Following the aftermath of the
floods in 2007, and more recently the snow, and in common with many
other parish councils, it has been decided to set up a Community
Emergency Plan.
Volunteers are being sought for this, initially to take part in a
working party, and then to help co-ordinate if and when a situation
arises.
Please contact the Clerk on
01242 820718 for more details. top
Waste Collections Back to Normal. updated 28/01/10
Due to the snow and icy conditions on roads in much of
the Cotswolds, the Waste collection service has been affected recently. The current official line from Cotswold District Council reads as follows:
"All waste and recycling collections are now fully back to normal."
Parish Council - no to "formal" Street Names but local map instead 26/11/09 updated 28/01/10
The
Parish Council has decided not to go ahead with the ‘formal’ naming of
streets which would have obliged residents to use the names in their
address.
Instead it has been resolved to produce a map for local use showing
names commonly used for our lanes. This could be given to newcomers to
the village. It would also be an opportunity to give names to
some of the roads which do not currently have a locally accepted label. top
We don't want signs
Charities Gain in Local Christmas Cards Scheme 26/11/2009
This Christmas, instead of sending cards locally to
friends and neighbours,
the following have chosen to make an equivalent donation to a charity
of their choice.
Thanks to the good weather, plenty
of people, dogs and children, the Produce Show this year made £1,700
for the villages. It was a good Show with entries up on last
year. Thanks to all who took part. top
Sheep Shooting 23/08/2009
A sheep was shot with a rifle on
Manor Farm sometime between 22nd August and the morning of 23rd. The
sheep which was found dead, was in 'Dog Furlong' which is near the top
of Park Lane, opposite the group of three cottages.
If you saw anything unusual on those dates please contact Gloucestershire Police on 0845 0901234. top
Brockhampton Burglary 15/6/09
A house in Chapel Cottages was
broken into on Monday 15th June - sometime between 8.15am and 6.30pm.
Thieves entered the house by forcing a rear ground floor window with a
screwdriver (or similar) whilst the householder was away from home.
After searching the house, the offenders then stole a small quantity of
jewellery and left via the rear window.
If anyone you saw anything suspicious on Monday, then please contact
Stow Police on 0845 090 1234, quoting Incident 475 of 15/06/09” top
'Streetview' Car Spotted in Village
Google maps
'streetview' car was spotted in the village on Monday 15th June. So
keep an eye out in a few months time for an image of your house on Google maps.
If you want to have the picture removed you must wait until it appears
then, on the image you want removing, click on 'report a problem' on
the bottom left of the picture. You can then fill in the form to
have it removed. top
Gassons Lane to Close Again 29/5/2009 updated 13/7/2009
Gassons lane is to close again from1st to 8th July 2009
The reason given is:
"Surface Dressing (road too narrow for traffic to pass with plant in road)" NB This will now take place on 21st July top
Search on Again for Affordable Housing Plot 29/05/09
The search is on again to find a suitable patch of land for a small
affordable housing development. The Parish Council has been informed
that the original plot, discussed at length in 2006, is no longer
available and wishes to find suitable alternatives which would be
acceptable to the landowner, District Council planners and residents.
Affordable housing developments can be on land currently used for
agricultural purposes, the housing is available only to those who have
connections with the villages by way of family, employment, current or
previous residency.
If you know of, or own a site yourself, which you think might pass
these criteria please contact Parish Councillor Harry Boyd (820327). top
Allotments 29/05/09
The Parish Council is gauging the
level of interest there might be in re-opening the allotment site in
Brockhampton. The site is about half way up Brockhampton Quarry
hill, opposite ‘Hill View’.
There would need to be sufficient interest and a fair amount of work
involved.
If you think you would like to take on an allotment please let the
parish clerk know on 820718, or
top
Sevenhampton Flooding 29/5/09
Prevention May Prove Too Expensive
At the behest of the Parish Council, District
Sevenhampton Flooding 2007 photo: Philip Box
Councillor Robin Hughes
has been investigating a solution to the flooding problem which beset
Sevenhampton in 2007. It was thought that the flood was caused by
the pipe taking the water under the footbridge by the ford being of
insufficient width. An increase in the diameter would improve the
flow but could increase the risk of flooding further downstream.
This would have to be taken into account in the costing of any
preventative scheme. Gloucestershire Highways are considering the
situation. top
Parish Council Could Go, Warns Parish Chairman 30/3/09
At
the annual parish meeting on 18th March the chairman of Sevenhampton
Parish Council, Bill Jenkin, warned .. “without a strong
community involvement in all likelihood we will be morphed together
with other villages in the area, thus losing our identity
entirely.”
He complained about increasing government
imposed bureaucracy which used up valuable resources and made the
demise of small councils like Sevenhampton more and more likely due to
the disillusionment of councillors. Mr Jenkin stated that the
problem stemmed from the same rules applying to the largest
metropolitan borough councils as to the smallest parishes. A petition
to Downing Street last year appealed to the government to exempt the
smallest councils from the bulk of these paper exercises but the only
help they offered was that neighbouring parishes could pool resources
in order to raise their effectiveness.
Parish Councillor Vacancy The
chairman urged volunteers to come forward to fill the vacancy which has
arisen on the parish council caused by the resignation of Alison Giles,
who has left the area. He thanked Alison and her fellow
councillors for their participation and support and hoped that, with
enough local involvement, the council would still be able to continue
to represent the parish as an entity and believed that it should remain
at the centre of a sustainable and vibrant community.
If you would like to become a parish councillor please get in touch with the parish clerk, Ann van Rossem, 01242 820718 top
Gas Pipeline to Cross Parish 6/3/09
The
National Grid is proposing to build a high pressure natural gas
pipeline from Wormington to Sapperton which will cross the Eastern part
of the parish. Planned for construction in 2010, the pipeline will be a
diameter of 900mm (2ft 11in) with a minimum covering of 1200mm (3ft
11in). Route
Construction During
construction a strip of land approximately 36m wide (118ft) will be
fenced off along the length of the route where all the work will take
place. Sections of pipe up to 18m (59ft) will be taken from
short-term storage areas and laid end to end along the length of the
route. Then the trench will be dug. The sections of the pipe
are
welded together and wrapping applied to prevent corrosion and the pipe
will be lowered itno the the ditch. Following pressure tests
the
excavation is backfilled in layers and compacted, top soil replaced and
land re-seeded. Field boundaries such as hedges are replanted
and
drystone walls re-built to match the existing.
No Road Closures In
this parish
there will be no road closures while the work is going on because the
pipe can be 'fed' under existing roads without the need for excavation.
Costswold
District Council has issued the following statement: for the
latest information please see their website.
12/2/09
"Waste
and recycling services have been resumed this week (on Monday 9th
February) following the postponement of services on 2nd to 6th February
because of snow and ice on the roads – a decision that was
taken together by Cotswold District Council and SITA.
The
Council has agreed a plan with contractor SITA to catch up with normal
collections as soon as possible.
All residents who
didn’t receive a refuse or recycling collection last week
(2nd to 6th February) should place their bins and boxes at the
kerbside, where they will be emptied as soon as possible this week.
Residents who have additional non recyclable waste may put it out in
black bags with their grey wheelie bin, where it will be collected,
while garden and food waste will be collected as normal this week.
People are being urged to place their refuse out responsibly and not
cause an obstruction to pedestrians or motorists.
Residents
who are due to have waste and recycling collections this week (9th to
13th February) will receive them as normal.
Mark
Tufnell, Portfolio Holder for the Environment said:
“We
apologise for the inconvenience caused. Our officers with SITA have
been out in the Cotswolds every day last week to assess whether it was
feasible to resume the waste and recycling collections and found
extremely treacherous weather conditions.”
“Unfortunately
we had to postpone collections to ensure we didn’t jeopardise
the safety of residents, motorists, our collection staff and
property.”
“Our crews will be
working hard this week to catch up with the back log of
collections.” "
In 2008 the Parish
Council co-ordinated the meeting of a group of villagers to discuss how
we might achieve a reduction in this community’s carbon
footprint and possibly save some individual household costs.
Bio
Digester - not just yet We started
ambitiously with some investigation into bio-digesters and other
technologies. The advice from a visiting consultant
since the meeting was that such things will become more feasible and
cost-effective in years to come and that it would be wise to see how it
develops before tackling the planning and other logistical problems in
a village whose lay-out would present some
difficulties. The Parish Council agreed that this
is good advice and seems in step with much of the informal feedback we
have had from the community.
Forum
- March Meeting We still feel that there
ought to be some forum for discussing ways in which we might make our
use of fuel, resources and disposal of waste less environmentally
damaging in the short to middle term.
We will
therefore hold another meeting during the last week of
March. There are three Parish Council members who
would like to attend this and we hope that some of those who worked on
the 2008 discussions will also join us. This is really a call
to anyone across the community to join us and look at what we might
practically do.
What
are other Villages Doing? Immediate
suggestions are that we look at some examples of what other villages
are doing and seek a guest speaker on measures and products which might
suit our situation.
Get
in Touch Please get in touch with me if
you would like to be involved in the meeting, and please give me your
availability for an evening at the end of March by February
20th. I will then confirm a date and venue. Alison
Giles 820132 top
Brockhampton
and Sevenhampton's two correspondents for Gloucestershire
Echo's 'Where I Live' have retired. Gill Lanfear and
Sheila Bartlett have been reporting on local goings-on in the Saturday
edition's Village and Community section, formerly known as 'Village
Voice', for almost 20 years. To read their valedictory report click
here. The Echo have also published an article about
Gill and Shiela's time as our local columnists. Click here for this article If
you would like to take on the role please get in touch The Echo on
01242 271821 top
Parish
Precept to Remain at £5,000 20/11/08
Sevenhampton Parish precept is to remain at
£5,000 for the year 2009/10 (about £30 for a band E
property). It was lowered to this figure by £250
last year. top
Gassons
Lane to Close for Resurfacing 16/10/08
- updated 3/11/08; 29/11/08
Gassons lane will be closed from 8th to 12th
December for surfacing work. top
Sevenhampton telephone kiosk has been earmarked
for removal by BT. After a trawl of local opinion in the area
Sevenhampton parish council has decided to use the
‘Adopt a Kiosk’ scheme which will ensure that the
kiosk stays but without the telephone equipment.
Under
the scheme the Parish Council will purchase the box from BT for
£1, the connection and payphone equipment will be removed and
the council will then be responsible for the maintenance etc of the box.
A
sign will be displayed informing the public that there is no telephone
equipment inside. top
New
Bus Service 29/9/08
The local bus service
to Cheltenham has been revised. As Follows
Sevenhampton parish council is to
go ahead with a ‘Sevenhampton’ sign between
Syreford and the turn to ‘Sevenhampton
village’. The
‘Brockhampton’ signs on the western approach near
Brockhampton Park has been refurbished it is hoped this will also
happen to the sign on Bakers Wood Lane.
GCC have
also agreed to add “unsuitable for heavy goods
vehicles” on the fingerpost pointing to Sevenhampton Village.
UPDATE these signs are now in place.
More
Signs It has also been decided not to proceed with
any other new signs. top
Increase
in Hall Charges 5/8/08
The Rhodes Memorial Hall committee
has decided that, from September, the cost of
hiring the village hall should rise. This
is due to spiralling costs of electricity and
insurance. For details of the now charges
click here All
bookings for the hall and hiring of crockery etc should be
made through Georgina Oldham, 01242 820423. top
Thursday
Coffee Mornings 5/8/08
A Thursday
morning coffee session has started in the Reading Room of the village
hall. The idea is to give a chance for locals to get together
and have a natter. It will replace to some extent the loss of
the Post Office and Luncheon Club. The session will run
every Thursday from 10.30 to 11.30. Nick Bailey, the local Village Agent
will be present. If you need a lift give Georgina Oldham
(820423) a ring. top
Post
Office Closure 29/05/08
The
current subpostmaster of Brockhampton Post Office, Vanessa Holland,
will be moving to Cornwall in July and no-one has yet been found to
take over as subpostmaster. As a result the Post Office has now closed.
If you or anyone you know would be willing to take
over the post office please contact Alison
Edwards at Post Office Ltd (07801095271).
Vanessa
would like to express her heartfelt thanks to the many customers who
have supported the post office so loyally over the past 11½
years. "Your loyal support has enabled the post office to continue in
Brockhampton while other Post Office branches have faced closure and
your valued custom is much appreciated."
Bob
and Vanessa look forward to welcoming their friends from Brockhampton
and Sevenhampton to their new home at Rose Cottage, Bodelva, (2 minutes
from the Eden Project and 2 miles from Par Sands), "but please don't
all come at once! We are taking with us many happy memories of
Brockhampton. Goodbye and good luck to you all. We shall miss you."
Parish Council Chairman's
Appreciation Peer hard at the picture
& you’ll see Vanessa - scuttling out of camera range
- demonstrating her most famed quality. Self-effacing to the
last. Vanessa has made an unpromising corner of the Hall into
a Post Office/Visitor Centre with stationery, cards, occasional books,
sweets and crisps for kids to pensioners, local ads, official leaflets
and, always, a very warm welcome. In addition, she kept the
Hall diary and helped all users - moving furniture twice her
size in and out to meet users’ preferences. Husband
Bob supported the Luncheon Club by ferrying the meals in each Wednesday
and played and organised many musical events. Personally, I
will miss Vanessa’s help selling Rural Cinema tickets, and
setting up the “auditorium” each show as well as
providing info for this website. I’m pleased
though that she will no longer have to work on the accounts until
midnight every Wednesday. A hard act to follow. -
Bill Jenkin top
Climate
Change:- Local Initiatives Panel to be Formed 29/03/08
A panel is to be formed to consider ways of
reducing our carbon footprint here in Sevenhampton Parish. If
you feel we should be doing something • If you have
any ideas - big or small nothing ruled out. •
If you have any skills - even just a good head on your
shoulders. • If you just want to give your views. •
If you are half good at almost anything else Please
offer a little of your time. Let Ann
vanRossem have your name (01242 820718)
top
Notice
Board for the Quarry 29/03/08
A new notice board is
to be placed by the entrance to ‘Old
Stones’ for the Quarry end of Brockhampton. top
Wind
Turbine Gets Go-Ahead 1/02/08
CDC
Planning Committee Rejects Local Concerns The
proposed wind turbine at Nash Barn, Sevenhampton (click here if you don't know where that is),
has been approved by Cotswold District Council’s planning
committee.
The 30th January hearing was addressed by
Di Brown of Sevenhampton Parish Council and Leslie Agius on behalf of
other local objectors, also James Candler in support.
However, following a recommendation to approve the application from the
planning officer, the committee voted in its favour by nine votes to
five.
Sevenhampton parish council opposed the scheme
on account of a vote of 15 votes in support to 18 against the scheme
taken at a public meeting on 5th December 2007.
The
3 bladed turbine will be mounted on a 9m. (30ft) mast with a rotor
diameter of 5.5m. (18ft) and must be painted in an off-white colour.
Reasons
given by objectors who wrote to the planners included the impact on
local amenities by virtue of noise and desecration of landscape;
interference with TV and radio reception; the impact on wildlife; the
amount of electricity produced would not justify the impact
on the environment and that it would set a precedent for similar
schemes in the valley and Cotswolds.
Supporters of
the scheme argued that it was a necessary step in order to ensure
affordable and reliable supply of power; that it was a small scale
turbine which will be readily assimilated into its agricultural
setting; the noise from the A40 on a still summer’s night is
greater than that from the turbine; that the applicant, who already
preserves a sizeable chunk of the AONB for the indirect enjoyment of
the village and visitors, wishes to reduce the crippling electricity
bills inherent with running a farm with this small scale turbine.
A
previous application for a similar turbine on a 15m
mast on the same site had been withdrawn.
The
plans for the turbine may be viewed on Cotswold District Council's
website by clicking here. top
Village
Agent Holds Local Surgeries 5/5/07
The Village Agents
project is a pilot scheme to provide older people in
Gloucestershire’s rural communities with easier access to
information and services. It is being run by Gloucestershire
County Council and Gloucestershire Rural Communities Council. The
Agents
Bridge the gap between the
local community and statutory and voluntary organisations able to offer
help or support.
Provide high quality
information, promote access to a wide range of services, carry out a
series of practical checks and identify unmet needs within their
community.
Have access to extensive relevant
training, resources and support from GRCC and the County
Council’s help desk.
Be paid a small
‘retainer’ to work ten hours per week in the
community. They hold surgeries in the village hall or other suitable
places and carry out home visits where appropriate.
Form
part of a network of local contact points within Gloucestershire.
Are recruited locally, trained and supported to provide
face-to face information and support, which enables individuals to make
informed choices about their future needs.
Come along to
talk to your local Village Agent Nick Bailey on
Thursday mornings from 10 to Noon in the Reading
Room, Rhodes Memorial Hall, Brockhampton.
village
news
Sevenhampton telephone kiosk has been earmarked
for removal by BT. After a trawl of local opinion in the area
Sevenhampton parish council has decided to use the
‘Adopt a Kiosk’ scheme which will ensure that the
kiosk stays but without the telephone equipment. 
Decision
Peer hard at the picture
& you’ll see Vanessa - scuttling out of camera range
- demonstrating her most famed quality. Self-effacing to the
last.