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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
• Trim Trail Gets The Go-Ahead!!
• University of the Third Age
• Time No Longer Stands Still
• Family Village Fete - Saturday 3rd September 2011
• Do You Know What Is Going On?
• The (Revised) Bus Service - Just the Ticket!
• Information/Day Centre
• English Heritage Open Days: The 2011 Parish Walk
• Whitmore & District Horticultural Society - 11th Sept 2011
• Whitmore & District Village Hall - What's On?
• Village Agent for Whitmore - Debbie Burns
• Chairman's Annual Report & Financial Report

View a full list of Councillors and their contact details.

From the Chairman

It doesn't seem four months since our last Newsletter but it certainly is. Your Parish Council meanwhile have been active, firstly getting themselves re-elected at the May elections (seven of us) and being joined by Carl Evans who makes up the full team.

Our monthly meetings - the first Wednesday of the month at Whitmore Village Hall - are interesting and varied. We are normally joined by County Councillor Frank Chapman (and his good lady), Borough Councillor Ashley Howells and Village Agent Debbie Burns. We are also joined at many meetings by groups, police force representatives and really anything that interests us and that can be used or utilized into extending village life.

You may recall from our last Newsletter we had several new challenges in our sights; The Best Kept Village - still on the move and we are still in the running. We were also in the advance stages of installing a trim trail at our playfield site in Whitmore, which I can now report our efforts have been successful in raising the monies needed and this will happen shortly. The funding has been provided by Staffordshire County Council Community Wellbeing Fund and has been vigorously pursued by Vice Chairman Ian Webb, assisted by our Village Agent Debbie Burns who is an extra member of our team and has an insatiable appetite to help, organise and aid our community. Notification of the installation and official opening of this new venture will come later, when we hope to see many parishioners present. So keep your eyes on the ball!

Whilst talking of keeping ones eyes on the ball, so much is happening around us that it is a crime not to. We have requests for another pedestrian crossing across the A53, we have Borough and County edicts, the Prime Minister pushing ahead with fresh public service reforms, more power for Parish Councils to take control of paths, playing fields, parking, traffic restrictions and so on. Goodness knows where he thinks we are coming from. However, if it means more local say in what Borough and County Councils propose then it could be a good thing. I have always believed that Parish Councils were and are more informed within their localities than either Borough or County and local people should be consulted more and listened to when major decisions are taken that have an immediate effect on their daily lives.

I am not suggesting that we are not served well by either Borough or County but sometimes we have to live our lives with decisions that are taken from proper criteria but end up causing other problems that perhaps needed more emphasis at an earlier stage. Life, of course, is never that easy - is it?

You can rest assured your Parish Council is dedicated to maintaining and improving local quality of life for us all.

Alan Wilkinson
01782 680 820

TRIM TRAIL gets the go-ahead!!!

I am absolutely delighted to be able to tell you that the Project for the installation of a "Trim Trail" on the Village Hall playing field, announced by our chairman in the March Newsletter, is to go ahead in the very near future. This facility is being provided by the Whitmore Parish Council in response to a clear demand expressed by our parishioners.

Planning Permission has been agreed by NULBC Planning Dept and, thanks to the help of our very able Village Agent, Mrs Debbie Burns, we have successfully applied for a grant from Staffordshire County Council's "Staffordshire Cares: Community Wellbeing Fund" which will cover the full cost of the equipment and its installation. The equipment will be ordered as soon as the funds have been made available to us.

The Trim Trail will consist of 7 units of Adult Outdoor Exercise equipment which will be supplied by "Fresh-Air Fitness", a Market Leader claiming over 200 installations nationwide. Quoting extracts from the manufacturer's literature:-

"This is high quality equipment professionally designed and developed to be permanently installed outdoors, making it free to use and accessible to all. The design makes it safe to use with the resistance being provided by the user's own body weight. Each unit comes with its own instruction panel and caution notice. It conforms to safety standards, having been checked and tested by RoSPA and complies with the playground equipment standard EN1176. It has also been certified to the gym equipment standard EN957 by the German Standards Agency TUV".

Full details and a formal launch will be announced later.

Councillor Ian Webb
01782 680 522

University of the Third Age

With the "Trim Trail" aiming to keep bodies active, there is also a local initiative to keep older minds active! The University of the Third Age is hoping to set up an outpost in Madeley and is offering a varied selection of courses and meetings, from Art Appreciation to Walking.

See the poster on the Parish Council noticeboards or contact Steve Hurd on 01782 750 338 or email info@madeleydistrictu3a.org.uk.

Time no longer stands still !

The clock at Whitmore Church, which has marked the passing of time for over 100 years, broke down recently, due to metal fatigue, and Whitmore Church was faced with a bill of nearly £2000 for repairs.

Whitmore Churchwarden, John Inchley, asked the Parish Council for help. Staffordshire County Councillor Frank Chapman was approached and he has granted £1000 of his Staffordshire Local Community Fund allowance towards the cost of the repairs.

The clock is now mended and so in Whitmore Parish, time continues to march on!

Wendy Kinson
01782 680 613

DO YOU KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON?

Information Event - Saturday 17th September 2011
10am - 1pm at Whitmore Village Hall

Come along and find out what is going on in the Whitmore area:-

• We have information for all ages and abilities from Talking Tots to our brand new Older Persons Trim Trail equipment, which has been purchased through a grant from the Community Wellbeing Fund.
  
  
• Groups and Clubs such as the Art Group , Yoga Club, Karate and Scouting will all have Information Stands.
  
  
• Representatives from a range of organisations will be available to chat with you, give you information and advise you. These include Newcastle Borough Council, Community Council Of Staffordshire, The Wildlife Trust, United Utilities, Walking for Health, Warm Zone, PALS[ NHS], Social Housing and many more.
  
  
• Vehicles and Staff from the Police Incident Unit, Staffordshire Fire Brigade and the Community First Responders will be situated outside.

Free Refreshments Available

YOUR VILLAGE AGENT Debbie Burns will be on hand to give advice on any Community Issues, Funding, or any Problems which you feel she may be able to help you with.

For more information on this event please call Debbie Burns on 07977 561 989 or 01785 242 525 or email debbieburns123@hotmail.co.uk.

THE (REVISED) BUS SERVICE – JUST THE TICKET!

Staffordshire had proposed to abandon the Friday/Saturday evening bus service and the Sunday bus, when the County called a meeting in Newcastle to explain a whole series of cutbacks and revisions county-wide. In making representations, Whitmore Parish Council was mindful of Staffordshire's local transport plan 2011 and the County's wish to "ensure access for young people to opportunities and leisure activities" (Ref 1.7). Ref 1.4 acknowledges that "transport can make a big difference to the quality of life for rural residents, especially those living in the 12% of rural households that do not own a car".

Staffordshire County Council has introduced a quite superb scheme whereby young people can have a FREE concessionary card which allows the holder to travel for just £1 each way on any Staffordshire journey, even those such as the 64/164 as far as Shrewsbury. Please, young people, get a card and then use that card, especially for Friday and Saturday evenings, and free up "Dad's-and-Mum's" taxi and while you're at it, remind your parents that they too can use the evening buses.

The Parish Plan shows that we have an appreciable number of people who are over 60, and for them the Sunday bus service has considerable potential. This service is particularly attractive to older people on a day out, perhaps to see children, friends and relatives. If those older people (60+, but it's changing) haven't got their free, very free, bus pass, then they ought to have. Unfortunately we are at present unable to issue these passes at the Information Centre on Thursday afternoons as the computer systems have changed and we are awaiting the installation of new software. We are hopeful of an early resolution to this setback but in the meantime the Guildhall in Newcastle can issue passes while you wait.

As for those who are neither under 20 nor over 60, congratulations – I wish I was – but that doesn't stop you going out on the bus on a Sunday, perhaps on a country walk, out to one bus stop and back from another, or out to Newcastle or Market Drayton for a lunchtime meal and a drink.

We are appreciative of Staffordshire's help with the bus service but please use the buses or we will lose them. Oh, and there is now an additional earlier Sunday bus to Drayton and a later one back.

Bill Murray
01782 680 252

PS Timetables are displayed at the bus stop or the Information Centre.

English Heritage Open Days:
The 2011 Parish Walk

English Heritage coordinates a whole host of events from Thursday 8 September to Sunday 11 September 2011 (inc), as part of the Heritage Open Days Weekend.

Most events are centred around an individual building; ours is quite different. Ours involves a Parish walk on Saturday 10 September, starting at Butterton finishing at Maer, scheduled as follows:

It's all free. Start where you will and whilst we encourage you all to finish at Maer, there is the option to just do part of the walk, if that is what you want to do.

All the locations are an easy journey on the 164/64 bus.

We will have an appropriate speaker at each of the locations mentioned, speakers who will explain the history behind, and heritage of, that part of our Parish. A local guide will coordinate the walk itself. So all we need is you, and a few more people, on Saturday 10 September 2011.

Last year, within the Parish Festival, we organised a Parish walk linked to the unveiling of the Blue Plaque on the one-time Whitmore Railway Station. We hope that this year we have just as large and enthusiastic a group of people as we did last year.

More information about English Heritage open days can be found at www.heritageopendays.org.uk

Bill Murray
01782 680 252

Will the Show go on?

The organising Committee is struggling to keep the Annual Show alive.

This year's Show could be the last unless new members are found. If you are interested in becoming involved for 2012 and beyond, please contact Nick or Helen Hopper on 01782 662 323.

Alternatively come along to our Annual General Meeting which is being held on Thursday 20 October 2011 at 8.00 pm at Whitmore Village Hall.

Whitmore Village Hall

Find Out What's On at the Whitmore & District Village Hall.

Village Agent for Whitmore - Debbie Burns

It is now two years since I took over as the Community Council of Staffordshire's Village Agent for Whitmore.

My role as Village Agent is to support rural parish communities with practical help and advice.

I have been working closely with the Parish Council, on projects such as the Whitmore Festival, Your Parish Plan and the "Trim Trail" which I am proud to say we have now been granted funding for.

Following our successful Information Event last year we have planned a second for 17 September 2011 at Whitmore Village Hall, 10 am - 1 pm.

Everyone is most welcome – Free refreshments.

I am currently working on a project funded by Scottish Energy People Trust, helping people save Energy and Money! This includes information on grants for insulation, money saving tips and information on energy efficiency. Do not wait until September to find out that you have not ensured your TV is able to switch over to DIGITAL! Give me a call if you want any advice on the equipment you require or to find out if you are eligible for financial or practical help.

September 2012 may seem a long way off but we are already planning next year's Whitmore Festival. We want it to be bigger and better than ever – BUT we need YOUR help. If you would like to get involved or have any brilliant ideas please let me know.

If you would like to contact me for a chat or for advice on Community Issues, Funding, Energy Saving, DIGIATAL Switch Over or any problems which you feel I may be able to help you with, I would be very happy to hear from you.

Please feel free to give me a ring on 07977 561 989 or 01785 242 525 - please leave a message and I will call you back. Or email debbieburns123@hotmail.co.uk.

Chairman's Annual Report & Financial Report

Read the 2011 Annual Report and review the 2011 Financial Report.

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