THE VILLAGER PUBLISHED BY NORMANDY PARISH COUNCIL ISSUE 52 MARCH 2015 PARISH COUNCIL PRECEPT You will shortly be receiving your new Council Tax Bills for the upcoming year. When you do, you will see that the Parish Council precept has increased substantially. The reason for this is that the Parish Council have finally obtained grants to carry out some improvements to Manor Fruit Farm and Normandy Common and have to match the spending. The grant monies have to be spent in this upcoming year and there is no ‘wriggle room’. The good news is that we have not increased the precept in each of the years since this Parish Council was elected by you in May 2011. It was in the following year that we actually managed to reduce the precept by £1600 to £85,000 at which it has remained ever since. Of that £28,000 represents the repayments taken out to cover the original loan of £400,000 to put in the basic roads and car parks and lighting at Manor Fruit Farm. I hope you will agree that we have managed your money well. The additional funds will be used to fund these grant aided projects: Trim Trail, Peace garden/Nuttery both on Manor Fruit Farm and on Normandy Common to replace the swings and provide CCTV to assist us to deal with increasing fly tipping and vandalism. We are also carrying out other works to assist with flood relief and providing more dog fouling bins. Peta Malthouse. Chairman OUR PLANS FOR MANOR FRUIT FARM (PHASE 2) NORMANDY’S SUCCESS STORY I hope you are delighted to hear that we successfully applied to have the whole of Manor Fruit Farm declared a ‘Field in Trust’ as part of Her Majesty’s Jubilee Celebration. The legal documents have yet to be drawn up but the effect of this is that the land will be used only for Sport and Leisure in perpetuity, i.e. forever. Normandy Parish Council took on a very long lease of this land as a means of preventing its development for housing back in the 1990’s. There are commitments in the lease to further develop the land with a ‘Traditional Orchard’ (now Peace Garden/Nuttery), Trim Trail, football pitches, both senior and junior and the provision of changing rooms that were originally to be built on the side of the Village Hall. Parish Clerk – Lt Col Leslie G A Clarke H: 01483 811108 M: 07710 230379 or Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.surreycommunity.info/normandypc 1 We intend to move Normandy FC to Manor Fruit Farm who will share part of their pitch with the Guildford Mavericks, a baseball team. Both organisations plan to develop youth teams. We have also invited the Ladies Rounders Club to join us in our efforts to raise funds mainly by way of sports grants to prepare the grounds and build a new pavilion. These are our new Development Partners. We need your input and there will be a number of events and meetings arranged, but the first and most important, is our Sports Day on May 16th. News about this event can be found below and updating news will be on the website at www.normandyparishcouncil.co.uk. *FLYMO MINITRIM* UNWANTED GIFT, USED ONCE. COMPLETE WITH INSTRUCTIONS. IDEAL FOR TRIMMING SMALL LAWN. £15 RING ANN - EVE 01483 232477 SPORTS FUN DAY - 16TH MAY Football Pitch/Green Gym MAKE A NOTE ON YOUR CALENDAR At the launch of the green gym you may remember the competitions we held involving outdoor table tennis and the street snooker game. We are staging the same activities this year and have invited our new partners the Guildford Mavericks Baseball and Softball Club, Normandy Football Club and the Normandy Rounders Club to also run some other competitions. THERE WILL BE PRIZES! There will be ‘Walk up Softball’ which will involve adults and children in 10 minute innings. You can stay or be substituted at each inning. There will be separate competitions throughout the event, for instance a ‘Home Run Derby’ and a ‘Pitching Speed Competition’. You will have an opportunity to sample softball which can be used as an introduction to baseball. These events will be run by Guildford Mavericks and if you are interested please do go to their website at www.guildfordmavericks.co.uk. The Football Club will give you the opportunity to hone your skills and participate in some competitions and the Rounders Club will also be there to stage some events. There will be a full range of refreshments; burgers, tea and cakes and a glass or two of beer to slake your thirst after your efforts. We also hope to have a few stalls selling their wares. The fun starts at 12 noon and will go on till about 4pm. 2 Council. Needless to say all Villagers are more than welcome to attend. In its two year existence the Flood the Forum has resolved a number of smaller flooding problems in the Village and has acquired £15K for a management study for the resolution of flooding throughout of the whole of the Normandy area. More long term flooding problems will of course take longer to be resolved not least due to the financial restrictions and costs but progress is being made. NORMANDY FLOOD FORUM The Forum meets once every six months and is jointly chaired by Jonathan Lord our MP and Councillor Peta Malthouse Chairman of Normandy Parish Council. The next meeting of the Flood Forum will be on Friday 20 March 2015 at 1220 hours at Emmanuel Church but check the Parish Council’s website nearer the time for confirmation of the actual venue for the meeting, it may change. CANINE PARTNERS Canine Partners is looking for volunteers to take on the early training of a puppy, which will one day go on to transform the life of someone with a physical disability. The Forum includes members of Surrey County Council (SCC), Guildford Borough Council (GBC), Thames Water, our SCC and GBC Councillors and of course members of Normandy Parish The Surrey Canine Partners puppy training satellite is looking for volunteers to train pups from around eight weeks until they are a year old. The puppy parents will also need to be able to attend weekly puppy classes. Reasonable travel expenses will be covered and puppy food, toys, 3 equipment, all veterinary costs and training is provided. The Canine Partner assistance dogs will then go onto advance training before being carefully matched to an applicant’s needs and lifestyle, no matter how challenging. The dogs are trained to help with everyday tasks such as opening and shutting doors, unloading the washing machine, picking up dropped items, pressing buttons and switches and getting help in an emergency. For further information on becoming a puppy parent email [email protected], call 01730 816017 or visit www.caninepartners.org.uk/surreylocal (SARG). The talk gave an introduction to all six native British reptile species, of which all live in Surrey. Each of the native species (Adder, grass snake, smooth snake, slow worm, common lizard and sand lizard) and their ecology was explored further. A non-native lizard, the common wall lizard from Europe was also talked about. The talk also looked at reptile habitats and the threats to those habitats and the reptiles. The talk finished with a look at how to help native reptiles through conservation including wildlife gardening. A selection of shed reptile skins (sloughs) were on display. If you want to find out more about Britain's reptiles then look at the SARG website www.surreyarg.org.uk and you can also send your reptile sightings to Danial Winchester via [email protected]. FRIENDS OF NORMANDY WILDLIFE On 17th February, Friends of Normandy Wildlife hosted a presentation on Britain's reptiles by Danial Winchester. Danial is Ecology Services Manager at Surrey Wildlife Trust and Amphibians Officer at Surrey Amphibian and Reptile Group 4 Friends of Normandy Wildlife welcome everyone to their Wildlife Talks about our local fauna and flora at 7.00 pm on the 3rd Tuesday of the month at Normandy Therapy Gardens and have the following 2015 Spring talks planned: Tuesday 17 March - Amphibians – ‘Leapers and Creepers’ the ecology of Amphibians; Tuesday 21 April - Orchids, making a map for Normandy; Bank Holiday Monday 4th May – St Mark’s Church fete showing wildlife photo’s taken in the village. We would love to hear about the wildlife you have seen in your garden or around the village or we may be able to help identify what you have seen. Saturday 23rd May – Heathland bird walk starting from Normandy Cricket Ground details to be advertised on village noticeboards before the event or contact us at [email protected]. VILLAGE FETE 2015 Our fantastic annual Village Fete this year will be on Monday 31st August at Manor Fruit Farm. If you can spare some time to help with the Fete, either before, during or after, please do contact the Parish Clerk. We would appreciate anything you could do to help. More details of the Fete in the next Villager. 5 services listed below, please contact Enquiries Direct on 01483 543599 or email them on [email protected]. Library Direct Friends and Family If you have a friend, neighbour or relative who is able to take out books on your behalf, we can register you at your local library for a Library Direct Friends and Family card. This will allow your friend, neighbour or relative to borrow up to 20 books (or 12 audio books) for you for up to nine weeks at a time. LIBRARY DIRECT SERVICES A new scheme has been introduced by Surrey County Council offering a range of library services to senior residents, mainly those unable to get to a library. If you are interested in any of the Library Direct Home Service - if no one is available to borrow books on your behalf, the Library Direct Home Service can help. We provide friendly volunteers checked by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) to deliver books to those that are unable to get into a library themselves. We can arrange for books and audio material to be brought to you on a regular basis by a volunteer. Our volunteers will select books and audio books based on your recommendations, favourite authors and reading preferences. We have a good selection of books in large print as well as standard print. We stock a large range of talking tapes and CDs which can be played on a standard machine. If you are interested in registering for this service, please 6 contact Enquiries Direct who will be able to register you over the phone or alternatively send the forms out to you. We also accept clients from residents living in sheltered accommodation. Library Direct Community Transport - We operate a community transport bus service to the libraries in the boroughs of Guildford and Woking to take readers directly to the library. A yearly registration fee paid to the community transport provider may apply, however the Library Service will cover your journey costs to the libraries. Please email [email protected] for further details. Normandy Village Hall Manor Fruit Farm, Glaziers Lane, Normandy, GU3 2DE Provides two halls and an upstairs meeting room in a beautifully maintained modern building with ample parking. DOG FOULING Please can the Parish Council remind all dog walkers that dogs are not allowed to foul anywhere in either of the children’s play areas. We are sad to report that there is still dog fouling in the Children’s Play Area near the Normandy Tennis Courts. Dog fouling notices are installed in this area reminding people not to let their dogs foul in these areas. We would like to thank all of those responsible owners who do pick up after their dog. However there are still faeces being seen on pavements and in the play areas, which means it is still a problem and a potential danger. Not only is dog faeces disgusting and harmful to the natural environment but it is also extremely dangerous if a child accidently comes in contact with it. Please do not leave dog faeces on the grass or footpaths. The main hall can cater for functions up to 150 people with a large stage also available. The small hall can cater for functions up to 60 people. Both halls have fully stocked kitchens for use with them. The meeting room is set up for meetings or small activities up to 40 people and have access to the small kitchen downstairs. For further information visit our website – www.normandyvillagehall.org.uk or contact our bookings secretary preferably by email – [email protected] or by phoning 07793541606 7 WOULD YOU LIKE TO ADVERTISE IN NORMANDY’S “THE VILLAGER”? ********************** If you are a local Normandy business and would like to advertise in The Villager, please contact Leslie Clarke on 01483 811108 or email [email protected]. THE VILLAGER GOES OUT IN MARCH, JUNE, SEPTEMBER & DECEMBER AND COSTS TO ADVERTISE PER YEAR ARE £50. Editor: Anna Beuden 01483 811055 or Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.surreycommunity.info/normandypc Printed by: St Marks Church, Wyke 8
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