Parish Council News

NEWS HERE AND THERE

NOTE FROM THE PARISH CLERK MIKE ELLIOTT

ANOTHER New Year starting as we say hello to the very important year of 2012 and take the opportunity to wish all residents all the best for the next twelve months.

Every year can be important for people in different ways but this year it surely must be important for many of us for the same reason – the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the London Olympics, both major events that could easily be described as a once-in-a-life experience.

The parish council is looking to mark the Diamond Jubilee in the best possible manner and is organising a number of events around the first weekend in June. A special working party has been established and it is currently looking at the arrangements for some suggested activities and will keep you well in formed as to what is being planned.

Following on very quickly after the excitement for those events comes the visit planned for us of the Olympic Torch. That will be in the village on June 28 and we know how fortunate we are to have been chosen as the only parish in the whole of Rushcliffe where it is to make an official visit. Preparations are in hand to give the torch its deserved welcome and again these details will be made known to everyone as soon as they have been confirmed.

Looking back to the end of 2011, the run-up to Christmas was as usual a hectic but very rewarding period for everyone and we found it heartening to see many people managed to find time to help the elderly and lonely in what can be a time of difficulty for them if they have no one to turn to. The festive events at The Grange and Grange Hall underlined the effort put in by so many people determined to help others, and for that they deserve all possible thanks. The lights switch-on took on a different form this year, and the earlier time of day for the event certainly played a part in getting several hundred people to see Father Christmas do the honours.

The Over 65’s Christmas party jointly staged by South Notts Academy and the parish council was a sell out again and regretfully we had to turn some elderly people away. But those who did get tickets said they were given a brilliant start to the Christmas season and were able to see first hand that this village has lots of youngsters who are a credit to their parents. The 200 over 65’s who attended went away well satisfied and full of praise for the youngsters.

The second festive concert staged by the 60-strong and very highly rated Nottingham Concert Band was another of the festive activities and successes. The high standard of the music produced by the band was well enjoyed by all those attending and a booking has already been put forward to the band for 2012.

Mike Elliott

Clerk to Radcliffe on Trent Parish Council

FESTIVE CONCERT SUCCESS

GRANGE HALL was full for the Festive Concert organised by the parish council in partnership with the highly rated 60-strong Nottingham Concert Band.

The band, making its second appearance at Radcliffe, produced a superb concert with Christmas and other music that included a community carol signing session for the audience.

The band has already been approached to come to Grange Hall in 2012 and currently a date is being agreed.

THE SEARCHERS CONCERT - ONCE AGAIN IN 2012

FOLLOWING on from the visit of the internationally famous The Searchers singing group to Grange Hall on Mothering Sunday last year and which was voted a tremendous success, arrangements have already been made for a return visit this year when the group will be celebrating their 50th year. Everyone who attended the show last year was full of praise for the entertainment they were given.

The sell out concert organised by the parish council was a show piece for the village and the number of compliments given to the council for organising it have been many.

It has been decided that the 2012 event will be in aid of the Maggie's Appeal organised through the Nottingham Post and which has been chosen as the charity of Coun. Gordon Moore as Mayor of Rushcliffe and who is of course one of our own parish council members.

The idea of the first concert originated from Grange Hall caretaker Sue Spray and it was her enthusiasm for it to be organised that was taken up by the parish council as it gave the event full support.

Sue organised a team of volunteers for the day before the show and on show day itself and was able to report afterwards that all had gone well with the entire event.

The group have been rebooked to appear again at Grange Hall next year, on Sunday April 1, and tickets are available from the parish council office. Although it is a long way off, interest is already high and very few tickets are available for sale.

OVER 65's START CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS AT GRANGE HALL PARTY

AROUND 200 people attended the Over 65’s annual Christmas Party held in Grange Hall and organised jointly by the South Notts Academy and the parish council.

Two hours of stage entertainment was provided by students at the Academy and youngsters from Primary School choirs helped ably along by Radcliffe’s own Bob Flower as MC and singer, and Cotgrave’s Teddy Alexander, the latter having had a lifetime of work in the entertainment business and which has taken him to many parts of the world.

The tea for the guests was prepared and served by members of staff and students at the Academy and Father Christmas turned up at the end for the afternoon to give out a present to everyone. Carols sing song was on offer and two games of bingo were also played. A free raffle with over 20 prizes was also organised. (click on picture to see a larger image)

COFFEE MORNING SUCCESS

COFFEE and mince pies were served for a couple of hours at Grange Hall when residents were invited to come along and chat with councillors and get them to answer any questions that may be forthcoming.

A great number of parishioners packed into the Trent Room enjoying free coffee and mince pies soaking up the festive feeling.

BOXING DAY CHARITY FOOTBALL

THE annual Boxing Day morning charity football match at Wharf Lane between a Radcliffe Olympic Vets XI and a Radcliffe Olympic Select was held again with the Vets XI clinching a 2-1 win to retain the trophy. Since this annual challenge game was first held in 1996 over £10,000 has been raised.

The two Charities to benefit this year will again be Macmillan Cancer Support and the Haematology Research Fund based at the City Hospital in Nottingham.

After the match, the players returned to the Black Lion for post match hospitality where the Cup was presented, raffle drawn and celebrations continued long after.

A minute silence was held before kick off in memory of Dave Petch who had refereed the match in recent years and is no longer with us. The game was officiated by Bob Norris who did a sterling job.

Visit the club's website for more details: http://radcliffeolympic.com/

CEMETERY CREMATED REMAINS PLOTS – PRE PURCHASE ARRANGEMENTS

A FEW years ago, the parish council created an area at the top of the cemetery using memorial kerbs for the interment of cremated remains.

Quite a number of the memorial kerbs have been sold already and these can be pre-bought for £285, with an inscribed lettered plaque costing a further £65.

To find out more, any interested parishioners should contact the parish council office at The Grange.

There are a few full graves still available in the cemetery - all of which are located between existing plots, but after that, following consecration, the cemetery extension will be available to be brought into use.

Parishioners are reminded that the cemetery is a lawned area and grave gardens are not permitted. Please ensure that any graves for which you are responsible comply with our Cemetery Regulations, a copy of which is available from the parish council office. To download an electronic copy click here .

THE QUEEN'S DIAMOND JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS

A "nationwide celebration" will be held to mark The Queen's Diamond Jubilee, the government has announced. Events to mark The Queen's 60 years on the throne will take place in the first weekend of June 2012, with an extra bank holiday being created. Lord Mandelson said it would be a "truly historic occasion" which would allow the British people to show their "pride and affection" for The Queen.

In 2012 HM the Queen will be celebrating her Diamond Jubilee — 60 years as Britain’s Ruling Monarch. It is of course also Olympic Year in Britain and celebrations for both events will be many and varied.

Thoughts on how the Jubilee will be celebrated are already under way and it is recognised that this is a unique opportunity to reinvigorate and reestablish an inclusive sense of local and national community and leading politicians are asking authorities to start planning for it now.

The Director of the New Culture Forum, Peter Whittle, said “We believe that the Diamond Jubilee could be an occasion which, if planned for thoroughly, would bring together many of the current initiatives and priorities concerned with the social cohesion of our society, in a way which would have a lasting and immensely fruitful and valuable impact.

“The Diamond Jubilee, which will take place immediately before London hosts the Olympic Games, also offers a unique and extraordinary opportunity to celebrate British history and achievement – something for which our education system has proved inadequate.

“We would like to see nationwide initiatives, sponsored wherever possible by private and commercial resources. There should be opportunities for local cultural bodies and institutions to develop projects celebrating British history and achievement, aimed especially at the young.

“Initiatives should be developed as early as possible, at the very grassroots of our society: with local community groups, residents associations, charities and local companies.

“The Diamond Jubilee could be a unique opportunity to reinvigorate and reestablish a real sense of local and national community.”

Queen Victoria celebrated her Diamond Jubilee as our Queen in 1897 and looking at what records we can find the village took part in the national celebrations a good deal. It is envisaged we will again in 2012 and hopefully the parish council and Grange Hall will play a leading role.

The parish council has appointed a working party to make arrangements for the Radcliffe celebrations and would welcome an input from any residents in the village. Contact the office to register your interest in being involved.

CUT BACK YOUR HEDGES PLEA TO HOUSEHOLDERS

RESIDENTS are being urged by the parish council to ensure they meet their obligation in regard to the way they deal with overhanging growth from their gardens.

This is the time of year when gardens are being put to bed for the winter and hedges and trees need to be given their Autumn cut and by law hedges must be kept within the curtilage or boundary of a property where they are adjacent to a footpath.

The width of the footpath in most instances should be about 1.6 metres and certainly hedges should not narrow the footway, obstruct the path or obscure the view of motorists turning out of a side road or driveway onto the highway.

Clerk Mike Elliott says the council has been made aware of a number of properties that do not conform to the law even after their Autumn cut and in some cases the street lamps are still sitting in the middle of an overgrown hedge.

The council is asking for residents to check if they have an offending hedge and to ensure that you cut it back within the coming weeks before Notts County Council completes a survey of all hedges. Failure to do so could result in the County Council taking action to remedy the situation, potentially at a cost to the property owner.

The request is also to ask that householders ensure that overhanging branches of trees are well above adult height so as not to cause any injury to passing pedestrians especially with the nights drawing in.

The clerk says they would ask all residents to be mindful of overgrown hedges and trees in respect of the visually impaired residents of Radcliffe on Trent.

DOG FOULING NUISANCE

THE COUNCIL is receiving more and more complaints over the nuisance of dog fouling, particularly on the Cliff Top area, and wishes to confirm it has a zero tolerance attitude towards these incidents and will not hesitate to take action against offending dog owners.

The council appeals to residents to assist us in this matter both by ensuring they pick up any mess left by the dog or acting as an observer and report to us any incident they see. The council will seek assistance from Rushcliffe Borough Council in taking the necessary action against a dog owner who fails to clear up any mess left by their animal.

HOUSEBOUND LIBRARY HELP NEEDED

MORE helpers are required by the WRVS to assist with running a library service for housebound people in Radcliffe. It organises deliveries of books to people in their homes every two weeks and anyone who can help should contact Radcliffe Library on 0115 933 2212. The ladies who supply this service find it very rewarding and hope they can find a few more to join the team.

PROMOTING RADCLIFFE NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
A PLEA has been made to us to ask you to keep telling your friends, neighbours and residents of Radcliffe about the Neighbourhood Watch Group. If anyone wants to start a new scheme, then please feel free to tell them to contact David Griffin on 0115 912 3605 / 07789763412, Chairman and Area Co-ordinator for the Radcliffe-on-Trent Group of Neighbourhood Watch Schemes and he will do the rest.

He says: “As you know, I would love to see the group expand year on year until we have got the majority of streets in Radcliffe NHW.“

A SPECIAL BIRTHDAY OR WEDDING ANNIVERSARY? - THEN TELL US PLEASE!

A CALL is being made by the parish council for information on any village resident celebrating a golden or diamond wedding anniversary or 90th, 95th or 100th birthday. The council would wish to mark the event with a small presentation and asks that anyone celebrating in this way contacts us or asks their friends to do so. The council office is at Grange Hall where the phone number is 933 5808 and where the clerk Mike Elliott will be pleased to hear from anyone.

POLICING - Pc Steve Mathias is our Police Beat Manager and he can be contacted on 07525 226687 for non-emergency calls. For non-emergency contact to the police in general call 101 and for an emergency where life is threatened or an offence is in progress still dial 999.

SINCE the Grange Hall website of the parish council was designed - www.radcliffe-grangehall.co.uk - there have been over 23800 hits to it including some from the United States of America, Belgium and India.