County Council elections

County Councillors are elected every fourth year - and this is one of those years.  There's information about what the County Council does at www.gloucestershire.gov.uk.

The Notice of  Election is here.  It contains all the details you need if you want to stand for election.  Your nomination would need to be in to Tewkesbury Borough Council by 4pm on Tuesday 4th April.  The Borough Council is responsible for all elections in this area.

Assuming there is more than one candidate, the election will be on Thursday 4th May 2017.

New gas mill plan

Ecotricity, the green energy company, is submitting revised plans to Tewkesbury Borough Council for an anaerobic digestion 'gas mill' at Fiddington.  The site is south east of Tewkesbury and just east of the M5.

The proposed system would use grass from local farms (not maize) and the digestate would be used as fertiliser on these farms.

There is lots more information on the company's website here.

Crocuses help the campaign

The late planted "Purple 4 Polio" crocuses suddenly sprang to life last week and now are making a good show. I hope walkers will appreciate them.

The bulbs were planted in January by the Rotary Club of Newent and District, with the enthusiastic help of two representative families of Hartpury school. Bulbs have also been planted at the school. The objective is to keep the campaign going to eradicate polio, world wide. Although we no longer see suffering from it, it is so important to eradicate it completely, so that it can never come back and the immunisation programme can end.

The international Rotary movement, with huge financial support from the Bill and Melanie Gates Foundation, have played a crucial part in this.

Jeremy Chamberlayne

Parish Council submits views on proposed intensive poultry unit

At a well attended Parish Council meeting on Monday 6th March, residents gave their views on the application for an Environment Agency permit for a proposed 100,000 bird intensive poultry unit at Astman's Farm.  

These views were then discussed by Councillors and the Council's submission - which you can read here -has now been sent to the Environment Agency.  The submission was accompanied by a table of expected traffic movements and the Council's adopted planning policy document.

Proposed intensive poultry unit

A revised plan of this proposal, showing the two x 50,000 bird broiler houses, is now available on the Environment Agency's website here.

Other information is also available from this link. 

The Parish Council will consider whether to make any representation about this application for an Environment Agency permit at its meeting on Monday 6th March at 7.30pm in the committee room of Maisemore Village Hall.

Church news and views

Marnie Mitchell writes:

"Second sunday service, even with our new heating flat out, everybody said "isn't it cold!" After a good sermon and rousing hymns we all enjoyed  a hot drink. The weather was slightly warmer for evensong the following week, lay led by Lynn, Sylvia and Liz with lovely hymns and a short reflection taken from chapter 8 of Paul's letter to the Romans, based on God's creation and environmental issues. We were very  pleased to have some extra visitors at the service.  At our last service of the month it was a great pleasure to welcome Canon Roger Grey, where he preached  of the mountain top experience of Peter, James and John during the Transfiguration of Jesus.

The annual World Woman's Day of Prayer was as usual a brilliant affair with many ladies from all the churches taking part. The theme this year was "Unfairness".  We in the west really have nothing to complain about compared to those in harsh conditions in some parts of the Phillippines, it was very  thought provoking,and lovely to have tea and yummy cake afterwards. Thanks as always to Eileen for organising it and to the ladies at the Methodist church for their hospitality.

When I attended Deanery Synod this month, we were all very pleased to hear that all our 7 churches had paid their full "quota".  This is the amount each church pays to support the bishops and priests with all their expenses (among other things).  Usually we are asked to contribute more so it made a pleasant change! The amount St. Giles has to pay each year is £7,650 by the way.

I am about to pay for the magazines shortly, so please may I remind anyone who hasn't paid their £3.50 to their distributor to do so - thank you!

Well, spring is almost here.  As I write this the buds are coming out on my trees and the plum blossom is being blown to bits!"

Thanks for the photos

A big 'Thank you' to everyone who has sent photos from in and around Maisemore for use on this site. As many as possible have been incorporated into the site heading, which now has a rolling display so that they can all be enjoyed.

Agenda for March Parish Council meeting

The agenda for the March meeting of Maisemore Parish Council has now been published - you can read it here.

As usual, it will be in the committee room of Maisemore Village Hall and will begin with an opportunity for residents to raise points on any item on the agenda.

National Plant Monitoring Scheme

The National Plant Monitoring Scheme (NPMS) is looking for people in Maisemore with an interest in wild plants or who would like to learn more about them.

The NPMS is helping improve understanding of what is happening to different habitats across the UK and is set to run for a number of years. It has now been running for two survey seasons and over 900 volunteers have signed up and been out surveying. One of the reasons the scheme has enjoyed such good success in attracting volunteers is because of the support of local parish councils. Many of these volunteers are new to plant surveying and have found the scheme accessible, are enjoying taking part and are exploring places close to them and finding out new things. Volunteers are supported by materials which are sent to them, online resources and free training courses.

Do you know somebody who enjoys being outside? There are still opportunities to get involved with the scheme as a volunteer. In fact the more volunteers the scheme has, the more information is generated making for an even better understanding of what is happening in the landscape.

The NPMS is a partnership between Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI); JNCC; Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) and Plantlife and is backed by the government. Volunteers are recruited and supported to survey 5 plots in a kilometre square close to where they live. The plots will be surveyed twice a year. The kilometre squares to monitor have been identified by stratified random sampling. The plants have been chosen as indicators of the health of individual habitats. There are 3 levels volunteers can participate at depending on confidence and knowledge and support will be provided both through training; web and telephone.

Across Gloucestershire there are still 30 squares available to survey, one of which is to the south of Maisemore either side of the river Severn.

The live map on the NPMS website shows the squares that are available: http://www.npms.org.uk/square-near-me-public?dynamic-return_all_squares=true

To sign up please visit www.npms.org.uk or for further information please email support@npms.org.uk or phone 01722 342743.

Housing Strategy published

Tewkesbury Borough Council has now published its Housing Strategy – At home in Tewkesbury Borough – 2017 to 2021. The evidence base (appendices 1a-1d), homelessness and homelessness prevention strategy (appendix 2) and tenancy strategy (appendix 3) are also published.