Silverdale Parish Council

Newsletter 01.08.03

Parish Lengthswoman

We have now reached agreement to join the Parish Lengthsman Scheme, organised by Lancashire County Council, and covering Warton, Yealand Conyers, Yealand Redmayne, and now Silverdale. Actually the person appointed is Emma, hence the title of “Parish Lengthswoman”. She will be meeting Members of this Council, on September 1st,, and will start work on September 29th. Emma will be working in Silverdale for an average of 8 hours per week, so we should see quite an improvement in the ‘maintenance’ of our village.

Maintenance of Public Seats

Philip Hargreaves is well under way with renovation of the public seats owned by the Parish Council. Actually, we thought there were 22 seats around the Parish, but now we find that we have 35, so this is a bigger job than we had expected. We will, of course, pay Philip somewhat more than was originally agreed, but Members are grateful to him for charging us a very modest fee. We are also very grateful to him for repairing the safety barrier at Woodwell, once again for a modest fee. There have been some complementary comments about his workmanship, so it is good to have him working for the community.

Community Police Officer

We have been very sorry to have to say goodbye to PC Ged Daley, who has served us so well, as our Community Police Officer. We have to accept that you cannot hold a good man back from promotion, so we wish him well in his new appointment. We understand that Ged’s replacement, PC Roger Brooksbank, comes to us with a good reputation for dedication to duty, but, at time of writing this newsletter we have yet to meet him.

Parish Plan

The second draft of the Plan is now in circulation and there will be a meeting of representatives of the various Action Groups, to determine the final version, on September 4th. Shortly after this, the Plan will go to the printers.

Our Children’s Playground is due for a safety inspection (by RoSPA) this month, so the inspection report will no doubt re-focus our thoughts on the work which needs to be done here. We are particularly glad that one of our Actions Groups, Action for Silverdale Kids (ASK), is making good progress in designing a replacement amenity for the existing playground. It will, of course, entail raising a lot of money, but your Parish Council is keen to work in co-operation with ASK, to provide an excellent facility for our children.

“Quality Parish” Council

Your Council has now formally decided that we will work towards the award of “Quality Parish” status. This is intended initially to enhance the standing of our Parish Plan, which would then have a status equivalent to Supplementary Planning Guidance. In other words, Principal Authorities would have to take notice of what the residents of Silverdale have said in compiling the Plan.

Two of our Members attended a meeting of the Lancashire Association of Parish and Town Councils, at which the other advantages of achieving “Quality” status were explained. They have reported back that there are likely to be distinct advantages, as and when Regional Government comes into effect. They were also pleased to note that Silverdale Parish Council was used as an example of a Council which has already established excellent means of disseminating information, in a manner which is in keeping with the appropriate recommendations for “Quality” status. This web site was particularly mentioned.

Your Councillors

If you feel the need, or desire, to contact any of our Councillors, please feel free to telephone any of them. Their names and telephone numbers (all preceded by 01524) are:

Chairman John Eden 701678
Vice Chairman Peter Roberts 702315
 John Burrow 702784
 Bernard Fryer 701734
 Arthur Graves 701284
 June Greenwell 701610
 Ralph Henderson 761594
 Tony Houghton 701416