Charney Bassett Parish Council

Dates for your diaries  in 2010:-

  June 12th. Lunchtime Meal on the Green

  September 4th. Church Fete       

  October. Harvest Supper (date to be  announced)

Table Tennis

Interested in playing table tennis in the Village Hall? Sessions will recommence as soon as the Village Hall re-opens: Contact Dave Sibbert on 868734 for more details

7 teams came together in the Chequers Pub to contend the annual crown of CHAFT Quiz Champions.  A ding-dong battle raged as teams tried to predict their strengths to play a score-doubling Joker; Team ‘It’s Only A Game And That’s Why We Are Here’ pulling off a record 40 points coup here on Food and Drink, or exercising a Vulture to discard a round believed to be particularly weak – ‘Les Quizerables’ scoring a bit of an own-goal at this point by ditching what turned out to be the best score achieved by any team in the Name That Dog round! 

 We were sustained throughout the evening by a combination of Husnu’s hot brain snacks and teams’ ingeniously awful joke answers when stuck in a hole. In the end ‘Les Quizerables’ romped home with 177 points, ahead of the ‘Chocaholics Unanonymous’  who narrowly snatched second place (158.5 points) from ‘It’s Only A Game And That’s Why We Are Here’ (on 154) and ‘The Wiseacres’ (on 144). ‘The Barnfield Stormers’ did not quite sustain their storming start, and ‘The Odds & Sods’ and ‘The Lobster Pots’ brought up the rear, the latter claiming the wooden spoons. 

 A total of £146 was raised for CHAFT funds. Many thanks to everyone for supporting this event.

 Also thanks to Lucy and Paul for organising an enjoyable evening.(Ed.)

 Did someone mention ‘Call My Bluff’ for a future event?

Several villagers have remarked to me recently that they have been the recipients of acts of generosity by a visiting dog or dogs. The number of generous dogs must be quite small, as most dog owners prevent their dogs from making unescorted visits to their neighbours. What a surprise to find one of these gifts as you encounter it unexpectedly in the garden. Some people have received more than one gift; they hardly  know what to do. To save the blushes and embarrassment of both donors and recipients, this ought to stop. If the problem persists, villagers can complain to the Vale of White Horse District Council on 01235 520202, who will take action.

Stephen Cowlam,

Clerk to the Parish Council.

Loft and cavity wall insulation is a cost-effective way of reducing heating bills.  The cost of loft and cavity wall insulation is subsidised by the energy utility companies and in addition to this the Vale of White Horse District Council offers a grant of up to £100 to further reduce the cost.  Those who are over the age of 70 or who are in receipt of certain benefits may be entitled to free loft insulation (restrictions apply). I am looking for opportunities to raise awareness of this offer amongst Vale of White Horse residents.  I have attached a copy of an article which could be used in a Parish Council newsletter.  Please could I ask you to consider placing one of these articles in the next edition of your Parish Council newsletter?  I have also attached a copy of a leaflet which could be displayed in local shops, GP surgeries, libraries etc.  Please let me know if you would like me to send copies of these leaflets to you. The Council works in conjunction with an insulation discount scheme Cocoon.  Cocoon compare a number of insulation installers to find the best price for customers.  Cocoon provide customers with a free and no obligation survey and the prices quoted by Cocoon include both the discount from the energy utility companies and the grant from the Council.  For more information about Cocoon please visit

 http://www.cocoonyourhome.co.uk/.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you would like to discuss this in more detail.

Cynthia Sullivan

Energy Officer

Corporate Strategy

Vale of White Horse District Council

Tel 01235 540 363

Email

cynthia.sullivan@whitehorsedc.gov.uk

Visit us at www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk 

Will resume in the recently extended Village Hall on Tuesday 4th. May.

50p. buys you as much tea or coffee as you can drink — with biscuits too.  Everyone welcome

Sessions will continue on Tuesdays until and including Tuesday June 29th.

It is a little difficult to write a definitive report on the village hall project at the moment because I am expecting the hall to be finished and handed back before this edition of Charney Chatter arrives in your letterbox but I don’t want to tempt fate!

As I write this, the plan is for building and decorating work to be finished and the vinyl flooring to be laid by the end of the fourth week in April. All the chairs, tables etc will need to be moved back before May Day and in time for Coffee Hour on Tuesday 4^th May and Voting for the General Election on Thursday 6^th May.

After this, regular users who have been relegated to Denchworth Hall or elsewhere will hopefully decide to return and make use of the clean, new, enlarged facility.

 There will be many items that were not in our contract with the builders and will need volunteers to help complete the project. These include tiling the kitchen and around hand basins in the toilets, putting up fittings such as toilet roll holders, putting back pinboarding around some of the walls, fitting lampshades and many other items. Decisions will also be needed on what tiles, toilet roll holders, lampshades, etc …. So the completion of the project will take a while yet and will depend on support from villagers and a review of available finances after all the bills have been paid. However, the hall will be available and ready to use very shortly and I hope everyone will think it was worth the effort and cost.

 Don’t forget the CHAFT AGM, which follows the Annual Parish Meeting on Wednesday 12^th May when you can come along and volunteer to help!

 Geoff Rumble

Charney Rangers have taken second place in the Oxford Mail Boys League
U-12’s Division D, and have gained promotion to Division C in their first
season since officially forming in mid-2009, just prior to the 2009/2010
season.

This is quite an achievement for a team that started the season with a squad
of just 12 players, only to lose two members for family reasons mid-way
through the competition. This saw the boys dig deep within their reserves of
strength and courage during that part of the season that is associated with
cold wind, rain and mud, which resulted in an unbeaten run when fielding
only 10 players. That said, two new players joined the Rangers after the
Christmas break and their impact helped the team take six victories from the
last seven matches which has lead them to  runners-up and deserved
promotion.

The Oxford Mail Boys League season has now ended, however Charney Rangers
are playing a series of Friendly matches during May and are entering
Tournaments during May, June and July, after which they will take a Summer
break until resumption of training for the new 2010/2011 season on 4th
August 2010.

Please note Friendly and Tournament Fixtures listed below -

Sunday  2nd May 2010  -  Crowmarsh B  (AWAY)
Sunday  9th May 2010  -  Oxford City Colts  (HOME)
Sunday 16th May 2010  -  Steventon  (AWAY)
Sunday 23rd May 2010  -  AFC Henley  (AWAY)

Sunday 30th May 2010  -  Tournament at Cholsey Bluebirds FC
Sunday 20th June 2010 -  Tournament at Didcot Town FC
Sunday  4th July 2010 -  Tournament at Grove 6’s

JULY 5th 2010 – End of CRFC first season.

Please note, any boys interested in joining CRFC please contact Bernie
Townsend, (Chairman), on 01235 868181/07717 599927 or Daniel Kitchen,
(Manager), on 07823 446757.

Regards

Bernie Townsend
Charney Rangers FC

The results of the draw held in Buckland Village Hall on Wed 21 April are as follows:-  

		Number		Prize
	1st prize	96	Kay Adamson	£25.00
	2nd prize	86	Brenda Ewins	£10.00

  Regards   David

 

This report covers the period from 1^st April 2009 to 31^st March 2010. It is a summary of the activities of your Parish Council over this period, the decisions made on your behalf and the way some of your money from the Council Tax was spent in maintaining the environment in which you live.

The Council meets bi-monthly on the second Wednesday of the odd-numbered months at 7.30 p.m. Meetings are normally held in the Village Hall but the meetings in September, November, January and March were held in the Church while the Village Hall modernisation project was carried out. There were five councillors during the period of the report. John Stiles resigned from the Council at the May meeting in 2009 and Doug Hughes was co-opted to replace John at the July meeting. All councillors either attended all six meetings of the Council or made acceptable apologies for absence. Average attendance of councillors was four and average public attendance was five.

Council expenditure comes from a precept on the Vale of White Horse District Council (VWHDC), which derives its income from Council Tax. In the period under review the precept was £3,200, which represents a tax of less than £25 per year on a Band D property. Grants and loans added nearly £96,000 to the Council’s income. The main item of expenditure has been the Village Hall Project and in the period covered by this report the expenditure on this item was nearly £84,000. Other specific items of expenditure were grass cutting (£1168.46), insurance (£426.47) and donations to charities and organisations that have a direct link to the village (£239). Council administration accounted for £1,284 and included tree surgery (£300), Charney Chatter printing (£112.50) and Clerk’s expenses and honorarium (£600).

Your Council are not a planning authority but are invited to comment on planning applications by VWHDC. No objections were raised by your Council on any planning applications made in the period under review but your Council noted that an application that was supported by them was turned down by VWHDC, was granted on appeal but was subsequently challenged unsuccessfully in the High Court by VWHDC at a cost of £16,824.50.

Project Chaffinch (CHallenge: Avoid Further Flooding IN CHarney) has continued work, through the efforts of the Charney Army, with clearing fallen trees and brambles in Charney Wick Ditch and an application to VWHDC for grant aid proved successful in December. This money (£2,346) will be available for specified work in 2010/11.

The Charney Army provided help when your Council employed tree surgeons to remove a number of trees and branches along the bridle path, which were threatening adjacent properties. There are a number of large white poplar trees at the village end of the bridle path and some further work is being considered.

The Village College has been formally recognised as coming under the umbrella of the Parish Council (as is the case with the Charney Army) and therefore covered by the public liability insurance policy of the Council. The Village College has continued classes at Denchworth Village Hall while our own hall has undergone modernisation. It is now hoped that our hall will provide much improved facilities and allow the College to develop in the future.

It was with great sadness that the Council accepted the resignation of Peter Davies as Clerk in December 2009. Peter was Clerk for fifteen years and introduced many improvements in the operation of the Council, which led to the designation of “Quality Council” in 2008. We are pleased to welcome Dr Stephen Cowlam, who agreed to take on the role of Clerk and was able to carry out a short handover period before Peter became too ill to carry on. We also welcome John Wright who has taken over the running of the Council sponsored website and John Daglish who has taken on the editing of Charney Chatter and arranging the Charney Army sessions, which are normally held on the second and last Thursday of each month. Charney Chatter is distributed to every house in the village every two months and is also available on the website.

Your Council were asked if they wished to nominate recipients for an “Unsung Heroes of the Vale” award, which was organised and sponsored by VWHDC. We are pleased to note that John and Mary Daglish were presented with award certificates at a luncheon on 6^th March and Eunice Davies has received a posthumous award certificate for Peter.

A collection was organised by your Council to present Peter with a bench in recognition of his considerable village community work and this has been installed on the playing field. Donations to the collection were most generous and a large sum of money still remains, which will be used to purchase other village facilities in accordance with Peter’s wishes.

Geoff Rumble