A busy few weeks at work and at home, decorating Frank’s bedroom, tidying the sitting room, gardening and keeping Roxanne happy along with the many and varied tasks that present themselves as part of my civic duties has left little time to write a blog post.
So, a short summary of what has been going on…
I spent a good few hours at the Mini Health Mela at Tatton Community Centre, well organised and a great sense of the community pulling together. Follow up activity will be taking place so watch this space. Reports of the event are online at:
One of the twice yearly Southern Region Neighbourhood Meetings took place at the beginning of June; these are a useful meeting to discuss issues specifically related to Chisnall ward. Despite the verbal complaints, dog fouling is low on the list of reasons for people contacting Chorley Council’s contact centre.
My application for a community project for renovation of the Charnock Richard Primary School Woodland Garden was successful. The school are delighted and hopefully work will be starting before the school holidays. However the budget is tight and there are a number of trees that require attention, to pay for this would use the entire budget and more, so I am seeking out help in this area. Fortunately none of the trees are covered by Tree Preservation Orders.
A public presentation and awareness event for the Chisnall Hall Colliery Community Woodland took place in mid-June. I attended and was slightly disappointed that more people did not attend, however those living close by and some of the affected farmers had attended and asked relevant questions.
Due to the many concerns I held a public meeting to discuss the planning application for demolition of 2 Nursery Close and development of 10 houses behind, on the former Buttermere Nurseries site. The meeting proved more popular than I anticipated and many thanks to The Bowling Green staff for allowing us to use their meeting room. The application goes before Development Control Committee on 10 July.
A planning application has been submitted for floodlights at Charnock Richard football club and it has divided opinion, making it difficult for me to represent a majority. I have remained impartial and have listened to and discussed with people in support and in opposition to the application. I can appreciate that for a sports team to have the ability to progress, but be prevented from doing so through lack of facilities must be frustrating. I am also keen to preserve any part of the Green Belt anywhere. Following my request, the application will be taken to Development Control Committee for their deliberation on 10 July.
At a Licensing Sub-Committee on 20 June the 24/7 licence application for Baku Lounge at the Hunters Lodge was approved, by a majority vote 2 in favour and 1 against. I accept that economics will dictate a place cannot open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, however I maintain my opinion that a 24/7 licence is unreasonable on the part of people living close by, not only here but anywhere.
The Farmers Arms music festival saw what has been the hottest day of the year so far and with the way the weather is going, it could well be the one and only hot and sunny day of the year. A good event raising money in aid of a good cause; however the rain over preceding days prevented the field from being used as a car park, thereby generating some congestion on the road.
My mother has been in and out of hospital over recent months and whilst visiting her, one evening, a lady approached me regarding vibrations in her house, caused by traffic which is not helped by a roundabout immediately outside her house. Whilst satisfied to listen to twelve bar blues and Big Joe Turner, the lady does not want to actually shake, rattle and roll. I have followed this up, the roundabout has now been resurfaced and vibration surveys are to be conducted. My thought is that, for a house to be vibrating, such that it is disturbing the lady’s sleep, there is probably something more wrong than the road surface.
The Heskin skatepark, as requested by Dom, from The Meadows, took a step forward as Heskin Parish Council gave it their blessing, or rather did not oppose it. Some neighbourhood consultation is required, which is probably best done by the Parish Council, as is some fundraising, about £15,000 is needed, for which I am making applications for grant funding. This will not be a quick project, but I will do all that I can to make it happen within a timeframe that allows Dom to make use of it.
The first meeting of the Chorley Borough Council Governance Committee took place on 28 June, which I chaired. A good meeting, I thought, with a good mix of questions and debate. Trying to decipher local government accounts is not the easiest thing to do, a couple of training sessions have helped. As long as the committee realises it exists to question the reasons why things are done and not necessarily to validate the £ values in the accounts then we will move forward. The Governance committee covers Audit and Standards making for an interesting combination of responsibilities.
The Members Support Working Group discusses member development related issues there appears to be a change, for the worse in my opinion, in the way member development is being arranged as training specific to certain members is being introduced, whereas previously training was open for all.
Forthcoming events include walking, with Roxanne and the school, at Charnock Richard Walking Day on Saturday 7 July; making representations, as Ward Councillor, on the applications at 2 Nursery Close and the Football Club Floodlights, at the Development Control Committee on 10 July. I need to visit someone with a flooding problem and then there is my annual medical to prove that I am medically fit enough to be a Scuba Diving Instructor.
