Village voice winter 2013

HELMDON VOICE
www.helmdon.com Winter 2013
Spring Farm Ridge – Planning Permission is QUASHED –
what happens next?
The decision of the High Court Judge, quashing the granting of planning permission for five Wind Turbines near
Helmdon was made public on Wednesday 17th January resulting in celebrations throughout the area. Helmdon
Stuchbury and Greatworth Wind Action Group (HSGWAG) are now concentrating on the next steps, i.e. preparation for the re-run of the planning enquiry, likely to take place within the next 6 – 12 months. Keith Jones, Chairman of
HSGWAG, confirms, “this time around we are planning to invoke article 6 to allow HGWAG to instruct its own barrister alongside SNC’s legal counsel at the next inspectorate enquiry. We will be instructing the same chambers which we used so successfully in the High Court hearing as they are specialists in this area of planning law.”
HSGWAG meet on an ad hoc basis as required. Meetings are usually on a Sunday evening. If you are interested in joining the group to help prepare for the next stage please contact Keith Jones [email address removed] . Help is particularly needed with drafting leaflets and press releases.
Parish Council – Budgetary News portfolio be submitted, but at in its the January meantime residents can be sure that a Quality Parish Council is working The Parish must Council set its budget meeting.
hard to keep for Expenditure Helmdon 2013-14 the is special expected place to be it is. £18,449 but the amount requested for the precept is £13,663 (+2%
on last year) as some money has already been put aside in previous years for special projects. Replacement notice boards were put up just before Christmas and positive comments have been received. This year the grass cutting will once again be carried out by Brown and Barden who have provided an excellent service in recent years. Grants are being sought to cover some of the cost of the Jubilee Wall; it is hoped to complete this project by late Spring. A replacement tree will be erected on Station Road and village groups will be invited to apply for grant funding in the Spring.
Routine maintenance is to be carried out on the playground equipment, and it is hoped to add new safety steps to the embankment slide.
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Snapshot Project – Book on Sale
Copies of the Helmdon Snapshot 2011 photobook are on sale until 8th
February at an introductory offer price of £36 for 74 pages of glorious glossy photographs of life in Helmdon (all taken in a single week in
November 2011). See www.helmdon.com for an order form.
Helmdon Sports Club Helmdon Presents…
The 2012 cricket season proved to be one of the wettest on record with over half of the matches being rained off and others unable to conclude.
The team finished in a creditable fourth place in the league. Geoff Crook and Matt Sleath did a great job preparing the ground often to be thwarted by the elements. The team will continue to play in the South Northants League in 2013; we always welcome new players.
Contact either James Turnham
([email address removed]), Karl Leitelmeyer
([email address removed]) or Joe Adhemar
([email address removed]). There will be some nets before the season starts.
Professional productions in the Reading Room of “A
Christmas Carol” and “Misery” were very well received in the autumn. Our monthly Friday night films at 7:45 in the Reading
Room are popular and the outing to The Mousetrap was fun.
Film programme to August: 8th Feb – Salmon Fishing in the
Yemen; 8th March – Anna Karenina; 12th April – Skyfall; 10th
May – Central Station (Portuguese); 14th June – Great
Expectations; 19th July – Inception; 16th Aug – My week with
Marilyn. Membership to the end of August is only £7.50 or a guest ticket for a film is £2.50. Info from [email address removed] .
Fundraising events are essential to cover our outgoings; the Olympic Evening which coincided with the Opening Ceremony was a great success, raising just over £4000 . This could not have been done without the help of many volunteers and we had a fantastic response from the Village.
News from Helmdon W.I.
Members enjoyed making a Christmas arrangement with
Barn Farm Plants in November and concluded the year with a
Christmas Party. In January, Will Adams spoke of his experience as a 2012 Olympic Games volunteer. Future events include: Beatnik Beatles (13th Feb) , Thai Cookery (13th
March), Canons Ashby Secrets and Scandals (10th April) and a visit to Belflair Chocolate Factory on 8th May. Meetings are the 2nd Wed. of the month at 7:30pm in the Reading Room –
visitors very welcome. Jenny Saunders, Secretary
Blackpits set to commence anaerobic digestion
The Aerobic Digestion Plants allows for the processing of maize and other grown crops and will also be suitable to process food waste. Energy is generated by taking the methane produced, and using it to power a gas turbine, which generates electricity. Between 1.0 – 1.4 Megawatts will be produce which will flow into the National Grid, and be enough to power between 2000-3000 houses. Noise generated by the turbine would be contained in a heavily insulated container. South Northamptonshire Council has recently issued a tender for the processing of food waste, and they are looking to implement the scheme during 2013.
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Church News Helmdon Bridge Players
“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” was a sell-out success and we now turn our thoughts to our summer production: 7th & 8th June in the Reading Room. The play has yet to be decided… but it will be the first play to be lit by our very own stage lighting. The installation in the
Reading Room (in memory of Willy Watson and funded by Sue Wallace) will be complete by 8th Feb and will be a huge village asset. We will be performing an additional play in the South Northants Drama Festival at Weedon
Lois on 12th-14th September. The last two festivals have been great fun and we look forward to your support.
Interested in taking part? ……contact [email address removed]
Crafts in Action: Sat. 16
th
November
Since Will and Dorothy retired, the churches in the
Astwell benefice have been in an interregnum. As
Lay chair I would like to thank you all for the support you have given to the church events we have organised and to give you an update: The position was advertised last autumn, but sadly there were no applicants. It was re-advertised in mid January with interviews set for 14th March so we pray that we shall have more success this time.
The Annual Church Meeting will be held in church on Tuesday 19th March at 7.30pm, open to all but only those on the church electoral roll may vote.
Lastly the date for the summer fete is set: Saturday
22nd June at Fountain House.
Ann Smith Lay Chair
CKERS Youth Group
If you would like to display your work, book a table for the day and/or sit and demonstrate your craft, then please do let me know as space is limited.
Louise Stothard [email address removed] [phone number removed],
Helmdon Bell Ringers – 2013
Our Church, St Mary Magdalene has six bells, the oldest originating from 1697. We were reformed five years ago by Chris Wassink and currently we have six regular ringers from Helmdon and Chris Wassink with support from Pam and Malcolm Taylor. Phil Curtis and Ian Chapple provide additional help. Bell ringing is lots of fun and new recruits are always welcomed, so why not join the “band” of ringers in the Helmdon Bell Tower. Expert tuition will be provided by Ian Chapple who has trained nearly 100
ringers in his time. We practise on Saturdays from
09:30am to 10:30am, and ring at Sunday Service from
9:00am to 9:30am and also at weddings and memorial services. Contact Julian Partis: Tel: [phone number removed]
We meet on a Sunday evening once a month.
Activities are for youngsters from school year 5
onwards: 24th Feb – Film Night at the Reading
Room 6-8pm; 24th Mar – Swimming at Brackley
Pool; 28th April – Games Night at the Church; 19th
May – Roller Skating. Contact Andrew Hart Tel:
[phone number removed] [email address removed]
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Parish Council Contacts
Peter Burns – Chairman Tel: [phone number removed]
Sarah Adhemar Tel: [phone number removed]
Mike Barnes Tel: [phone number removed]
John Coatsworth Tel: [phone number removed]
Paul Duncombe Tel: [phone number removed]
Bill England* Tel: [phone number removed]
Danny Moody Tel: [phone number removed]
Gemma Simpson Tel: [phone number removed]
Eddie Garner Tel: [phone number removed]
Community Responder Scheme – Helmdon
Community Responders are volunteer members of the community who are trained to respond to emergency calls through the 999 system in conjunction with the Ambulance
Service. Responders provide immediate care to patients in rural areas such as Helmdon where distance may delay the arrival of an ambulance. Responders are trained to deliver basic life support and defibrillation to patients in cardiac arrest and make appropriate calls including oxygen administration to patients suffering from a range of conditions.
Email contacts for the Cllrs are on the website.
Liz Hart – Parish Clerk Tel: [phone number removed]
parishcouncil@helmdon.com
*Bill is also the Village Neighbourhood
Watch Co-ordinator, ACRE Bulk Oil Buying
Scheme Co-ordinator and Village
Correspondent for local media
Diary Dates:
Wed. 27th March 7:30pm – Council Meeting
Wed. 24th April 7:30pm – Parish Meeting
Update from HYHOs
2012 was a great year for HYHO, which ended with the monies from the record-high Ball profits being distributed to many village groups.
Following tradition, we'll be organising a family event this year. More details will follow but we'll be building on the success of 2011's
Summer BBQ. Put a date in your diary and we'll keep you posted: Saturday 6th July. HYHO meet in The Bell on the second Friday of each month.
Remember, you don't have to be young, a husband or even organised to be a member!
Because Community Responders are based within the community in which they live or work, they can attend the scene of an emergency in a very short time, often arriving within the first three or four minutes. The Community
Responders can then begin vital lifesaving first-aid before the ambulance arrives, further increasing the patient's chance of survival. This is why Community Responders can make such a difference in their communities, especially in rural areas where ambulances have to travel longer distances.
South Northants Community Responders (SNCR) is eager to set up a group in Helmdon and they have lottery funding to do so.
They need 6 to 8 people who are willing to undertake the training and then to be on call on a rota system. To find out more please visit www.southnorthantsresponders.co.uk and to express an interest (no commitment at this stage!) please contact the Parish Clerk, Liz Hart, parishcouncil@helmdon.com
Friends of Helmdon School
Update on Station Road Bridge
Christmas fundraising (Round Table Santa float)
and Raffle Draw raised over £1400. Please visit www.helmdonprimaryschool.com for the latest information on forthcoming events.
The latest news is that the planning application to infill the bridge is still in progress but that works will take place this financial year if budgets allow. A formal complaint to NCC has been made regarding the delay.
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