Month: <span>October 2012</span>

Lots of mud on the road!

West Mercia Police are warning motorists and farmers about the problem of large amounts of mud on the roads due to the heavy rains. In an email today they say:

Rural Watch Update from West Mercia Police
Farmers
There have been increased reports of road traffic collisions where mud on the road has been noted as the main factor for the collision. Due to the current weather conditions, the tractors and trailers harvesting are bringing more mud onto the roads than usual. West Mercia are urging farmers to clear up any mud left on the roads as they work, not just at the end of the day. Slippery/muddy  road conditions can cause fatal collisions and farmers have a duty of care to prevent that from happening.
There will be a press release from West Mercia in the coming days regarding this, which mentions taking action against farmers who fail to take positive action to clear the roads of mud. Please pass the word to your neighbouring farmers/friends.
For those of you travelling on the main roads, if you see mud on the road which is dangerous for drivers, please report to the Police on 101 or to local Council’s highway department. Please be extra careful on the roads.

Update 2 Nov. 2012: Two days after the Hodnet website publish this report, Shropshire Council’s Newsroom carried their version of the warning on this page.

New food waste recycling arrangements

The Shropshire Newsroom this week has announced a new scheme to encourage food recycling in North Shropshire. On this page they state:

Residents in north Shropshire will find it even easier to recycle more, thanks to a new recycling initiative being rolled out by Shropshire Council and their waste contractor Veolia.
Residents who live in the former North Shropshire District Council area can already add all types of food waste to their garden waste, as it all gets treated in an in-vessel composting facility which is designed to treat both types of waste to turn it into compost.
To encourage more residents to join in the service, all households in north Shropshire are being provided with a kitchen caddy. The caddies, which will start to be delivered to households from Monday 5 November 2012, come with a starter pack of special compostable liners to make it easy for residents to separate food waste in the kitchen. An information leaflet explaining everything about the service will also be provided.
The aim is that people will use the new caddies to collect up all their kitchen food waste including peelings, tea bags and leftovers to keep it separate from the other rubbish which goes in the black bins. The rubbish in the black bins is sent to landfill, so by putting food waste in the garden waste bins, residents are recycling more.

 

Hearne Lane Proposed Car Park

Ringway, Contractors to Shropshire Council Highways Department are looking to expand the Council Highways depot by creating an extra 20 car parking spaces in the small paddock on the opposite side of Hearne Lane to the Council Depot.
People with an interest or view to express should come to the Hodnet Parish Council meeting at the Lyon Hall on 1st November 2012 at 7.30 pm.
Mr Derek Mathers of Ringway and Steve Brown from Shropshire Council will be attending the meeting to explain the need for 20 extra parking spaces in a small historic paddock within the conservation area of Hodnet.
Click the following link to view the information regarding the current planning application connected with the proposed Hearne Lane Car Park: http://planningpa.shropshire.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=M3TJH8TDF0000
 
 

Station Road Development – Revised Plans

A revised proposal has been sent to the Parish Council by the Shropshire Housing Group (SHG) with regard to the proposed redevelopment of the old council yard in Station Road.
The plans have been revised following comments made at the public consultation held at the Lyon Hall on 14th September. As yet no formal planning application has been received by the Parish Council.
Click the image below to download the full PDF of the revised proposals:

Major changes to the original concept proposals are as follows:

  • The number of dwellings has been reduced from 19 to 16;
  • The block of four flats has been replaced by a bungalow;
  • There are now two parking places per dwelling;
  • It is now proposed that thirteen of the homes will be available for rent and three will be for shared ownership.

Shropshire HomePoint (which has replaced the old council housing waiting list) have informed the housing association that they have people waiting for between seventy and eighty homes in the Hodnet area.
The housing association recognise that the Council’s SAMDev consultation earmarked the site as suitable for twelve homes. They ask local people to recognise that they need to be able to afford the Council’s valuation of the land and satisfy their planning criteria. They also have to persuade their own management board and the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA)- who will fund the project if it goes ahead – that the development justifies the cost.
The site’s capacity in the SAMDev is stated as indicative for 12 units. SHG ask that residents bear in mind that they have to satisfy both Shropshire Council in value for money and planning terms as well as their own board and HCA, the project funders, if the project is to go forward.
They have also asked us to make clear that the Meadows was built by North Shropshire Council and not a housing association. The management of the development was passed to another landlord in 2007 and currently Shropshire Housing Association (of which Meres and Mosses is a subsidiary) manages sixteen sheltered homes on the estate.

Come for a walk

This Saturday (20th Oct) the Hodnet Footpath Group have arranged a circular walk around the Faul’s area.
We are meeting at 10.30 AM outside Faul’s church, and expect to be back around 12.30.
Anyone is welcome to join us. Bring suitable clothing, footwear and a drink/snack.
Dogs also welcome, but it is possible that some stiles may not permit large ones to pass beneath them, so they may need to be lifted!
For more info, or to let us know you are coming, ring John Bourne on 01630 638965
 

Consultation: New visitor strategy for North Shropshire

A consulation has been announced to develop a new strategy to attract vistors to North Shropshire. An item on Sghropshire Newsroom was posted earlier today (3 Oct) giving details of the consultation. Aimed at residents as well as tourism organisations and businesses, the consultation will be taking place throughout October. Full details are available here.
The five-year plan outlines a vision for the growth and development of tourism in the North Shropshire and Oswestry region and sets out ten strategic aims, which are to:

  • Increase number of visitors and spending.
  • Raise awareness (within and outside the area) of north Shropshire as a quality, accessible rural destination
  • Develop a two-way flow of visits between market towns and the countryside
  • Capitalise on the best-known attractions to encourage visits to lesser known attractions
  • Improve sharing and communication of visitor research and insight amongst businesses and organisations
  • Increase knowledge of the area’s attractions within the industry: sell-on
  • Support local enterprise, business networks – to increase yield and capacity, sustainability and quality
  • Articulate better the heritage and landscape – interpretation, events and new ‘product’
  • Create better links and packages between commercial operators – make it easy
  • Encourage visitors to leave the car behind – where that works.

Once the strategy is finalised, the next the stage will be to start working to the action plan which details activities, timeframes and delivery responsibilities. The draft strategy can be downloaded as a PDF file from this link, with hard copies available on request
Feedback on the strategy can be given by completing the online survey here. The Consultation closes on Wednesday 31 October 2012.