CHISELDON PARISH COUNCIL REPORT
Points of interest from August 2023
The Old Chapel, Butts Road, Chiseldon SN4 0NW
Facebook page – Chiseldon Parish Council Notices
email: clerk@chiseldon-pc.gov.uk; telephone: 01793 740744
Free Summer youth club! Update.
We are half way through our sessions and they have been a massive success. We have loaded photos onto our FB page and website showing everyone having fun. We can hopefully book further sessions now for Christmas and Easter 2024 holidays.
Please spread the word. The council has signed up with BEST www.bestrust.co.uk to provide some free youth sessions once a week over the school holidays over at the Rec ground and hall.
These are on a Thursday from 10.30 to 12.30. Entrance is completely free but does need to be booked in advance. The sessions are for children of the parish only.
You can visit www.eventbright.co.uk and type in Chiseldon in the search bar to find the sessions to book.
The funding for these sessions has come from the council’s 2023/24 budget allocation for youth provision and we hope to be able to fund some sessions for other holiday periods if these are successful.
Planters
Our thanks to our newest volunteer who has been planting up some of the planters around the parish. The council bought a mixture of annuals and perennials this time for all year interest.
If you are passing a planter that looks a bit dry, please feel free to take some water with you to water them.
SBC rolling out food waste collections in Autumn.
All Swindon Borough homes will be receiving their food waste caddy over the next few months, ready to start the scheme for food waste to be collected. There is more information on www.swindon.gov.uk by searching for “food waste” in the search bar. The full SBC article is on the Community Facebook page for Chiseldon and on our website.
Current Projects in progress/under investigation/for consideration. Update from July edition.
Road re-surfacing at New Road – A holistic whole village approach will be considered by SBC Highways – more to follow. The road has recently had some tests carried out on it. Still waiting for confirmation of further action by SBC. Scheduled by SBC for school summer holiday – no exact date known. Complete at roundabout section. Awaiting further information on other sections.
Hodson Road re-surfacing is scheduled shortly. 1st July currently advised as the start date. The road will be closed and diversions in place. Delayed from 3rd and 4th July to 13th and 14th July. Work completed by SBC.
Removal of Build Out on New Road – This item is part of the considerations above. No update
We continue to ask our Ward Cllrs for updates on these road issues.
Hedge cutting work at the New Road allotments – quotes being obtained. Quote approved, work to go ahead during February. Delay due to unforeseen circumstances, being re-visited in March meeting. New quotes approved – work to be carried out end of April. Due to nesting birds this item has been deferred to Autumn.
The council has also approved hedge cutting on a section of hedge on New Road near the roundabout. Work completed.
20mph zones and dropped kerbs/safer crossing
The council is currently creating 2 lists of proposals to work with our Ward Cllrs on areas to be considered as 20mph zones, plus areas that need dropped kerbs creating/improving, or safer road crossings created. This is at the early stages of the 2 projects and we will provide updates as we have them.
Layby works for Draycot Foliat and Windmill Piece. UPDATE
The council voted on a contractor to take over the work, subject to successful references and insurance provision. Once we have verified this information we will ask the contractor to start the project and update residents as required.
Due to an issue with the contractor, the Parish Council are having to go out to tender again to start the process of getting approval to create 2 new layby parking areas.
We will look to approve the tender process in March’s planning meeting and hopefully approve a contractor in April or May.
The tender was approved at the March meeting and are now published and we invite tenders.
2024 grass cutting and hedge cutting work out for tender.
The parish council is looking to review our contract for grass and hedge cutting that it has responsibility for within the parish. We are inviting quotes for consideration. This is a large scale job. Please contact the Clerk for more details.
Subscribe to the Parish Council’s newsletter:
To receive regular updates on Parish news, go to our website www.chiseldon-pc.gov.uk and go to the “Subscribe” option at the foot of every page.
Enter your email and receive weekly updates from us direct to your in-box.
Alternatively email the Parish Clerk who can set up your submission for you.
Speed Watch Volunteers – a message from the team.
Vacancies for Chiseldon
We are looking for Volunteers aged over 17 to join the team to help deal with the local issues of speeding. The Community Speedwatch is co-ordinated by Wiltshire Police, if you are interested or would like more information, please contact the Chiseldon Parish Clerk (Clair Wilkinson) who will pass your details to the local co-ordinator.
More information can be via the Wiltshire Police website www.wiltshire.police.uk and searching for “Community Speedwatch”.
Memory Café next date
The popular memory café is next running Friday 1st September 2023 10.30am at the Church Hall off Butts Road. The café was created for anyone who wants some company and a chat over a cup of tea or coffee. Also for carers who look after anyone with Dementia or Alzheimer’s to come along with their loved ones. There is singing and dancing, all very informal and fun. There is no charge to attend.
Recreation Hall, Recreation field and Chapel hire:
The Rec hall off Norris Close, the Rec field in the same location and the Parish Council Chapel offices are all available for hire for events, meetings or parties.
Please contact the Clerk on the details above who can advise of charges, availability and what space would suit your needs.
The council also has 2 marques that can be hired for £100 per 24 hr period per marque. Contact the Clerk for more details.
Defibrillators – a reminder
A reminder that the Parish has 4 defibrillators – one outside Cameo Hairdressers on High Street, one outside the Pavilion on the Recreation Field, one outside the Calley Memorial Hall on Draycott Road and one in the BT Box in Badbury. All units are accessed by calling 999 to gain the code for the box. You cannot use these defibrillators on someone who doesn’t need it as the machine will not work. It also provides audible instructions on how to use them.
There is also a defibrillator on the outside wall of the school in Ogbourne St George.
CURRENTLY OPEN – From 1st April 2023 – Parish Council Grants and Donations fund & Calley Memorial Hall fund
The Parish Council have an annual fund that we can donate to worthy causes within the Parish. If you are a group, charity or society that believe you could benefit from this fund then please contact the Parish Clerk for further details.
The trustees of the Calley Memorial Hall fund are also able to approve grants and donations to worthy causes within the Parish. (This doesn’t have to be connected to users of the Memorial Hall). Please contact the Parish Clerk in the first instance who can provide you with an application form.
(It should be noted that this fund is not connected to the Parish Council)
Next Parish council meeting
The next Full Council meeting of the Parish Council will be Monday 11th September 2023. This will start at 7.30pm at the Rec Hall off Norris Close. There is a public recess at the start of proceedings, after which residents can choose to leave the session. Meeting locations may change so please verify the location before making a journey. Our committee meetings will now meet in the Chapel Office on Butts Road.