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September 5, 2010
Metheringham Parish Council News Autumn 2010
Statement from Metheringham Parish Council - Proposed Dairy Farm, Nocton
To resolve at our next meeting on 31/8/10 that, in the event of a planning application being put forward for the Nocton Dairies development, this Parish Council will urgently request NKDC hold a public consultation meeting in Metheringham Village Hall. This village has a much larger number of inhabitants compared to other villages in the immediate area and could suffer from infrastructure, logistics and other environmental issues. The Parish Council is more than willing to facilitate this meeting.
Dr M. A. Allen (Chairman)
The Spring Garden - Drury St - Regrettably and sadly it has been necessary to lock the recently refurbished Spring due to continued vandalism by local youths. The future of this area will be discussed at the next council meeting.
Allotments
Unfortunately, despite all our efforts to obtain further land, we have failed. The sale of the glebe land to another party has been a major setback. The Parish Council has had to approach North Kesteven District Council to ascertain the procedure needed for making a compulsory purchase of land to meet our needs. As you can see we are now in desperate need of some land, so if you can help in any way possible please contact the Clerk.
Best Kept Village Competition
We entered Metheringham in the Best Kept Village Competition this year and we have been competing against twenty three other large villages across Lincolnshire. At the beginning of August we were informed that our village is through to the semi final stage of judging along with last year's winners, Nettleham and Kirton near Boston.
Fayre and Feast (23 October)
This year's Fayre and Feast, with the theme "Heroes and Heroines", is to be held on Saturday 23 October starting at 2.00pm at the 'new cross', High Street. The Fayre & Feast working group has been meeting regularly to progress action items in the organisational needs. This is a family event which is scheduled to include a host of entertainment including, Feet First Children's Entertainer, The Local Heroes (Band), The Devaney School of Irish Dancing, Starlite Twirlers, The Angels, Billy J, Silver Sound Band, Rick & Rob (Leeds - Guitar / Drum duo), Earthbound Misfits. Please come along and join in the fun of the Fayre. We would mention, though, that we are in need of volunteers to help on the day, so if you can spare a couple of hours please contact the Clerk.
Grass Cutting
Just to put you in the picture, our grass verges and open spaces (excluding the play parks, Spring Garden and playing fields) around the village are currently cut by either Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) or North Kesteven District Council (NKDC). LCC sub contract the mowing and have already encountered a number of problems earlier in the year. We would like to hear your views on what you think of the current grass cutting in the village?
MACLA Website
The parish council, along with fellow villages of Scopwick and Nocton, has a dedicated web page on the MACLA website, ours being www.macla.co.uk/megpc This is regularly updated with details of the parish council, parish boundary, councillors, documents and procedures, working groups, useful contacts, agenda and minutes from the parish council and planning committee meetings. Various other documents are added as and when required if of importance to the community, so please take a look. Minutes of council meetings can also be viewed in Metheringham Library.
Parish Council Members
Metheringham Parish Council presently consists of eleven councillors in our two wards (the village ward and fen ward). Because of the size of the parish the number of councillors could be increased to thirteen which is something that has recently been considered, but it was agreed it would remain at eleven for the present time. Cllr Mrs Ruth Parker has recently resigned from the council after having served the community since May 1999. Our new councillor, co-opted from a short-list of three applicants, at the council meeting on 27 July, is Mathew Haisman and he will attend his first meeting on 31 August.
Come May 2011 it will be the time for parish council elections. If you have an interest in your local community and feel you could serve as a Parish Councillor this will be the time to put yourself forward. If you are interested or would like further information please contact the Clerk.
Recreation fields
The Parish Council has recently held a meeting with Metheringham Primary School, school governors and Lincolnshire County Council (LCC). At this meeting the Parish Council presented a number of conditions relating to the proposed lease of the Star & Garter field for use by the School. Metheringham Parish Council would reiterate that they are totally committed to providing better facilities for the community including the safety of our school children. With this in mind we are hopeful that LCC will agree to our proposals so this matter can be brought to a satisfactory conclusion.
Remembrance Day Service
This year's service will take place on Sunday 14 November at St Wilfrid Church, Metheringham at 10.00am, followed by a Memorial Service at the War Memorial garden, High Street and then a short prayer at our two war graves in the new cemetery. Refreshments will be served at the end of the service. Please come along as everyone is welcome.
Christmas Lights Switch On
Our now, popular, annual switching on of Christmas lights and carol signing will take place on Thursday 2 December at 7.00pm at the War Memorial garden. Now in its third year this has been a very successful evening and kick starts the Christmas festivities.
Annual Village Meeting
In April of each year the Parish Council hosts the Annual Parish Meeting when local organisations are given the opportunity to enlighten fellow villagers on what they get up to or what is available for others to become involved in. Guest speakers are always invited and over the last two years we have had two excellent organisations with Vulcan to the Sky (two years ago) and a behind the scene view of the Lincs / Notts Air Ambulance this year. If there is a topic which anyone feels they would like for our next or future such event, please contact the clerk and we will see what can be done.
Your Views
Getting involved in the local community and helping with local issues is a very worthwhile way of making a contribution to the area in which we live and work. Do you have young children or teenagers and are interested in things that affect their lives? Are you concerned about our environment? How do you feel about planning issues? What about public transport? Local housing? Are you interested in local government finances, and where all our money goes? What can we do about anti-social behaviour? Do we need more local amenities?
The Parish Council would like to hear from you, if you have any ideas or suggestions as to how our village can be improved. Please send your suggestions to the Clerk.
Ms Sharon Wetherall
Clerk to Metheringham Parish Council
0800 6343307
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