From

More than 40 parishioners attended the annual parish meeting held in the Athenaeum under the chairman-ship of Coun Peter Johnson, who gave a report on the year’s activities of the parish council, and welcomed the fact that the number of parishioners attending parish council monthly meetings was generally increasing.

The chairman reported on the new roadway markings on Princes Way and said the parish council felt the white hatching at the north end was unnecessary and liable to be a danger to motorists. Cumbria County Council Highways Department will reconsider the effectiveness of the markings in a year’s time.

Leasgill Quarry Fund chairman said the value now stands at £114,615 and he gave details of grants amounting to £4,500 made from the fund during the year. The successful completion of the village’s Millennium project was mentioned and the children’s playground was now in need of improvements.

Les Askew, chairman of the Athenaeum Committee, spoke about the problem of excessive noise at certain Athenaeum events. Mr Askew said that this problem had been tackled by the installation of an ‘electric orange’ — a device which automatically cuts off the power supply to amplifiers in the event of the noise level exceeding an agreed decibel level. There was also a report from Coun Brenda Woof, member of SLDC. This dealt with problems of refuse collection, car parking charges, council housing and dog fouling of roadside verges. It was suggested that a letter from the parish council be circulated requesting dog owners to take more responsibility and clean up after their animals.

Carl Smith reported on progress made by the P1ayground Working Group and improvements made or still needed, and the problem of raising funds to pay for these. One event already arranged will be a car boot sale on April 29 at Dallam School, Heversham site. Drawings were exhibited showing how the playground may be redeveloped and there was also a selection of drawings made by primary school children showing their ideas of what they would like.

The chairman asked for ideas for celebrating the Queen’s Jubilee and various suggestions were put forward. The parish council will also send out a circular in the parish requesting other ideas to mark the event. During an open forum the question of speed limits, particularly in Woodhouse Lane and Haverflatts Lane, created much discussion and limits of 20mph were suggested, but not fully supported on account of the difficulty of enforcing such limits, mainly through the lack of sufficient police.

This led to a discussion on policing generally and the lack of any visible presence in the parish. Finally, Malcolm Davison spoke from the floor about the possibility of creating a parish orchard which could be an open area for community events. Such an orchard would be a means of preserving older varieties of fruit trees.

The snooker club entertained Milnthorpe in a return friendly match but once again were comprehensively beaten by five games to one. The indoor bowling club played a match against a visiting team from Burton. The outcome was a win for Heversbam by five games to four.

Your Correspondent
Malcolm Sisson
Tel: 015395-63100

© Copyright is reserved to the Westmorland Gazette and Malcolm Sisson.