Full house for History Society meeting

Ros Lane writes:

On Thursday 25^th January a full hall of members and friends had a fine history of the Forest of Dean heritage and its people.  Mr Peter Ralph - not a Forester I might add - came in the 1960’s to work for the Forestry Commission.  Over the years he has acquired many old photographs and a great deal of local knowledge of the people, places customs, occupations and produce such as charcoal, timber coal, stone, brick and iron.  With refreshments after the talk lots of discussion amongst friends followed, as always. 

Our next meeting will be on Thursday 22^nd February when we have a members evening.  Robin Stayt, Ken Cole, Andy Sysum, Charles Dobbin and David Jones will each give a short talk on Family History,  Maisemore Angus Cattle and finding a medal awarded to your Father, to the Maisemore Local History Society website.  Refreshments always follow, visitors very welcome £2.  


On Thursday 22nd March 2018 Ian McIntosh will give an illustrated talk on “Stroudwater Textiles”.  Starting at 7:30pm doors open at 7:00pm in Maisemore Village Hall.  This is the follow-up of a visit the History Society made last year to the Gigg and Egypt Mills.  Visitors very welcome £2, refreshments follow the talk.

Grants of up to £170,000 available for local businesses

Tewkesbury Borough Council is encouraging rural business in Gloucestershire to apply for funding.

Grants range from £5,000 up to approximately £100,000 through the LEADER Programme, and from £35,000 to £170,000 through the Growth Programme. The Growth Programme offers grants for projects that will help grow and develop tourism in rural areas, whilst the LEADER programme is able to offer capital support for projects which support national and local key investment priorities (eg farm productivity, business support, farm diversification, tourism, culture and heritage and forestry productivity). The grants are funded by the European Agriculture Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD).

Applications are invited from micro and small businesses as well as community organisations in rural areas.  Successful applicants must contribute to the creation of jobs, growth in businesses or organisations and demonstrate a benefit to the wider economy in rural Gloucestershire.

Councillor Rob Bird, Tewkesbury Borough Council’s Lead member for Economic Development said, “This is a unique opportunity for local businesses to get financial support with expansion projects, but the timeframe is very short, and the total funding available is limited, so I urge anyone with business development plans to act now and contact us." 

Further information is available from Neil Batt (Programme Manager) by emailing neil.batt@fdean.gov.uk or calling 01594 812608.

Money and internet course available

Nick Morrall, Learning Co-ordinator for Adult Education at Gloucestershire County Council writes:

Following discussions with DWP, Job Centres and Libraries, there is increasing interest from residents throughout the County to learn more about money management courses and internet safety.

One of our methods of delivering courses is using the Learn My Way platform, which has a wealth of information and the following courses are becoming increasingly popular;

·         Make money Work

·         Keeping your personal information secure online

·         Online and mobile banking

If you know anyone in your Communities that could benefit from completing the course, whether yourself, family or contacts at partner organisations, please pass on this information and follow the link below. The courses only take about 30 minutes, but provide a wealth of valuable information;

1. Click on https://www.learnmyway.com
2. Click on Register in the top left of the screen
3. Complete the sections and OUR CENTRE NUMBER 8000052, your name, email address and then choose a password. 
4. Click on Subjects and choose one of the following modules to complete;

·         Make money Work

·         Keeping your personal information secure online

·         Online and mobile banking

Should you have any questions or want further information please let me know, but I am sure you will agree there are many learners that we speak to daily that may benefit from money management and internet safety courses.

Local History Society Members' Evening

Ros Lane writes:

On Thursday 22 February 2018 there will be a Maisemore Local History Society Members' Evening at Maisemore Village Hall. We will start the evening with Robin Stayt, our president; next we will have Ken Cole whose talk will be on the Angus herd of Maisemore plus the medal which has returned to Maisemore. Andy Sysum will then talk about family history research; next will be Charles Dobbin, and to finish David Jones will show everyone the new Maisemore Local History Website. Visitors very welcome £2. Doors open at 7:00pm for a 7:30pm start.

Will Carillion collapse affect Maisemore's fibre broadband

Andrew Cooley writes:

I was concerned that the collapse of Carillion might affect the plan for bringing high speed fibre broadband to Maisemore around the middle of the year, so I emailed Gigaclear about it.

They have now replied:

The effect to our plans should be minimal as (along with other protections) the contract is with Carillion Telent which was a separate subsidiary somewhat isolated from this unfortunate turn of events. Telent has already agreed to take on the Carillion staff within the CT structure you may have seen in the news.

There’s some more detail here including our CEO’s official statement on the similar contracts in Devon and Somerset: http://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/somerset-news/carillion-collapse-gigaclear-assures-somerset-1072211  

I hope this provides some reassurance. Given the complexity of things I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some knock on to the timeline but it’s not in terrible jeopardy.

Third worst broadband speed in UK

Old Road in Maisemore has featured on the property site Zoopla.

In a survey by uSwitch.com of broadband speeds, Old Road, Maisemore, came out as the third worst in the UK with a download speed of just 0.843 Mbps.  The two worst were in Felixstowe in Suffolk and Pickering in North Yorkshire.

The site offers some suggestions about what can be done - but it is unlikely that a significant improvement will take place until Maisemore gets Gigaclear fibre broadband, hopefully around the middle of the year.

Minutes of January meeting of the Parish Council

The draft minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 8th January are now on line here.  Agendas and minutes of other meetings back to May 2014 are on the Agendas and Minutes page.

Warm welcome to new Parish Clerk

Please welcome Maisemore's new Parish Clerk, Jackie Shields.  Jackie is a very experienced clerk and also looks after four other parishes which are of similar size to Maisemore.

She was involved in the Council's recent meeting on 8th January.  The next Parish Council meeting is on Monday 5th March.  If you want something to be put on the agenda, please contact Jackie at least a week before the meeting - email clerk@maisemore-pc.org.uk or phone 01684 291069.

Maisemore Summer Get Together?

This picture of the spread of mince pies and cakes ready for the very successful Maisemore Christmas Get Together was included in a montage on the Great Get Together website.  Should there be a similar Maisemore Get Together in the summer to tie with the national events?

Reporting potholes

A number of potholes and other road defects have been reported to Gloucestershire County Council by the Parish Clerk.

This was mentioned at the recent Parish Council meeting and councillors suggest that it may be quicker and more effective for residents to report the defects they find directly on the GCC website - http://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/roads-parking-and-rights-of-way/roads/report-it/.  

Some work has recently been carried by the Council's contractors, but County Cllr. Phil Awford told the Council that some of this didn't seem to be of the highest standard and that he would be raising it with officers.

Council wants more sympathetic management of open space

The land to the south of the houses on the Rectory Farm development is designated as 'restored landscape' to which the public will have access.

The Parish Council was greatly concerned to discover that mature trees had been felled unnecessarily on this part of the site, which it considered was not a promising start to landscape restoration.  Looking more closely at the management plan for this area, there is concern that it is not appropriate for open space on the edge of a village, with too much closely mown grass and too little wildflower and tree planting.  "The current design is more like a small municipal park than the community meadow and woodland suitable for a small village," says Council chairman Andrew Cooley.

In order to ensure that this open space is managed sympathetically and for the benefit of both residents and wildlife the Parish Council has resolved in principle to adopt the area of ‘Restored Landscape’ and the attenuation basin and its surrounding area on the Rectory Farm development, subject to a satisfactory agreement and financial arrangement with Newland Homes, Tewkesbury Borough Council and Severn Trent.

Newland homes are currently putting a temporary car park at the site access on Persh Lane for use by their staff while the main entrance to the estate is being constructed.

Maisemore Spring Clean Up

The Parish Council will be linking up with the Keep Britain Tidy Great British Spring Clean for a village litter pick and clean up on Saturday 3rd March.

The event will be based in the Village Hall and will run from 10am to 12.30pm - so please mark the date and come along to lend a hand.

Previous clean-ups have proved successful in removing litter and debris from pavements and roads in the village. 

Some of the bags of litter collected in a previous spring clean up
waiting to be picked up by Tewkesbury Borough Council

 

Parish Council budget for 2018/19 set

At the Parish Council meeting on Monday 8th January, the Parish Council agreed a budget for 2018/19 which is just £21 higher than in 2017/18.

This year, however, the precept - the amount that comes from your Council Tax - will not be supplemented by a support grant as in previous years, so the amount allocated to the Parish Council from your total Council Tax bill will be 2.37% higher than last year - amounting to an extra 77p for the year for a band D property.

Don't miss the MADS Quiz Night

Maisemore Arts and Drama Society is holding a Quiz Night on Saturday 3rd March in Maisemore Village Hall.

The event starts at 7.30pm and the teams will be 4 or 6 people.  The cost is £2 per person and there will be a bar.

For more information phone 01452 411402 or email info@madsplay.com.

If you would like to display a poster, you can download it and print it from here.

Bus service from Maisemore to Gloucester to be reduced

The Parish Council has learned that the Swanbrook 351 bus services from Maisemore to Gloucester will be reduced after 4th February.

Until then, a temporary timetable is in force, including the bus that leaves Maisemore at 8.35am.

We have been in contact with both Swanbrook and Gloucestershire County Council about this.  The service is currently operating with two vehicles, one of which is operated directly by Swanbrook and the other under a contract with the County Council.  Swanbrook say that the number of passengers cannot cover the cost of operating the second vehicle and GCC are unable to extend the contract to cover it.

This means that the frequency of the 351 service is likely to be halved after 4th February - certainly out of Hartpury College term time - and the 8.35am bus from Maisemore will be one of the casualties.

This will have a very serious impact on some families in the village who depend on this bus to get to work.

GCC are investigating the possibility of extending the 'Parish Lift' scheme, and there should be some more information on this by next Monday, 8th Jan.

Brown bin service suspended

Tewkesbury Borough Council have said, "Due to the weather this week normal bin collections didn’t happen on Wednesday so the refuse collectors are a day behind meaning that garden waste collections have been suspended this week.

Side waste can be left in black bags next to your bin on the next collection but the bags must be open so that the refuse collectors can see inside."

TBC apologise for any inconvenience caused. 

When the service resumes, brown bin users will be able to use the service to recycle Christmas trees (just the real ones!).  Just put it out for collection on your scheduled garden waste collection day along with your green bin and TBC will collect it for you. They ask that, if it is larger than six foot, you cut it in half.

If you're not signed up to the brown bin service, you can recycle your real Christmas tree at the Hempsted amenity site, Over Farm Market or a number of garden centres in the area, listed here.

Agenda for Parish Council meeting on 8th January

The agenda for the next Maisemore Parish Council meeting has now been published and is on line here.

The meeting will be at 7.30pm on Monday 8th January in the committee room of Maisemore Village Hall.

Members of the public are welcome to attend and may take part in the public participation section.  They may not, however, speak during the rest of the meeting. 

Amongst the items on the agenda is a proposal to ask Tewkesbury Borough Council to re-draw the village boundary to take account of the recent approved developments at Rectory Farm and Bell House Farm. A map of the proposal is here.  

Councillors will consider whether they want the site marked 'A' on the plan included for possible self-build homes.  This was a housing allocation proposed in Tewkesbury's draft Local Plan.  The alternative proposal is to ask Tewkesbury Borough Council to redraw the boundary without site 'A', and a plan of this can be seen here.

Staunton & Corse Surgery Newsletter

The Staunton & Corse Surgery has published its winter newsletter.  You can read it here.

Amongst other topics, the Newsletter says: "Apparently some viruses can survive cold weather and actually seem to be preserved by low temperatures.  So with all these winter bugs around it’s no wonder that the pressures on the NHS are so much worse at this time of the year.

And as we all know, its no use seeing the Doctor for these types of infections.

We can help ourselves by taking simple measures to treat these common ailments, but also, did you know that you can access on line information regarding general health on ‘NHSChoices’ and get information from A to Z on various ailments."

 

Flood warnings

Tewkesbury Borough Council has passed on warnings of possible flooding that could affect the A417 and Maisemore.  Full details are here.

The highest water levels (based on Gloucester) are likely to be:

Day	Time
Tuesday 2nd Jan	21.45
Wednesday 3rd Jan	10.00 22.30
Thursday 4th Jan	10.45 23.30
Friday 5th Jan	11.30