Village Entrances
Scheme.
We are grateful to Mr P.Hutchinson of Kilsall Hall who
has donated many thousands of bulbs which, by the time you read this,
will have been planted by our many volunteers in various locations.
Most of the work planting shrubs and trees has now ended for this season
but we continue with tidying up and clearing ready for the next planting.
We are now planning the purchases for next year and also continuing
to seek donations of bulbs, plants and trees and also the pledge of
work or discounted supplies by local firms and organisations. We are
still keen to also have volunteer help – please contact John Bulmer
(T: 01902 372291) for further information.
Civic Award Scheme for Schools.
We have started to receive the first entries and what
a good impression they make. Some drawings by the younger entrants
are very colourful and magnificent. The older entrants have obviously
spent considerable time researching and their presentations are well
made. We hope to receive the submissions from the remaining schools
soon. We will have a difficult task choosing winners.
(What is the Scheme? :- It is for Albrighton Primary,
Birchfield School, Idsall School & St Mary’s Primary School. Prizes will be awarded for the best projects on local,
historical, environmental or conservation topics relating to our district.
A project can be a drawing, a picture or painting, a piece of writing,
a story or poem or essay. The project can be produced by an individual,
a number of pupils working together or a whole class. It may consist
of one item prepared by the whole class jointly or a collection of
items prepared individually by all the members of a class. The aim:
to encourage civic pride & care for our locality in our young people.)
Eyesores.
We reported last month that we had held meetings with
Brian Bennett and Glen McGrandle of Shropshire Council who are charged
with the responsibility of repairs to roads/pavements and the “appearance
of the street scene” (i.e. weeding, cleaning and maintaining street
furniture). Promises were made to deal with the many eyesores we presented
to them but so far there has been very little action. As we have now
spent almost two years trying to get Shropshire Council’s officers
to carry out what we understand is their job of keeping our streets
clear of weeds and maintaining footpaths and street furniture we have
concluded that correspondence and meetings with officers is not getting
results. The Chairman has now written to Shropshire Council’s new Chief
Executive Mr Kim Ryley to request that he meets with the Civic Society.
The letter comments “...we are increasingly disillusioned with the lack of progress made by your staff in dealing with issues that have been discussed
and action agreed with them over a two year period, with very little
tangible result. The issues relate principally to maintenance of highways
and footpaths and the street scene generally, planning procedures.......”.
We hope that he will meet us.
Albrighton Rail Station
Bridges & Platforms. We continue to support
Albrighton Parish Council’s initiative to get the repairs and maintenance
carried out as promised by Network Rail (NR) at the meeting we attended
with them last May (see Civic Society website for details). Alb PC
and ourselves are still awaiting the next updating meeting which was
promised by NR to be last Autumn. Albrighton Parish Council Chairman
Cllr David Beechey, a member of our committee, is now writing to NR
and London Midland Trains to request the meeting. In support of this,
the Civic Society Chairman is writing to our MP Mark Pritchard to ask
him to put pressure on the newly appointed Chief Executive of NR Mr
David Higgins for some action.
The old Station Building (on the “to Shrewsbury” platform).
The current owner has kindly lent us the keys and we have carried out
a first inspection of the building which consists of:- ground floor
with a kitchen and steps leading down to ladies & gents toilets in the basement and a first floor comprising two rooms & toilet and shower. We have asked local builders to provide cost estimates to
repair the building and bring it up to standard.
(see Civic Society website - monthly newsletter March2011)
Albrighton Flower Show 2nd July. To support the Flower
Show and to encourage better looking streets/roads, the Civic Society
will award a prize for the best front garden. (The judges will tour
the area but if anyone wishes to ensure that their garden is not missed
please contact Jane McLachlan (Flower show organiser) on T: 01902 584656)
Copyright (c) 2013 ALBRIGHTON
and DISTRICT CIVIC SOCIETY