Blog

Heyford Gardening Club – May 2019

Heyford-Gardening-Cluband-allotments

At our April meeting we expected to welcome the return of Patsy Rayner, but unfortunately due to a family illness she was unable to attend so Mike Langrish and Tom Dodd put together a presentation on the Community Orchard and the improvements that have been made (and are still being made) to Heyford’s allotments.

The evening also featured our annual tulip bench show. For once the weather has been good for us and there were plenty of entries with some impressive blooms on show.

The large flowered section was won by Pauline Guglielmi, John Dunkley came second and John Wilson came third.

The Small flowered section was won jointly by John Dunkley and Val Jackson, and Jill Langrish got third place.

Our next meeting will be on 13th May when someone from Branch Out MK will talk to us about “Helping People to Grow Through Gardening”.

April is the cruellest month…
At time of writing we’ve just experienced an odd week of weather. After the unseasonable warmth in February the last few days have featured nightly frosts and sunny periods with cold air. These sort of conditions can be very challenging for gardeners damaging fruit blossom and early flowers; it has even pinched shoots of ivy and box. If you like me are growing plants in an unheated greenhouse it is important to keep one eye on the weather all the time as failing to close the house up at night can risk losing tender plants to cold while not opening them during sunny spells can cause the temperature inside to soar to damaging levels despite the chilliness outside. Apparently next week will be much warmer; perhaps I will be able to start sowing the tender crops for the summer after all.

Some Things to do in May
1 Repot cacti, succulents and house plants.
2 Divide and replant spring flowering bulbs
3 Keep a watch for lily beetles and viburnum beetles

Mark Newstead

www.heyfordgardenclub.com

For more information visit the Heyford Gardening Club & Allotments page

Heyford-Gardening-Cluband-allotments

Village Signs – May 2019

Village Signs

This project has got off to a good start with volunteers and ideas coming forward. We have made a Facebook page where we are discussing ideas and the plants we think would be good to use.

The next stage will be putting these ideas into action.

If you are interested in joining us, please either speak to Jill Garratt or check in at our Facebook page:  Heyford Entry-preneurs  

 

Spring Clean – May 2019

Spring Clean 2019

Many thanks to everyone who took part in this years Spring Clean. Due to their efforts, an amazing total of 59 black sacks of litter were collected plus 2 sacks of cans for recycling.

Added to this were tyres, number plates, car parts, oil cans and even a carpet
which had been dumped into the ditches along the road to Upper Heyford.

The village is looking a lot cleaner and hopefully it will stay that way for the
foreseeable future.

 

Flower Society – May 2019

Bugbrooke and District Flower Society

We invite you to join us at our monthly meetings to relax and watch demonstrations by a fully qualified NAFAS Area or National Demonstrator. This is followed by refreshments and the opportunity to win one of the arrangements in our raffle. Learn how to arrange and enjoy flowers.

Meetings are held on the fourth Monday of the month at 7.45pm in Nether Heyford village hall.

We shall not have a meeting in May due to the Bank Holiday so our next meeting will be on 24th June when Roma Berridge will give a demonstration entitled “How Does Your Garden Grow”.

We are holding a Fashion Show by Rock Those Frocks from Towcester on 7th June in the Village Hall – everyone is most welcome.

For more information please follow us on Facebook or contact Dianne on 01604 830063 or Simone on 01327 342167.

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The Bugbrooke and District Flower Society meet every fourth Monday in the month in the Village Hall. Our meetings start at 7.45pm and usually take the form of a Demonstration when a qualified demonstrator will create several floral designs which are raffled at the end of the evening and lucky members take home the beautiful flowers.

Flower Society affiliated to the National Association of Flower Arrangement Societies (NAFAS) promoting Floral Art. www.nafas.org.uk

Nether Heyford W.I. – May 2019

WI-Logo

How quickly the months seem to fly by! It seems no time at all since I was writing the last Prattler article and telling you that Renee Watt was coming to show us how to do Country Dancing. The ladies of Nether Heyford W.I. who were able to attend our April meeting are still laughing as we remember ‘trying’ to do our heel–toes, chains and hand clapping whilst counting at the same time. As a Mother I had always thought I was pretty good at multi-tasking but I obviously got that wrong! Anyone passing the Village Hall would be forgiven for thinking that the W.I. had been drinking something more potent than our normal ‘cuppa’ but how good we all felt when we eventually sat down for the refreshments. Many of you will know how passionate I am about music and there is no doubt that laughter is the best tonic for friends to share. Combine the two with dancing and the end product is magic. I do hope that our two visitors felt the same.

May is the month for our members to go on an outing and this year we are visiting Rugby for a tour of the famous school. Just to remind you all that the bus will be leaving the village at 6 pm from the shop side of the green. Let’s hope the weather stays fine.

We are back in the Village Hall for our June meeting when Analiza Jones will be telling us about the making of hand woven bags from the Philippines.

Congratulations to all those who organised and carried out the Village Litter Pick. The W.I. ladies’ contribution was about 16 bags plus assorted car-parts!! It is great to see the roads into the village looking so clean and shows visitors that we do care about the lovely area we are lucky to live in. Who knows, perhaps it will make them think first before they drop their fast food wrappers on the way through?!!

Mary Rice – Heyford Lodge – 01327 340101

 

Heyford Singers – This is Music! – May 10th & May 11th

Heyford_Singers_April_2019

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If you would like to find out more, visit the Heyford Singers page or our website:

www.heyfordsingers.org

 alternatively come along to one of our rehearsals in Nether Heyford Village Hall.

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New PCSO Matt Taylor – May 2019

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I am your new PCSO and I am responsible for the Bugbrooke and Heyford Ward. I have been a PCSO for Northamptonshire Police for 10 years working both town and rural. More recently I worked on the Early Intervention pilot, a team of PCs and PCSOs who were working with young people and their families to offer support and break the cycle of crime. I am a former student of Campion School and originate from Duston so know the area reasonably well. I live on the other side of Northampton now with my wife and our daughter. Meanwhile if you see me about in either village please say hi. If you need to contact me please email me c7115@northants.pnn.police.uk bear in mind I work shifts so may not immediately respond.

If you wish to report an incident to the Police please call us on 101 or via the online
form at www.northants.police.uk, recommended for less urgent matters.

All emergencies should be phoned in on 999.

Matt Taylor (Police, Police Community Support Officer (C7115) Daventry &
South Northants)

Village Hall – News – May 2019

Village Hall News – aren’t we lucky?

We are so fortunate in Nether Heyford to have such a splendid village hall which is
comfortable, warm, safe, in good condition and adaptable at the heart of our
community. However, we’ve realised recently that, whilst the village hall is used
both regularly and occasionally by a wide range of groups, few people actually
know of its background or how it is managed and maintained.

It’s now almost 60 years since our village hall was built, mainly by volunteers –
since when it has been managed and maintained by volunteers. This is done by a
management committee composed of representatives of the groups who regularly
use the hall. As the hall is a registered charity, members are trustees – as is
normal. Some people feel a little hesitant about becoming a trustee but, as both
our financial and legal affairs are stringently managed and monitored, there is no
reason for anxiety. In addition, our vice-chair is also vice-chair of the Parish
Council and presents regular reports.

In addition to the user group representatives, our committee also includes a
chairman, vice-chair, treasurer and secretary – plus three ‘parishioners’ who,
whilst not directly benefiting from any regular activities, share our keenness to
keep the hall in good order for our community to enjoy. We are a lively and
proactive group who enjoy working together for what we see as a worthwhile
cause. We meet one evening a month, excluding August, and do our best to keep
our meetings fairly short, aiming to finish by 8:30 pm or 8:45 pm. It’s not obligatory
to attend every meeting – we do have other lives too. Some members also help to
organise our fundraising efforts to ensure that we have enough money to cover
essential repairs and renewals. We did the pantomime at Christmas which was
greatly enjoyed, and now we’re planning this year’s Village Hall Fete on 8th June.
Together, we gain both satisfaction and enjoyment from our teamwork.

We are supported by another group – the Friends of the Village Hall. These are
people from the village who don’t want to be involved in a regular commitment but
are happy to help out occasionally with jobs such as putting up and taking down
our Christmas decorations and helping to clear the surrounding grounds of weeds.
We hope that they will also be helping to set up and clear up on Fete day. These
are enjoyable occasions where refreshments – and chocolate biscuits – are freely
available. Anyone can be a ‘Friend’ so if you want to join, call me.

Finally, we are able to look forward to our next ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING on
THURSDAY 23rd MAY, 7.30 PM, at the VILLAGE HALL.

It would be a great encouragement to us all if our fellow-villagers could show their
appreciation and support by joining us – and maybe giving us some new ideas to
help make our hall even better. We hope that we may see you there.

Alywne Wilson
01327 340803

Nether Heyford Annual Meeting 2019 – SNC Report

Nether Heyford Annual Meeting 2019 – Phil Bignell SNC

A Great Place to Live
South Northants District continues to be ranked as one of the better places to live in the country. Unemployment is one of the lowest in the country although SNC runs a job club to help anyone get back into work. The waste and recycling record is one of which we remain proud and is the best in the County. We had a successful year as SNC, the Brackley Pool was opened, we had visit from HRH Prince Harry to Silverstone, we had a successful commemoration lunch to mark the 100th anniversary of the ending of WW1. We also held dinners to celebrate the sporting achievements of Mercedes Formula 1 team who won for the 5th successive year, and we celebrated the success of Brackley Town FC who won a fairy tale final at Wembley to bring on the FA Trophy. As we move forward with LGR we are holding regular Parish & Town Clerks Forums, with alternate Forums including PC Chairmen.

Local Government Reform (LGR)
The past year has been dominated by the events at NCC dealing with the fallout from it. As we began the new municipal year in 2018 NCC had just issued a Section 114 Notice, the local government equivalent of a bankruptcy notice. Max Caller had reported in his opinion Best Value was not being satisfied and that such was the mess at NCC it was not possible to recover this in a sensible time period and concluded that the best thing to do was to have two new unitary councils.
The unitary councils would abolish NCC and all the 7 districts and boroughs. He proposed that there should be one in the North encompassing Corby, Kettering, Wellingborough and East Northants and one in the West taking in Daventry, South Northants and Northampton Borough.

SNC Financial Highlights
Funding from Central Government is now limited to the Rural Services Delivery Grant. However, our growth in terms of homes and businesses allows us to continue to balance the books. SNC continue to be one of the best at collecting council tax with 99% of all tax collected. The national average is 98% and SNC remains the 16th best in the whole of England on collection rates. We are considerably higher than the other Authorities in Northamptonshire. The SNC part of the Council Tax bill was raised by 2.99% which is £5.55 a year for a Band D property, making total now £191.33 per year. The increase is in line with inflation. SNC only get to keep 11% of the total bill. Northants County take the biggest share at 71%, PCC 14% and the Fire Service 4%.

New Homes Bonus
Unlike many Councils SNC uses some of the New Homes Bonus it receives from new developments to invest in the local community. Local organisations can bid for grants to help them achieve their objectives. In 2018-19, almost £1.507m of grant funding was awarded to communities within South Northamptonshire across 167 projects to improve their environment and lifestyle. Over the lifetime of the New Homes Bonus Scheme over £3.3m has been re-invested in the Community.

Nether Heyford Bowls Club – relaying of concrete slabs – £4,000
Nether Heyford Parish Council – allotment equipment and shed – £2,586
Nether Heyford Tennis Club – court resurfacing £14,457

Planning
Local Plan part 2
After five lengthy years, South Northants completed the LPP2 and submitted it to
the Inspectorate ahead of schedule on the 22nd January 2019. Should issues be
raised by the Inspector requiring attention, they will once again be presented for public consultation and should this be the case, it is likely that the Plan will become ‘statute’ during the winter of 2019.
South Northamptonshire Land Supply
This Council has built up a good reserve of planning land in-hand. We have been
fortunate with growth for both dwellings and employment land in Brackley,
Silverstone, Deanshanger and Towcester. This has enabled us to build to 11.2
years of land supply. (The Governments guide is 5 years plus 20%).

Communities
Good Neighbour schemes are established by communities and run by local people to provide day to day support for other residents in their village and community, particularly those more isolated or older residents, who may need help on an occasional or regular basis.
South Northants Council Wellbeing Activity Map, developed by SNCs Community Services Team is now live on our website. You can search for activities near where you live by entering your postcode on the website. Lots of the activities are free of charge and none cost more than £5 per session. They include opportunities for sports, arts, learning and socialising.

Environmental Services Report
Waste & Recycling
We were the 7th best authority in England for recycling out of 345 areas and one
place higher than before. Of the waste we collect, 60.5% is recycled thanks to our residents taking care to make sure the right things go in the right bins – this is good for the environment and keeps costs down.
Our booking system for collecting bulky waste – such as kitchen appliances and
furniture – is now on line. This has seen an increase in the number of collections
made and has proved a great success with 97% of those who have used us happy
with the service. For £34 we will collect up to six items.

Supporting Local Business
This year, South Northamptonshire features in a national league table of local
authority areas as being in the top 40% places in the country. The ranking is a
measure of growth, innovation, social equality, health and happiness. Despite it
being a time of uncertainty, the District continues to be a good place to live, work, invest and grow.
Eighty-three per cent of the working age population is employed, and the District‘s workforce also has an above average level of education, with over ninety per cent qualified to NVQ1 and above. The District has historically experienced high levels of out commuting and low job density, which has impacted on the sustainability of urban and rural settlements. Despite low levels of official unemployment, demand is still high for the Job Club and Job Match Service, which has been running since 2009 and supported 477 people into work.

Conclusion
It has been a year of change and uncertainty and still a lot has to be resolved. I have enjoyed as always representing the village at District level and helping resolve any local issues that I could. Next year may well be the last for SNC but rest assured whatever follows will seek to serve the residents as well or better in the future.

Phil Bignell
Deputy Leader SNC