Whitmore Parish Council Newsletter - July 2007
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From the Chairman
Whitmore Parish Council is now entering a new four-year term. At the beginning of May eight Councillors were nominated and elected unopposed.
Attached are the contact details for all Councillors. As some of you might appreciate, Bert Butters has retired. I would like to thank Bert for his valued service over the past years.
This edition of the Newsletter includes a copy of the Annual Report including a financial summary for the year. The Report also gives details of our achievements as well as our objectives.
The Parish Council has been approached by Reverend John Porter, a former Rector of St Mary's. Reverend Porter now lives in a small community of 120 inhabitants called Framecourt in Northern France. This community would like to form a twinning partnership with the Parish. A short article included in the Newsletter provides details of the purposes of twinning.
The Parish Council believes that if we are to form a twinning relationship with Framecourt then the community as a whole needs to show significant interest. The back page is a questionnaire, if you and your family are interested in twinning, then please return to the Clerk by post or via the Information Centre in the village hall. Our plan is to reply to all who show an interest. We look forward to your response and will provide you with feedback in due course.
The Parish Council is hoping to launch a Community Speed Watch scheme. Further details can be found in the Newsletter including a request for volunteers.
Work on the Parish Plan continues and further news will follow in later Newsletters. The Information Centre continues to grow with Internet, fax and photocopying facilities available for anyone in the community to use. Our volunteers will welcome you on a Thursday afternoon between 2.00pm and 4.00pm at the Village Hall.
Finally we look forward to any feedback you can offer. Please phone, e-mail or attend a Parish Council meeting which is usually held on the first Wednesday of the month at the Village Hall.
Nick Hopper
WHITMORE PLAYGROUP
For more than 40 years there has been a Playgroup / Mother and Toddler Group meeting at Whitmore Village Hall. Leaders have come and gone, and some children that attended are now bringing their own children along to our sessions.
Society has changed significantly in the last 40 years. More and more mothers are working full time and more schools (Baldwins Gate included) are offering pre school facilities and from the age of 3 parents can receive funding for their children to attend these facilities.
We have to recognise that because of these changes an "old fashioned" playgroup like Whitmore open just a few hours a day and a couple of mornings each week may not be meeting the needs of the today's parents. Until last year our numbers were holding up well but at the end of this term nearly all the children on our register will be moving on. And it is uncertain whether there will be enough children remaining to make the group viable. It does seem a shame – not just for us but for the community. Surely somewhere the size of Baldwins Gate should have some sort of group for very young children and their parents?
We will open again in September but if there are insufficient children then reluctantly we will close. If you know of anyone looking for a playgroup please do encourage them to come along to visit.
We are open from 10:00am on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings. And over the age of 2 children can be left with the playgroup staff.
Contact Wendy Kinson on 01782 680 613
Whitmore & District Village Hall
Read What's On at Whitmore Village Hall.
ROAD SAFETY - COMMUNITY SPEED WATCH
During the consultations used for the preparation of the Whitmore Parish Plan, Parisioners expressed a high level of concern about the volumes of traffic using the A53 through Whitmore and Baldwins Gate and the attendant risk of accidents. Particular reference was made to the high accident rates at both the Mainwaring Arms and Atherton's corner (Baldwins Gate farm). Speeding traffic was the most mentioned reason for the accidents.
This position was reflected in the Whitmore Parish Plan (Road Safety) where it was concluded that "There should be discussions with the County Council and Police to find ways of enforcing speed limits, safer and more responsible driving".
As part of their response to this objective, the Whitmore Parish Council have decided to join other local Parish Councils in setting up and operating a Community Speed Watch scheme.
This will involve Volunteers periodically spending an hour or so monitoring the speed of vehicles at designated spots, using hand held Speed Recorders. Whilst they will not of course have the power to issue penalties themselves, details of motorists caught speeding will be forwarded to the police who will issue written warnings. Motorists who are caught a second time will receive a second warning from the Police. If the incidence of speeding is high, the police will then launch their own speed monitoring action, applying the usual penalties to offenders.
The Council is therefore now seeking Volunteers for this activity. If you are prepared to help could we ask you please to contact the Clerk, Mr Bob Haysom (01782 643 496) or your local Councillor, with your name and telephone number. Equipment and relevant training will of course be provided. In due course you will be invited to a meeting to discuss the requirements in more detail and to organise the relevant training.
Please support us in this venture – we need YOUR help to make our Parish a safer place.
Ian Webb
TWINNING - WHAT IS IT ABOUT?
The main purpose of twinning is to widen horizons and promote international friendship. It is a conscious attempt to understand another country through a place that represents a cross-section of the citizens of that country, and through that relationship contribute to peace and goodwill between all the countries in the world.
A twinning is a special relationship between two local authorities and communities. It is not just an official agreement to be made, celebrated and then forgotten except on special occasions, but should represent the desire of those concerned to share experiences, to exchange ideas, to become friends, to visit each other and perhaps to co-operate in discussing common problems, and by so doing obtain a sympathetic understanding of each other's point of view. A twinning should provide scope to involve people of all age, levels and interests and should cut across boundaries, including political ones.
Within all communities there is a range of local activities (schools, clubs and societies, sport and hobby groups, youth groups, business and professional groups etc.) which can be brought within the twinning.
Many now recognise that nothing but good can come of meetings between peoples of different nationalities who wish to exchange ideas freely and who seek common interests and experience, and that there is no facet of life about which nothing can be learned from the experiences of others.
Currently there are over 2,000 formal twinning links in the UK, 50% of which are with France and 25% with Germany. The remaining 25% are with communities all over the world, including the USA, China and countries of the Commonwealth.
The benefits of twinning include promoting community well being, public awareness and learning, education and economic and business development.
Bob Haysom
INFORMATION CENTRE
OPEN THURSDAY
2:00PM to 4:00PM
- County and Borough Councillors
- Schools
- Parish Council
- Trading Standards
- Highways
- Beth Johnson Housing
- Benefits and Pensions
- Local Amenities
- Local Policing
- Social Services
- Internet Access
- Use of Computers
- Photocopying
Open to all residents of Whitmore, Hill &
Chapel Chorlton, Aston and Maer parishes |
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Where will you go
with the Rural Runabout?
Group Outings
Supermarket
Garden Centre
Seaside
Call
01782 751 164
to start your adventure
From as little as 80p per mile |
The Rural Runabout - a runaway success
Some five years ago John Booth (the then Parish Council Chairman) opened discussions about providing transport for people in the Parish who didn't have easy access to their own transport and to augment the Shrewsbury to Hanley bus service and the Border Car Service. He asked Phil Maskery an associate of his to look into it and Phil has spent the past five years immersed in the techniques of providing this much needed and very valued service (indeed becoming a parish Councillor during the process).
Once a need had been verified Phil and the committee that was formed by the participating Parish Councils went about securing funding through the Countryside Agency and as all things in local government this was extremely complicated and many meetings were held to find the best way forward. Funding was given in 3 "chunks" the final being paid recently and now Rural Runabout and it's committee need to be self financing.
The Rural Runabout serves the communities of Whitmore, Madeley, Hill and Chapel Chorlton, Aston and Maer. Any one within those Parishes can use it for any purpose that is included under section 19 of the Community Transport Association to which the Rural Runabout is fully compliant.
When I spoke to Phil he told me "The service is extremely well used by all manner of local groups and the ones I like best are those used by the disadvantaged, Rural Runabout brings a real difference to their lives".
There is a regular supermarket run which means that the elderly and infirm who might not otherwise be able to shop independently can now do so. A group recently took a holiday into Wales bringing a new meaning to the term independent living.
The vehicle is smartly painted with it's distinctive logo and has full wheelchair access, grab handles and of course seatbelts.
Rural Runabout is now a PLC and is looking forward to becoming a charitable trust which is another lengthy process that the management committee has had to steer itself through.
What is apparent though is that this has truly been a great success story for Whitmore Parish Council and the other Parishes that joined in with the venture, readily showing the value that is gained from having a Parish Council to look after our local area. This success is to be applauded.
Editor
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