Council News

Village Plan Survey
After several months of hard work the Village Plan team are now ready to ask you as residents for your views on the big issues affecting Keyworth. With this News you’ll have received a copy of a questionnaire which is being sent to all Keyworth households.

In the questionnaire there is a separate section for each topic - housing, business, young people etc - and the questions have been made as clear as possible. Your answers you give will help the team decide where to focus their efforts going forward and where development proposals will be needed in the eventual Action Plan.

It is really important that we receive as many responses as possible. Can I ask you please to fill this in – it should only take 15 minutes and I think you’ll find it very interesting. The more people who give us their views the better we will be able to respond to what the village wants. You can find more information on this and the prizes on offer in Trevor Dobson’s article in Keyworth News.

Heritage plaque
If you have been into Keyworth Village Square recently, we hope you have had chance to admire the heritage board which has been installed opposite the Parish Church. It is the first of two planned boards for the village centre, providing information about the history within Keyworth’s Conservation Area.

Funded jointly by Keyworth and Ruddington Rotary Club (to celebrate the Centenary of Rotary International) and the Keyworth Parish Council, the boards aim to give residents and visitors a flavour of Keyworth’s heritage. Thanks also go to Keyworth and District History Society for their input to the text and illustrations and to members of the Conservation Area Advisory Group for the many hours spent in planning, design and consultation sessions. It was a team effort which took time and considerable expertise to arrive at such a professional piece of ironwork. Pop along and have a read if you haven’t already done so.

Nature Reserve
On Sunday 18th May the Nature Reserve will be holding its Open Day. Wardens will be on hand from 11 till 4 to show you around and point out interesting animal, bird and plant life. If you have not been before the Nature Reserve is situated down Lings Lane – there is an information board with directions as you leave Main Street.

Floral Displays
I’m delighted to announce that later this month you will see hanging flower baskets appearing around the village. Local shops and businesses have agreed take over 50 baskets in what we hope will be an annual display. Where possible we will be using the brackets set up for last year’s Christmas trees.

Tony Kemmer (Chairman of Keyworth Parish Council)

Annual Parish Meeting – Your Meeting

In this News you will find an invitation to our Annual Parish Meeting on Monday April 28th at 7.30 in the Centenary Lounge. On your behalf I have invited Trevor Dobson to give us a progress report on the Village Plan which with your help is taking a long look at the future of the village.

This is also the chance for you to ask any questions either relating to the Parish Council or the Village Plan. Afterwards we invite you to stay for a chat over a glass of wine. Please join us on the 28th.

Car Parking
On 21st February Rushcliffe Borough Council (RBC) hosted a meeting in Keyworth to discuss the vexing problem of parking in the village as part of a Borough wide review of car parks. (RBC is the owner of the car parks on Church Drive and Bunny Lane). The Borough Council were particularly interested to hear local views on questions such as the use of Pay and Display, time limited free parking, penalties etc.

Members of the Parish Council who were present argued strongly that looking simply at car parks was not enough – we need also to think about what happens on Keyworth’s roads and consider the use of more yellow lines, residents only parking and provision for non residents working in Keyworth. There are no magic solutions here but we would be interested in your views. Please email me at tonykemmer@btinternet.com.

Expenditure Review

The Parish Council has become increasingly concerned about rising costs and the need the control any increases in the precept. Over the last few years we have used accumulated reserves to make some major investments such as the building of the Feignies Room. As our reserves are now getting depleted we need to look much harder at all Parish Council expenditure to avoid unnecessary increases in the precept. Over the next few months we will be putting everything under the microscope, both internal expenditure and the grants we make to other village organisations. I’ll keep you informed.

Britain in Bloom

A group of residents lead by Cllr. David Roos has decided to enter Keyworth in this year’s East Midlands Britain in Bloom competition. At a meeting on 27 February the group decided that there was a lot that could be done to make Keyworth more attractive – entering the competition would be a great incentive.

As part of this the Parish Council is hoping to arrange for hanging flower baskets where the Christmas trees were installed. As residents you are invited to get involved either by helping the working group or by entering your garden in the “best residential garden” competition. Further information is available on our web site – www.keyworthparishcouncil.org , via the Parish Council office or by contacting David Roos at roosda@mac.com.

Tony Kemmer (Chairman of Keyworth Parish Council)

We're entering the East Midlands in Bloom competition this year!

Several people attended a public meeting on 27 February to discuss the idea. The group consisted of members of the public and 2 borough councillors.

It was unanimously agreed that we should participate in the competition for the following reasons:

• Make the village look great in summer.
• Show pride in our community.
• Boost business!
• Create focal points.
• Highlight the village entrances.
• Involve the community.

To ensure there is some colour in the village this summer the parish council has committed to hanging flower baskets from the brackets installed for the Christmas trees. The council will be contacting local businesses shortly to discuss the details.

The Scouts have said they will take part in any community activities that are organised.

This is a whole community activity and requires support from volunteers and local businesses. Even if you cannot help with activities around the village you can participate by entering your garden into the “best residential garden” competition. The Keyworth – Village in Bloom committee will select the top 3 gardens in the village. The best gardens will be forwarded for judging by the external East Midlands in Bloom judges.

Further details of the “Best Residential Garden” competition are available by clicking here, from the parish council or by contacting David Roos at roosda@mac.com

There are also special merit awards for:
 Best school garden

 Best pub garden or display

 Best retail / commercial premises

This is everybody’s opportunity to make a difference to the village!

Annual Precept 2008/9
You will shortly be receiving details of the Parish Council's spending plans for next year and the associated precept. In addition to its normal activities, the Council, as a result of listening closely to the wishes of residents, is contemplating other projects and undertakings for which it needs to raise finance, including:
Provision for financing a local youth worker.
Ongoing development of the Burial Ground.
Further Christmas lights and decorations.
Enhanced floral displays.

The budgeted Parish Council precept for 2008/9 equates to £68.74 (approx. £1.32 per week) for a Band D property.

Annual Parish Meeting - Your Meeting
The Annual Parish Meeting, which will be held at 7.30pm on Monday 28th April is an opportunity for you to quiz your councillors and share your ideas and thoughts on issues affecting people in our community. The event will be chaired by parish council chairman councillor Tony Kemmer and will include reports from the team of residents running the parish plan process and an update on our entry to the East Midlands in Bloom competition.

After the formal meeting there will be a chance to chat over a glass of wine. We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible on April 28th.

Skatepark needs your graffiti
Are you a young artist or do you graffiti tag? A project has been proposed to paint graffiti art on the concrete surfaces of the skate park on Platt Lane. We are looking for young people to volunteer to help. For more information please contact Cllr. Debbie Boote on 937 4644 or email debbie@sboote.demon.co.uk.

In Memory
We would like to express our gratitude to Mr Price, a Keyworth resident, whose generous donation in memory of his wife will cover the cost of creating a new avenue of cherry trees in the, soon to be developed, third section of the burial ground, replacing other trees there and also in the nature reserve. Such a wonderful gift will be a source of delight to many people.

New Councillor
In January the council coopted Chris Kemp, with immediate effect, to fill the vacancy created after the resignation last year of Cllr Ian Mackenzie-Bell. Councillor Kemp helped to create the Parish Plan for Cold Ash in West Berkshire. When the Parish Plan was adopted by the Parish Council and by West Berkshire District Council he became Chairman of the Cold Ash Community Partnership, the body set up to progress the action plans. He also served on Cold Ash Parish Council, including its Planning Committee.

Hedges and Footpaths
Early spring is a good time of year to trim back any hedges and shrubs overhanging public footpaths. Thanks for keeping your boundaries in good shape and best wishes to you as you support the efforts to make Keyworth 'bloom'.

Cllr. Tim Heeley
standing in for the parish chairman

The Village Hall
The work to improve our facilities in the Village Hall complex has continued into the New Year. Those of you who use the Hall will notice that we have recently arranged for the wooden floor to be resurfaced. This now looks beautiful and has given the Hall a real ‘lift’. We have also arranged for the reframing of the tapestries which were designed and sewn many years ago by six needlewomen of Keyworth.

In the Centenary Lounge work will soon start on refurbishing the seating. We had lots of discussions about the choice of material – I hope you like what we have chosen. You should start seeing the new upholstery appearing fairly soon.

Parish Council/KPFA lease
Over the last few months members of the Parish Council and Keyworth Playing Fields Association have spent a great deal of time drawing up a new lease for the land and buildings which the Council permits to be used by the various sporting clubs. We had planned to do this for some time but had to accelerate the process to enable the tennis club to secure a grant for new floodlighting. At the time of writing the latter has not been confirmed – we’re keeping all our fingers crossed!

Britain in Bloom
At the last Community Liaison meeting we discussed the possibility of entering Keyworth in the 2008 Britain in Bloom competition. This is organised on a regional basis and the theme for this year is ‘Local Roots’. Towns and villages that enter are judged against five criteria – floral displays, landscaping, sustainable development, environmental quality and public awareness.

In our discussion we felt that it was not realistic to aim for an award this year. If however we had the support of a number of you, the residents, we could enter this year as a trial run. (We don’t have to pay for the first year entry). By going for this we might end up with lots more floral displays around the village which would make the effort worthwhile.

This project is being led David Roos. If you have any ideas on this or would like to get involved please contact David on roosda@mac.com. You can find more information about the competition on the regional web site - www.eastmidlandsinbloom.co.uk.

Visit of Local Area Commander
The Police Local Area Commander Jeff Haywood visited the January Council meeting to explain his approach to policing and answer our questions. He is very keen that, when they are not responding to incidents, his local officers take time to listen to residents concerns and follow them up with appropriate actions. To support this the Council routinely meet the Beat Manager Emma Thacker. If you have any issues that you would like to be discussed at one of these meetings please inform me or Cllr. Tony Grice via the office (contact details on facing page).

Tony Kemmer (Chairman of Keyworth Parish Council)

Should we enter this competition? The attached document contains some facts and information which is currently being considered by the parish council and others in the village. Please feed your thoughts on this to the parish clerk - Neil Grocock.

At it's meeting on 14 January the council resolved to coopt Chris Kemp, with immediate effect, to fill the vacancy created after the resignation last year of Cllr Mackenzie-Bell. Click on the heading to read Councillor Kemp's profile.

Happy New Year everybody! I hope that you enjoyed the festivities and have had a good holiday break.

Christmas Lights
Can I thank those of you who came to the switching on of the Christmas lights in the Square on 7th December - it was a lovely occasion which we plan to repeat next year. A big thank you to the staff and pupils at Willowbrook School for the carol singing. Thanks are due also to Stephen Philips for all the electrical work and David Price for his help with the assembly of the trees. If there are shops which missed out this year but would like a tree next year perhaps they could contact the Council Office.

War Memorial
You will have noticed that we now have a new war memorial and surrounding garden at the corner of Bunny Lane and Nottingham Road. Thanks to Mr Cameron Ross, the landowner, and the British Legion this remarkable transformation was achieved very rapidly and in time for the annual Remembrance Service. I am delighted that the memorial has retained its place in clear public view at the centre of the village.

Rushcliffe Community Awards 2007
Keyworth Meadow Nature Reserve was awarded a certificate by Rushcliffe Community Partnership in recognition of the commitment shown in improving the life of the Borough. It was presented to Ken Jackson, Manager, by the Mayor of Rushcliffe at the Award ceremony on 8th November 2007 at County Hall. The Parish has been managing the Reserve since 1985 with a team of very willing Wardens. Occasional working parties are organised by Neil Pinder, at the moment on Sunday mornings. If you would like to help, please contact Neil or Ken.

Village Plan
Over the last 3 months the Village Plan steering group has been busy thinking about how best to organise the work of consulting with residents. It has decided to split this into 7 themes – business & commerce, health & welfare, housing & planning, leisure, the environment, transport and young people. For each theme an Action Group will be set up at an all volunteers’ meeting in January. If you missed the public meeting on 17th September but would like to get involved please contact either myself at tonykemmer@btinternet.com or Trevor Dobson, the steering group chairman at thdob@hotmail.co.uk.

Visit of Local Area Commander
The Rushcliffe local area commander, Inspector Jeff Haywood, will be attending the Parish Council meeting on Monday 14th January to discuss his approach to local policing and to hear your concerns about crime and anti-social behaviour. Please join us at that meeting. If there are particular questions you would like to put to Inspector Haywood it would help if you could submit these in writing beforehand to the Council Office by 4th January.

Farmers’ Market
The Parish Council has been assessing the feasibility of having a farmers’ market in Keyworth. A lot of positive feedback has been gathered from residents who see this as a great way of encouraging people to shop locally. It is most likely that the farmers’ market will be selling goods such as fresh fruit and vegetables, hot food, meat, cheese and items for the garden e.g. pots and plants. Currently the Council is considering issues such as where and when a market might take place and how it might be organised. We’ll keep you updated on progress.

Tony Kemmer (Chairman of Keyworth Parish Council)

Twinning
As I’m sure you know the Twinning Association recently celebrated 30 years of twinning with Feignies. As part of this Keyworth was awarded the Gold Medal of the French National Assembly, a singular honour given to recognise the huge warmth and affection which the residents of Feignies feel towards Keyworth and its community. On behalf of the Parish Council I would like to thank Norman and Maureen Logan and their committee for the huge amount of work they have put in over the years to make Twinning such a success.

Youth Club
I am delighted to report that the Youth Club has now reopened and is currently open and manned by youth workers on two evenings per week. This is a great facility which we would like to see being used by young people on other evenings during the week. To do this needs a local organisation prepared to take the responsibility and provide a rota of volunteers. If you have any thoughts on this please contact me on tonykemmer@btinternet.com or by mail via the office.

Village Plan
Work on the Village Plan has now started and is being led by a steering group consisting of 7 residents. The team’s initial focus is on thinking through how to turn the many issues you have raised into separate pieces of work to be handed over, in due course, to individual Action Groups. It hopes before Christmas to ask for volunteers to join the Action Groups each of which will work on an individual topic e.g. facilities for young people.

Recycling
It is good news that once again we have glass recycling in Keyworth. New sound-deadening glass banks have been installed in the Bunny Lane car park. According to the Borough Council these are 11 decibels quieter and hopefully, therefore, will be much less of a nuisance to surrounding residents.

Parish Council
You may have read suggestions in the Press that the Parish Council is somehow involved in party politics. Can I make it clear that, whatever the party allegiances of individual councillors, it is Parish Council policy that all discussions are totally non-political. Our aim throughout is to do what as a group we think is best for Keyworth.

As a result of a recent resignation, we are looking to co-opt a resident to the Council. If you might be interested in this and would like to discuss it please let me know via email at tonykemmer@btinternet.com or by post via the office..

Christmas Messages
And now some Christmas messages. Can I first congratulate Ellen Constable from Willowbrook Primary School who has won the Parish Christmas Card competition. All entries chosen as finalist and winning designs will be on display in Keyworth Library during December. You’ll find a copy with this News.

I’m also delighted to announce that, from early in December, Keyworth will be decorated with Christmas trees both on the Parade and around the Square. Thanks to a team of Councillors and the help of the village handyman, Alan Wilkins, we’ve finally achieved what’s been talked about for many years. The great ‘switch on’ is planned for Friday December 7th at 5pm. Please join us in the Square.

And finally, can I on behalf of the whole Parish Council wish you and your families all the very best for Christmas and the New Year. 2007 has been a busy year – we expect 2008 to be busier still and we look forward to working with you.

Tony Kemmer (Chairman of Keyworth Parish Council)

Global Warming
On Wednesday October 17th over 40 residents met in the Centenary Lounge to see Al Gore’s film “An Inconvenient Truth”. The film was excellent and we had a good discussion afterwards with questions answered by members of the Nottinghamshire Rural Community Council and Rushcliffe Borough Council. It was clear that there are numerous opportunities for Keyworth, if it so chooses, to reduce its carbon emissions and play its part in combating climate change. This may well be one of the topics under review in the forthcoming Village Plan.

Closure of HSBC Keyworth Branch and the Wolds Drive Post Office
The imminent closure of the HSBC Keyworth branch was discussed last month at a meeting between members of the Parish Council and Borough Council and representatives of HSBC. We expressed our serious concerns about the impact on residents of the loss of this banking service and we asked HSBC both to reconsider the closure and, if this is inevitable, to look at possible alternative sites for the cash machine.

You’ll also be aware of the planned closure of the Post Office branch on Wolds Drive. The Parish Council has written expressing its concern over the impact on residents who live in the surrounding area. If you feel strongly about this I would encourage you to write before 12th November to the Post Office. Details can be found in the leaflet “Proposed branch closure” which can be picked up in Budgens.

Redevelopment of the Old Play Area
Proposals have been drafted for the possible redevelopment of the old play area which has lain unused for the last 5 years. It is hoped to level out the land and create a facility primarily for use by junior tennis players. It will take some considerable time to pin down the site specification and find out whether the Tennis Club can obtain the necessary funding from outside bodies. We will keep you informed of progress.

Protecting your Property
Over the summer there were a large number of burglaries many of which were ‘opportunistic’ i.e. the thieves took advantage of poor household security. The most common example is where car keys can be easily found hanging inside a front door.
Can I ask you, particularly with the festive season approaching, to be vigilant and not make things easy for our unwelcome visitors.

Parish Council Vacancy
Due to a recent resignation the Council may be in a position in the near future to co-opt a new Councillor. If you have an interest in the work the Parish Council does and feel you have something to contribute please let me know either via email to tonykemmer@btinternet.com or by post via the office (address on facing page).

Tony Kemmer (Chairman of Keyworth Parish Council)