Charney Bassett Parish Council

Charney Bassett Church Fête

Saturday 4^th September, 1.00-4.00 pm

in the gardens of Charney Manor

Irish Dancing display, Wantage Silver Band, BBQ, cream teas, home baking, all sorts of stalls and games!

We’re going potty in Charney Bassett!  Look out for our flower-pot fun and games around the church and village.

We still need lots more volunteers please – for preparing and running stalls, for helping with setting up and clearing up, etc! 

Contact David Douglas on 868788.

If you have any items to donate for stalls or prizes, please would you take to the following people:

Books, CDs, DVDs – Lorraine Ashton, 868011, 8 Orchard Close;

Bottles for tombola – Stephanie Wright, 867418, 2 Barnfield;

Bric-a-brac – Jan Ganesh, 868868, Shilla Mill, New Rd;

Cakes – Anna Greenacre, 867141, Gratwick Barn, The Green;

Children’s toys & tombola – Tracy Burge, 868897, 24 New Rd;

Plants, preserves and produce – Mary Daglish, 868557, 1 Barnfield;

Sponsorship / advertising – Sue Wales, 868182, The Well House

Several people have asked about the telephone kiosk, and have made suggestions for things to do with it. The situation is that your Clerk and BT have signed a contract for transfer of ownership from BT to Charney Bassett Parish Council.  The next steps are as follows.  BT will come and remove the telephone.  They will bill the Parish Council for purchase of the kiosk (the princely sum of £1).  We pay.  They will then notify us that we own it.  Then, and only then, are we free to do with it as we choose

Stephen Cowlam

Clerk to the Parish Council.

CLET supports a range of educational projects, with grants awarded both to individuals under the age of 25 and to community groups in Charney Bassett and Lyford.

Applications will be considered by the Trustees who meet in January, May and September. For further details please contact the Clerk: Mrs Frances Rothwell, Oldwalls, Buckland Road, Charney Bassett, Tel: 868704, E-mail: fc.rothwell@tiscali.co.uk

 The next meeting of the CLET Trustees will be on Wednesday 1^st September 2010. Forms for applications to be considered at this meeting may be obtained from the Clerk and should be returned to her as soon as possible.

As some of you may have heard, I have been made the Minister for Culture, Communications and the Creative Industries.  This is a long title, possibly one of the longest in Government.  It also includes in effect two jobs.  One is to cover the arts, libraries, broadcasting and the creative industries over at the Department for Culture Media and Sport (known as DCMS).  The other is to cover broadband roll out, telecoms, and illegal file sharing over at the Department of Business (known as BIS). Phew.

As a local MP, it is interesting to consider how these responsibilities affect people in the constituency.  The first and most obvious is broadband rollout.  About ten per cent of all homes do not have broadband at all, and about one in 3 have very poor broadband, mainly in rural areas. There are some parts of the constituency that remain affected.  Our aim is to get everyone to have a basic broadband service by the end of 2012, and to roll out high speed broadband over the next few years. If you have any issues with broadband do let me  know.   I also cover what is known as illegal file sharing.  This is a hugely controversial new law which would allow internet companies to temporarily disconnect people if it could be proved that they have been copying music or films without proper authorisation.  This is something we have to act on, as every piece of music that is copied illegally takes money away from artists and creators, who provide a lot of money for the economy. We’re looking to introduce the new measures next year, but no one will be cut off (and then only temporarily) without plenty of warning and a chance to change their behaviour .       

 Another issue that is likely to be prominent is libraries, which I also cover.  Libraries are very important to local communities, but as money becomes tighter, they may suffer.  I will use my position to try and ensure that we can make responsible savings so that libraries continue to provide important services for local people – not just book borrowing, but also education and access to broadband and other local and national services.

One local issue has already cropped up which affects my ministerial responsibilities directly.  The local television transmitter burnt down, and cannot be replaced until September (they have to build a new one from scratch).  Many people have had their TV coverage affected and are understandably looking for a speedy solution and I am looking into this.                           

 I continue to focus on other local issues as normal.  I met with those campaigning against the reservoir, ahead of the public enquiry.  I am continuing to campaign for a new station at Grove. And I was delighted that the new Government threw out the housing targets which have led to plans for huge housing developments across the constituency.  It may not affect those where planning permission has already been granted but it could lead to a rethink where no decision has yet been made. 

Recent constituency engagements include a spot of metal detecting (I also cover archaeology!) and as a judge for Didcot’s Got Talent, a great night for pupils aged 6-11 to show off their talents.  I tried not to be too Simon Cowell-ish!

“Ups” and “Downs” of Charney Bassett

Topics often discussed by us village folk, all of whom are unanimous as to the privilege and unspeakable joy of residing in this rural spot are , on the …

Up note:- in not having street lamps, our nocturnal glimpse aloft is exceptionally free from light pollution. However as individual homeowners this could be improved further if our security lights were to be canted downwards and if we all ask the question “ Is it possible my lamps are not distressing any of my neighbours?”  

…..and on the

Down note:- not having a street cleaner, villagers will have noticed our gutters and pathways are not everywhere a pretty site. The suggestion is that we all take responsibility for the portion that fronts our own property, with a view to giving a hand to those whom age or infirmity prevents from doing this.

 I’m sure we would all like to extend our thanks to those who plant and maintain so well our roadside approach Flower Boxes …..well done all!         

Jim Harper

PLEASE NOTE – Waitrose (Wantage) have accepted our application to go into their monthly community scheme. It is most likely to be during July. Each time you shop at Waitrose, they give you a green token and you put it in one of three community project boxes. At the end of the month, Waitrose divide £1,000 between the three community causes based on the number of green tokens put in each box. The more tokens you put in the Charney Bassett Village Hall box, the bigger the slice of £1,000 we will receive!

So shop at Waitrose whenever you can !  Ed.

 As many will be aware, the hall has been back in use for some time now but there are still quite a few jobs that need to be done before we can call it “finished”. Some of these are for the builder, who has promised to do them before the end of the month (where have I heard that before?) and a number are for us to do – us being anyone who would like to show a bit of community spirit and help those who have already answered the call. Volunteer work so far has included tiling the kitchen, clearing all the ivy on the back fence, fitting a donated clock to the outside wall, taking down the stone wall that was more weeds than stone, fitting items such as paper towel dispensers, fire extinguishers, door stops, a lean-to shed on the side, refurbishing the metal gate, putting a drain in the gateway to stop a large puddle forming, fitting edging and concreting the entrance. Work still needing volunteers includes building a second lean-to shed, rebuilding the stone wall, spreading stone chippings and fitting fencing at the back to hide the ivy. On the inside, the committee are looking at curtains/blinds, racking in the storeroom, some new stackable chairs, some more tables and coat stands. The hall is more noisy than before and methods of deadening the sound will be investigated.

Other items planned include a bench and small table for the patio and a new village hall sign and noticeboard to go next to the new entrance. These items are being funded with the money donated to thank Peter Davies for all the work he did for the village.It is planned to hold an open evening, to which organisations that gave grants to the hall project will be invited, as well as villagers. The proposed date at the moment is the first or second Thursday evening in September. This could change but please make a note in your diary if you want to be there and the date will be confirmed nearer the time.

The finances for the whole project look good at the moment but please don’t forget the Waitrose community scheme. To quote one of their competitors – every little helps!

 Geoff Rumble

The Parish Council met in the village hall on 12 May for the first time in several months. There were twenty village electors present.  We are most grateful to the Church Wardens for allowing the Council to meet in the church while the project to extend and refurbish the village hall has been taking place.   This is now (nearly) complete, save for some small jobs which still need to be done.  Volunteers will be welcome, and for those who have not yet volunteered but still wish to do so, please contact the Chairman, Geoff Rumble (868738).

 We held the Annual Meeting of the Parish Council. This is the Council’s most important meeting of the year where we elect and appoint office bearers for the forthcoming year, and approve the previous year’s accounts before sending them to the external auditors.  Geoff Rumble was re-elected as Chairman, and Mike Cox was re-elected as Vice-Chairman.  New appointments are Doug Hughes who joins the CHAFT committee as one of two Parish Council representatives, and Mike Cox who joins NAG.  Other responsibilities are as described in earlier reports.   The year-end accounts were approved.

 The Annual Parish Meeting followed immediately after the Parish Council Meeting.  The Chairman gave his annual report, which can be read in full in the May edition of Charney Chatter and on the Village Website.  County Councillor Melinda Tilley briefed us on the new contractor for repairing the county’s roads and also on the new refuse collection arrangements that are to be introduced in the autumn.  It was this issue that caused most concern to residents, and we look forward to finding out more about this in briefings that VWHDC are to give shortly.

Finally, Jim Harper led a vote of thanks for the work carried out by Geoff and Julie Rumble in seeing the village hall project to its completion, and to Elisabeth and Jash Dahele who had been the prime movers in fund raising and in progressing the project until they left the village.  John Daglish took photographs of the occasion, and Geoff Rumble thanked all present for their good wishes.

Stephen Cowlam

Clerk to the Parish Council

May 2010.

STOP PRESS 

The latest meeting of the Parish Council was held in the Village Hall on 14th July.

Draft Minutes can be seen on http://charneybassettpc.org.uk/?page_id=7