VILLAGES SPRING CLAEAN EVENT.
If you would like to contribute to Village News, contact Andy Rush on 01509 635802 or E-mail andy.rush@reachplc.com
East Leake Mike Elliott 0115 937 6506 elliottnews@btconnect.com
The annual Spring Clean event organised by the parish council at East Leake is to take place the weekend of March 23 and 24.
Full details will be available from the council office on Main Street.
3M SCIENCE DETECTIVES. Year 8 students from East Leake Academy have been using their scientific and detective skills as part of 3M’s 2019 Young Innovators Challenge.
The programme has the aims of inspiring the next generation of original thinkers and engage young people in STEM activities. Winning schools receive a top prize of £750.
A team from ELA opted to enter the ‘Science Detectives Challenge’ – a popular CSI-style challenge which allows students to use a combination of forensic observation, analytical chemistry and suspect profiling. This year’s challenge is ‘ The case of the disappearing Doberman’.
Towards the ed of last month, the young detectives visited the 3M laboratories to investigate the crime scene and to try to unravel the clues to solve the crime. No evidence was left unturned!
More Academy news says they were delighted to welcome Ruddington-based GeoSLAM Ltd to the academy to launch a new business challenge with their Year 8 students.
“As part of their modern foreign language lessons, the students have been tasked with promoting GeoSLAM’s 3D scanning technology in another foreign language.” They have to design a message in no more than 90 words and representatives from the company will return to the academy to announce the winners.
GeoSLAM operates across the world with offices in 53 countries. 80 staff at the company speak another foreign language and this new project will help our students understand the importance and value in speaking other languages to improve their prospects in the high tech job markets of the future.
MEADOW PARK APPEAL. East Leake Friends of Meadow Park group are appealing for residents to make known their views against more large scale housing development for the village.
The Friends group say that currently Rushcliffe Borough Council is in the process of updating their Five Year Land Supply for housing developments.
“As East Leake is not in the green belt area it means the village is not protected from further development. Phase two of the Rushcliffe plan would release land in other areas of Rushcliffe which could be developed in the future. This would take the pressure off East Leake and probably mean a better spread of housing developments over the whole borough.
“However, the Five Year Land Supply plan is not likely to be adopted by RBC until mid-March. This time gap means that potential developers can move qui
“We can hinder their progress by pointing out the problems further development in East Leake would cause.”
It is accepted that the number of individual comments makes a difference to the planning process and this is why the Friends group are asking local residents to join in..
Brenda Lewis, publicity officer for the group, says as Friends of Meadow Park they can make specific points:
“A freedom of information request two years ago gave information that sewerage was discharged into Kingston Brook nine times in one year. They are now talking about some remedial action and tankers now take the sewage to the West Leake plant. When we have heavy rain there is flooding in the Park, and this is rain water mixed with sewage. The quality of the water in Kingston Brook is already poor and wild life struggles.
“The limited amount of parking in the village impacts on those who want to use Meadow Park as a recreational facility (especially those of us less mobile.
“Further, more general points, relate to other aspects of infrastructure. Traffic. The proposed entrances to the West Leake Road site are via the very narrow Field End Close on West Leake Road and via a proposed new road onto Woodgate Road where there are two blind bends and a railway bridge.
“East Leake is already experiencing problems with the provision of primary school places and medical facilities.
MAY COUNCIL ELECTIONS. There are council elections in May, and all 15 seats on the Parish Council in East Leake are up for re-election for the next four year period. So this is a chance to make a difference to our village, say the parish council.
The parish of East Leake is an administrative area - the village and area around it - and the Parish Council is the level of local government closest to the community, with responsibilities for making decisions affecting day to day village matters and for representing East Leake’s views to other authorities.
There is one council meeting a month on the third Tuesday at 7:30pm, usually lasting about 2 hours. There are 3 committees also meeting on Tuesday evenings that councillors can also be members of - it is perfectly possible to be a parish councillor if you have a full time job during the day.
The council say it is almost possible for anyone to stand for election. Broadly, you must be a UK (or Commonwealth or EU citizen and at least 18 years old, registered to vote and living within 3 miles or working in the parish.
There is no need for a candidate to have to belong to a political party. At present about half the councillors in East Leake are Conservatives and half have no political affiliation.
Rushcliffe Borough Council have will published details of how to stand as a candidate for the parish and borough elections - which take place on the same day, May 2.
It is not a difficult process.In the meantime, the parish council say parishioners can find out more about it what the council does by attending one of their meetings held in the village hall and which are open to the public. “You can just sit and listen if you don’t want to say anything, to see how things work” say the council who add anyone interested could also contact an existing councillor for a chat about the role, or talk with Neil or Sue --the Clerk and Deputy Clerk – at the council office adjacent to the village hall on Main Street..
“Why not give it some thought? is the message from the council.
Rushcliffe Borough Council staged two Cluster advice sessions on being a councillor at locations in the Borough for prospective candidates to ask questions and find out more information from the Council’s Elections team. These were at Tollerton Methodist Church and Gotham Memorial Hall.
FAMILY HISTORY COURSE. WEA Loughborough Branch have places available on the following course of Family History with Kevin Brown starting soon at East Leake.
To enrol for the course starting on February 26 from 9.45am to 12noon or for further information, please visit wea.org.uk or call 0300 303 3464 quoting the reference C2341397.
For further information please telephone 01509 268636 The venue is St Mary’s Church Hall, School Green, East Leake.
Rempstone
PLANS FOR HOUSING. A move to introduce the construction of 33 residential dwellings on land behind the Village Hall at Rempstone has been submitted to Rushcliffe Borough Council.
The proposed development would also provide a 24 space community car park for the hall and a community playground The application is an outline application for approval of access, layout, and scale.
There have been some local objections registered with Rushcliffe Borough Council , on various grounds.
A resident at 34 Main Street who moved to the village 19 years ago says since then the street has become busier and busier with traffic, noise and fumes. “Continuing with this proposed development would add more stress to a lot of people including ourselves as I have asthma and more traffic brings more fumes and queueing traffic as the proposed road comes out on to Main Street.”
The resident at 35a Main Street is objecting strongly to the application, saying: “A development of 33 dwellings would produce at least an additional 33 cars and at least 60 residents - this village does not have the infrastructure to cope with this.
“The visual impact would be overbearing on such a small site The upheaval whilst being built and once built would be horrendous for the community getting in and around the village Main Street already has queuing traffic with lorries and cars and to add to this would make life very difficult for present residents getting in and out of their drives.
“The proposed entrance next to a Grade II listed building does not seem appropriate.
“Highway safety has not been considered and already with the amount of traffic including an enormous amount of HGV lorries
It is extremely dangerous to cross Main Street and where the entrance is proposed will not help this matter
“This village along with Wymeswold needs a bypass before a development of this magnitude.”
Gotham
CALL FOR WOULD-BE PARISH COUNCILLORS. A call has been made to would-be parish councillors in Gotham to put their names forward for the elections in May.
Current parish council chairman Coun. Andrew Clayworth says he would like to invite all parishioners to attend one of their meetings at some stage.
“This is your Parish and parish council, and I want it to be inclusive. Your views are important.”
The council meetings are for members only but the chairman says they can allow parishioners to speak by suspending the Standing Orders which control all their meetings.
“If anyone in the parish feels they want to give their time to our community then please step up so that we can have genuine democratic elections,” is the message from the chairman.
CHURCH BELL RINGERS. Church bells - when there are ringers for them – play an important role in the life not only of the actual church but also in the village in which they stand. And from time to time they come right to fore such as last November when people remembered the centenary of the ending of World War One.
It was 100 years ago, when Armistice was declared on November 11th, 1918, church and cathedral bells that had been silent for four years rang out in unison across the country.
Some churches have difficulty in finding people to ring the balls and sadly Gotham no longer has its own team of bell ringers, and relies on teams from elsewhere, especially Thrumpton.
As part of the centenary commemorations, campanologists set out to try to recruit 1,400 new bell ringers in honour of the same number of ringers who lost their lives during the First World War.
Gotham church has five bells, two dating from 1598, one from 1658 and two more recent ones made by Taylors of Loughborough in 1910.
Some villagers will remember that the ringers used to stand on the ground floor, but a new ringing floor was inserted into the tower in 1987.
Quorn Joan Bloodworth 01509 620481 mail@joan99.plus.com
WOMEN’S INSTITUTE. Bill Brookman came along to speak about his work with the UN. Bill was a bundle of energy, bounding around the stage with a loud speaking voice so no-one complained this time about not being able to hear.
Bill is a local lad, having attended Swithland School and Loughborugh Grammar School. His parents lived in Woodhouse, indeed his mother was a member of our WI for many years.
Bill’s main expertise is in entertainment, and he wanted to do voluntary work in deprived areas abroad, with the UN Militias and Armed Groups “Youth for Change” projects putting on entertainments that people could enjoy and join in with.
He has visited Russia, India, Kosovo, Thailand, Sierra Leone, Haiti, Uganda and Nepal.
In Russia he visited a hospital where children were still suffering the after effects of Chernobyl. He said it was very strange, as when he arrived, all the lights were turned off.
They were turned on for his performance and the children loved it, but then when he had finished, the lights were turned off again.
He had many strange experiences – a scary one when he visited a place run by gangsters. When he performed they came on stage and confiscated his CD’s, substituting them for their own.
Then they joined in enthusiastically and even allowed Bill to take photographs of them, actively encouraging him to do so. Bill said he then had a moral dilemma as to what to do with the photographs when he got home – but he did not tell us what he had decided!
Bill was thanked for all he had done, bringing some fun into the lives of deprived people and for his interesting and thought provoking talk.
ST BARTHOLOMEW’S. Services this Sunday at St Bartholomew’s Church are; 8am Holy Communion with Rev J Pugh, 10.30am. Sung Communion with Rev D Bowler, 6.30pm Night Prayer with Rev D Bowler.
Bunny
LOBBY DOORS DRAUGHT EXCLUDER. Glass lobby doors have been fitted in Bunny St Mary’s Church, providing a draught excluder for its visitors.
The cost of the new facility was borne by the Bunny Church Fabric Fundraisers and the church wardens Roy Baker and Heather Paul on behalf of the parochial church council have expressed their thanks for the gift.
“We have long awaited a means of excluding draughts coming in through the main doors and it is an understatement to say how delighted we are with them, they will be much appreciated by everyone coming into church for services or other activities,” say the churchwardens.
Oaks in Charnwood
FAMILY SERVICE. All are welcome to St.James’ the Greater Church, LE12 9YD on Sunday, February, 17 at 11 am with Rev Lydia Humphreys.
Sandra and her team are available to care for the younger ones in the Oaks Storer Hall before they join us in church for the remainder of the service. Tea, coffee, squash and biscuits served after the service.
MOTHERS’ UNION. The Annual General Meeting of the Oaks Mothers’ Union will be held on Monday, February 18, commencing at 2.30 pm in the Oaks Storer Hall.
We currently have 34 members and we still need volunteers to stand on the committee. A Branch Leader and Deputy Leader are still required too. Your Tribute payments of £20 is due and cheques are preferable.
After the AGM, Rothley Mothers’ Union member Margaret Rouse will be giving her presentation on Mothers’ Union banners within the Leicester Mothers’ Union Diocese.
Refreshments served afterwards with of course our usual raffle to raise funds for our branch.
SENIORS CITIZENS CLUB. The group meets every other Tuesday is the Oaks Storer Hall commencing at 2 pm.
We have over 40 members and always welcome new members male or female.
Your only requirement is to be over 60 years of age!
If you live in Shepshed I can arrange for you to be collected via coach at a small charge.
If you would like further information please contact Sheila Bass Leader on 01509 502813
Mountsorrel
ORGAN RECITAL. The 18th series of Sunday Night @ 8 organ recitals continues at 8pm this coming Sunday (February 17) at Mountsorrel Methodist Church.
The guest organist will be Anne de Graeve. A buffet supper will be served from 7.30pm. Admission is free although a retiring collection will be taken for the church’s Development Fund.
Next month’s recital will be on March 17 and will feature Edward Byrne and Dominic Remedios who are local organ scholars and who attend Loughborough Grammar School.
ST PETER’S PARISH CHURCH. All are warmly invited on the evening of Sunday, February 17 - ‘Septuagesima’ - to the parish church of St Peter, Market Place, Mountsorre, for a traditional sung service of choral evensong at 6pm.
the officiant will be Fr Darren, the assistant-curate, the preacher Mr Edmund Stacey of Loughborough and guest organist Mr David Johnson of Derby.
Refreshments will follow the ofiice in the antill vestry.
Wysall
DANGEROUS GRAVE HEADSTONES. A survey of grave headstones carried out in the church yard at Wysall parish church has resulted in nine being found to be in a dangerous condition.
Over the coming months the Rector, the Rev Dr Stephen Hippisley-Cox says they will be trying to trace immediate relatives of the graves concerned to organise repair.
And in a message to parishioners the Rector says if anyone has concerns over a family grave please contact Julia Savage, the church secretary, or the Rector.
Willoughby on the Wolds
VILLAGE LITTER PICK UP. A village litter pick is planned in Willoughby on the Wolds as part of the 2019 effort for the Great British Spring Clean staged through the Keep Britain Tidy group.
The event is on Saturday, March 9, from 10am to 12noon. Starting from the parish church. Bags, hi-vis vests and ‘pickers’ supplied. Hot drinks for litter-pickers from 12noon. Enquiries: to Jenny Oldham on 01509 889399