More New Fencing in Shilton Playing Fields

Following on from last month's post regarding a section of new fencing that had been installed by the parish council in Shilton playing fields, if you're passing the playing fields this week, you'll no doubt now see workmen and machinery along its eastern boundary, running alongside Bulkington Road.

Work is being undertaken to install 6 feet high chain link fencing along almost all of this side of the playing fields to address a continued problem of footballs and cricket balls straying onto Bulkington Road and causing a danger to both vehicles and pedestrians. In three sections along this length (behind each goal and adjacent to the cricket square), there will be additional higher netting to catch errant balls.

 

This is a significant project for the parish council, that has been in the planning stage for over a year. Part of the reason for this is that we were lucky enough to secure significant funding from the Football Foundation, who are meeting over 70% of the cost of the fencing/netting by way of a grant of £10,500.

Work is progressing well (despite delays earlier in the week because of the heavy rain) and it should all be completed by Friday, and therefore not impacting on the two football games scheduled to take place on the playing fields over the weekend.

From what I've seen so far, I'm confident that the fencing will do its job well, and without causing any significant visual impact in an otherwise open area of the village.

Free Computers for Community Organisations

At the Fosse Division Community Forum on 13 September, information was circulated regarding recycled computers that Warwickshire County Council was making available for community and voluntary organisations:

Warwickshire County Council is making 125 recycled desktop computers available free of charge to community or voluntary organisations, including town and parish councils, within Warwickshire. Each organisation can apply for up to two machines each, which will consist of a Dell desktop with Windows 7 and a 80Gb hard drive, a monitor, keyboard and mouse, with a number of licence free programmes and a three month warranty. No laptops are available.

Locally based community groups or small-scale groups with little or no IT equipment can apply, but will be asked to demonstrate how it will help their organisation to grow. The PCs have been reformatted by skilled ICT staff so that they are reliable with a good memory.

For an application pack, email Ali Mainey at alisonmainey@warwickshire.gov.uk or call her on (01789) 260134. Applications are invited by 5.00pm on Friday 26 October.

If you know of a local organisation that would benefit from one of these PCs, please get in touch with Alison.

What's in a Name? - Part Two

As I write this, there's 12 days left to vote in this blog's first ever online poll, which is asking whether you support a move to rename Shilton Parish Council to Shilton & Barnacle Parish Council.

The poll was launched at the beginning of July, and the intention is to report the findings to the parish council meeting on 4 September. I shalln't rehearse the arguments all over again; suffice to say that if you haven't voted, and you'd like to, it's best that you read this post first.

The vote is current 10 - 4 in favour of changing the name to Shilton & Barnacle, so there's still everything to play for. And whilst the outcome of this online vote isn't the single determining factor on this issue, it is a useful tool to gauge what people think.

Of the four people voting to say that they didn't want to see the name changed, it was unfortunate that none of them gave a reason why they voted this way (the blog does allows comments, including anonymous ones). It would be helpful for the parish council to know why people didn't want the name changed - whether its a straightforward attraction to the status quo, or some other, more personal, reason. All views are equally valid!

My post on 9 July also contained something of a potted history of the parish council and its name. In response, I received an email from a resident of Shilton who was able to put me right on a few mistaken assumptions that I'd made, as well as adding more flesh to the historical bones of the parish.

I've reproduced the correspondence below for anyone interested:

The reason that the council is called Shilton Parish Council is because it is the council for the Parish of Shilton. The hamlet of Barnacle has been within the parish of Shilton for hundreds of years. When the Act of Parliament was passed in 1894 to form parish councils, Shilton parish decided to have a council and, of course, this included the hamlet of Barnacle, as it was within the Parish of Shilton. As you know, the first meeting of Shilton Parish Council was held in January 1895.

Most of the hamlet of Barnacle has always been within the Parish of Shilton. The part of Barnacle that belonged to the Parish of Bulkington was a small part in the Spring Road area. This was transferred to Shilton Parish in the 1930s.

I think I am correct in saying that it was probably mostly fields that were transferred from Bulkington in 1938. If you look at a map you will see that the there is a narrow strip of land which borders the Coventry Road which is still in Bulkington, the rest of the fields are in Barnacle. There should be something in the minute books about the 1938 transaction. There was a later exchange of land between Ansty and Shilton which I think was about 1980-ish. This should also be in the minute books.

The first meeting of Shilton Parish Council was held on the 2 January 1895 with six councillors under the chairmanship of William Birch of Barnacle Hall. William Birch represented the parish on the district council. His name is on Shilton Parish Council's chairman's chain of office as the first chairman, together with that of Sid Chivers who was chairman at the centenary.

Incidentally, the very old minute books were unfortunately put on a bonfire by the widow of Norman Ashman. He was Clerk to five parish councils and when he died, as she did not know which belonged to which council, she got rid of the lot. Such a shame because the original minute books would have made interesting reading.

Before Shilton Parish Council was formed, Shilton and Barnacle came under the auspices of the Foleshill Board.

The parish council first met in their new meeting room in 1924 when Josiah Bolton was their chairman.

I have a photocopy from a book about The City of Coventry and Warwickshire which says "....in 1649, too, Barnacle was being assessed for rates with Shilton, not with Bulkington".

Fascinating stuff!! If anyone else can add to the story, please do get in touch.

New Fencing in Shilton Playing Fields

The next time you're in Shilton playing fields, you'll hopefully notice that there is a whole length of new fencing along that part of the field that runs alongside Wood Lane.

The parish council was aware that the existing fencing was looking broken and shabby due to its age, and so sought quotes to replace it. CJL Gates & Engineering from Clifton upon Dunsmore submitted the most competitive quote and were given the contract to supply and fit 60m of round post and half rail fencing. The cost to the parish council was £630.

Parish Council Meeting - 7 August

Last Tuesday night, I chaired the August meeting of the parish council.

The meeting opened with two members of the public wanting to raise the issue of the maintenance of land in Ash Tree Grove that was now under the ownership of the parish council. A number of hedges were becoming overgrown and some of the trees needed pruning. The council undertook to address these concerns, starting with the hedges being cut back in the next couple of weeks. It was good to see members of the public attending the meeting in order to get matters of concern to them resolved.

County councillor Phillip Morris-Jones and borough councillor Chris Pacey-Day then gave updates on local matters of interest. Phillip stressed the financial constraints that were continuing to be experienced by Warwickshire County Council, along with attempts to attract more members of the public to attend meeting of the community forums that met around the county, and the upcoming election on 15 November for the new Warwickshire Police & Crime Commissioner.

Chris reported that he has recently been appointed to sit on Rugby Borough Council’s new Gypsy & Traveller Strategy and Action Planning Group, which he hoped would provide a greater focus to the work being undertaken by the borough council to provide a satisfactory longer term solution to the accommodation needs of gypsies and travellers in the area.

Streetlights have been a subject matter that’s exercised the parish council’s mind over recent months. On Tuesday, councillors received an update on the replacement of the damaged light in Church Road (which should happen in the next few weeks), and agreed to replace a unit in Hallway Drive that was reported to be flickering and buzzing intermittently. Both of the units will be replaced with more energy efficient LED lights, and so will look different to the streetlights that are currently there (this will be most obvious in Hallway Drive). The parish council was mindful of installing lights that had a reduced electricity consumption, and will be interested to hear the views of residents as to the quality and penetration of the light that the new LED bulbs emit.

New signs will also be ordered to designate the reserved parish council/cemetery parking outside the meeting room in Church Road after the existing signage was recently damaged.

The parish council has been formally notified that its clerk, Emma Raymont, will be leaving her post on 31 August, following her recent appointment to a full time job. Despite this being fully expected for some time, it is still disappointing that the parish council will soon no longer have Emma’s enthusiasm and dedication to call upon. In readiness for 31 August, councillors discussed the recruitment of a replacement clerk and what steps it needed to take to ensure that this key position was filled by someone willing and able to bring their own experience and ability to the role.

The remainder of the meeting focused on the regular financial matters, planning application consultations and other matters of correspondence.

The parish council will meet again on Tuesday 4 September at 7.30pm at its parish meeting room in Church Road, Shilton. Members of the public are welcome to attend, especially if they have matters/concerns they wish to draw to councillors’ attention.

Police Crime Report - July

Warwickshire Police has released its latest crime report setting out incidents it wishes to draw to the attention of local residents that have occurred in Shilton and Barnacle during the last month. One incident has been highlighted:

• Sunday 15 July - Vehicle nuisance - Top Road, Barnacle
  Report that an unknown person was blocking the road, and when they were asked to move the vehicle the occupant got abusive. 

Warwickshire Police has asked that anyone with any information about these crimes should call them on (01788) 541111.

What's in a Name?

At last month’s meeting, councillors discussed the possibility of changing the name of Shilton Parish Council to reflect the fact that the council covers both Shilton and Barnacle villages. There was a unanimous view that the idea of adopting the new name of 'Shilton & Barnacle Parish Council' was something that should be looked into further, and in particular there should be consultation with the residents of the parish to see if they also wished the name to be changed.

It’s not completely clear why it was originally called ‘just’ Shilton Parish Council, although my suspicion is that when it was created in 1895, it only covered the Shilton village area, with Barnacle being included within Bulkington’s local government structures. At some point in the past (and my best guess is April 1938), Barnacle was merged into the parish, but the original name was retained.

The two obvious questions are: Why change now? And does it really matter one way or the other? For me, the reasons for formally including Barnacle in the name of its local council are about helping to raise the profile and awareness of the village amongst the outside world, and to give the residents of Barnacle more of an involvement and stake in their local council.

Whilst a name is only a name, it does indicate the community that’s being represented, and it’s right that Rugby Borough Council, Warwickshire County Council, Warwickshire Police and other official bodies know that the parish council is speaking on behalf of Shilton and Barnacle. It’s also hoped that a name change gives the people living in Barnacle more of a sense that the parish council is their parish council.

Changing from Shilton to Shilton & Barnacle isn’t going to change the world. It’ll still be the same councillors, trying to sort out the same problems, with the same amount of money available. But for me, it’s a further step in a process to update and improve the parish council, making it more relevant, responsive and representative of the area it covers.

Parish councillors now want to know what you think. Do you agree that the name should be changed to include Barnacle? There’ll be an article in the next edition of BASIS asking for views, and if there is no significant objection, the parish council will be asking Rugby Borough Council (who has the actual power to change the name of a council) to formally make the change requested.

It would be great if as many people as possible gave their views, so please vote on the top right hand side of this blog, leave a comment at the end of this post, send an email to clerk-shiltonparish@hotmail.co.uk or use the council’s Facebook or Twitter pages. The consultation will run until the end of August, and then the parish council will consider the matter again at its meeting on 4 September.

Participatory Budgeting - Ideas Needed!

This month, the parish council is calling on all residents of Shilton and Barnacle to come up with suggestions as to how they would like to see up to £1,500 of council taxpayers' money spent locally within the villages.

The principle is simple: the parish council puts up the money; local residents make suggestions as to what this money should be spent on; everyone gets to vote on what they think is the best idea; and the parish council then carries out the suggestion that is the most popular.

It's straightforward, but it does need people to come up with their own ideas as to where the money should be targeted, and the deadline for suggestions is Saturday 30 June. Contact the parish council however best suits you - email the Clerk at clerk-shiltonparish@hotmail.co.uk or ring her on 07961 834589, leave a message on the parish council's Facebook page, send us a tweet, or post your thoughts on this blog. It doesn't matter how you make your suggestion, but so long as you tell us by the end of this month, you could find that your suggestion is the one that's implemented!

There's more information about the participatory budgeting project in the current edition of the BASIS magazine, which I've also reproduced below.

Participatory budgeting is about giving members of the public more direct control over how taxpayers money is spent. It's my belief that almost everyone living in Shilton and Barnacle - if they give it some thought - can come up with an idea how to spend that £1,500. What we just needs now, is for people to make those ideas known!

(click on the image to view)

The Spending Power of Parish Councils

For anyone who thought that parish councils are an insignificant blip on the local authority landscape, without the money to do anything worthwhile, might be interested to know that the total amount of money raised through the Council Tax for all of the country's parish councils for 2012/13 will be £384m, and increase of 4.6% on last year's £367m.

The average Band D Council Tax precept issued by parishes was £47.74 (this year, Shilton's was just under that at £45.52 for a Band D property).

Whether the parish tier provides good value for money for that £384m can wait for another day!

Participatory Budgeting in NYC

Anyone who's been following Shilton Parish Council over the last few months should hopefully be aware that it's looking to launch its participatory budgeting pilot project very soon. I spoke about it at the Annual Parish Meeting in April (which prompted sufficient interest that two people immediately submitted ideas as to what the £1,500 allocated to the project should be spent on!)

But June will see the official launch, with a feature in the upcoming June/July edition of BASIS (which I'll reproduce on this blog). I'm also hoping to generate some publicity in the local newspapers, but we'll have to see how interested they are in a local parish council trying out something different and innovative.

Until then, I thought I'd whet your appetite with a five minute video from a participatory budgeting project run by New York City Council. Now, Shilton may only be putting up 0.1% of the $1.5m that New York has, but I hope you see enough of the principle of participatory budgeting in action to get you thinking as to what you'd like to see local taxpayer money being spent on where you live.

What is evident from the film is the public involvement and engagement that participatory budgeting has generated in communities that might not otherwise have been interested in what their local council was doing. I'm hoping the same can happen in Shilton and Barnacle.