Ye Olde Hedge and other stories

The elders of the Council inspect the hedge

I refer today to the ancient writings in the year of our lord of the manor of Bishton 2008, verily it was set down into the laws passed in the ancient parish of colwych.

Sir Barry of Birt did with great wailing and gnashing of teeth set out to the assembled council of elders the grave matter of the Hedge at mill lane.

The hedge had grown outwards not inwards, and verily it pushed the prams and the pedestrian ancient folk into the path of the carriages and cow herders. It was not good.

The goodly council of elders sent forth a chattle to view the road carnage wrought by this vicious hedge, they looked upon it in horror, and ran all the way back to the safe walls of the Parish Fortress.

It is true said the chattle, the hedge doth jut out in an unseemly manner, (although it is very nicely kept he added, sadly this was stricken from the record, but this account was written in the old tablets of Wolseley for posterity)

The Council of elders sat in courtly session, with grim countenance, and resolved to enforce its will on the owner of the offending hedge, verily they voted to send an army to quash this verdant rebellion in the community.

Elder after elder went to "Tut" at the hedge, while the owners sayeth unto them "Bugger off" I'm not paying for it. Years passed with no resolution to the 8 year war of attrition.

Sat in their fortress the council of elders sent for Sir Len of Bloomer the Prophet of Old Staffs, who on entering the chamber fell flat on his face, "shit and buggeration" did I just trip over a poor person?? no? well theres no money, nor will there be for ever and ever amen.

The council of elders sent for Sir Stuart of Learoyd, but he was too busy in Brockton to make the long journey so in his stead he sent forth the Alan Perkinton of the small Haywood, which is like little Hampton but not as nice, who in the wise way of the great folk, he set down onto the parchment of the lordly council of fafford, "not our job sir"

At last came the cry from the herald of the council, I have a cunning plan, if we write it down that we have resolved to do the said matter everyone will believe it has been, because verily it is written so. Verily one of the wise elders said "you bloody idiot they can still see the hedge!!" "oh yeh" said the herald.

Then the Lords of Miller came to build a big carbuncle on the communities Ring, well next to it actually. Those of the Lordly estate took great umbridge at the ancient hedge obscuring the view of their large pointy carbuncle next to their ring, and they wrested its edges from the road, giving it a mighty trim. The Lords had trimmed their bush very well, it was good.

Sadly the Elders of the Council who had a month off from the war didn't think to ask the Lords of Miller to help them trim their bush in Mill Lane, so there its sits untrimmed to this day.

Here endeth the story of the untrimmed bush, chapter 9 of the book of procrastination, written by Arnold Baker, and interpreted by all un-sundry to no avail.

Lefroy takes up case for the Haywoods

Jeremy Lefroy MP

As you would have read in previous posts we have a need for a new Burial Ground, we have developers in the village, we have cash in the bank we have a plot of land, but we also have a very slow moving Parish Council. Now lets see who tries to stop the progress.

I contacted Jeremy Lefroy on behalf of the community regarding the disgraceful lack of section 106 cash being spent in the community, pointing out the real need for a burial ground.

Hello Mr Lefroy,

I hope you are well, I know you are busy as always, I wondered if you had put any thought to the ongoing problem of the villages in the surrounding area of Stafford seemingly receiving less and less from the Borough Council in the way of services and support. We all know money is tight, but as a Key service village we have had more development in proportion to the size of the community than most villages. I recently sent in a FOI request to Stafford Borough Council to ask how much of the section 106 cash or CIL money had been spent in the Parish of Colwich in the last 5 years. I received a one word answer........none!

How can this be as a community we should have generated somewhere around £500,000 in cash for the area and not one penny has gone on improving the infrastructure of the community. I was more than shocked.

I would be interested to hear your thoughts on the matter, and specifically what we can do to change that situation. We currently need desperately a burial ground, land is available cash for most of it is in hand. We need more youth services in the village, footpaths upgraded and maintained, hedges trimmed I can always provide an extensive list. It would be good is just a gesture could be arranged to deliver something like the burial ground. The developers are in the community now, they could clear the land and lawn it and build a nice wall around the site, the Parish Council is sitting on a pot of cash as a contribution payment, the diocese of Lichfield have given their blessing. It could be an easy win all round.

I look forward to hearing from you

Kind Regards

Rolfe  

I have received a reply from Jeremy last night  which said this

Dear Mr Pearce,

Thank you very much. I will certainly take this up. It is vital that villages are not overlooked in the matter of key services and infrastructure.

Thank you for bringing this to my attention.

With best wishes,

Yours sincerely,

Jeremy Lefroy

Member of Parliament for Stafford constituency

House of Commons, Westminster, London, SW1A 0AA

t    +44 (0) 20 7219 7154   f    +44 (0) 20 7219 4186

e   jeremy.lefroy.mp@parliament.uk   w  jeremylefroymp.co.uk

I have no idea if this will in any way improve matters or speed things up, but I hope this simple bringing together all the parties involved will allow a simple decision to be made on behalf of the villages. If we get nothing else it will be good to finally have a place for those in the community who have lived here all their lives an opportunity to be buried here in the community they loved.

I will keep you informed of any progress, but at least there IS PROGRESS.

Freedom of Information request - SHOCKING!

Where the hell did all that cash go?

This post will not take long, here in the Haywoods, with all the pointless efforts of the "Save the Haywoods Clan" suffered a huge amount of housing development.

I have asked Stafford Borough Council on a freedom of information request to tell me how much of the schedule 106 Cash or CIL cash has been spent in the Parish of Colwich.

Thanks go to our Borough Councillors who have managed to achieve a massive.

ZERO Nothing Ziltch not a bean, not a sausage

I guestimate that we have raised a whopping £500,000 in payments that should be being spent on the community.

we got nothing........

MAX "HEADSTONE ROOM

MAX "HEADSTONE" ROOM

About 8 months ago, a parcel of land came available along the lane in Crossheads, which adjoins the School Playing field. It is for sale at a reasonable price, certainly affordable after the generosity over the years of the community helping CURB raise funds which sit at around £15,000 to date.

CURB as you know have disbanded, and handed over the £15K for the Parish Council to look after until a suitable site has been found. As you all know I have attended many meetings of the Parish Council over the last 7 years and this is a project that has thwarted many attempts as many different sites had over time been considered including this one.

I have in front of me a letter where CURB asks the owner of this small plot of land, which clearly states, that they believe this to be a perfect site. Why, well its because it is in the Parish, actually in the village, local people who will be buried there or have their ashes interred there would be able in the daytime to easily park on the Village Hall carpark, with their permission of course, to attend with flowers etc. Nobody would need to drive up Crossheads lane to park. A small plot of land at the back of the playing field could be allocated to the site, as that too is owned by the Diocese of Lichfield. All of the building companies are in the village at the moment, they could be asked to clear the land and build a good sized brick wall around the plot and turf the site over. In a few months time after they have finished construction this may not be possible.

All the cash is in the Bank NOW, the seller wants to sell NOW, at a very much reduced cost. The Diocese of Lichfield think its a great site and to quote "this is the best opportunity I have seen in the last 10 years, it could serve our purposes and that of the community for the next few decades."

Planning for the Burial Ground is in the Neighbourhood plan soon to be ratified by a local referendum on the 15th September 2016.

All the ducks are in a row.............but then what do you suppose happened........yes you guessed it, the Parish Council. On the Parish Website you will see that the Parish Council had a meeting about the Burial ground..........IN FEBRUARY. The minutes have not been ratified and it is now August, soon to be September. Until the minutes have been ratified no work can be done on developing the idea, lol more importantly no work has been done on the idea, in fact the seller has not even once been contacted. So it will be a full 8 months since the idea was first put to the council, and when I ask them what they are doing about this important facility for the community this was the reply I received.

Blah Blah Blah

"You can be assured that you, along with other residents, will be advised on any further substantive developments in this matter as and when they arise."

As and when they arise!!!! the cash is in the Bank, everyone is ready to go, after more than a decade of looking and after salaries have increased to £38,000 an increase of 50%, its still being looked at!!, after 8 months and over a decade!!

I can understand if the Diocese of Lichfield were the blockers but they no longer are, I can understand if the price for the land was a blocker as it was before, but it isn't now.

This is just down to local politicking. I was the one to contact the seller and persuade them to drop the price, I was the one to contact the Diocese of Lichfield and gain their agreement. It was because it was not the idea of the great and the good of the Parish Council this golden opportunity will be missed. I am not writing this to get credit, I could not give a monkeys nuts if the Chairman of the Parish Council decides to call the site the "Andy Cooper Memorial burial ground" with a big brass plaque and a life size photo on the entrance, says its all his idea and has me sign a legal agreement never to speak of it again, as long as the opportunity is not lost.

It was because I was told it could not be achieved because of the blockers, that I got off my ample backside and picked up the phone to sort it out, and that's what I did.

Our community may lose a golden opportunity to provide additional burial space in the community, through negligence incompetence pride politicking you call it what you want.

I spoke to the seller today, they have other offers they are now considering, as a community we really have to ask if we lose this opportunity which is available now, just  to continue considering options that have not come to fruition in over 10 years of trying, then it will be a travesty for the villages.

I say stop faffing about and get on with sorting this opportunity out, the problem now is the council everyone else think this site is the one to go with. It could be in place by the end of this year if they get a move on.......I will hold my breath......or maybe not....

Legal Case?? What legal Case?

How many of you are aware that the Parish Council is using tax payers cash on an ongoing legal case?

They were discussing it at a special meeting of the FULL council on the 11th July 2016

This is what it said on the Agenda for that meeting......

RESOLVED to suspend Standing Order 1c and to exclude members of the public and press due to discussing Council’s position on legal proceedings.

THE LETTER RECEIVED FROM FREEMAN JONES SOLICITORS COVERING ONE FROM MARK REDLER & CO SOLICITORS.175/16

Now I completely understand that the actual legal position that the council is going to discuss should for obvious reasons remain confidential.

But hang on..... Why are they being so cagey over what the action is covering?

What is wrong with putting on the agenda something like this:


In the matter of (for Example) The Parish Council is undertaking to use legal proceedings against ABC person or Company in the matter of XYZ. The Parish Council has reached an important juncture in the legal proceedings or discussions and need to discuss a formal position on a letter received from Freeman Jones Solicitors. etc etc

There is no need to disclose the decision that is fine, but just quoting 175/16 and being specifically obtuse regarding the public is actively designed to make sure the public in general remain unaware of what is going on. This in my opinion shows a high level of contempt for the community and their ability to scrutinise what is going on.

I am sure that this is all completely legal and above board, and reaches the giddy heights of minimum disclosure statutes set out in Arnold Baker, of which I have a copy and have read it cover to cover.

Nothing in this weighty tome says you cannot speak clearly in easy to understand Language accessible to everyone in modern day Britain, the workings of this lowest of tiers of government.

SO HERE IS THE QUESTION, WHAT IS THE LEGAL CASE BEING CONSIDERED?, HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN GOING ON FOR...........AND MORE IMPORTANTLY HOW MUCH IS THIS GOING TO COST.

Just to remind everyone, I currently have on your behalf, a Freedom of Information request in with the council asking specifically how much cash they have spent in the last 5 years on legal projects, defined by project and total cost. As soon as I have the list of cases and their costs I will publish them for your information.

Not just Moaning but Solutions too!!

It would not be right to just moan about how another group of people do their job without putting on record a set of solutions to improving the work of the Parish Council and they way it works.

Over the coming months this is what I would pledge to place firmly on the table of the Parish Council to improve the service.

Parish Council Blog

It takes just a few moments of reading the minutes of the meetings to see that a majority of discussion items are completely unintelligible, this is what I mean by smoke and mirrors. The short hand references the jargon and inter minute referencing, it all becomes completely impenetrable unless you are the ones writing it. Yet the minutes of the meetings and the Agenda are published, so why the need for all the smoke and mirrors. I believe its designed to discourage the public from getting involved.

I also believe that lack of scrutiny, means less work to do, involve the public, get more to do, so the advantage to the council is we get to do what we want and anything else just gets kicked into the long grass.

A Blog would remove this barrier, take the agenda for meetings, at the moment the agenda is full of cryptic one or two line items. On a blog you could write a narrative of what the issue is, some background for the reader to understand. A blog would enable you to do a key word search to look at the last time a particular matter had been brought up and what was discussed and what was decided. Now this is the clever bit, if you used a cloud database you could link all the specific documents to that particular blog, letters sent, notes of conversation had videos photographs, in fact anything at all. So instead of a one line item you have a bank of modern data for people to see....without having to ask for it in a Freedom of information request.

You see if you don't know it has happened you don't know to ask to see it.....

I will be putting more detail on the proposed "Parish Council Blog" in later posts, remember this is your council you can vote for change you can vote for improvement, its time to stop having democracy done to you and time for you to start saying what you want democracy to look like.

This is YOUR CASH, directly from YOUR PURSE and WALLET directly into the Parish Council Coffers. If you want change then vote for it. If you have any suggestions for improvement email me at the following address haywoodslocalvoice@gmail.com or leave a message here on the Blog. 

Councillors doing good for the community

It would not be right not to highlight some of the many good things individual councillors do on a daily basis to make the village a better place to live.

Victoria Jenkinson has made a good impact since joining the council, her work to support and help the youth in the community is admirable and should be supported by everyone. Her support of the Cricket Ground issue shows an ability to get stuck into the meaty issues of the community where the youth is concerned.

Barry Birt where would we all be without this gentleman and his good lady wife. If anyone was wondering how the litter at the JPF was getting picked up you will find it was Barry and other village volunteers picking up the litter and emptying the bins sometimes three times a day. He is involved with a number of other community associations as well as the BKV and Twinning, and helps others deliver pharmaceutical support to many in our community who cannot get to the chemist or doctors.

Anne Clendon and Amyas Stafford Northcote long standing and ever present in the community supporting every community and county committee and the BKV representing the community for years.

Alan Dohren and his Stirling work on behalf of the Memorial Hall, which has come on in leaps and bounds as it is under new management, especially the craft fairs and the local cinema. His work on the sports and social club is also worthy of note

Stephen Payne his work on supporting the local environment watching with care the decisions relating to Cannock chase, is already making a difference to how the village is involved in key decision making.

So for all those who just believe that I have a gripe with the "Parish Council" I can clearly set out that when the Parish Council are doing a good job I always make sure that I praise it and commend their work. By making my observations I hope to show that I recognise that some individuals on the council are doing a Stirling job and they deserve our thanks and our gratitude for the efforts they put in.

Parish Council have a very short memory

The leadership and administration have a very short memory don't they

In this weeks Parish Newsletter you will see "Once Again" in the so called "Chairmans Report" a reference to members of the public "A Minority" criticising the Parish Council on Facebook.

One of those "Minority" will be me, Hands up and I am glad that somebody is prepared to put their head above the parapet and hold these people to account.

HOWEVER the new Chairman and the Vice Chairman Andy Cooper and Adam Billingsley were recently members of the "Save the Haywoods", group who ran the council for 4 years under the leadership of Paul Gilbert.

Now lets go down memory lane...........

Who started all this attacking members of the public, councillors, planning committee, Severn Trent, land owners, campaigners, in fact anyone who did not agree with their views?

Yes Correct it was Andy Cooper and Adam Billingsley, for over a year before they were elected leaflet after leaflet was produced slagging of and naming as "Corrupt" the then Parish Council, ALL of them and the Parish Clerk. They were scathing of individuals, their decisions, their policies and they named and shamed in their own right every single person or organisation they felt would help them get elected.

Who were the people who when in office continued the process of attacking anyone who did not agree with them, now using public money to do it through the newsletter?

Yes it was Adam Billingsley and Andy Cooper, Newsletter after Newsletter was published and on virtually every occasion they were attacking individuals, businesses, councillors, calling them liars, cheats corrupt, naming them and shaming them. I know because I was the subject of this on many occasions.

It is completely COMICAL and FARCICAL therefore when it was Andy Cooper and Adam Billingsley that have spent the last 5 years doing this on a regular basis to everyone else, for them to start complaining about a couple of people doing it back to them.

Then there is the clerk, he is the "Proper Officer" and is tasked to stop these things from happening, he did nothing to stop the publications there is nothing on record where he objected to any one of the newsletters going out. This despite many of the other councillors and me asking him to do so. It is worth noting that the current clerk was only appointed when the previous incumbent was hounded out of office.

So in essence the Parish Council Voted all of these attacks through in the chamber, the Clerk sealed it with his approval/disapproval not noted and these attacks of liars cheats corruptions were published on a regular basis.

But no it went further......

These attacks would be repeated in the chamber and general "slaggings off" of councils, councillors, businesses, individuals and members of the community were placed into posterity in the minutes of the meetings.

If anyone doubts what I say then just re read the old parish Newsletters, and minutes of the meetings its all there in Black and White.

SO I WILL TAKE NO LECTURES FROM THOSE IN THE COUNCIL WHO HAVE FOR YEARS USING PUBLIC MONEY SLAGGED OFF EVERYONE IN THE COUNTY IN WAYS WHICH ARE FAR WORSE THAN ANYTHING I HAVE EVER SAID.

THESE PEOPLE ARE NOT VICTIMS, its is these people that have victimised other councillors, members of the community, other councils, systematically, for political advantage. Suddenly claiming they are the victim of "bullying" is just a lot short of "unbelievable!!!!"

In fact you can be assured that pointing out the inadequacies of the current council, a council that costs at the moment £93,000 to run, 93K of cash provided ONLY BY THE PEOPLE LIVING IN THE PARISH is small in comparison to the hate filled vilifications and unfounded accusations of Andy Cooper and Adam Billingsley. If you believe that everything has changed just remember this, until the very last day of the previous council both Adam Billingsley and Andy Cooper were voting for these things to happen EVERY MONTH and that is a matter of RECORD gentlemen.RE READ THE NEWSLETTERS AND LEAFLETS then remember the truth, not the spin of these two people.