Singleton Parish Council

SINGLETON Parish Council is starting a campaign to get some decent broadband in the parish.

At the moment residents in The Village are lucky to get half to one megabit - if they can connect at all - and some have been without broadband for months. Cllr Mick Smith is a case in point - he had had no broadband for 27 weeks, and although he was eventually able to get a weak and very variable service, he lost even that between Christmas and the New Year, he told councillors at our meeting on Thursday, 26th January 2012.

Contributing to our list of complaints was local resident  John Ashcroft, who said the poor and absent broadband had had a serious impact on his family, which would normally rely heavily on the Internet for banking, shopping, and email contact.  His children had suffered, too, because they had been unable to do their university research without visiting relatives who had a usable connection.

We were luicky to have Singleton School governor and IT specialist Garry Rayner at the meeting, for it was he who helped our earlier complaints to be sent to BT via MP Mark Menzies, even if BT’s reply was misinformed as it quoted broadband figures for another Singleton in the UK!

Most of the problems were due to the length of cable from the Poulton exchange, he told councillors. BT expects Singleton to get broadband at a slow 1.5mbps, even if many residents - especially in The Village - don’t get anywhere near that. How ‘good’ your connection is depends on the provider, with Orange and TalkTalk being the worst. Better providers are BT (bt.com), Be (bethere.co.uk) and 02 (broadband.02.uk).

The poor level of broadband we’re getting it not acceptable, he added, but the Government’s target of a 2mbps minimum in rural areas for 90% of the population by 2015 would probably not apply to Singleton as BT had no plans to upgrade the Poulton exchange to its ‘Infinity’ service, based on the high broadband speeds available with optic fibre cabling.

The only thing we could do was to persuade BT to upgrade to optic fibre sooner rather than later, Garry said. As a result the council is to distribute flyers asking residents to make complaints which the parish council and Garry Rayner can collate and send to MP Mark Menzies, who has been so helpful on this issue because he is keen to see better broadband throughout rural Fylde.

We’re distributing flyers via the InFocus magazine, by hand around The Village and in other ways, as well as informing people by word-of-mouth. Please respond by telling us of your broadband experiences and complaints.

Tree “could have killed someone”

John Ashcroft told the council that the 75ft high beech tree which crashed down outside his drive in Miller Crescent during the mid-December gales could easily have killed someone - and there could be more old or diseased trees potentially putting people at risk, especially schoolchildren.

“It’s just bad woodland management,” he told councillors.

“What really concerns me,” he said in an email to Singleton Trust’s estates office and copied to Cllr Maxine Chew, “is that during the run-up to Christmas, Church Road was used by literally hundreds of children from the school as they made their way to St.Anne’s Church: should the tree have come down then I can only imagine the consequences.
 
“This road is also used as a commuter route twice a day as well as a drop-off point for parents bringing their children to the school.

“Looking at the wood (Puzzle Wood) during the gales I am even more fearful that the wet ground, poor drainage and the condition of the trees themselves may encourage even more trees to come down. Consequently, I would hope that you will be able to investigate the situation described above and reassure me and my neighbours that the woodland is being managed in a renewable and safe manner.”

We agreed to ask Fylde Borough Council’s tree preservation officer to visit Singleton to audit roadside trees which may be a risk.

Prisoners help

Talking about Puzzle Wood… We’re sending a ‘thankyou’ letter to another Miller Crescent resident, Dave Kay, for all his work on upgrading the wood. Recently he finished the footpaths with the help of four prisoners from Kirkham Open Prison. Dave, too, is concerned about trees, especially as one in Puzzle Wood is about to fall down.

Motorists watch out!

OVER the next two months police are to target motorists driving while using mobile phones or not wearing seatbelts as well as those speeding through the parish. Speed traps will be more frequent than ever before, and will stay in the parish for full shifts, not just the odd few hours. Insp Keith Ogle is also helping us to progress calming measures, such as chicanes or a mini-roundabout.

Sad news

We were saddened by the death of George Loftus, especially as he had been a parish councillor for eight years, and will be writing to his widow to express our sorrow.

Houses on the garage site

We have not been offically informed of the plans to build two five-bed detached homes on the site of Singleton Service Station and are hoping the plans are substantially the same as the original scheme, which we had approved. More details at our next meeting.

Next meeting

TBA. Watch this space.

SINGLETON parish councillors Bob Gallagher (chairman) and Maxine Chew (vice-chair) met senior Fylde Borough Council executives at Maxine’s home recently and were delighted by how helpful they proved, she said at our most recent meeting, on Thursday, 15th December 2011.

The FBC executives they met were Allan Oldfield, Chief Executive, and Clare Platt, Director of Community Services. With them was supervisor Stephen Howard. The executives said they were unaware that the street-cleaning and litter-picking was not being done to contract and have provided full schedules of the work they promise will go ahead.

Parking at Miller Crescent

Grass verges cropped up again in the meeting, following complaints from residents about Fylde’s refuse collection lorry mounting the grass at Miller Crescent and leaving track marks. The problem, said FBC, is that cars block the lorry’s route - yet the lorry has precedence.

Cllr Gallagher suggested that the council should help fund a car-parking area in the Crescent and ask residents to park carefully when the lorry was due. Cllr Chris Bailey thinks a practical solution would be to have a central pick-up point close to the road so the lorry does not have to enter the Crescent. Such a scheme works well at Barnfield Manor, he added.

It’s not United Utilities that’s at fault!

For years we’ve been under the impression that United Utilities owned the fire station and was responsible for letting it fall into a state of disrepair not in keeping with a listed building. But we have been corrected: it’s not UU at all! United Utilities has informed us it sold the sub-station in 2007 to Electricity North West, which is responsible for the maintence and upkeep of all its assets. Sorry, UU.

We have been told that any complaints regarding ENW assets should be directed to Electricity North West Customer Relations, at PO Box 4375, Manchester M61 0ET. We will be contacting ENW.

New bobby for the parish

Police Inspector Keith Ogle tells us that Singleton will have a new Community Beat Manager from early February. She is PC Hooper. Insp Ogle assures us PC Hooper will not be reglecting Singleton in favour of Staining and Elswick.

Watch out for cyclists in the dark!

Maybe one issue PC Hooper could tackle is cyclists riding on pavements or without lights. As luck would have it, all the councillors had had very recent experiences of nearly having accidents with cyclists because the cyclists were either wearing black, or riding on pavements, or riding without lights in the dark, or doing all three. We’ve also had complaints from residents about the issue.

Christmas tree

Koi Pool is once again sponsoring a Christmas tree for The Village. But, as luck would have it, the firm had no big trees in stock this year and is getting one specially! Thankyou, Koi Pool.

Next meeting

We meet next on 26th January 2012, starting at 7.30pm as usual, and in the church vestry, as usual. All are welcome. Have a happy Christmas and a merry New Year!

FYLDE villagers are too complacent about crime, a police inspector told us at our last meeting, on Thursday, 17th November 2011.

Thieves know that in any street in the Fylde there will usually be two or three cars left unlocked and with valuables in plain view, Inspector Keith Ogle said. Thieves he’d spoken to said Blackpool wasn’t a good prospect anymore because people were more crime conscious, but in the Fylde stealing from unlocked cars was much easier than smashing car windows and leaving DNA evidence.

Insp. Ogle was talking about crime generally, following his report on October’s figures, which included two cars broken into for their contents.

However, the council’s main concern on the night was speeding through the parish which, despite some 800 tickets and warnings, continues unabated. The council is currently investigating the possibility of creating a mini-roundabout at the main road junction with Church Road. But, said Insp Ogle, chicanes had worked very well at Woodplumpton as they had ‘designed out’ speeding more effectively than bumps or roundabouts.

Speeding will continue to be targeted, said the Inspector. From January there will be more police cars available in and around Kirkham; the community beat system is being updated through appointments and promotions; phone systems are improving; and a new satellite tracking system will enable faster responses to incidents.

Residents’ fears about vandalism and theft were being tackled, he added. Thefts of metal were a current problem because any recaptured metal was difficult to trace back to its owners, but two Blackpool scrapmetal merchants had been thwarted recently - one had been closed down, and the other prevented from starting business as a result of police interventions.

Residents shouldn’t fear calling police to any incidents, even verbal threats, he added after Cllr Chris Bailey said residents had reported two lurchers on the loose and potentially worrying sheep. “It doesn’t matter what gangs are operating in the area,” added Insp Ogle, “Nobody’s got a bigger gang than us.”

Other issues
OUR concerns at the meeting included:
- The county’s litter-picking, which isn’t happening at monthly intervals, as it should;
- The inadequate grass-cutting around the parish and, in particular, at the playground;
- Surface weathering in the car-park behind the village hall;
- Poor broadband in the village;
- Hedge-cutting;
- The poor state of the fire-engine shed, a listed building at the junction of The Village and Church Road, which has not been renovated satisfactorily by its owners, United Utilities.

A new swing
The council has decided to order a ‘team swing’ for the playground, following residents’ requests for more play equipment. It will be installed with rubber matting around it, like the other play equipment.

Precept
The council decided to increase its precept by 2% to allow for increasing costs. This is much less that last year’s 5% increase and well below the rate of inflation. The increase is necessary to cover higher parish maintenance costs and to allow for the bigger projects expected during 2012.

Our next meeting…
… is being arranged. It was to have been on 15th December but may now be brought forward. Watch this space.

THE hottest topic at our last meeting, on Thursday, 20th October 2011, was United Utilities’ proposal to put a sewerage plant on land between Mains Lane and the River Wyre.

Nearby resident Simon Beard asked us what we proposed to do about it and all we could say at this stage, as voiced by Cllr Maxine Chew, was that the parish council would respond to any application when it was received. She is also a Fylde Borough Councillor and will respond to any application submitted to FBC. But, she told Simon, we had all attended United Utilities’ ‘public exhibition’ at the River Wyre Hotel on Tuesday, 18th October 2011, and we had all voiced our individual opinions there.

The council is annoyed that United Utilities did not bother to keep the council informed of its plan to hold a meeting. A limited number of leaflets were distributed to some residents in Mains Lane, and more extensive leafleting was carried out in Poulton and Hambleton - not Singleton parish. Council chairman Cllr Bob Gallagher, who lives in Pool Foot Lane, did not receive a copy of the leaflet until the day after the meeting! Worse, said Cllr Chew, United Utilities chose to hold its meeting in an upstairs room, with no provision for the disabled.

Simon said that Singleton residents in the area were ‘disgusted’ and ‘devastated’ by the proposal and would do their utmost to block it. The two 30ft high tanks and even higher chimney would have a colossal impact on the environment. It was especially ‘appalling’ because it would be in a beautiful part of the river, affecting not only Mains Lane residents, but people in Hambleton - not to mention the even wider impact of any smells. “And to be told we’d be better off with mains drainage is an insult when we’ve spent a lot of the money on the problem.”

United Utilities hadn’t resolved its problems elsewhere in the Fylde, he added. Yet there were perfectly suitable industrial sites further up the river that would be much more appropriate for a sewerage plant. All United Utilities seemed to be concerned with was cost, without any regard for the environment.

Another visitor to our meeting was County Councillor Paul Hayhurst, who said he was in the same situation as the parish council and would have to wait for a formal planning application before expressing his view.

Police visit

The plant proposal might have been the hottest topic, but a close second was traffic. We were fortunate to be visited by Road Traffic Sergeant Pete Beresford and Police Sergeant Niamh O’Donoghue and plied both for information and support for our continuing battle against speeding through the parish - The Village in particular - and our desire to have a traffic-calming and pedestrian-protecting mini-roundabout at the junction of Church Road with the main road through the village.

Police have stopped 800 motorists for speeding through the parish since the anti-speeding campaign started in January, and 500 of those were through the village. As reported at our last meeting, the majority of speeders were local people.

Sgt O’Donoghue reported that other crime was down - no serious crime in September compared to six crimes at the same time last year, and of the four incidents of anti-social behaviour, three were from one incident and the remaining one was road rage. However, speeding continued to be the police priority.

Sgt Beresford said police were targeting speeders on different days of the week and at different times and his gut feeling was that the campaign was having a general effect in slowing down motorists not only through Singleton but further along the roads feeding into Singleton, such as through Weeton.

Our chairman, Cllr Bob Gallagher, raised the issue of the use of mobile phones by saying that none of the tractors passing through the parish seemed to be complete without a phone pressed against the driver’s ear, and Sgt Beresford said it was a problem throughout the Fylde.

You can help

Residents could help considerably, he added. All you have to do is report any transgression and the police would at least caution the culprit, even if there was no prosecution possible. Residents could call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 in total anonymity and without any fear of reprisal. Cllr Chew said people could contact her, too. And Sgt O’Donoghue was keen to find a local resident prepared to be trained to become a Special Constable.

A mini-roundabout?

Councillors repeated their desire for a mini-roundabout at the Church Road junction, especially as the mini-roundabout at the Lodge Lane junction had proved so effective over the years. But the trouble, said Sgt Beresford, was that so much depended on accident figures, resulting in prioritised action elsewhere in the Fylde. Cllr Clive Barnden said “It’d be a shame if we have to suffer a death before any action is taken.”

Sgt Beresford agreed to look into the issue and arrange an engineer’s visit to assess the risks. At Cllr Chew’s request, he is also to provide accident figures for the Singleton portion of the A585.

Co Cllr Paul Hayhurst said the county council was about to spend money on creating 20mph areas throughout the county and he would support applications from both Singleton and Staining for these.

The parish council decided to await feedback from Cllr Hayhurst  and the police before making any decisions as to how to push forward.

Next meetings

We meet again on 17th November 2011 and 15th December. Both meetings start at 7.30pm, as usual, and will be in the church vestry, as usual.

SINGLETON councillors were disappointed there had been no PACT meeting in September and that the police figures for crime covered a wide rural area of the Fylde, making it difficult to ascertain how much crime there had been in our parish. But we were heartened by the growing police presence and the increasing number of fines issued for speeding.

At our meeting on Thursday, 22nd September 2011, we heard that crimes had included an attempted break-in at a mobile home at Windy Harbour; and an attempt at a burglary, also at Windy Harbour, which was foiled by the approach of the mobile home park’s security patrol. There was also a theft from a car: the front and rear plates were stolen from a car at Pool Brow Caravan Park, in Poolfoot Lane.

Nearly 800 were caught speeding!

There are now regular police patrols around Singleton and Weeton to catch speeding cars, driven mainly by local people, it seems. From January to July 499 motorists were caught, and a further 249 were caught from 12 visits of the speedtrap van between July and September. By the time you read this the total may have increased to nearly 800.

Only 9% of the drivers were from out of the area, and the majority of the 91% were from the FY4-7 and PR4 areas. In fact, some 63% were from FY postcodes.

A member of the public attending the meeting asked why there had been a speedtrap at 6am one Sunday morning, and  councillors explained it had been to deter motorbike riders who have been making a habit of racing around the parish at that time.

Councillors commended the police on their increased coverage of the parish and the increasing number of speeding motorists that were being fined.  But we still want to discuss policing issues generally - especially the need for a mini-roundabout at the bottom of Church Road - and hope Inspector Keith Ogle will be able to attend a parish council meeting for this.

Trees behind the garage

Cllr Maxine Chew reported that the borough’s enforcement officer had visited Darren Soothill to discuss the demolition of two Trust trees in the woods behind Singleton Service Station and the chainsawing of branches on a large tree at a back corner of his garage.

We understand that while the officer has allowed some tree work - and residents should not be dismayed if there hear some chainsaw noise - any further destruction of trees in the conservation area may result in a prosecution.

Shale gas

Cllr Maxine Chew had attended a meeting called by Quadrilla and reported back on the firm’s finding that there was considerably more gas under the Fylde than had been expected. The story has made headlines in local and national newspapers and we are continuing to keep an eye on developments.

Next meetings

We’re meeting on the following Thursday evenings: 20th October, 17th November, and 15th December. All three will be in the church vestry, as usual, and starting at 7.30pm, as usual. All are welcome.

SINGLETON School is marking the completion of its new school hall with a Grand Auction on the evening of Friday, 30th September 2011, to help raise funds to equip the hall.

Up for auction are a wide range of attractive prizes, from hotel breaks to beauty treatments, a pleasure flight, restaurant meals, signed Blackpool FC memorabilia, and show tickets, not to mention desirable Ditchfield glass, a vintage car ride, a ‘Hot Diamond’ ladies’ watch, a free MOT and much more…

You can get tickets for the evening from the school office, Cath Williams (07713 622805), or Emma Lawson (07792 004381). The £2 ticket includes admission, your bidding number, and entry to the prize draw. Doors open at 7.30pm, and there’s a licenced bar till midnight. See you there!

PLEASE RECORD the number-plates of any vehicles you think are involved in something criminal, recommends  Singleton Parish Councillor Chris Bailey. Then police can at least warn possible offenders, even if they can’t prosecute them.

He made the remark at the council’s last meeting, on 18th August 2011, following two incidents reported to the council which were good examples of lessons we could all learn.

In one incident, half-a-dozen youths were seen loitering suspiciously outside the church by two vans.  In the other, a former parish councillor had flashed a car to stop on Mains Lane after two cans were thrown out of the window.

In the first incident, the vans’ number-plates weren’t recorded - hence lesson number one. And the fact that the incident wasn’t reported by the witness directly was a problem in taking any further action, said police. So that’s lesson number two.

Lesson number three concerned the litter louts. It was former Singleton Parish Council leader Mrs Mary Whyham who flashed the car, which did actually stop, she told the council. (She was one of three members of the public attending.) She told the two young lads who got out of the car that litter not only spoiled the countryside but was an offence subject to a fine, and then she told them - *nicely,” she said - to take their litter home, which they did. “But thinking about it now,” she added, “it could have been a dangerous situation. I don’t know that I’d do it again.”

It was then that Cllr Bailey made his recommendation. Recording details wouldn’t lead to a potentially dangerous confrontation, he said, and police would be obliged to act by visiting the vehicle owners.

Poor out-of-hours service

Actually the first incident was an example of how poorly police have been handling calls recently, said Cllr Bailey. When the witness contacted him, he tried to report the incident - but it was a Sunday and Kirkham police station was closed, as it now is out-of-hours. Lancaster police said they couldn’t help because Cllr Bailey couldn’t tell them the postcode of the church; the witness should have reported it directly; and they couldn’t handle it until the relevant girl returned to work, on the Thursday…

It highlighted a situation the police were now trying to correct, said Cllr Bailey. At the moment there are too many telephone numbers the public are expected to call, but many are not manned effectively and many are not manned at all. Action is due to be taken by the end of September, say police.

Cllr Barnden thought there should be one number Singleton residents could ring. If nothing else it would help to have one local resident whom everyone could trust to take calls and act. And it was a shame the local Neighbourhood Watch scheme was not working.

Councillors resolved to check the situation at the end of September.

Police feature again

Poor police coverage of Singleton was a source of irritation at the council meeting. The Inspector who was invited to attend, didn’t turn up, nor did he tender his apologies. Had he been there, said Cllr Chew, she would have raised a number of issues, including:

• - The silly situation now where six villages come under one beat, especially as the police are bound to spend more effort on covering the biggest two, Staining and Elswick.
• - The lack of consistency of the police coverage - officers never remained on the beat for long, a typical case being our last CBM who had been moved after only 14 months’ covering the parish. Yet it takes time and consistency to build trust and good working relationships with local people.
• - She would also have raised the council’s continuing concern about speeding, and a need for traffic calming measures. Farmers’ needs had always been given as the reason there were no sleeping policemen in the parish, but tractors were driving at totally inappropriate speeds.
• - Some speeding measures had been very successful - more than 300 motorists had recently been trapped by speed cameras - but she also wanted the police to spend more effort catching people using mobile phones or not using seatbelts.

Planning issues

Councillors objected to a retrospective application for a garden wall at 16 Miller Crescent and recommended its refusal on two grounds – that its appearance does not harmonise with existing front garden boundaries and therefore contravenes HL5 by adversely affecting the streetscene; and also that it does not enhance, improve or reflect the character of the conservation area, contravening EP3.

Cllr Maxine Chew did not take part in the discussions, leaving the room, as she had declared a personal and prejudicial interest because she knew the people involved in submitting the application.

Puzzle Wood

See for yourself how work is progressing at Puzzle Wood. Organiser Dave Kay has uploaded a number of photos of the work onto his blog, at
http://puzzlewoodsingleton.blogspot.com/2011/08/latest-photographs-of-puzzle-wood.html

Fracking

Cllr Bailey reported that he had attended the fracking protestors’ meeting held at the River Wyre Hotel on 10th August and had been concerned at the mis-informed emphasis people were putting on their protests by comparing events in the USA with the totally different situation at Singleton.

Cllr Chew said she had emailed the organiser of the ‘Camp Frack’ planned for mid-September, but had had no reply. Since our meeting the protestors have once again delivered leaflets around the parish.

Next meeting

It’s on Thursday, 22nd September 2011, starting at 7.30pm, as usual; and in the Church Vestry, as usual. All are welcome.

AT OUR most recent meeting, on Thursday 21st July 2011, we were visited by Philip Mitchell, chairman of Blackpool Green Party, who wanted to tell us more about ‘Camp Frack’, the anti-drilling protest planned for a weekend in September by the national Campaign for Climate Change.

He said he wanted to reassure the council that the protest would be a peaceful one, consisting of an encampment of Green Party supporters on a field close to the Cuadrilla drilling site by Grange Road.

But, following a question from the parish council chairman, Cllr Bob Gallagher, he said he knew nothing about the campaign group’s website encouraging visitors from as far away as London (there is a button on the site to tick if you’re ‘Interested in a coach from London’).

Councillors also expressed their concerns about his local visits, which they said were having the effect of unnecessarily increasing some residents’ anxieties about the shale gas drilling - especially as the drilling is as yet only exploratory.

Cllr Gallagher said he hoped Blackpool Green Party would invite the council to the camp so we could see at first hand if the protest were to be a peaceful one. Councillors were also concerned about the likely costs that would be incurred for policing the protest .

Speeding on the agenda again

TRAFFIC issues were on the agenda once again for two reasons:

First, we’ve been told that police cameras caught more than 330 motorists speeding through the parish since February - and more visits from the camera van are planned.

Second, a couple who are new to the area came to the meeting to voice their concerns about the apparent speeding down Church Road past the school. We were glad to hear their views and plan to raise the issue at the next PACT (Police & Community Together) meeting. The issue will also be raised at our next parish council meeting, as we hope to have a visit from the police.

Councillors will be discussing the speeding issue once again with the county council in the hope of gaining a mini-roundabout either at the Mile End junction with the main road through the village or at the Church Road junction.

Survey results welcomed

The Singleton Housing Needs Survey conducted by Fylde Borough Council in conjunction with the parish council is now to be published. We were happy with its results - namely that there is only a very small housing need in the parish - and with its recommendation to keep a watching brief on the situataion.

Ironically, the housing need identified by the survey may already have been met - by the letting of the police house, recently bought by Singleton Trust, and by the possible development at ‘Smithy Fold’, a likely new name for the houses to be built where Singleton Service Station stands now.

‘Singleton in Bloom’

One prize left over is to be returned to its originator to save £30 from the total cost of £470, to be shared with Singleton Trust. It was the first prize for hanging baskets in Little Singleton: although the judge was impressed with the quality of the entries, the limited number of entries meant the number of prizes was reduced accordingly.

Two new councillors!

LAST, but not least… We co-opted two new councillors to bring us up to our full quotient of five. More details about them once the red tape has been sorted. Watch this space.

Next meeting

We meet again on Thursday, 18th August 2011, in the church vestry as usual and starting at 7.30pm as usual. All are welcome: we have an Open Forum session where visitors can raise issues.

DOZENS of motorists were caught speeding through Singleton during a two-day visit by a speed camera van, the new parish council heard at its first meeting, on 23rd June 2011.

Many of those snapped were local residents who should have known better, but they may have been caught out, at least on one occasion, because the camera van parked unexpectedly at the mouth of Church Street and its camera was pointed along the main road towards Weeton. Motorists passing the junction with Mile Road would have seen the van too late!

Exact speeding figures were not available straightaway, but we should have full details at our next meeting, next month.

The council heard that the camera’s coverage of Singleton may have been a direct result of a request at a PACT meeting by borough and parish councillor Maxine Chew. “PACT meetings are a great way of getting things done,” she said, “because the nature of the PACT system means any complaints must be acted upon.”

New council

FOUR of last year’s parish councillors are continuing to serve the council. They are Bob Gallagher, Maxine Chew, Clive Barnden, and Sallyanne Davies-Ward.

At the first meeting of the new council, held in the Church vestry as usual, councillors voted Bob chairman, and Maxine vice-chairman. Clive continues to run this blog. A fifth councillor is to be co-opted.

Traffic continues to be one of the main issues on the new council’s agenda and something we will press for as hard as we can is a roundabout, at the bottom of Church Road, to slow traffic from Mile Road and Weeton as well as to make it safer for pedestrians crossing to the village hall.

Effects of cutbacks

RECENT cutbacks have included the welfare bus and the grass cutting on Mains Lane.

County council cutbacks mean the welfare bus’s last run was booked for 30th June, ending eight years of ferrying the infirm and elderly from various villages to the medical centre in Great Eccleston.

Cutbacks at Enterprise Mouchel have meant the firm has been deaf to the parish council’s demands to improve the grass cutting along Mains Lane and Garstang Road East. The council will be investigating this and other grass cutting around the parish.

Next meetings

OUR next two meetings are on 21st July 2011 and 18th August 2011, both in the church vestry, and starting at 7.30pm, as usual. Everyone is welcome, as usual.

We hope the July meeting will see detailed results of the housing needs survey conducted earlier in the year by Fylde Borough Council, in conjunction with the parish council. Traffic should be the key topic at the August meeting.

JOANNA Loftus has managed to find an instructor to run a local Pilates class.

The first sessions planned are on Thursday, 23rd June 2011, and Thursday, 30th June 2011, both in the village hall and both starting at 7pm.  A mutually-convenient time can be arranged for July.

Joanna stresses that these first classes are aimed very much at beginners. Interested? If so, contact her on 01253 885587.