas. These projects and initiatives will be led by local people, but he will advise on funding, resource opportunities, and links with external agencies.

I reported to the Parish Council on November 1st, and I am very keen to meet local people and Groups, to discuss specific needs, ideas, and opportunities. I can be contacted at the Community Council in Stafford - 01785 242525, and further information will shortly be available in the Village Hall Information Centre.

Derek Pitt

INFORMATION CENTER Officially opens on February 1st Hooray at last! Our local centre is now up and running in the Village Hall from 2:00 - 4:00pm every Thursday afternoon. Facilities include Photocopying, fax, computers for your use. Hopefully by publication of this newsletter the internet will be connected for your use too. We can provide the paperwork necessary for bus pass applications and leaflets on may other interesting and informative topics. Do pop in and have a cup of tea or coffee with a biscuit and a chat. Other volunteer helpers will be welcome. John Pedley Co-ordinator

A Parish Councillor's Perspective

Parish Councillors - we are responsible people, but seldom responsible for the things that we are asked to do.

The primary providers of our local Government services are Newcastle Borough Council and Staffordshire County Council. In many areas Parish Councillors might - and I stress might - be able to have influence but they have no authority.

Planning is perhaps the classic example. All planning applications are referred to the Parish Council who are provided with a series of policy guidelines that the Parish Council is obliged to follow, and we do. We also talk to people who live close to a proposed development. Given these planning guidelines, neighbours' comments and electorates' opinion, as a whole we try to formulate a balanced view. We logically and carefully make the Parish Council's view known to the Borough Council, who all too often appear to clearly and illogically ignore us, and so go against their own guidelines, as well as ours and neighbours' observations and comments. We write and ask for an explanation - as might a parishioner - and seldom if ever get a reply to the substance of our letters.

So by all means complain to a Parish Councillor as people complain to me, but be prepared for a surprise, as that Parish Councillor might be more aggrieved than you are, and just as powerless.

Other common complaints from parishioners concern highways, a County Council responsibility. There have been numerous attempts, public meetings included, to try and come to terms with the speed problems associated with the A53. The Parish Council has induced, and I stress induced, two marked improvements - a pedestrian crossing by the Mainwaring Arms and with that a speed limit on that section of road. On occasions it did seem that the County Council put more effort into procrastination than was necessary to accept the inevitable and do the job. Improvements have also been "promised" where the Trentham Road meets the A53 and at the Swan with Two Necks; promises which seem to have been made at varying intervals over more than half a century.

Life gets even more interesting when more than one organisation gets involved. Parishioners have made it quite clear that an improved X64 bus service is required, and we agree. Easy? Maybe, but just look at the cast of those involved, including Arriva (the bus company), Shropshire County Council, Staffordshire County Council, Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough, the City of Stoke on Trent, Market Drayton Town Council and every parish between Shrewsbury and the Potteries.

So, via the Parish Plan, the electorate have asked the Parish Council to do something about public transport - something we might be able to influence but certainly cannot control. And we do this, and everything else, but with a precept that might buy everyone in the Parish an occasional bus ticket.

I am new to the Parish Council but remain amazed that we can do so much with so little authority and very little money. We even have an Information Centre (Thursdays in the village hall), a playing field, dog bins, a parish handyman, and other parochial responsibilities, and we have a Parish Plan.

And, if you want a smile, central Government (Westminster) would like to delegate more responsibility to Parish Councils in the name of "grass-roots democracy"; responsibility please note, not authority.

Bill Murray

Community Bulletin Board

BALDWINS GATE PRIMARY SCHOOL

We currently have a vacancy for a Janitor / Handyman who would be willing to be at the school from 7:30 until 8:30 am.
Duties include;

• Ensure that the school is open
• Check the central heating is working
• General tidying of the site
• Clear pathways in icy or snowy weather

The availability to do other odd jobs at various times of the week would be an advantage. A Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check would be required. The current rate of pay is £5.94 (there is currently a job evaluation review in progress).

All interested parties should contact the Headteacher (Mr Denly) on 01782 680 649.

WANTED LIFE SAVERS WE ARE LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERS TO JOIN THE MADELEY AND DISTRICT FIRST RESPONDERS The Community First Responders (CFR) is a nationwide initiative that provides fast emergency medical response. We need more volunteers from the Baldwins Gate area who would be prepared to be committed to the scheme and undergo training as ambulance technicians in order to respond to life threatening emergencies within the local community. For further information please contact 01782 752599 or email cfrteammadeley-staffs@fsmail.net

St Thomas's Church, Butterton

If you have travelled through Butterton recently you will have seen that St Thomas' the small village church, now looks like a Cathedral as it is enveloped in a huge plastic jacket. This jacket is covering the stone spire and its parapet walls while they are being rebuilt as they were condemned by structural engineers in August 2003. the church has been closed since that date.

In the following months many meetings were held. From these it was evident to the PCC that there was support from the congregation, villagers, the Diocese and the Victorian Society (the church was built in 1845) and it was decided to try and repair the building and as a result several applications for grants were made and in particular one to English Heritage Lottery in June 2004.

This application was approved in December 2004 and monies were promised for a detailed survey and preparation of working drawings and specification. This work took most of 2005 and prices were received in December that year. The bad news was that the lowest tender was well above the promised grant, but the good news came in February 2006 that English Heritage could find additional money so that a building contract could be signed for the spire to be rebuilt and the church made waterproof. Unfortunately the internal works had to be omitted.

Work started in May 2006 and is due to be completed in March 2007. A further application was made this June for a grant towards the interior and the result is anxiously awaited.

In May 2003 Acton Methodist Church was closed and the congregation of St Thomas has been most fortunate in being allowed to use these premises for their services throughout this period.

Philip Hulme
Butterton PCC

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