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Colton Parish Council NEWS
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Monthly News for: Jan/Feb 2012 Grit Bins: You may have noticed than we now have more grit bins in the Parish. Three have been bought by the Parish Council, and others provided by County. Some have, however, been placed in unexpected locations, and some are as yet unfilled, so we will be ‘taking stock’ at our next meeting! Field of Pigs, between Ealinghearth and Finsthwaite: We are very aware that the flooding here arising from the ‘pig field’ is worse than ever as is the slurry pollution into the becks. We are pressing hard for a resolution and are awaiting developments from the Environment Agency. We understand that Highways are unable to deal with the flooding until the pollution problem is resolved. Along with Haverthwaite Parish, we are also trying to resolve the issue of pigs escaping into the surrounding woodland. Please report any sightings of escaped pigs to the Clerk (contact details below). Community First Responders: We are pleased to hear that the Hawkshead and Satterthwaite Team’s area has now been extended a bit further south to include Oxen Park and Bandrake Head. If you are interested in finding out more about what First Responders do and to what sort of incidents they might be called to, then have a look on the North-west Ambulance Service website: www.nwas-responders.info or chat with a local Responder. Our next Parish Council meeting is on Monday 20th February, Finsthwaite Village Hall, 7.30pm.
Monthly News for: November 2011 Bouth speed limits: Councillors and Clerk met with County Highways officers in Bouth on 13th September to discuss the issue of speeding traffic in the village. You may remember that the Parish Council survey of households in Bouth revealed a strong preference for a 20mph speed limit past the playground. It seems that 20mph zones now have to be accompanied by traffic calming measures (bollards, speed bumps, etc.) which may not be desirable and are also costly to install. A 30mph limit would also cost around £6,000 because of the requirement to place 2 double-sided signs at each village entry/exit (that's 8 signs for Bouth!). Highways have insufficient funds and our County Councillor's own budget is very limited. After much discussion, the most likely solution seems to be the placing of two '20's plenty' signs on the main route into/out of Bouth; this is an advisory limit only, but these signs have been shown to reduce speed significantly. More news in due course. Tottlebank traffic: We also asked the Highways officers to visit and discuss the problems with speeding traffic and large trucks on the road from the A590 ('Bouth Road Ends') to Tottlebank. Sat-navs have made this even more of a 'rat-run' in recent years and the width restriction signs are 200 yards up from the A590. There have been frequent near-misses with farm stock on the road, and damage to walls is also commonplace. We have asked for an assessment of the problem and, specifically, that the width restriction sign is moved down to the A590 turn to say 'width restriction ahead'. We await developments. Nibthwaite now has a smart new notice-board made by local craftsman Peter Helme. It has been fixed to the barn wall next to our equally smart refurbished phone box, lovingly restored and painted by David Oldham of Oxen Park. Government's Draft National Planning Policy Framework: Your Council's response to this consultation can be viewed here. Our next Parish Council meeting is on Monday 5th December, 7.30 pm at Rusland Reading Rooms.
Government's Draft National Planning Policy Framework: You may be aware of government proposals for major changes to the planning system, central to which is to be a 'presumption in favour of sustainable development'. Development would be approved unless 'the adverse impacts of development would significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits'. Local neighbourhood plans will be central to the process, though it is not yet clear at what level they will operate. Your Council is compiling a response to this consultation. Individuals may comment directly (before 17th October). Documents are available only online – go to http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/draftframework . Please contact the Clerk if you would like to view a paper copy. Old Hall Community Woodland, Bouth: A meeting was held in Bouth on 24th August to discuss the Forestry Commission's proposal for local involvement in the management of this ancient semi-natural woodland. Some 25 people attended and gave a positive response to the proposal. Three Forestry Commission staff and three Bouth residents (Cllr Ken Dean, Mr Paul Holden and Mr Mark Sharphouse) have formed a liaison group. If you are interested in helping out with wildlife surveys, path maintenance, making bird-boxes, or helping with coppicing, etc. , please contact a member of the group. Illegal off-roading: A group composed of local parish councils, the National Park, the Police, Natural England and the Trail Riders Federation have been working together this summer to tackle the increasing problem of illegal off-roading by 4x4s and trail bikes in this part of South Lakeland. Press releases and new signs aim to educate vehicle users about legal and illegal routes, and police campaigns have had success in catching perpetrators and issuing fixed-penalty notices. We will be putting some information on our notice-boards showing the legal routes in Colton Parish and, also, how to report illegal activity. Our next Parish Council meeting is on Monday 17th October, 7.30 pm at Bouth Village Hall (Note change of date).
Monthly News for: August 2011 There has been no Parish Council meeting since the last edition of this newsletter, so there is not a great deal to report except for one item concerning Old Hall Wood, Bouth: Thank you to everyone who came along on 15th June, for an informal meeting with Nigel Williams and his colleagues from the Forestry Commission, to gather views on how the woodland should be managed. The FC are keen for communities to have a say in developing management plans for local woods like Old Hall. They hope that local people will want to become involved in monitoring wildlife, improving paths and drainage, and in woodland industries, for example. At this informal walk around the wood, the general concensus was for a 'light touch' management approach, with some small-scale coppicing work to open up glades for wildlife sites and viewpoints. The existing paths would be improved, drains unblocked, and some overhanging vegetation cut back. The future of the larch by the roadside and the area of spruce at the top of the wood was discussed at some length. The FC intends to thin the larch plantation at the bottom of the hill, but the spruce at the top would be difficult and costly to remove. Although national policy is focussed on the restoration of broadleaf woodlands, allowing some conifers to remain actually maximises biodiversity, providing important winter cover and an essential food source for some species, for example red squirrels (the larch), siskins and redpolls (the spruce). An obvious solution for the spruce seemed to be to leave it alone to provide wildlife and landscape benefits; over time, some trees will succumb to wind-throw, leaving some to become mature specimens. We hope that Bouth residents will be keen to take this community woodland plan forward, and so we have arranged a meeting with the FC to be held during August at Bouth Village Hall. A provisional date of 10th August, 7.30 pm has been pencilled in, but not yet confirmed. Look out for notices on the Village Green board shortly. Our next Parish Council meetings are on Monday 25th July, 7.30 pm at Rusland Reading Room and Monday 12th September, 7.30 pm at Finsthwaite Village Hall.
Monthly News for: July 2011 The National Park and South Lakeland Council have commissioned the Cumbria Rural Housing Trust (CRHT) to conduct a new housing needs survey to be conducted in Colton this year. You may remember that the first survey was conducted 4 years ago, and this found that 17 households in the Parish would be in housing need within the next 5 years. The demand was principally for affordable housing for rent. Judith Derbyshire, from the CRHT is planning to come to speak to the Council at our next meeting on 25th July to discuss the format of the new survey. Remember that Colton residents are eligible for the affordable housing being built at the old Satterthwaite School site. If interested, contact Eden Housing on 01768 861470 for an application form. Bouth speed limit: The good news is that it seems that Bouth IS eligible for a 30 mph speed limit. The bad news is that putting in speed limit signs could cost around £5000 (!) and that it represents 'improvements' for which County has no funds at present. However, there is clearly a need for a speed limit, not least in relation to the playground, and we will press for a source of funding to be identified. We have been asked by a young resident of Colton (hamlet) if we can find somewhere nearby for him and friends to ride their BMX bikes. The roads are too dangerous and we’d like to encourage kids to get out in the real world rather than playing too long in the virtual one! The Council does not own land and cycling is not permitted on common land, so we are asking if anyone has a small patch of suitable land for this activity? Please contact the Clerk if you can help. Our next Parish Council meeting is on Monday 25th July, 7.30 pm at Rusland Reading Room.
Monthly News for: June 2011 We are very pleased to have appointed a new Lengthsman: Tony Atkinson, from Riddingside Farm, Colton. Tony will be starting work soon, for 2 days per month. Please forward any requests for work (cutting back verges at junctions, clearing drains, cleaning signs, etc.) to Cllr Ian Cunliffe, the Lengthsman liaison officer, on 01229 861440. Ian does not possess a computer (wise man!), so the alternative method is on paper to Springfield Cottage, Springfield, Colton, Ulverston, LA12 8HE. The Forestry Commission have contacted us about Old Hall Wood, Bouth with a proposal to increase community involvement in its management. The current 'design plan' for the wood (see http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-8FTFXZ) allows some flexibility for example in selecting areas for coppicing, opening up views, improving paths, and improving wildlife habitat. There is to be an informal walk and talk in the wood with Nigel Williams (FC) and his colleagues on Wednesday 15th June at 1.30 pm, meeting at the old 'hut' on the lane just past Old Hall Farm (grid ref SD 326 855) . Just come along and join in (without your car please, as parking is limited here). Contact the Clerk if you would like more details. Some of the eight notice boards in our Parish are in a poor state, particularly the smaller ones which were made by a firm from away and which are not up to the rigours of our weather. The Nibthwaite board will be the first to be replaced, with the one at Lakeside to follow when funding permits. The boards at Bouth are also suffering and we hope to provide a new larger one in due course. The Colton board had its door caught by the wind and broken because the bolts were not shut properly. Please try to secure the doors when fixing notices, and bolt them properly afterwards, as the cost of repair is significant. If anyone has joinery skills and is willing to 'look after' a board for us, making small repairs where necessary, that would be very welcome. Please contact the Clerk. Our next Parish Council meeting is on Monday 13th June, 7.30 pm at Colton Church Hall, when we expect a planning officer to be speaking about housing policies within the new Core Strategy.
We were sad to learn that we are to lose our popular Park Ranger, Tony Hill, who has been moved to 'pastures new' in west Cumbria. We wish him all the best and thank him for all his hard work, dedication and wisdom over the years. We are waiting to have formal notification, but are pleased to hear on the grapevine that David Pickup is to take his place. Many people already know Dave who is also an experienced ranger and knows this 'patch' well. Dave has recently set up a working group to tackle the increasing problems of illegal use of the countryside by motor-vehicles, particularly trail bikes, in the south of the Park. As a reminder: motorised vehicles are permitted only on Unclassified Country Roads (UCRs) or By-ways Open to All Traffic (BOATs) - collectively termed 'Green Lanes'; it is illegal for motor-vehicles to venture onto the fells or other land without permission. Colton Parish has 7 UCRs and 1 BOAT (see the website for more details and maps); the UCR that fords the Rusland Pool is closed to traffic from October to May. The Working Group is looking for volunteers to record illegal behaviour for the police, using a standard format; volunteers will be fully briefed on how to go about recording safely. Please contact the Clerk, Mandy Lane on 01229 861408 or email coltonpc@btinternet.com if you want to help. A related Parish Council initiative is the Colton Green Lane Pilot Study, involving Cumbria Highways and the National Park, which has been set up to tackle the extreme erosion problems caused by the pressure of traffic legally using our green lanes. The Group has surveyed two green lanes and estimated the cost of repairs. Cumbria Highways and our County Councillor, Rod Wilson, are allocating as much funding as they can, but more is needed. Further Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) are a possible option to control use, although the legal costs could be as high as £3,000 for implementation. Work continues. Our next meeting is the Annual Parish Council on Monday 9th May, 7.30 pm at Bouth Village Hall. Monthly News for: April 2011 Our former Lengthsman, Mr Slater, has decided not to renew his contract for the coming financial year, and we are very sorry to lose his services. This means that we are now looking for a replacement - please see the advertisement below. There is still no information about how the Council is supposed to liaise with Highways under the new 'Better Highways' scheme. We are all dismayed at the bad state of our roads - especially along the Rusland beeches and the Newby Bridge to Finsthwaite road through Lakeside. Beware also the very large pothole under the flood at the 'field of pigs' above Ealinghearth; we are told that the Environment Agency are taking action in connection with the pollution here and that Highways cannot deal with the road surface until the flooding is solved. We have asked that they place warning signs around the pothole. As always, to report defects, please use the Highways Hotline: 0845 609 6609. We are chasing the issue of speed limits at Bouth and arranging a site visit with a traffic engineer from Highways. The issue seems to be whether Bouth qualifies as a 'village' and therefore subject to policy on speed limits through villages. Watch this space. Policing: Sgt Stuart Flett came to explain the new neighbourhood policing arrangements at our last meeting. The 'Ulverston & Lakes' policing area now excludes Dalton and includes the Cartmel peninsula. The High Furness sub-area (which includes Colton) now has ten police officers and two support officers, including our former main contacts PC Baldwin and PCSO Diana Wilcock. PC Baldwin remains as wildlife protection officer. For non-urgent reporting, use the central call centre number (0845 3300247) or email ulverston&lakesnpt@cumbria.police.uk Our next meeting is the Annual Parish Open Meeting followed by a Parish Council meeting on Monday 28th March, 7.30 pm at Rusland Reading Room.
Monthly News for: March 2011 Sale of Public Forests - Government U-turn: Public pressure seems to have won the day with the government's U-turn on their proposed sale Forestry Commission woodland. See http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/forests/index.htm (click on the press release for their explanation). The example of the locked gates at Rigg Wood in Colton Parish (which became national news) served to illustrate what could happen to forests sold into private hands. Nor did the Defra consultation paper offer any reassurances about safeguarding public access and ecological protection; your Council remained concerned about the future of other FC woodlands in Colton Parish (e.g. at Bessy Bank, Bouth and Rusland). The government intend to establish an independent Panel to consider forestry policy in England; we will keep an eye on developments. The National Park have decided to go ahead with the installation of a pay-and-display machine at High Dam car park. We have asked that they liaise with Highways on the control of roadside parking, consider reduced charges for local people, review the effects of the new system, increase investment in the High Dam area and properly police the by-laws. The County's new 'Better Highways' scheme has meant the withdrawal of our local Highway Steward for fixing potholes and flooding problems. We are awaiting further information, but for the time being, the more people who report defects through the Highways Hotline: 0845 609 6609, the better!
Our next meeting is the Annual Parish Open Meeting followed by a
Parish Council meeting on Monday 28th March, 7.30
pm at Rusland Reading Room. Monthly News for: February 2011 Following intensive lobbying by your Parish and County Councillors, we are very pleased to hear that a temporary footbridge is to be installed this month at Bouthrey Bridge over the River Crake between Nibthwaite and Water Yeat, strong enough to support a farm quad-bike and trailer. Work to restore the bridge itself will begin in June next year. Following the news that the government is considering the large-scale sale of Forestry Commission woodland, we invited a member of FC staff, Mr David Lowe, to speak at our meeting on 10th Jan. The government is due to announce its review on 24th Jan, following which there is expected to be a consultation period. You may be aware of local concern over the Forestry Commission's sale of Rigg Wood in Colton Parish on the east shore of Coniston. Despite Rigg Wood being dedicated CROW access land for walkers, it has now been fenced with padlocked gates. Unfortunately, it seems that the legislation does not require the owner to provide for access. This has now drawn national interest, as it appears to illustrate one possible consequence of the sale of our woodlands. The Parish Council has expressed its concern, and has written to the local MP, Tim Farron, and to Jim Paice MP, Minister of State for Defra. A local website has been set up by a Satterthwaite-based community group which gives latest news and contact information if you wish to express your own opinion - see www.savelakelandsforests.org.uk . A meeting to consult local councils about governance arrangements for the National Park was attended by Cllrs Colin Barr and Vanessa Champion in December. The principle outcome was a preference to increase local representation at the expense of county or national appointees. The next Council meeting is to be held on Monday 21st Feb, Finsthwaite Village Hall, 7:30pm. All welcome, as ever.
Monthly News for: January 2011 We are very pleased to welcome Mr David Hoyle from Thwaite Moss, Rusland who was co-opted as Councillor at our last meeting. David has been involved with the Rusland Valley for over twenty years and now lives in the Parish, having grown to love the area. He has a small holiday cottages business on Cartmel Fell and a retail business with his wife, Judi, in Marple, Cheshire. He has been chairman of Marple`s regeneration partnership, its local business forum, a local football supporters trust and is currently on the committee organising a local Arts Festival. He is experienced at working with local authorities and related organisations, has a background in financial management, tourism and retail, and interests in music, sport and the countryside. At our last meeting, Tony Hill, our local LDNPA Ranger, explained proposals for a pay-and-display system at High Dam car park. The Park is considering charging at all of its car parks to cover increasing maintenance costs. Councillors expressed concerns about consequential parking on the road and costs for local people. A free or at least reduced cost permit for residents of Colton Parish might be possible. The Council will be asking for views and considering its response at its next meeting on 10th Jan. We received a bulk load of grit to Oxen Park and Nibthwaite Grange recently, and we are grateful to the farmers willing to store it and to the volunteers for distributing it around the Parish. More has been ordered for Nibthwaite and for Bouth which we hope will arrive before the next bout of bad weather! We are also pleased to have received some new grit bins, containing grit, at most of the locations we specified. Hopefully the remainder will be delivered shortly. The next Council meeting is to be held on Monday 10th Jan, Blawith and Nibthwaite Village Hall at Water Yeat, 7:30pm. All welcome, as ever. Monthly News for: December 2010 We have another vacancy for a Councillor, this time in East Ward, following the retirement of Councillor John Taylor from Finsthwaite. We are very grateful to John for his hard work during his 18 months in office, particularly in connection with green energy initiatives. If you are interested in joining the Council and helping to achieve some of our plans for green energy and other ideas for ‘Colton 2020’ please contact the Clerk. We are delighted to learn that Cumbria County Council has agreed to provide all 8 requested new grit bins, plus an additional 2 from funds allocated by the new High Furness Local Area Partnership of which we are a member. We hope to see these new bins in place at the locations we specified very soon, hopefully containing some grit! We are not so delighted to learn that Bouthrey Bridge will not be repaired until next spring, since the Environment Agency ‘window’ for allowing building work has now closed for the winter. This bridge is reportedly the only one in Cumbria that has not been repaired, one year on from the damaging floods in 2009. The Council has written a letter of complaint to the CCC Chief Executive asking why repair work has not begun and requesting that a temporary footbridge be constructed, strong enough to carry farm stock. At its meeting in October, the Council approved its budget for 2011/2012. Savings made this year will enable us to fulfil our planned projects, including completing the Community Plan, without any increase in the precept next year. The next Council meeting is to be held on Monday 6th Dec, Rusland Reading Rooms, 7:30pm. All welcome, as ever. Monthly News for: November 2010 Many thanks to all who attended the very sociable Community Plan event at Finsthwaite on 1st October, with roaring fire, hot supper and local knowledge quiz! Thanks also to all those who helped with the organisation and the food. Final results from the questionnaire survey and a list of your ideas for future initiatives will be published on the website and autumn newsletter shortly. At our last meeting, Mr Roger Layfield from Finsthwaite explained how he and his neighbours at Plum Green had received help via the Environment Agency and the District Council following flooding of their properties last November. The Flood Prevention Officer had visited to make detailed maps of drains in the area and a grant of £500 had been awarded from the flood recovery fund towards solving the problems. The residents were setting up a Local Flood Action Group under the auspices of the National Flood Forum. For more information about this self-help initiative and how to set up a Flood Action Group, contact the Clerk. Your Council responds to an increasing number of consultations on your behalf. The Community Right to Build was one of these during the summer: the Council gave a cautious welcome to greater local input to the planning process, but expressed strong concerns about the lack of detail on how the system would work within the local democratic process, what controls would be put in place to ensure housing remained ‘affordable’ in perpetuity, and how development would be balanced with the need to protect environmentally sensitive areas like National Parks. The next Council meeting is to be held on Monday 6th Dec, Rusland Reading Rooms, 7:30pm. All welcome, as ever. Monthly News for: October 2010 We give a warm welcome our new Councillor, Vanessa Champion, who lives in Finsthwaite where her family have lived for over 25 years. Vanessa has a background in education, having been an LEA inspector, a lecturer in educational management at St Martin's College, and a governor at Leven Valley School. She chaired the Finsthwaite and Lakeside Village Hall Committee for some years, helping to secure the future of the building for the community, and she now runs a keep-fit class there for the over '50s! Since retirement, Vanessa has become an Ancient Tree Verifier for the Woodland Trust, leads a group of woodland archaeologists surveying woods for the National Park, and enjoys volunteer work for the Lakeland Arts Trust and the Lake District Horticultural Society. Diary Date: We have a second Community Plan Event coming up: Friday 1st October, Finsthwaite Village Hall, 7.30 pm. COLTON 2020 - A talk, a quiz and a FREE supper! (bring your own drinks). Please come along to another of our very sociable evenings with neighbours and friends to decide what are the key issues for future of your community and to discuss the results of the recent CP questionnaire. We have already evidence that the County and the National Park are adapting local policy according to local opinion on housing, and we hear that future funding may be linked to needs identified in Community Plans. So come along to make sure your views are represented. For more details, contact Brenda Fishwick (01229 885329, brenfishwick@hotmail.co.uk) or Mandy Lane (01229 861408, coltonpc@btinternet.com). Look out for posters and flyers nearer the time, but do try to come along. All ages welcome. No need to book - just turn up. All FREE!
The next Council meeting is to be held on Monday 25th Oct, Bouth
Village Hall, 7:30pm. All welcome, as ever. Monthly News for: September 2010 Many thanks to those who have already completed and sent in their Community Plan questionnaire. If you haven't filled one in, please do (it only takes 5 minutes!) as we have extended the deadline to mid-September. The more responses we have, the more the Plan will be properly representative of local opinion. The National Park is already taking notice of local surveys on, for example, the type of affordable housing we want in the parish, so your views will count. If you have lost your copy of the questionnaire, then contact Mandy (Clerk) on 01229 861408, or download one from the website: www.coltonparishcouncil.org.uk/CommunityPlan.htm A Colton 'green roads pilot project' meeting was held at Water Park on 26th July, with representatives present from Highways, the National Park and the Cumbria Countryside Access Partnership, to tackle the issues of i) green road repairs and ii) damage to fell-sides by illegal off-road activity. This included a site visit to view the now appalling state of the Nibthwaite-to-Parkamoor track. Colton is acting as a pilot area for the County to assess the best strategy for dealing with these problems. The group will meet again in September to review the costs of different survey and repair options and agree which approach to take. The next Council meeting is to be held on Monday 13th Sept, Finsthwaite Village Hall, 7:30pm. All welcome, as ever. Monthly News for: August 2010 The Colton Parish Council summer newsletter will be through your door imminently, containing a short Community Plan questionnaire. Please do take a little time to complete and return it (to your nearest Councillor or the Clerk); we need your input to tell us what the key issues are for the future of our Parish and to ensure that the Plan is a properly representative document. The National Park's new Local Development Framework refers specifically to Community Plans for establishing local area policy, for example, in assessing housing need. Your Council’s Green Energy Working Group organised an open meeting on 15th May at the John Ruskin School, Coniston to encourage the development of hydropower in the Lake District. There was enthusiastic discussion on the pros and cons of different micro-hydro schemes, legal issues, environmental issues and how to navigate the possible pitfalls to create a successful community scheme. A full report can be found on our website. See also Cumbria Vision's report “The Scope for Renewable Energy in Cumbria”; which can be found at www.cumbriavision.co.uk. Another meeting is planned to encourage small-scale solar power and heat pump systems. Village Hall Committees struggling with the soaring cost of oil or conventional electric heating may wish to attend—there will be more information in due course. Please note that Colton Parish now falls in High Furness Neighbourhood Forum area (as opposed to Low Furness) in order to be consistent with Local Area Partnership boundaries. For more information, see www.cumbria.gov.uk/neighbourhoodforums/forums/south-lakeland/high_furness/ We are now the proud owner of 2 red phone kiosks - one at Oxen Park and one at Nibthwaite - please contact the Clerk with novel ideas for their use! The next meeting is to be held on Monday 13th Sept, Finsthwaite Village Hall, 7:30pm.
Monthly News for: July 2010 (as in Rusland and Satt. newsletter) At the Annual meeting in May, Cllr. Colin Barr was re-elected as Chairman and Cllr. Chris Potts as Vice Chairman. Cllr. Penny Lovegrove of Bouth had resigned and was thanked for all her hard work during her term of office. We now have a vacancy in Central ward, which includes Rusland - so please come forward if you are interested in the future of the Valley. There are some exciting new initiatives in the offing that will support community developments, green energy and traditional skills and employment. Contact the Clerk if you are interested in joining us and having an input. There is, at last, to be a meeting about Colton's green roads to be held during July, involving our Area Highway Engineer, a representative from the Cumbria Countryside Access Partnership (CCAP), local Councillors and our County Councillor. The meeting, convened by Highways, will address what is to be done about the state of these roads and the behaviour of off-roaders. We also hope to find out how the local community is to be represented on the CCAP. Regrettably there has been little progress on Bouth Speed Limits but as there has now been new national guidance that is more sympathetic to limits in rural villages, and we are awaiting a response from County. Cllr. Ian Cunliffe is now your contact for the Lengthsman, Chris Slater, who will cut back verges at junctions and deal with blocked drains; just contact Ian on 01229 861440.
The next meeting is to be held on Monday 26 July, Rusland Reading
Rooms, 7:30pm. Monthly News for: May 2010 The Council has just learned of its success in bidding for a grant of £500 from 'Action with Communities in Cumbria' (ACT) towards the cost of its second Community Plan: 'Colton 2020'. Although we have a strong working group, we are still looking for a Chairman and a Coordinator/administrator for our team. We are able to offer a modest payment for the second of these positions, now that we have received some funding. If you are interested in either position, or just want to come along to contribute your thoughts, then please do get in touch. It's YOUR community and YOUR plan, so please help us to make it vibrant and meaningful! Councillor Chris Potts attended a pre-hearing meeting for the Public Examination into the National Park's 'Core Strategy Development Plan'. The Government's Planning Inspector has reviewed all comments made about the document and identified those that she will examine at the hearings in May. One of these is our concerns about the inclusion of Lakeside in the Windermere Waterfront Programme and specifically, its exclusion from policy CS28, designed to protect areas from lakeshore development. Cllr Potts will attend to take part in discussions on this topic on 12th May. Please see our website for more information. The Council has responded positively to a consultation from the National Park about the creation of a footpath running from the YMCA at Lakeside to High Dam. On a consultation from the Forestry Commission about Rigg Wood (on the eastern shores of Coniston), it expressed its usual concerns that removal of all conifers would have a negative impact on red squirrels and some bird species, and asked that a balance be maintained; some larches are now to be kept subject to their appearance in the landscape. Our next meeting is the Annual Parish Council meeting on: Monday 10th May , 7.30 pm, in Bouth Village Hall.
Monthly News for: April 2010 Colton and Blawith & Subberthwaite Parish Councils held a joint Public Meeting on 11th March about the future of Bouthrey Bridge (over the river Crake), badly damaged in the November floods. The bridge is a Grade II listed double-arch structure which was once an old packhorse bridge. Both Councils had been consulted by Capita-Symonds, for Cumbria Highways, for their opinion on 3 options: i) repair, ii) replacement with like or iii) replacement with a rectangular beam-deck. They had also attended a site meeting with engineers, and representatives from the Environment Agency, English Heritage and the National Park. The public meeting was well attended, and those present voted overwhelmingly for repair of the bridge, rather than re-building. We will report the final decision in due course. Works are scheduled for this summer. Your Council has responded to a government consultation on sites for new nuclear power stations, objecting to the proposed siting of three power stations in such close proximity on the Cumbrian coast. Objections were expressed about the Kirksanton proposal in particular, because of i) its proximity to internationally designated wildlife sites and ii) potential road development schemes affecting our area required to support the consequent heavy traffic. Deliberations over the phone kiosks at Nibthwaite and Oxen Park have been resolved subject to confirmation of BT's recent change of heart to continue its responsibility for the electricity supply (or disconnection) charges. Both kiosks are to be adopted, with each community thinking up ideas for best use and agreeing to lavish them with loving care and attention! Our next meetings are: Monday 29th March - Annual Parish Open Meeting and Parish Council meeting, 7.30 pm at Rusland Reading Room, and Monday 10th May, Annual Parish Council meeting, 7.30 pm, Bouth Village Hall.
Monthly News for: March 2010 More than 40 people turned out on a wet and windy evening to our Colton Community Plan event at Rusland in January; many thanks to all who came and contributed their ideas and aspirations for Colton in 2020. Defra has drafted a new version of their government Circular that provides important policy guidance for National Park Authorities. Although the long list of consultees included 50 recreational organisations, it did not include the local communities whose lives would be directly affected. Parish councils were made aware by a third party only 3 days before the deadline. Along with other Councils, and the Cumbria Association of Local Councils (CALC), Colton PC has expressed their strong concerns about the lack of consultation and the omission of key paragraphs from the original Circular that referred to the duty of National Parks to engage with local communities. See the website for our full response, CALC’s response and links to the Defra documents. The Council is being consulted on options for repair/replacement of Bouthrey Bridge over the River Crake, scheduled for repair in October this year. The 3 options are essentially i) demolish and replace both arches ii) re-build just the upstream side and repair and stabilise the rest iii) replace the bridge with a new pre-cast concrete rectangular beam deck. An early response from the Council has been requested. Please contact the Clerk if you would like to see the plans and express an opinion. Monthly News for: January/February 2010 We have all been tearing our hair out! For the second winter running, Colton Parish has been devoid of salt/grit. This is despite our complaints last winter, promises from Highways for deliveries this winter, and our sending in a detailed map of bins and salt-heap requirements. Needless to say, we are already working with Highways and our County Councillor (Rod Wilson) to sort out what went wrong (again!) and to make sure we get properly supplied next winter. On the positive side, i) the road from Penny Bridge to Hawkshead WAS routinely gritted as promised, which helped those living on this route a great deal, and ii) eventually Highways offered a large delivery of salt/grit to a single location in the Parish; we received it in Oxen Park the next day and various heroes (Colin Barr, Dave Higgs, Kevin Pike, and Frank and Zella Slater amongst others) worked hard to distribute it to the worst affected areas. Two key concerns have emerged from a police survey of residents in the Rusland area: i) deer poaching and ii) illegal behaviour by off-road vehicle users. Arrests for poaching have been made recently using DNA evidence and there is an ongoing investigation into four deer carcasses found at a location in Ulverston. Poaching of the Rusland deer herd is a now a serious concern and there is a great deal of suffering when deer are brought down by dogs. PC Baldwin urges anyone seeing anything suspicious to contact him on his mobile: 07971 140533 or if you can't reach him by mobile, then ring 01229 848535. Our next meeting is on Monday 22nd February, 7.30 pm at Finsthwaite Village Hall Monthly News for: December 2009
The extensive flooding around the Parish at the start of November
has been reported to Highways. Some striking images (and video
footage!) are on the website. Our Highway Steward, Adam Tyson, (you
might notice his white van around the parish) has been working hard
using our report list, clearing culverts and drains from Rusland to
Bridgefield. Your Councillors have also been touring the parish
recording locations for new grit bins and heaps. An annotated map
has now been sent to Highways which should help the efficient
distribution of salt this winter.
Thursday January 28th, Rusland Reading Rooms, 7.30 pm Elizabeth Bruce, a local sustainable energy consultant, is speaking at our Dec 7th meeting at Rusland about suitable green energy initiatives for Colton - all welcome, as ever. Our local Community Police team are offering the opportunity to have property 'Smart-Watered'. If you are interested, please contact the Clerk. Our next meeting is on Monday 7th December, 7.30 pm at Rusland Reading Room Monthly News for: November 2009 The Parish Council webpage on Colton's 'Green Roads' now includes copies of correspondence between the Parish Council, Highways and the National Park on this topic. The Council's request for a temporary TRO (Traffic Regulation Order) on the Nibthwaite-to-Parkamoor track brought a fairly negative response from the Park, who are unwilling to impose one unless Highways have a definite intention to make repairs. Our County Councillor, Rod Wilson, is lobbying hard in an attempt to get some agreement from Highways to allocate funds. At the High Furness Neighbourhood Forum meeting on Oct 12th, we heard about new private water supply regulations coming into force in December which will mean changes in practice and charging regimes. In particular, householders will be asked to complete risk assessments of their water supplies every 5 years, for which there will be a charge. There was concern at the late notification of these regulations, and the lack of information available. We will try to find out more detail and keep you informed. We are hoping that Elizabeth Bruce, a local sustainable energy consultant, will be coming to speak at our December 7th meeting about suitable green energy initiatives for Colton - all welcome, as ever. Our next meeting is on Monday 7th December, 7.30 pm at Rusland Reading Room
Concern about speeding motorists in Bouth, especially adjacent to the playground, prompted the Council to reconsider the possible introduction of a speed limit. Local opinion was again canvassed via a questionnaire sent to residents of Bouth asking whether they favoured no limit, 30mph or 20mph. The response was overwhelmingly in favour of 20mph, unanimously supported by the Council who will be writing to Cumbria Highways. The Council has discussed a planning application for an extended season at Black Beck Caravan Site, Bouth, currently closed from November to March inclusive. The Council had objected on policy grounds: i) that the extension would allow the occupation of caravans for all bar 6-weeks of the year, with the potential that this very large site could become permanent or semi-permanent accommodation, and ii) that the site was within a 'Quieter Area' of the National Park and an extension of season would lead to increase in traffic, recreational use and disturbance which the policy (NE5) was designed to restrict. The Council reconsidered the application in the light of new information about the possible restriction of use to holiday accommodation only, but upheld its decision to object on the basis of the 'Quieter Area' policy and the need for Bouth residents to have a break from associated tourist pressure. Colton & Satterthwaite Councils' negotiations with Highways has resulted in agreement for the road (C5022) from Penny Bridge through to Hawkshead, to included on the 'Priority 2 pre-salting list'. We are sending Highways a map of bins and salt heaps to try to ensure that salt/grit is properly provided this winter. Our next meeting is on Monday 26th October, 7.30 pm at Bouth Village Hall
Monthly News for: September 2009 Following earlier discussion on 'green lanes', at its August meeting the Council has agreed a number of actions to address the issues of erosion and poor driver behaviour. One very promising solution may result from discussion between the National Park Authority and the Highways Department with the intention of introducing a programme of repairs similar to the Fix The Fells project. The Council is to ask the National Park to place a temporary Traffic Regulation Order on the High Nibthwaite - to - Parkamoor track until such time as repairs can be made and fell-sides given a chance to recover from excursions made by off-roaders. A Green Lanes Working Group was formed to take forward a number of other ideas, in conjunction with local farmers. The Community Plan Working Group would be very pleased to hear from anyone who would like to help with plans to shape the future of the parish. An interactive display was prepared for the Rusland Show. Please contact the clerk if you have something to contribute; 'no previous experience necessary' as they say. The Council is pleased to report that after negotiations with the Highways Department, the road from Penny Bridge to Hawkshead, via Colton and Satterthwaite, has been included on the 'Priority 2 pre-salting list' which, we think, means that it may get salted by Council gritters occasionally! Our next meeting is on Monday 14th September, 7.30 pm at Finsthwaite Village Hall Monthly News: August 2009 From: Bethecar Moor Commoners ESA Association. In accordance with the Moor Management Plan agreed with Natural England, some bracken control by helicopter spraying will take place on the Moor in August. It is not possible to give exact dates, as these will depend on the weather and also aircraft availability. However notices will be put up at the main access points to the Moor prior to any spraying, and anyone going up onto the Moor in August is asked to check first. The Commoner Association regret any inconvenience this may cause, but active management of the Moor is not only to help preserve the moor itself and its habitat, but is also a legal requirement under the ESA scheme. If needed,the contact is John. Atkinson, Tel. 01229 885 663. Colton PC News for August: We welcome our new Parish Councillor, John Taylor. John and his wife Joan came to Finsthwaite in 1977, following his retirement from the Royal Navy. He served in the RN for 30 years (Cmdr John Taylor OBE MA), teaching and then as a meteorologist in most parts of the world. John continues to keep daily meteorological records and is a member of local history societies, the Milestone Society, the Lake District Horticultural Society and the local branch of the Royal British Legion. He is keen advocate of alternative energy initiatives, particularly local generation of electrical power by water. The Council held an 'additional Parish Council meeting' on the maintenance and use of its 8 unsealed Unclassified Country Roads (UCRs) on 6th July at Rusland. Colin Barr (Chairman) gave a presentation on the appalling state of some of these routes, some of which are now impassable for farmers needing to get to their stock, and expressed our concerns about the behaviour of some off-roaders. Representatives from the National Park (our local Ranger, Tony Hill), Cumbria Highways and the Cumbria Countryside Access Partnership 'Motor-propelled Vehicle sub-group' took part in useful discussions that identified previously unclear areas of responsibility. See the website or contact the Clerk to see minutes of this meeting. Our next meeting is on Monday 3rd August, 7.30 pm at Rusland Reading Rooms Monthly News: July 2009 We are very pleased to see that re-surfacing work has at last been carried out on large sections of the worst roads in our parish - Colton Hill and Finsthwaite to Backbarrow, in particular. There is to be an 'Additional Parish Council' meeting on Monday 6th July, 7.30 at Rusland Reading Rooms specifically to address issues concerning our eight Unclassified Country Roads (or 'green lanes'), their maintenance and the poor behaviour of some off-road vehicle users. This is planned to be a forward-looking and constructive meeting to determine what can be done to improve the situation by the various parties involved.
Monthly News: June 2009 Your Council has submitted a response to the Commission for Rural Communities' Uplands Inquiry, set up to identify the major challenges facing England's upland communities. This was a call for evidence from "businesses and communities on their fears and hopes as farmers and food-producers, tourism and recreation resources, and as the guardians of landscape, wildlife, heritage and natural resources'. Key issues identified included: the severe difficulties faced by farmers, the closure of local facilities, support services and employers in favour of large centralised businesses, tourism pressures and related environmental damage (e.g. off-road vehicle use), the increase in second homes, and the lack of affordable housing and employment opportunities for local young people. We are sorry to lose Cllr Peter Harrington from the Council after his decision to step down due to ill-health. We thank him for his hard work and good humour - he will be much missed. This of course now means that there is a vacancy, and we are looking for someone from East Ward, preferably Lakeside, to fill the position as soon as possible. Please contact the Clerk if interested. Bouth Village Green and Playground Committee: Mr Roderick Smith, who has been such an active and committed member and Chairman of the Committee for nearly 35 years, has decided to stand down. The Council thanks him wholeheartedly for all his hard work and enthusiasm. Mr John Osborne has taken on the Chairmanship, with Mr David Hammer as Vice-chair. Our next meeting is on: Monday 22nd June, 7.30 p.m. in Colton Church Hall.
Monthly News: May 2009 The Colton Community Plan Working Group held its first meeting in Bouth on 24th March. Liaison officers Clive Wickham (LDNPA) and Judith Quigley (SLDC) explained the increasing importance of these Plans as a source of local opinion for informing policy on key issues like housing, planning, countryside access, etc.. The Plan is to be a community-led initiative that will express your views, desires and ideas for the future of the Parish, so we need your participation! The Working Group will be consulting you in the coming months by holding events as well as sending out questionnaires. We welcome anyone who would like to play an active part in the development of the Plan - please contact the Clerk. Over the past few months, the Parish Council has been involved in discussions about 'Locality Working' and 'Local Area Partnerships' (LAPs). LAPs are groupings of parishes that will enable us to have greater influence on how District and County services are delivered and budgets spent. The Highway Stewardship scheme is an example of this new way of working and so far seems very successful - we have had a much greater say on priorities for road repairs over the past few months (see Highways page). Each Parish Council was asked which LAP it would like to join; Colton has opted for High Furness, which includes for example Blawith, Coniston, Satterthwaite and Hawkshead parishes. We await the final outcome of the consultation. Our next meeting is the Annual Parish Council on: Monday 11th May, 7.30 p.m. in Bouth Village Hall.
Our reporting of flooding trouble-spots via our Highway Steward to Cumbria Highways is bearing fruit. They are to carry out engineering work below Rusland Tannery (Skowbarrow Beck), which we designated as the highest priority in the parish. The 'Rusland Beeches' road will be closed for a week from Monday 20th April whilst this takes place. Our website now has a Highways page with information on who to contact about different issues. The Council has been considering ways to encourage 'greener living' in the Parish and will be putting information on the website soon about green initiatives like recycling, car-sharing, alternative energy, and insulation of our old houses! If anyone has ideas or is keen to help us with this venture, please get in touch with the Clerk (see below). The Forestry Commission invited us to attend a meeting at Bessy Bank to discuss the local forest development plan. The aim is to gradually fell the conifers and restore the area to mixed broadleaves. However, some of the larches will now be retained to provide a more diverse habitat for wildlife and to preserve a mix of trees in the landscape. Our next meeting is our Annual Parish Council meeting on: Monday 11th May, 7.30 p.m. in Bouth Village Hall.
This month's news is all about roads! We now have two additional salt bins: one at Rusland Cross and one just below Bent Hawes. These bins are provided for people to spread salt on the icy stretches of road nearby, as required. Your Councillors have been touring the Parish armed with maps to locate i) salt bins and heaps (both existing and required), and ii) flooding trouble-spots. The former will be sent to Cumbria Highways as part of our campaign for better salt provision next winter. The latter will be given to our Highway Steward so that he can assess the problems and call upon the Area Highways Teams for major work, as necessary. We think the best approach is to draw up a list of flooding trouble-spots in priority order and lobby hard for resolutions to the worst one or two first. These concern severely blocked, damaged or inadequate beck culverts that cause deep floods or wash-out damage to roads, walls and property. We have been sent notification of 'surface dressing' to be carried out on 3 roads in the Parish during the summer: Little Mill to Tottlebank Wood, Colton Hill and Cappy Lane, and Finsthwaite to Backbarrow. (Hooray!) Our next meeting is our annual Parish Open Meeting followed by a Parish Council meeting on: Monday 30th March, 7.30pm in Finsthwaite Village Hall. Monthly News: January 2009 Mr Malcolm Leadbetter from the STOP campaign against the Stribers wind-farm, gave a presentation at our December 1st meeting. Photomontages showed that the visual impact of the planned turbines were likely to be high, and figures were given showing energy output and CO2-saving as a fraction of claimed levels. He explained that access and construction impact would also be high in the Cartmel Valley, with talk of significant alteration of the narrow roads to accommodate vehicles. STOP had real concerns about the likely effects on tourism, local businesses, heritage, wildlife and hydrology. Salt/grit: You will all have been frustrated during the first cold snap at the start of December at the lack of salt/grit provision, with icy conditions causing many accidents. The Council's phone was alive, quite understandably, the main sentiment being: "Not only are our roads not salted, but we are not even given the salt to do it ourselves!" Your Council has been lobbying Cumbria Highways resulting in salting of the more major routes in the parish, and eventual provision of salt for bins and heaps in some places (but not yet others, e.g. Rusland!). We are submitting letters, including a joint one with neighbouring parishes, the main request being that Highways consider planning ahead for each winter, delivering salt to all bins and heaps well in advance each year. Our County Councillor (Ted Walsh) has arranged for Colton to have two additional salt bins, to be located at Rusland Cross and just below Bent Hawes. Our next meeting is on: Monday 23rd February, 7.30pm in Rusland Reading Rooms.
Monthly News: November/December 2008 The Council has already formally expressed its concern about the proposed wind-farm at Stribers on the Cartmel peninsula, because of the visual impact on views from the Parish. The wind-farm company, 'Energia in Natura', spoke at our October meeting, and the STOP campaign against the turbines has been invited to speak at our December 1st meeting. The Council's decision on any planning application will follow. In his presentation on the proposed wind-farm, Mr Bob Ayres explained that the company was monitoring wind speed, assessing the visual impact of the turbines and estimating potential noise levels. Their surveys had shown that ecological harm was unlikely as was any negative affect on tourism. In response to questions he said that any decommissioning would be a condition of planning, off-shore wind farms were expensive to connect to the grid, turbines cost £1.3M with a shelf-life 20-25yrs, government grants for wind-farms were "significant" but linked to performance, wind farms were compatible with hill-farming, and any further turbines would be unlikely as 5-6 was the optimum number for the site. Sadly, the red phone box at Oxen Park is due to be removed by BT as it is rarely used. Your Council considered the BT 'Adopt-a-kiosk' scheme, but the cost of retaining the compulsory electricity supply to the light (£40 per year) and any future disconnection charge (£100's) was too much of a financial commitment. Our next two meetings are on: Monday 1st December, 7.30pm in Colton Church Hall and Monday 12th January, 7.30pm at Water Yeat Village Hall Monthly News: October 2008 We have now met our new County Council-appointed 'Highway Steward', Adam Tyson, who will be starting work on the roads in Colton Parish on 20th October. Colton is just one of the parishes in his area and he will be with us for an intensive fortnight of work, four times per year. His remit includes cleaning and repairing signs, cutting back vegetation, clearing blocked gullies and, crucially, emergency pothole repairs. Penny Lovegrove (01229 861091) is his point of contact, as she is for our Lengthsman, Chris Slater. Chris continues to work with us 1 day per week. The remit of the Lengthsman, or 'Parish Steward' as we are now to call the role, might extend to include some work away from the road on paths and notice-boards. We will be monitoring how the two roles work together for the future. A representative from 'Energia in Natura', the Stribers wind-farm company, will be speaking at our next Parish Council meeting on 20th October at Finsthwaite Village Hall, followed by a representative from the 'STOP' campaign (Stop Turbines On Peninsula) at the following meeting on 1st December at Colton. Our new Community Police Officer is PC John Baldwin, who came to introduce himself at our recent Parish Council meeting. He is based at Ulverston Police Station and will be working closely with the local councils and agencies in the area. The next meeting will be held on Monday 20th October, 7.30pm in Finsthwaite Village Hall. Monthly News: September 2008 Cllr Penny Lovegrove attended a presentation on affordable housing called 'Owning the Assets', organised by the Cumbria Rural Housing Trust. "Community Land Trusts" are 'not-for-profit' organisations, based in and run by the local community, that own land and property for the long-term benefit of local people. If suitable land can be found, this approach seems a possible way forward for Colton Parish. At our July meeting, Mr Andy Bennet of the Forestry Commission presented a management plan for Old Hall Wood, Bouth. This will involve removal of all the spruce trees and gradual thinning of the larch to leave a good mixture of broadleaf and larch trees, with areas of coppice much like the adjoining Woodland Trust wood. Footpaths and permitted paths will be diverted during operations and re-instated thereafter. Andy is happy to be contacted for information on: 01229 860373 or email: andy.bennett@forestry.gsi.gov.uk. We are being consulted on changes to mental health services by the Cumbria Primary Care Trust. The proposal is to concentrate resources to provide fewer, but higher-quality facilities. Intensive care facilities would be based in Carlisle. Cllr Anne Robinson is coordinating a response and would welcome views from residents. Contact Anne on 01229 860242 or email: ANNE@annerobinson46.wanadoo.co.uk. The next meeting will be held on Monday 8th Sept, 7.30pm. in Rusland Reading Room. Monthly News: August 2008 The Lake District National Park's "Local Development Framework (LDF) - Core Strategy" has been published for consultation and your Parish Council will be responding. Broadly, the LDF divides the National Park into five 'distinctive' areas based on socio-economic and environmental criteria; Colton falls in the 'South Lakes' designation along with Coniston, Broughton and Hawkshead. There are proposals to relax some planning restrictions in cases where need, e.g. for affordable housing, can be demonstrated, using local information (e.g. housing needs surveys such as that already undertaken for Colton). The LDF recognises that development needs to be linked to employment and services. See www.lake-district.gov.uk/ldf for more details. Your Council has sent in comments on the Stribers Wind Farm scoping study, explaining that it is likely to object to the planning application on the basis of visual amenity (preservation of which ranked 5th of 15 priority issues in the recent Parish questionnaire). Many of Colton's fine views look south-east over the Ellerside ridge and the wind-farm would be highly visible. SLDC has granted permission for a wind monitoring mast on the ridge. The next meeting will be held on Monday 8th Sept, 7.30pm. in Rusland Reading Room. Monthly News: July 2008 The recent Parish Plan questionnaire identified the priority issues as: increased traffic & state of highways, affordable housing, preservation of the local environment and cost of council tax. In response to a suggestion that there should be ‘surgery sessions’, the chairman has agreed to arrive at each meeting at least half an hour earlier and would be pleased to have a chat with anyone who has something to discuss. The next meeting will be held on Monday 28 July, 7.30pm. in Bouth Village Hall.
The Council is increasingly concerned at the damage done to our
lanes and fellsides by off-road vehicles. The Cumbria Highways
Authority says that it does not have the funds for repair. The
Council has written again with accompanying maps and photographs;
these are also viewable on the website: Incidents, good & bad, should be reported to Tony Hill who will log them on to the Trails Register. Contact: 015397 24555 or tony.hill@lake-district.gov.uk, copy to HQ@lake-district.gov.uk . Monthly News: June 2008 With regret, we say goodbye to Sally Baxter and Tony Atkinson who have resigned from the Council, and thank them for their hard work and helpful contributions. We welcome two new Councillors: Mrs Brenda Fishwick from Nibthwaite (for West Ward) and Mr Ken Dean from Bouth (for East Ward) who have been co-opted following the recent elections. The Community Board have approved part-funding for our Lengthsman, Mr Slater, this financial year. He is now at work and will collaborate the County's new Highway Steward (recruitment pending). Cllr Penny Lovegrove (Bouth, tel: 01229 861091) will be the point of contact for both parties. The Mitre Housing Association hopes to start work later this year on the construction of seven houses & flats on the site of the former Satterthwaite School. All the residences will be subject to local occupancy clauses which will extend to surrounding parishes. Further information from the Association Tel: 01768 861 400, Email: enquiry@edenha.org.uk Our next meeting will be held on Monday 23rd June at Colton Church Hall at 7.30pm.
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