Month: <span>January 2017</span>

Hodnet & District Garden Club, February 2017

Hodnet & District Garden Club
The club’s first meeting of this year is on Tuesday 21st February at 7.30pm at the Lyon Hall, when we welcome Ross Underwood, the Head Gardener at Hodnet Hall Gardens, as our speaker.
Ross has recently returned from an exciting plant finding expedition, and we are looking forward to his illustrated talk.
The Garden Club’s programme for 2017 may be viewed here. Club membership is very reasonable at £10 for the whole year, whilst visitors are always most welcome to come along to particular talks for the guest fee of £2. Tea and biscuits are served after the meetings.
From Sept-Nov and Feb-May the club meets at 7.30 pm on the third Tuesday of the month at the Lyon Hall in Hodnet for a programme of guest speakers. In the summer months we make the most of the good weather to go on garden visits.

Road Accident in Peplow 28/1/17

Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service have reported a Road Traffic Accident in Peplow this afternoon shortly after 4:00pm.
3 fire appliances have been mobilised from Hodnet, Market Drayton and Wellington. An Operations officer is also in attendance. The Air Ambulance was also seen in the area.
Update:
Information  has been added to the report which says 2 vehicles ere involved. Fire Service staff used holmatro cutting equipment to release the casualties who were left in the care of the ambulance service.
The stop message was received at by SFRS Control at 4:58pm.
A Tweet by @SFRS_MDrayton says:

16:11 @SFRSWellington and Hodnet attended 2 car RTC Peplow 2 people released

An earlier message asked people to avoid the area as the A442 was closed. This picture of the Midlands Air Ambulance is from their Twitter feed.
Midlands Air Ambulance

Police warning after dogs shot for worrying sheep

Update 19/2/17 – Shropshire Star, Several sheep killed in Shropshire fields. Six sheep have been attacked on a farm near Cheswardine. Don’t let it happen in Hodnet!


Please Keep Me On A LeadThis week West Mercia Police have reminded dog owners of their responsibility to keep their pets under control when walking near livestock. The warning comes after 5 dogs were shot and killed by farmers in two separate incidents which took place last Thursday and Friday (19 & 20 Jan 17). During the incidents sheep and their unborn lambs were killed.
In the item on the WMP website, PC Mike Barnett, dog legislation officer for Warwickshire Police and West Mercia Police, stated:

“We are at the very beginning of lambing season and we are already starting to have problems with dogs. Farmers are within their rights to shoot dogs worrying sheep on their land.
“To lose sheep and unborn lambs has a big effect on farmers’ livelihoods. To lose a loved pet causes huge upset for dog owners too.
“All it takes to avoid this distress is to keep dogs on leads and make sure they cannot get out and run loose.”

Countryside Code CoverLast spring we reminded local residents that The Countryside Code states that it is good practice to keep dogs on leads when walking them near farm animals, especially pregnant ewes (here). The post also mentioned the UK’s worst sheep-worrying incident in living memory which took place just a few days earlier when more than one hundred sheep were killed by dogs. Recently, on 22 Jan. the Farmers Guardian carried a report on their website headlined, “Loose dogs responsible for 15,000 sheep deaths in 2016“.
West Mercia Police encourage farmers to contact them about getting signage to put up on their properties through their local Safer Neighbourhood Teams. Contact details for the Market Drayton Team can be found here. Alternatively download (PDF file) and print your own copies of the “Please Keep Me On A Lead” poster pictured above.
Information about relevant legislation and the Animals Act 1971 is available on the WMP website – Livestock and worrying dogs in the countryside.

Save Money on Hospital Parking

Princess Royal Hospital Car ParkA recent news bulletin on the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital website entitled Parking arrangements at SaTH aims to ensure that patients and their visitors are aware of the circumstances in which discounted parking is available. The whole article may be read here and a brief selection from the useful information found there follows:
“Parking charges at SaTH are still among the lowest in the country, with people able to park for up to 30 minutes without charge, and paying only £3.50 for five hours or more. The 30 minutes without charge is useful for people who could drop off and pick up patients without incurring any parking charges.
“Patients receiving dialysis, radiotherapy or chemotherapy and people visiting hospital for issues connected with bereavement are able to park for free. Anyone needing to attend hospital regularly can buy a discounted 10-visit ticket for £8.”
The Trust’s main car parking page may be accessed here and again, a brief selection from the useful information found there follows:
“If you are making multiple visits to the same hospital during a 24-hour period you have the option of selecting “daily rate” and you will pay no more than £3.50 for that day, rather than paying the “hourly rate” each time you attend.”
“For patients on long term treatment plans or visitors of patients expected to be in hospital for more than 3 days, you can download a form to apply for concession tickets. These are also from the Ward/Department and parking booth. The forms must be signed by a member of the Ward/Department and then taken to the Parking Booths for processing. These tickets are valid for a maximum of 12 weeks. The 10-visit ticket costs £8 and gives a significant saving on the cost of each visit.”

Shropshire Local Plan Extension

Coming Soon? More HousingThe Shropshire Local Plan is the council’s blueprint for development in Shropshire. It provides the foundation for planning decisions in the county, such as the sites where houses will be built in the future. At present it covers the period 2006 to 2026.
To reflect changes in national policy Shropshire Council is carrying out a partial review of the current Local Plan with the intention of extending it to cover the period up to 2036.
The existing Local Plan states that 27,500 houses would be required in the 20 years up to 2026. So far about 15,400 have been built. The review seeks to discover people’s views on whether an additional 11,000, 12,000 or 13,000 houses should be built between now and 2036. To this end an eight week consultation into the new plan is being carried out, from 23 January to 20 March.
Individual residents often feel excluded from long term planning decisions. This consultation provides an opportunity for everyone concerned to get involved with thinking through the future.
The consultation document is available on Shropshire Council’s website here, and paper copies are being placed in libraries and council offices. Consultation responses will be used to inform the next stages of the review, and further consultation on a full draft of the reviewed Local Plan covering a wider range of issues is due to be carried out in the early part of 2018.
The current Local Plan comprises the Core Strategy (adopted 2011); the Site Allocations and Management of Development (SAMDev) Plan (adopted 2015); and any adopted formal Neighbourhood Plans.
Call for Sites
Alongside the above Issues and Strategic Options Consultation, Shropshire Council is also undertaking a ‘Call for Sites’ exercise over the same period.
A ‘Call for Sites’ is a request to private; public; and voluntary sector bodies and individuals to submit potential development sites for consideration within the Strategic Land Availability Assessment (SLAA). Sites should be submitted using the Shropshire Council Site Proforma, which must be accompanied by a plan indicating the location and boundary of the site.
Further information about the ‘Call for Sites’, and to access a copy of the Shropshire Council Site Proforma, is available here on Shropshire Council’s website.

Peplow Community Walk – February 2017

Boy & Girl WalkingSunday 12th February – Old Railway line and Heathbrook
Note: New meeting time – 2.00pm not 1.00pm
Following the route of Walk Leaflet 1: Hodnet to Wollerton – The Glow Worm Trail, but starting in Wollerton.
Meet at 2.00pm by Wollerton Village Rooms [SJ623297] All ages welcome.
In case of forecasted bad weather please check here (or phone Randall on 01952-540970) between 11.00am and 12.00 noon on the day.
See our page for more information about the Peplow Community Group.

Shropshire Choices Support Finder

Shropshire Council LogoLast October we published an article entitled “Shropshire Choices” about a new one-stop website which the Council had just launched as part of their early help and prevention approach. The opening paragraph summarises its aim:

“Helping you to make the right choice to remain independent and stay well. Offering information and advice about Adult Social Care, Housing and Health.”

Last week Shropshire Newsroom announced that a new, updated Shropshire Choices support finder has just been published in association with Shropshire Council. The article continues:

It is a comprehensive guide on choosing and paying for adult care and support services in Shropshire.
With Government plans to cap the costs of social care now postponed, it’s never been more important to have impartial information to guide you through choosing and paying for care and support. The guide helps readers to understand their options, highlights where to go for advice and gives information on how the paying for care system works.”

The new Shropshire Choices support finder could be very useful to anyone needing to navigate their way around Adult Care provision in the county. The file can be downloaded from the bottom of the Newsroom article or direct by clicking on the image below.
Shropshire Choices Support Finder 2017

Hodnet's own Property Marking Event

For those unable to get to West Mercia Police’s Free Security Marking Event in Market Drayton, on Saturday 21 January, there is good news. The local Safer Neighbourhood Team [SNT] is holding another in Hodnet on the following Monday.
It is being held in the Lyon Hall car park between 2:00 & 3:00pm on Monday, 23 January 2017.
There is no charge to have your property security marked. If you would like more information please contact the SNT on 101 (ext: 66905) or email

Gas Cylinder Stolen

West Mercia Police LogoIn rural areas like ours the theft of heating oil from outdoor storage tank is a well known problem. What many residents may not appreciate is that gas cylinders, often used to supply domestic cookers, are also vulnerable.
In this week’s summary of crimes reported in North Shropshire (10/1/17), published by West Mercia Police on their website, one local crime catches one’s attention. It reads:

An external gas cylinder was disconnected and stolen from a property in Shrewsbury Road, Hodnet, between 10.30am/midday on Sat 7 January. (OIS incident reference 0307s 070117).

If you use gas cylinders domestically, and they are located on the outside of your home, then please consider how you can secure them so they cannot be removed without your permission.
If you happened to notice anything suspicious in Shrewsbury Road last Saturday, please contact the West Mercia Police on their non-emergency number, 101, quoting the incident number above.

Bird flu alert for Shropshire

PoultryYesterday (11/1/17) the Shropshire Star published a report with the headline, “Bird flu alert for Shropshire and Mid Wales as case confirmed nearby”. It emphasised that “Poultry and bird owners across the region are being urged to remain on alert after an outbreak of ‘highly pathogenic’ bird flu was confirmed in North Wales.”

So far no humans have been infected with bird flu in the UK, although plans are in place to manage any suspected cases. However, it has been confirmed a wild duck has died from avian flu at an RSPB reserve in Conwy. Instances like these suggest that the H5N8 strain of the infection will have already spread to wild birds in Shropshire.
In early December we reminded local residents of the need to “Keep Your Poultry Safe!” after Defra declared the whole of England an “Declaration of an Avian Influenza Prevention Zone”. That AIPZ has been extended and all domestic poultry should be physically separated from the wild bird population. The latest information is available on Defra’s website.
The Star reports on December 28 the virus was found in a back-yard flock of chickens and ducks in the Pontyberem area of Carmarthenshire. All the birds had to be culled.