Liddington

It was good to return to meetings in the Village Hall after so many months of Zoom. To improve Accessibility to our meetings they now begin in the main hall and only move upstairs after the public session so that the stairs do not dissuade attendance. Remaining in the main hall for the duration of the meeting is not feasible due to it being hired out to other users from 7.30pm.

I would like to welcome Cllr.Barbara Aftelak who joined the Parish Council last summer. Barbara’s enthusiasm and willingness to get involved in community life is a great asset to Liddington. The Parish council still has been unable to fill a vacancy that has left us one short for over a year.

Village Appearance.
I would like to thank Adams and Watt for the continued excellence of their work in grass cutting and general maintenance around the village. Richard Adams has always been very accommodating at fitting in extra bits and pieces of maintenance as they arise. Thank you.

Planning.
After a long and expensive battle, The Science Park development was not given the go- ahead.

Many people campaigned against this locally, not least Ward Councillor Gary Sumner and our own Cllr.Gordon Wilson. Thank you both for your hard work.

The Allotments.
Adrian Moore’s parting contribution to the Parish Council, after many years’ service, was to engage with The Diocese in procuring the Leasing of the Allotments for a period of fifteen years by the Parish Council from the Diocese. It required patience and dogged persistence. At
last, we have the Lease. Thank you, Adrian. Cllr. Lauren Hyatt has spearheaded the clean-up and regeneration of the site itself with help from John Kent and new residents, Karen and Andy Scuse who have kindly offered to keep tidy the east end which had become very overgrown. Thank you all. Plots can now be rented. Please contact the Parish Clerk, Laura Evans, for details.

Bus Stop , Purley Road.
For as many years as I can remember John Kent has maintained a beautiful flower bed by the bus stop. Its colour gives many people a warm sense of quiet pleasure. Thank you, John.

Defibrillators.
The second Defibrillator is now installed in the disused telephone box next to the old Post Office

in The Street. Thanks to Geoff Hales and Lauren Hyatt for helping repaint the kiosk. There is to be a Defibrillator Training session held in the Hall here on Wednesday, May 18th at 6pm. to remind us when and how to use a defibrillator in case of an emergency.

Road Safety.
This continues to be the biggest concern brought to the attention of the Parish Council. Twice in the past year our postman has knocked at my door, ashen faced, to report that main road speeding cars have only narrowly missed him as he delivered post. One of my colleagues reported that her small children and herself had a similar experience by the main Road.
Although the main road is the responsibility of SBC, Ward Councillor Gary Sumner said that while he agreed that speeding was a concern, there was nothing the SBC could do as enforcement is solely a police matter.

But there are of course other ways in which SBC could help with speeding traffic. It could have moved a speed monitor (whose malfunction was pointed out to it by us eighteen months ago). SBC’s response was dilatory: a whole year lapsed before granting us permission to move it at our own expense. It could have pushed forward with moving the pedestrian crossing point fifty yards down the hill to improve the visibility between pedestrians and car drivers. It could have put a bicycle lane on the main road from Medbourne Lane westwards to give the impression of the road narrowing and thus encouraging braking. It could have introduced a continuous 30 mph restriction between Badbury and Liddington. Apparently, this last proposal has made it onto the Long List. Perhaps the other ideas proposed over two years ago either did not make the cut to remain on this list or were never listed in the first place. The usual cry is it cannot be afforded. And yet SBC is now proposing very expensive residential 20MPH zones. How will they be enforced? Has the SBC conferred with the Police about this?

As far as enforcement is concerned, the Police emailed us to say that as approaching motorists could spot a parked defibrillator yellow police car a mile off, they had usually slowed down so could not be nabbed. Added to which, the officer wrote that Purley Road was not a high priority road for enforcement as the road did not have high reports of KSI ( killed , seriously injured). SBC appears to sympathise with this assessment in fact if not in spirit. So much for your Parish Council’s advocacy of a preventative approach to pedestrian safety. Must Liddington await KSI status before preventative measures are implemented by SBC?
I fear we will not get much help from either of the institutions with the power to help.

The only measure, apart from Community Speed Watch which does not have the sharpest of teeth, that The Parish Council can initiate is to install a third Speed Monitor so that we have one each end of the village and one that can be moved around in the middle of Purley road and in Medbourne Lane. This we will do.My thanks to Cllrs. Wilson, Hyatt and Bunney for cleaning the malfunctioning Speed Monitor and for attempting into relocate it .

Joel Joffe Memorial.
Lady Joffe came down from Bristol in the summer to unveil the Memorial to Joel Joffe. This Memorial was beautifully designed and executed by Ruth Moore. Around sixty people attended the unveiling and listened to Vanetta’s moving words. The Memorial is a reminder of the wide scope of Joel’s contributions and no small insight into important aspects of history. Thank you to all who helped make the event so celebratory, especially our CinC, Ruth.

Footpaths.
The second strand to remembering Joel was to name the existing public footpath, that runs from the intersection of The Street and the lane to the Manor alongside the stream to Bell Lane, Joel Joffe Way. New sign posting was required as the one at The Street end had mysteriously disappeared. It is, of course, the responsibility of the Parish Council to mark clearly the beginning and end of public Rights of Way, so that there can be no misunderstanding as to where we may walk or indeed run. Consequently, the Houdini sign has been replaced, on public land, with one of the two Joel Joffe Way Signs (the other being by Bell Lane).

Liddington Hill Trees.
I wrote a short piece in The Lyden a few months ago about the danger of ill-considered and over use of this area becoming a threat to the beauty that draws people there in the first place. We are presently applying for a grant to assist making some improvements to repair the damage and encourage more sensitive usage. Thank you to those who responded by offering to help clear up the mess. We have been advised to pause this until the grant is secured.

Hillfort Millennial Viewing Platform.
Due to collapse this is fenced off and needs extensive repair. We are applying for a grant to help fund this.

Communications.
There are a number of ways in which The Parish Council tries to keep you in the picture. Minutes and Agendas of the monthly meetings are posted on the noticeboard against the Old Post Office wall and on the website. Additional information from meetings appears in The Lyden Magazine, on the noticeboard and on the website. The Parish Council encourages you to use the website and indeed contribute to it yourselves. Thank you, Cllr Sarah Hill, for all the work you have put in to making it a really useful source of news about Liddington and its Parish Council. We try to notify the Liddington Support Group’s chat forum and the website of any important items that arise between meetings. Do not forget there is a slot at every meeting for contributions from residents. And of course, the Parish Clerk can be contacted if you have any concerns or inspirational ideas. Laura Evans has been Clerk for a year now. My thanks to her for all her hard work. She is always cheerful and makes light of the tasks we pass her way.

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Village Clean-up days and Jubilee Gardens.
Thank you to those who have helped maintain Jubilee Gardens which in a sense lies at the entrance to the village, and thanks to the dozen or so who have helped with clean-up days.

The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Celebration.
Hats off to everyone especially Mandy Klapish and John Mathieson for organising next month’s Event on The Liddington Playing Field. The Parish Council has offered to support the celebration as and how it might be useful so to do. I very much look forward to the day.

Finally, may I thank all my colleagues on the Parish Council for their ongoing contributions to the community.

David Lomax.

News on defibrillator training, proposed new speed limit, allotments and more

Community Heartbeat Trust will be holding a training session for all who wish to know about how to use the defibrillators which we have installed at the old telephone box, and at the village hall

The training will be held at the village hall at 6PM on May 18th. Everyone is welcome.

PRECEPT FOR 2022/23

At the January meeting it was unanimously agreed that the Precept would need to be increased by 4 % for 2022/23 to maintain the level of service that has been achieved since the transfer of services from Swindon Borough Council in 2017. Our aim has been to carry out works and maintenance where it is most needed, and we hope you have seen an improvement.  This increase will mean that the annual precept for a Band D property will be £66.95, a rise of £2.58 per annum.   The Parish Council will continue to make every effort to ensure that the precept is no higher than is necessary and remains prudent and self-sustaining.

LIDDINGTON HILL TREE CLUMP

The landmark clump go trees on Liddington Hill is becoming a victim of its popularity. 

It can be seen from miles around, and once it reappears on a homeward journey many have that warm sense of safe arrival. The views it affords, and its natural sense of sanctity have made it a destination for those bidding farewell to departed loved ones through the scattering of ashes and varied memorial markings. Others use it as a picnic venue. The consequence is that discarded plastic and general rubbish have accumulated, and more alarmingly, damage to the famous trees has occurred. Insensitive use is compromising its future as a place of beauty and contemplation.

The site is of course on private land, but while the landowner is not seeking to fence it off, both The Liddington Parish Council and the landowner are keen to find ways to halt its deterioration.

I would be grateful for volunteers to join me having a clean-up session for a couple of hours one weekend soon, and to join in brainstorming ideas to encourage the visiting public to treat this special landmark with the respect and sensitivity it deserves. Let’s tread lightly to cherish the Liddington Hill Trees.

Please contact David Lomax on 07931 895044 if you can help.

DEFIBRILLATOR TRAINING- LAST CALL

Liddington & Wanborough Parish Council would like to hold a joint defibrillator training session for residents in Liddington and Wanborough Parish, prior to booking we would like to know who would like to attend, with a date to be confirmed once we know how many would come. So if you are interested in attending a training session please e-mail the Clerk at parishclerk@liddington.org

So far four residents have shown an interest in attending the training session.

CARDIAC RESPONDERS

The Village has had a further two residents come forward to be respondents now meaning Liddington have five respondents. To give the village the best possible coverage, Liddington Parish Council are asking you to help more people in your neighbourhood survive a cardiac arrest by becoming a GoodSAM Cardiac Responder.

THE QUEEN’S PLATINUM JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS

Liddington Parish Council invite residents’ ideas on how best to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee taking place in June. If you have an idea or suggestion, please contact the Clerk via parishclerk@liddington.org

PARISH COUNCILLOR VACANCY

We currently still have one vacancy on the Parish Council and given that that Liddington is a small council, and especially with Covid still around, it has been a struggle to be quorate at times. That threatens our ability to meet and do business and places a greater burden on Councillors still standing.

To qualify you will need to have resided or had your principal place of work in the parish, or within 3 miles of it, during the whole of the 12 months prior to co-option. To find out more, please email the Clerk at parishclerk@liddington.org  or alternatively, speak to one of our Councillors. 

The next meeting of Liddington Parish Council will be held on Wednesday 2^nd February starting at 7pm in the Village Hall. Residents are welcome to attend, following current Government guidelines.

Alternatively, if you would like to raise an issue or ask a question, please contact the Clerk, via parishclerk@liddington.org 

Laura Evans, Clerk to Liddington Parish Council

SEASON’S GREETINGS

The Parish Council hopes that you have all had a relaxing and enjoyable break over Christmas. 2021 has been another difficult year for all and we sincerely hope that 2022 will be a better year, Happy New Year. 

CARDIAC RESPONDERS

The Village has had two residents come forward to be respondents now meaning Liddington have three respondents. To give the village the best possible coverage, Liddington Parish Council are asking you to help more people in your neighbourhood survive a cardiac arrest by becoming a GoodSAM Cardiac Responder.

GoodSAM works with ambulance services across the UK, alerting people trained in CPR to nearby cardiac arrests while an ambulance is on the way.

Key Information 

• This is about helping people in your neighbourhood and you will only be alerted to cardiac arrests within a few hundred metres of where you live.
• Most Cardiac Responders only receive 2 alerts a year.
• You do not have to be “On-duty” to receive Cardiac Arrest notifications.
• You are only asked to provide CPR and to use a defibrillator if one is available.
• If you receive an alert and are unable to respond, that’s fine, the next nearest person will be alerted.
• An ambulance will also be on the way.
• The ambulance services control who they alert (staff; professionals; volunteers with first aid certification; self-certifying volunteers) and over what radius.

If you are interested in becoming a responder, please contact the Clerk via email at parishclerk@liddington.org

DEFIBRILLATOR TRAINING 

Liddington & Wanborough Parish Council would like to hold a joint defibrillator training session for residents in Liddington and Wanborough Parish, prior to booking we would like an idea of who would like to attend, with a date to be confirmed once we know who is interested.  So if you are interested in attending a training session please e-mail the Clerk at parishclerk@liddington.org 

VANDILISM OF SIGNS

Recently there has been an issue of the dog fouling signs being vandalised in the village, which is unacceptable behaviour, should anyone who witness such behaviour please telephone the Police on 101.

PARISH COUNCIL MEETINGS

The Parish Council are currently looking into ways to make the monthly Parish Council meetings more accessible.The next meeting of Liddington Parish Council will be held on 5^th January starting at 7pm in the Village Hall. Residents are welcome to attend, following current Government guidelines.

Laura Evans, Clerk to Liddington Parish Council

THE TROUGH

With thanks to Beth’s Potting Shed at Wanborough for the Autumn/ Winter planting of the village trough, which looks beautiful.

SPEED SIGN DATA

This is a summary of our latest speed sign data showing the excessive speeds being experienced.  The full data is passed on to the police to assist in their planning appropriate times for speed checks.  The info is also provided to SBC Highways in the hope that they will provide us with necessary support

PARISH COUNCIL MEETINGS

The next meeting of Liddington Parish Council will be held on 1^st December starting at 7pm in the Village Hall. Residents are welcome to attend, following current Government guidelines.

Laura Evans, Clerk to Liddington Parish Council