Festival of Leisure this weekend

It's that time of year again!  The annual South Derbyshire of Leisure is upon us again.  Open to the public from 1pm to 5pm on both Saturday and Sunday, please see link below for more information:

http://www.south-derbys.gov.uk/community_and_living/community_events/festival_of_leisure/default.asp

Hoping for another fantastic weekend!

A reluctant farewell - hopefully for the time being

Further to the recent election summary, I feel compelled to write a few words about my recent election experience, namely being voted off but also a few words over the last 4 wonderful years.

I am very disappointed that I am not a local councillor now but that's politics!

The recent election was a strange local election due to running at the same time as the general election which must have had a huge impact.  There was also a 3rd party involved which clearly took votes away from Labour rather than the Tories and we must look into this as a party though why such a significant number of people voted for people who lived far outside the ward thought they could do a better job for Church Gresley is a concern.

Whilst there are several things in hindsight I wish we had done, I feel I can hold my head high and feel I have represented Church Gresley well over the last 4 years for a number of reasons including the following points which, as a team and some individually we have achieved:

• Improved communication through our surgeries, this blog and our newsletters.
• Engaged with community groups and, where possible, help with funding.
• Supported residents through major planning application issues.
• Ensured that the ward is included in SDDC consultation events.
• Had several new bins placed or enlarged throughout the ward.
• Challenged play equipment provision within the ward.
• Ensured that alleyways are kept tidy and passable.
• Had air quality monitoring installed in Church Street.
• Engaged with the Environmental Health Department to combat issues of dog fouling, particularly around the Pennine Way schools and brought the Green Dog walker scheme tp their attention from a scheme in County Durham in order to put some long term sustainable actions in place (rather than spray dog mess with spray and get in the Burton Mail).
• Did the best within our remit to highlight the issue of pressure on school capacity within the ward.
• Always tried my hardest to resolve individual issues and always responded within a day of receiving an enquiry.
• Used my passion for cycling and Sustainable Transport to good effect.  I noted that links within a major plan within the urban core were noted as "potential" and took action to ensure that the wording was changed.  I also requested that part of planning policy should include advising that communal developments should have cycle storage as part of design.

Whilst I am no longer a councillor I intend to stay involved in local activity and support Gordon and Trevor in their work but do hope to be able to spend more time with my young family.

The last 4 years have been a fantastic time and it has been a privilege to serve Church Gresley as a councillor.  There were many highlights including having the honour of laying the wreath on Remembrance Sunday and being able to meet so many different people and groups and learning about their work and experiences.

I am grateful for the kind words of support from residents over the last few weeks and hope to be able to represent you in the future.

Ben Stuart

Election Summary

The recent General Election and District Council Election results have been announced and as you may have read in the press these were not good for the Labour Party.

In the Church Gresley Ward, Trevor Southerd and Gordon Rhind will continue to represent the residents capably as they have done over many recent years.  Unfortunately I lost my seat but will continue to be active within the local Labour Party and within the ward.  There will be another post written in more depth to this effect.

The District Council election was very different to those in the recent past being combined with the General Election and there being a third party involved.

We would all like to thank those who voted for us and showed support for us and look forward to working for you all over the next 4 years.

Best Wishes,

Trevor, Gordon and Ben

Monthly Surgery and a busy Saturday in Gresley

Monthly Surgery

Our next monthly advice surgery takes place between 10-11am at the Methodist Church on York Road this Saturday 11th April.  All welcome as always.

Litter Pick on Castleton Park

As previously communicated, the Castleton Park Neighbourhood Watch Scheme (N.W.S) have re-organised a litter pick of parts of the estate on this coming Saturday 11th April at 2pm following a postponement recently due to the weather.

The group will meet at the shopping development on Glamorgan Way.

Litter picking equipment will be provided by South Derbyshire District Council. In order to ensure that there is enough equipment to go round, if you would like to help please either email the group on castletonparknws@gmail.com or ask to join the group on Facebook and then "join" the event.

Open Tower Morning at St George and Mary's Church

Following work done on the Church tower for the first time in 8 years the church bells are now ringing again.  To celebrate this the church are having an open morning on Saturday 11th April between 0930 and 1230.  More details on the poster below.

Litter Pick on Castleton Park rearranged

The litter pick planned today by the Castleton Park Neighbourhood Watch Group has been postponed due to inclement weather.

A new date of 11th April has been chosen to avoid Easter weekend.

Further details will follow on here and on the Castleton Park NWS page on Facebook.

Council tax rebate - who does it really benefit?

In the last Full Council meeting there was a proposal following a hastily, albeit well prepared report to allow a 5% rebate on the council tax for this year.  This followed the decision to freeze council tax.

The Labour Group decided to vote against this and considered it to be electioneering by the controlling Tory group.  You may be thinking "Why did you vote against a rebate?"

Well, firstly, what does it mean for residents?  A5% rebate represents an extra 12p per week per household on average.  We do not consider this to be a significant amount, certainly nothing that will change anybody's lives for the better and this will not benefit those most in need of help.

How does this affect the council?  Basically £270k of the general fund will be allocated towards this giveaway of which at least £20k will be swallowed up by administration.  Within the report it did highlight the risks involved.  With the current political future unsure the council has limited visibility over future funding and £270k is a large chunk of money to giveaway.

How else could the money have been spent? On the report were various options including the granting of disability living grants (these can change someone's lives), using for current projects including Leisure Centre improvements, upgrading of IT systems and also building maintenance.  The report had been put together at such short notice that several possible ideas were not considered that may have benefitted our own local communities and address problems such as street cleanliness.

If there had been some way that the money had been put forward to something that would pave the way for an improved service that would either improve people lives or aid the council to work then it would have been worth more consideration.

Our deluded opposition are still coping with the news that the Financial Crisis was driven by global economic factors.  They still like to blame Labour for issues and love to tell the lie that you can't trust Labour with the money. As this article demonstrates  here in South Derbyshire we are deeply concerned about the public purse.

Work Club at CAB

I was recently invited to the Citizen's Advice Bureau in Church Street to meet staff and users of the Work Club set up to help those seeking work.

The story below explains the basic purpose of the work club and shows what a benefit this has been to people who have used it.

http://www.burtonmail.co.uk/Jobseekers-South-Derbyshire-helped-work-work/story-26213083-detail/story.html

There are a few details, however, that the article does not mention and I was lucky enough to share some time with the course tutor and also some users of the sessions.

Part of the success of the sessions has been that they are available in locations close to the urban core in Newhall Old Post Centre, Oaklands Village in Swadlincote, Woodville and the CAB offices here in Church Gresley.  This is good in a number of ways as it means they are accessible by foot in some cases, they are more relaxed than in the environment of the Job Centre and the advice from the enthusiastic and helpful tutors is more freely available.

The good news is that funding has been sourced to allow the sessions at Church Gresley and Woodville to continue but the bad news is that the Church Gresley sessions will only take place once a month rather than every fortnight unless more funding can be found.

The service provided includes creation of CV's and covering letters as well as assistance with searching for jobs and looks to be well received by those who use the service.

More details will be provided on dates when these are confirmed.

Litter Pick on Castleton Park

Following a successful Launch Meeting recently at the Drum and Monkey public house, the Castleton Park Neighbourhood Watch Scheme (N.W.S) have organised a litter pick of parts of the estate on this coming Saturday 28th March at 2pm.

The group will meet at the shopping development on Glamorgan Way.

Litter picking equipment will be provided by South Derbyshire District Council. In order to ensure that there is enough equipment to go round, if you would like to help please either email the group on castletonparknws@gmail.com or ask to join the group on Facebook and then "join" the event.

Cllr Michael Bale

We were recently very sad to hear about the passing of fellow councillor Michael Bale.

Michael, known as Mick, represented the Hilton ward and previously the North West Ward which covers villages at the far extremes of the District such as Church Broughton and Sutton-on-the-Hill.

Residents of our ward may be familiar with Mick as Chairman of the Council, a role he performed with great dignity and passion, including his 2012-13 role which included, amongst many others, a memorable appearance at the Dream Scheme presentation at Unity Close.

We will miss his humour, kindness and encouragement and our thoughts are very much with his family.

Castleton Park Neighbourhood Watch Scheme meeting

As previously mentioned on the blog there has been interest shown in forming a Neighbourhood Watch Scheme on Castleton Park.

The first meeting will be this coming Tuesday 17th March at the Drum and Monkey pub at 6pm.  Children are able to attend.

 As previously mentioned you can contact the scheme co-ordinator on castletonparknws@gmail.com or alternatively there is a page on Facebook - search Castleton Park NWS.

Further issues have recently been reported in the local press.

Issues around the nature reserve have been reported to the Council and the developers and some immediate actions have been requested.  There will be more details forthcoming in relation to the adoption of the area later this year.

Monthly Surgery - March

Our next monthly surgery will take place this Saturday 14th March at 10-11am at the Methodist Church on York Road.

As always, residents are very welcome to attend and discuss issues with us.

South Derbyshire Day 2015

South Derbyshire "Day" 2015 will take place on 17th March 2015 (Tuesday) and the theme will be related to the districts volunteers.

The event takes place as usual at the home of Derby County Football Club - The Ipro Stadium (Pride Park) during their game against Middlesborough.  As stated above this is a midweek game as opposed to a Saturday game.

For more details, including ticket information, please see the following link.

http://www.south-derbys.gov.uk/council_and_democracy/council_news/february/news_items/volunteers_are_the_stars_of_this_years_south_derbyshire_day.asp

New Dance Studio for the Mini-Stars

Church Gresley based Nikita's Mini Stars will be moving to new premises in Swadlincote from this Saturday.  There will be an opening event on Saturday 21st February at 11am.  See details on the link below.

The Mini Stars were set up following the previous Dance group Bojangles withdrawing their satellite operation in Church Gresley at the community rooms.

Originally setting up in a room above the Rising Sun, then moving to the community rooms, Nikitas Mini Stars have grown in numbers and have performed throughout the district either at their own shows or at a variety of events such as summer fetes.  Such has been their success that they have been looking for their own studio to expand the types of classes offered.

Ideally the Mini Stars wanted to stay in Church Gresley but were unable to find a suitable venue despite a lot of effort.  This means that they are now moving to Swadlincote to the former Catchet restaurant near the bus station at the entrance to the town centre.

Although it is sad to see them leave Church Gresley they remain close by in Swadlincote and we wish them all the best with the new studio.

http://www.south-derbys.gov.uk/council_and_democracy/council_news/february/news_items/new_dance_school_and_hair_salon_a_perfect_match.asp

Neighbourhood Watch Scheme on Castleton Park

Due to an unfortunate increase in crime in the Castleton Park area, a group of residents are in the process of setting up a Neighbourhood Watch Scheme.

The crimes are mainly vehicle related and patrols have been increased by the local Safer Neighbourhood Team.

Anybody interested in joining the scheme, or those with experience of Neighbourhood Watch schemes who have advice to offer can contact the scheme co-ordinator on

castletonparknws@gmail.com.

 

Alternatively there is a page on Facebook - search Castleton Park NWS.

 

More updates will appear here as the group takes shape and starts meeting.

Surgery this Saturday

Our monthly surgery takes place this Saturday 21st February at York Road Methodist Church.

This is a week later than normal due to the church coffee morning being delayed due to a visiting choir group.  We prefer the surgery to take place during the coffee morning to make us more accessible to residents, though we can still deal with issues in confidence if required.

All are welcome as always.

Gresley FC in the Community

Our blog often highlights the work of community groups within the ward and the latest of these is Gresley FC.  Formed following the sad demise of Gresley Rovers, Gresley FC currently play in the 8th level of the Football pyramid in the Evo-Stick Northern Premier League Division One South.

Although the football club has been around for a long time and Gresley is a revered name in Non-League Football circles, the community is relatively new and we would like to help spread the word.

The following information explains the work of the community project and also gives contact details.

Gresley FC in the Community (GFCITC) is the community arm of Gresley Football club.

 The vision of Gresley FC in the Community is simple:

 To improve the lives of people within the local community by increasing participation in sport, and putting Gresley FC at the heart of the community

To do this GFCITC are constantly creating new programmes and partnerships to engage with the South Derbyshire community to be inclusive for all in a number of different ways.

 

Sunday Coaching Club:

 Gresley FC in the Community now offer football coaching sessions for boys and girls aged 5-11 (School year 1-6) on Sunday mornings all year round at Eureka Primary School, Midway.

Eureka Primary has kindly offered the school for our use, and sessions are open to all children, not just those who attend the school.

 

The sessions will be 90 minutes long and will aim to build confidence and teach new skills to children of all abilities within a fun and safe environment.  Each week there will be a different topic to develop skills through; passing, dribbling, shooting and finishing etc…

 

The sessions will cost just £4.50 each week and will be 9:00am – 10:30am.

To book your child onto our new Sunday club or for more info contact matt.toulson@gresleyfc.com or on 07940 936 966.

 Education & school partnerships

Gresley FC in the Community coaches are able to deliver a range of fun and exciting sessions within schools during curriculum time. The aim of this provision is to help develop children’s skills and promote physical activity and healthy lifestyles through differentiated sessions which meet each child’s individual needs. These sessions can also be used to engage with children who may not have the opportunity to take part in physical activity outside of school, whilst also improving the confidence of all participants taking part.

The format used is dependent on the requirements of the school and can be linked to specific sessions to incorporate topics such as generic football, multi-skills, FUNdamentals and healthy lifestyles. The flexibility of curriculum coaching means that it can also be used to support and enhance existing school events such as sports days and activity weeks.

 

Over 50’s Walking Football:

 

 

GFCITC have teamed up with South Derbyshire District Council’s Village Games scheme to support the new walking football sessions in Swadlincote.

Devised back in 2011 by the Chesterfield FC Community Trust, walking football’s basic aim is to keep people aged over 50 involved with the sport.

And now people living in South Derbyshire can get involved in walking football. Between 7pm and 8pm on Mondays, weekly walking football sessions are being held at Swadlincote’s Green Bank Leisure Centre.

GFCITC have been able offer our support to the scheme by helping the players enter teams into future tournaments to represent the club, and Gresley FC Chairman Barry North has kindly donated an old first team kit for the players to use during tournaments.  

Walking football at Green Bank Leisure Centre costs £3 per session, with those planning to take part urged to wear comfortable clothes suitable for walking around.

Community Day 2015:

On Saturday 18^th April, Gresley FC in the Community will be holding the annual Community Day. 

 From 11:00am, boys and girls (individuals or teams) aged between 5-11 years old will have the opportunity to play small sided games on the pitch, along with a skills area and penalty shootout!

There will also lots going on off the pitch to keep you entertained! Then after the small sided games everyone will be able to stay to watch the 1^st team’s final home game of the season vs Tividale.

There’s no additional charge to register children for the day, other than your normal match day entry of:

Adults - £ £7

Under 12’s - £1

For more info on anything regarding Gresley FC in the Community, please contact our Community Officer Matt Toulson:

 

Email: Matt.toulson@gresleyfc.com

Twitter: @GFCITC

Tel: 07940 936 966

Lollipop Crossing Issue and feedback given to Police.

As many in the ward will be aware the lollipop crossing patrol on Church Street outside St Georges School is in danger of being removed.  Following the announcement by Derbyshire County Council to remove 35 lollipop crossing patrols throughout Derbyshire and the Church Street patrol being named as one of them, a resident and concerned parent set up an e petition which very quickly gained over 200 signatures.  A link can be found below:

https://www.change.org/p/south-derbyshire-council-save-the-school-crossing-patrol-at-st-george-s-church-of-england-primary-school-in-church-gresley?recruiter=72207589&utm_campaign=signature_receipt&utm_content=forward&utm_medium=email&utm_source=share_petition

There is now a 12 week consultation period taking place during which residents are advised to collate as much evidence as possible to justify keeping the patrol.

The County Council faces savage Government cuts of £157million over 3 years and such was the seriousness of the cuts that all patrols were in danger of being cut due to the lack of funding.  Some funding has been secured for most patrols for the immediate future through health funding but those patrols based on Zebra or the variants of push-button crossings are those being cut.

Whilst the patrol is based on a crossing, there are fears for safety without the patrol due to the busy and congested nature of Church Street combined with significant amounts of foot and vehicle traffic, hence the significant tide of feeling.

These issues were brought up at the Planning Committee meeting for the application for the 306 houses behind Church Street but no further measures to counter this were made.  The increase in traffic will only make this worse.

There has also been an increase in reports of overweight vehicles using Church Street again.  This issue was escalated to the Police during the Safer Neighbourhoods meeting and will hopefully be looked into.  The weight limit is 7.5 tonnes.

Other funding is being looked into in case the consultation period does not change anything though this is far from guaranteed.

Monthly Surgery

Our first monthly surgery of 2015 takes place at the Methodist Church on York Road between 10am and 11am tomorrow, Saturday 10th January.  All Welcome.

New Blog from our Prospective Parliamentary Candidate

Our Prospective Parliamentary Candidate Cheryl Pidgeon has set up a new blog.  Cheryl has been doing a lot of campaigning throughout the district and many of you will have had her 1st Pidgeon Post newsletter late last year.

The blog will help keep up to date with the work Cheryl is doing and the issues being picked up on the doorsteps and nationally.  It is well worth a read.

The blog can be found on http://cheryl4sderbys.com and there is also a link on the front page of this blog.

The year ahead and the year gone by - Happy New Year from us

We would like to wish all of our residents a happy new year.  We hope you all had a good time over the festive period.

2015 is going to be an interesting year, especially with the elections coming up in May.

2014 was also an interesting year with residents contacting us on a whole variety of issues as always, many of which have been reported in the blog.  We would like to thank all of those people who came to see us at our surgery and also those who contacted us in other ways.  We will continue to be available to our residents through the surgery, the blog and newsletters as always and continue to ensure Church Gresley is well represented in the Council Chamber.

The ward has seen a few changes this year with the new school and the subsequent arrival of the nursery on the old school premises.  Whilst both of these are positive developments they have brought some issues in relation to parking in certain areas.

Education continues to be a major issue in the area with schools being heavily or over subscribed. We continue to challenge the contributions to education through development.

We are also keen to develop the infrastructure towards the Pennine Way Schools to make walking, scooting and cycling easier and ease the traffic issues.

The ward has outline permission for another 306 houses following a hotly contested planning committee decision last year despite a great deal of objection and an unsatisfactory point of access.  This will continue to be an issue in the coming year. 

We were reminded at our last surgery of the problems some families face, especially at Christmas time.  Our surgery takes place at the Methodist Church and the toy collection was handed over to the CVS.  There were a huge number of requests for the toy collection last year as well as food parcels.

The collection of toys for the Xmas appeal was staggering.

A glance at the health profile for the District shows that there are significant differences of life expectancy and poverty throughout and also the worrying trend of obesity.  The Citizens advice Bureau annual report highlighted the stark issue of debt throughout the district .

These issues are there to be faced and need to be done so through a combination of bodies and we look forward to further building these relationships this year.  In the midst of many harsh government cuts to funding this will never be more crucial.

2014 saw the arrival of some new faces to the ward, most notably our new vicar Mike Firbank and his family, our new PCSO Lee Walker and our new PC Kevin Cassidy.  We look forward to all working together going forward.

We also tragically we lost one of our Safer Neighbourhood Wardens, Darren Andre late in 2014.  We are grateful for the work he did in the ward and will miss him.