Chairman’s Comments

Welcome to the first Reporter of 2006.

You, our readers, are due an apology for its late appearance (usually distributed in February).

Explaining the reason for this also gives us the pleasant opportunity to thank the previous Editor, Cllr Sally Ramsden, whose efforts in this and many other respects will be missed following her resignation in February, owing to her move to Devon.

For the time being, at least, the Chairman has taken on the duty as Editor. So all comments should be sent in that direction or to the Clerk.

In the last issue, referring to rural Post Offices, we urged that parishioners should “use it or lose it.”

We have since realised that we should explore the hard economic reasons why it would be a good idea for all to use the local butcher and the Post Office and Stores. We will use them only if we see it is in our own self interest, after all. More in this issue!

As regular readers will know, your Parish Council seeks to be a facilitator of advances in community services and community life.

For this reason, we are particularly pleased to be associated with Cradley village’s success in winning a host of awards in the Calor Village of the Year Competition. Specifically, Cradley won the overall competition and also the special category for “Building Community Life” for the West of England. A mighty achievement indeed. This is thanks to the many, many people who give freely of their time and talents to make Cradley a fine place to live.

Your Parish Council has been facilitating a survey of transport needs, following the demise of the service to Malvern. Cllr Christopher Lowder has been leading this, with other Councillors.

As has become usual, this is the time to say how we have arrived at the Precept for the coming year. There is a financial summary overleaf.

Look out for more notice boards, specifically provided for the use of any responsible person or group. They have been placed at Buryfields, the two playing fields and Finchers Corner.

David Creed-Newton

At its November meeting, the Parish Council resolved to reduce its cash balance by nearly £6,000 to approximately £25,000 and set a precept of £13,000 (2005 was £20,000).

The budget expense for 2006/7 is £19,850, some £2,000 less than 2005/6.

Here are some of the major spends made or expected in the current year to March 31st.:

· Grants to Cradley Youth Group £1,000

· Upkeep of playground equipment £2,318

· Play areas grass and hedge cutting £ 870

· Buryfields play area fencing £1,383

· Grants to village halls £3,047

· Artmarker project £ 400

· Church clock repair & maintenance £ 550

· Notice boards £1,009

Grants for church and chapel burial grounds maintenance will be about £3,000

Establishment and insurance expenses for the year are expected to total £11,000

This latter sum includes an extraordinary expenditure of £2,160 for back payments arising from an adjustment to the Clerk’s terms and conditions, and meeting new nationally agreed NALC/SLCC contract guidelines.

Public Transport

You may have seen the film “Sleepless in Seattle”. What about “Marooned in Cradley”?!

Well, it's not quite that bad, but the Parish Council is certainly concerned about the loss of public transport in the area. Cradley, Mathon and Storridge do benefit from the Cradley Support Group service, run by Eileen Vockins and staffed by volunteers at 20p per mile. This is useful for health appointments and shopping trips, but does rely on drivers being available when you want them.

The PC is now actively exploring the possibility of launching a stop-on-demand, one-fare-covers-all bus service that would, initially, run through the parish to Malvern and back again. There are two similar services which have started up in the past couple of years: one which travels through Martley to Worcester (the ParishLINK scheme) and a smaller service which operates through Leigh to Malvern (the Sphere Community Bus).

At our November meeting Alan Forrest, who helped launch the ParishLINK service, came and gave us some of the wealth of experience he's gained in this field, letting us in on the pitfalls as well as the positive points, It isn't enough simply to put on a bus service these days. You need to promote it imaginatively and offer incentives. You also need to know your market. Both ParishLINK and Sphere have discovered that a significant percentage of its passengers are from the under-18 and over-65 age groups. Would this be the same for Cradley? Should a Cradley service link up with the Sphere scheme via Suckley, say? Should it simply use the A4103? Or should we think laterally and try a service travelling through Mathon and West Malvern? Financially, we would be looking for support in the main from the kinds of non-governmental enabling and funding agencies which have sprung up over the past few years, and this would bring its own set of problems to be solved. But first of all we need to know if parishioners will use such a service, and make it viable. To this end a working-party has prepared a questionnaire, which is attached to this issue of The Reporter.

Do fill it in:

We need as much feedback as possible.

You don’t need a stamp: just drop it in at the Post Office, the Butcher’s or Cradley Surgery.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Christopher Lowder

The Calor Village of the Year^® competition was judged on five criteria:

· Building Community Life

· Business

· Young People

· Older People

· Environment

There was an additional optional category of Information Technology (and its use in and for the village)

Cradley won the overall competition for Herefordshire and also the award for IT.

The village then entered the National competition and won

· The overall award Village of the Year for the West of England

· The category of Building Community Life for the West of England

For the latter award, the judges’ comments were that they were “particularly impressed by how Cradley was looking to the future with confidence and had, within the village, the talents to make it a truly sustainable community.”

This reflects very well on the efforts of many volunteers.

As there are 5 regions, Cradley has been judged to be one of the top 5 winning villages in England.

Total prize money was £2,650. Of this, £400 has already been distributed in equal measures to the Evergreens, the Youth Group, Cradley Scouts, and Cradley Sports Club.

We are now seeking ideas for the best ways of distributing the remaining £2,250 to assist Cradley projects. Please send letters or emails to the Clerk.

Cradley’s Retail Services

Þ Having a flourishing Post Office and Stores and a Butcher in the village represent a great strength for our community.

Þ Whilst the primary responsibility for marketing its services lies with the retailers, the Parish Council believes that it should take a secondary but energetic role in promoting the facilities because…...

Þ If we do not use our retailers, we will lose them.

It is in your interest to use our retailers. Here are some good financial and other practical reasons:

1. Both the PO & Stores and the Butcher are brilliant for saving money on small to medium purchases.
Remember that the full cost of driving in to Malvern is at least 8 miles x 30p per mile = £2.40. It would have to be a big shopping basket to make those savings in Malvern!

2. And then there is the time saving. Try to get to Malvern, shop and get back in less than 45 minutes and you will see what we mean. Our leisure time also has a value!

3. Both the Stores and the Butcher offer a FREE delivery service. They will take orders by phone and get them to you without the shopping battle.

4. The Stores is open until 7 pm on Wednesdays and Saturdays!

5. The Post Office is open to 5.00 on Saturdays - a rare facility for you.

6. Both the Stores and Butcher will stock special items for you, if there is enough demand.

7. Both the Stores and Butcher will order special items for you.

8. The Stores is ideal for providing all sorts of drink for functions on sale or return. This saves the cost of over or under-ordering.

9. The Post Office offers most of the facilities of a main P.O. This includes vehicle licensing and foreign exchange.

10. The Post office has free card cash facilities for some cards and fee based cash for most others.

11. The Butcher sells more than just meat products. Drop in and see the wide range of grocery and other items on sale.

12. The Stores and Butcher will support your event by selling tickets and displaying posters.

13. The fact of having these services increases the attractiveness of our village. That has an impact on house values. And the value of your house.

So there are many good reasons why it is in your interest to use our shops to save you money.

If there are any ways in which you would like them to improve their service for you, please discuss it with them. They are very open to ideas!

Your Parish Councillors

Names and Telephone Numbers

(All numbers prefixed 01886)

Chairman

Mr David Creed-Newton 880534

Vice Chairman

Mr Roger Gill 880325

Councillors

Mr Michael Allfrey 880224

Mr Fred Beard 880371

Mrs Rosie Berry 880638

Mr Geoff Cooper 880797

Mr John Edgar 880529

Mrs Pat Fairfax 880009

Mr Chris Lowder 880282

Miss Jane Pilling 884302

Mr John Rowe 880547

Mr Geoff Thomas 880686

Mr Jerry Thomas 880868

Ms Katrina Turnbull 880788

Council Dates for Your Diary

Tuesday 14 March Parish Council Meeting at 7.30pm Storridge Village Hall

Tuesday 11 April Parish Council Meeting at 7.30pm Cradley Village Hall

Tuesday 25 April Parish Meeting

7.30pm Storridge Village Hall

Tuesday 9 May Parish Council Annual Meeting at 7.30pm Cradley Village Hall

Tuesday 13 June Parish Council Meeting at 7.30pm Cradley Village Hall

Planning meetings

The Parish Council meetings are most usually preceded by a planning meeting at 7.00 pm.

Additional planning meetings may be called to suit Herefordshire Planning deadlines.

Check the notice boards for details.

Attendance

Visitors are most welcome to attend. At a point in the meeting, the Chairman will call an adjournment for about ten minutes to give time for questions and comments from the floor.

Involvement

The Parish Council has a policy of acting as a facilitator and, in some cases, a source of funds for community projects. If you have any ideas that could lead to an improvement in our community spirit or environment, please let us know via the Clerk, Chairman or Vice-Chairman.

CRADLEY AND STORRIDGE REPORTER