PC Moore reported that there had only been 41 incidents since the last meeting and these involved domestic dispute, crime incidents, ASB, theft from houses, criminal damage, theft from Haslington Hall, and assault on Crewe Road.  Anyone concerned about suspicious behaviour is asked to phone 101 which will put them in contact with the police.  This is the new number for non emergency calls but will ultimately be the number for all calls to contact the police.  The emergency number still remains 999.  If any local matter needs to be reported to PC Moore please ring the voicemail on 0845 458 6370.  Our PCSO is Colin Charlesworth who works alongside PC Nick Moore.

Speeding motor scooters along the road at Winterley were deemed to be dangerous as they were driving too close to the cars they were following and would not be able to stop without causing an accident.  The problem of speeding traffic was again a matter of concern and it was suggested the Parish purchase a Smiley Sid to bring the drivers attention to the speed they were doing.  However an article in the LCR magazine supplied to councillors gave a different aspect on this subject and this was to be considered at the next meeting.  The Chairman said he knew someone who would be interested helping in the speed watch campaign and if anyone would be interested in joining this would they please contact 0845 458 6370 and leave a message for PC Moore

The Carol Service around the Christmas Tree was a success once again in spite of the very cold weather.  Unfortunately Father Christmas was not able to attend in his sleigh this year but was in attendance to distribute sweets to the children.

The Christmas Tree on the Village Green was splendid this year and all councillors agreed it was outstanding and very beautiful.

The allotment forum posted on the Haslington.org website had not had a very good response.  If anyone is able to suggest sites for allotments please go onto the Parish website.

The Ward visit by Councillor Michael Jones, Cabinet Member for East Cheshire was made in December and Councillors Casey, Hovey and Hammond accompanied

him.  They all thought the visit was very successful and agreed that Councillor Jones understood the concerns regarding the villages and countryside in a positive way.

The Crewe Green Development is very concerning as the powers that be seem to be ignoring the protests made by residents outside the Hamlet although this development would affect Haslington in a very negative way.  More houses in this area would put a very great strain on schools and doctors in the Haslington area, the existing facilities for residents are not great, unfortunately this seems to be a matter of little concern to the developers and the Duchy Estate.

Whether free bus passes were to be retracted was queried by a parishioner. This was discussed and the Clerk was to ascertain whether Cheshire East were indeed to cease issuing free bus passes in the near future.

The Diamond Jubilee celebrations were going ahead nicely and the design for the celebratory mug was chosen by councillors at this meeting.  Both the Haslington Primary and the Dingle School had submitted designs for this mug and the winners of each age group would receive a voucher for £10 and the overall winner would receive a voucher for £25.  These would be presented in the near future to the winners by Councillors Lee Allen, Doris Farrall and Sharon Gorman.

Councillor D Farrall

The Clerk was instructed to obtain the cost of purchasing a ‘Smiley Sid’ from the Highways Division to enable monitoring of  speeding traffic in various areas in the Parish.

The Chairman thanked everyone who attended the Remembrance Day Services and made special reference to the band.  Councillor Hovey stated that over £3,200 was collected for The Poppy Appeal from the Parish.

The Chairman also stated that the Clerk had received four applications for an Allotment from three premises within the Parish.  He stated that a suitable reply would be placed on the Haslington Website.

Councillor Hovey stated that he had visited Haslington Hall along with Councillor Hammond and the Planning Officer Declan Clerey.  The owner of the Hall wishes to replace the existing marquee and if the venture is successful to erect a permanent building in this area.

The Carol Singing around the Christmas Tree was organised with mince pies, coffee and tea to be served in the Red Cross Hut after the event.  Hopefully Father Christmas would attend with sweets for the children.

Councillor Lee Allen had organised a competition in the two Primary Schools for a design to go onto the commemorative mugs.  Councillors Lee Allan, Sharon Gorman and Doris Farrall would judge the winning entries in the next week.

After apologies for absence and declaration of interests the Chairman closed the meeting to allow Colin Lythgoe of the Haslington Conservationists to take control of the Gold Award that was presented to them at the recent North West in Bloom event in recognition of the valuable work the conservationists do to keep a little of the countryside as it should be. The trophy  can now been seen in the Food for Thought Bakery in Haslington.

Haslington and Winterley were awarded Silver Certificates for the floral displays throughout the Parish. Congratulations and appreciation was expressed to all who took part in making these awards possible.

The Best Kept Garden Awards were held recently.  This is a lovely community event giving a little back to all who make the parish look so good and pleasing to the eye. A letter had been received by the Chairman via Webmaster@Haslington.org congratulating all who made this event so successful..

PC  Nick Moore reported that very little criminal activity took place in the month of October.  Sadly we are to lose the services of  PCSO Aynsley Threadgold who is leaving to join the British Transport Police and is not going to be replaced leaving PC Moore and PCSO Colin Charlesworth to police the parish.  Aynsley was well known locally and did an invaluable job making and maintaining contact with the youth in the area and he will be clearly missed.

Councillor Lee Allen asked PC Moore about the road closures for street parties on 3 June 2012 to allow the safety of these events to take place.  He was not sure of the procedures at the moment but said if possible he would find out for the next meeting.

Parking on pavements was still an issue and if this parking resulted in the pavement being completely blocked forcing people to step into the road prosecution was very likely.

Dogs on the Gutterscroft Playing Field was again a cause for concern.  The noticeboards state quite clearly that dogs are not allowed on the playing field but selfish dog owners are ignoring the signs and even worse, allowing dogs to foul the field where children are playing.  A complaint was made to the Parish Council that a pitbull type of dog had picked up a ball in its mouth that was being used by the children to play football and popped it.  The ball cost £15.00 and the owner of the dog had the nerve to say the boys should have picked the ball up before the dog got to it.  Complaints have been made about children coming home with dog dirt on their clothes after playing on the field.  The Parish Council urgently requests that dog owners do not exercise their dogs on the playing field and the Dog Warden is to be notified about this problem.

If a street light is out and reported to the Parish Council or direct to Cheshire East could the number of the light be noted to enable repairs to be made more quickly.  This number is clearly marked on the lamp post.

A request for allotments has again been made and this matter is being looked at by the Chairman.  Requests regarding allotments made earlier in the year had shown little ongoing interest and no progress had therefore been maintained.

It was reported that the Arriva 37 and 38 bus service ran along Crewe Road in Haslington every 20 minutes Monday to Saturday. The route and the timetable for the 20 service has been altered and now runs via Crewe Road, the Dingle and Primrose Avenue.  The first of this service is timed for 09.08 at Primrose Avenue 09.14 at Oakland Avenue and continues through to the Dingle.  If parishioners wish to access the full timetable for this service please go the First website www.firstgroup.com or telephone 01244 973330

Councillor Mrs D Farrall

The meeting was opened with the first item on the agenda and then the Chairman closed the meeting to allow attending residents to state their concerns over the recent planning consultations held recently at the Cricket Club.  Councillor John Hammond explained the position to the members, who incidentally were meeting with an official from the planning department on 10 October.  No leaflets from Cheshire East regarding the planning consultation had been received and it was only advertised to parishioners by notices on the noticeboards and Haslington website. Concerns were expressed over the potential sites shown for development; it was explained that the sites in question needed to be submitted for status change, the sites shown were not currently for development and the Greenfield status would have to be changed to development status. Residents are urged to look on the website Haslington.org for further news regarding this matter.  The Parish Council welcomed the input from the attending residents and assured them that they would be following this matter closely.

The meeting was then re-opened to allow PC Nick Moore to bring the Parish Council up to date with police matters.  He stated that overall crime figures for the month were quite good.  He reported incidents of shoplifting and garden equipment being stolen from sheds, nine Anti Social behaviour incidents and speeding in Crewe Road Haslington and Winterley.  Councillors were concerned over the speeding of vehicles entering and leaving the Haslington and asked that Smiley Sam be situated nearer to the Cartwright Road end of the village.

A cover was missing from over an inspection water tap in Waterloo Road and it was deemed quite dangerous for pedestrians as it was situated near to the edge of the roadway that had no footpath.

The Car Park at the rear of Waterloo Road/Bargain Booze had finally been adopted by Cheshire East Council

Village events were to be advertised on the website for the Parish – Haslington.org.  Hopefully this will help organisers to liaise with others to alleviate the numerous events that are scheduled to take place on the same day.  The Ward Meeting with Councillor Michael Jones, Resources Portfolio Holder from Cheshire East, Councillor John Hammond and Councillor Alan Casey will take place on 14 December.  This meeting has been rescheduled from October.

The Remembrance Service will take place on 13 November and children from the village schools have been asked to join the parade on that day.

The amount of dog fouling and horse droppings on the pavements seem to be on the increase and it is concerning that people do not care about the mess they create for others.

It was reported that the village noticeboards need refurbishing and the sign at Kents Green Lane needs maintenance.

The Carol Service will take place on 16 December on the Village Green with Father Christmas and Winterley Band in attendance more, details in next months Parish Magazine.

The Christmas Tree for the Village Green will be ordered in November and Councillor Bill Herriman and Councillor Doris Farrall will once again be responsible for the ordering of the Christmas Tree.

The Diamond Jubilee celebration arrangements are ongoing.

Councillor D Farrall

He said he had attended the Crewe Golf Club 100 year celebrations and had been welcomed and very impressed with the events of the evening.

The Red Cross Flower Show that had taken place recently had been disappointing with the low attendance of the public but the exhibitions had been very good.  Perhaps more advertising need to take place next year to make the public aware of this very worthwhile village event.

It was suggested that leaflets advertising village events could perhaps be made available to parishioners via the local shops.  It was also suggested that a diary could be made available for organisers to register their events to cut down the duplication of these and enable more supporters to attend

Two cycle racks were to be installed one on the Village Green and one at Winterley Pool.  It is thought these facilities were needed to enable cyclists to leave their machines in safety.

A new kitchen had been installed at the Gutterscroft and had been warmly welcomed as a much needed improvement to the Centre.  Ongoing improvements are in the pipeline.

Councillor Ken Lightfoot had been appointed to the Community Resistance Programme.

It was reported that Haslington, Winterley and the Haslington Conservationists had achieved an award in the North West in Bloom competition and the awards  would be presented at Southport in October.

It was also suggested that parishioners should be aware that to take dogs on a footpath in a field that has cows with calves occupying it was very dangerous.  If anyone should find themselves in the position of being among cows that seem threatening and liable to stampede they are advised to let the dog go as it is the dog  they seem to see as a threat to their young calves.  This may seem to be a very cruel thing to do but the dog has a much better chance of escaping the herd than the dog handler.

It was reported that rats had been seen in various locations throughout the village and the advise to anyone seeing these vermin in the vicinity of their property is to ring the Cheshire East Pest Control Unit.

D Farrall Haslington PC

There had been various damage to cars in the area and anti social behaviour by 2 groups of young people. Anyone having any concerns were urged to contact the voicemail of the local police on 0845 458 6370 and leave a message for PC Moore or one of the Community Police responsible for Haslington. Otherwise ring 0845 458 0000 and after reporting be sure to ask for an incident number.

The Chairman congratulated Councillor Allen on the success of the Fun Day, he thought it was the best yet She replied that she could not have done this on her own, thanks go to all who helped in anyway shape or form for helping to make the Fun Day the success it undoubtedly was

The Chairman said he and Councillor Hovey had been around the village to ascertain the open spaces maintained by Cheshire East. Councillor Hovey had done a very comprehensive presentation that was presented to the Parish Council.

Car parking on pavements was also a complaint raised, selfish car parking restricting the passage of pedestrians with either push chairs or wheelchairs is a problem throughout the area and parishioners are urged to ensure passage is accessible at all times.

The resurfacing of Roseberry Way through Primrose Avenue to Crewe Road has been postponed until 27 July.

A new barrier at the Dingle end of the footpath leading to Gutterscroft is to be erected in place of the gate and various footpaths were identified as being in need of hedge cutting.

Parishioners were being urged to be on their guard against bogus IT callers. These callers were asking for information to personal accounts that should not be released over the phone.

The problem of dog fouling around the Church Hall and churchyard was reported. Dog fouling in public areas is against the law and stickers were being provided to make these dog owners aware of the fact.

At the last meeting concern had been raised about the disposal of the green bins. It has been ascertained that the wheels and axles were taken by the contractors and would not be going into landfill, the body of the bins were going to be recycled.

There was a report that rats were seen in Winterley in various locations and anyone with any concerns regarding this matter was urged to ring Pest Control on 01270 686601.

There remains a vacancy on the Parish Council and anyone wishing to apply should ring the Clerk to the Parish Council, Mrs Joan Adams, on 01270 568760. The vacancy will be advertised on all the parish noticeboards.

Councillor Lee Allen and Councillor Doris Farrall have been designated to draw up plans to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Celebrations in June 2012.

The planting up of flower baskets and flower beds and tubs would be taking place in the coming week.

Councillor D Farrall

Councillors, A Casey, W Herriman, G A Wood, Ms S Gorman, J Hammond, R Hovey Mrs A Bloor, Mrs Y Bushill, Miss L Allen, A Peake, R Thorley, Mrs D Farrall,

K Lightfoot and S Mottram

Councillor Alan Casey was elected as Chairman and Councillor R Hovey was elected as Vice Chairman, both these positions were obtained by voting, by councillors.

Councillor A Casey invited the two new councillors, K Lightfoot and S Mottram to introduce themselves to councillors and give a brief resume of their involvement with the Parish.

Members to the various committees of the Parish Council were nominated at the meeting

PC Nick Moore reported on criminal activity during the last month. Various incidents of theft and assault were reported as were a spate of damage to cars i.e. knocking wing mirrors off.   The lads responsible for the damage to cars incident were known to the police who were working towards conviction.

Councillor Hammond reported that the road between Primrose Avenue and Crewe Road would be closed from the Roseberry Way area for resurfacing in June. 

A Public Meeting regarding the plans for development by the Princes Foundation in the Crewe Green area would be held in Crewe Green Church on Monday 13 June beginning at 7pm. All are invited to see the plans for development in the area adjoining Haslington Parish.

Traffic calming with Smiley Sam was continuing in the Parish but PC Moore stated that the area of Primrose Avenue only had 2% of vehicles over the speed limit when the survey was carried out last month.

People to take part in The Community Speed Watch are urgently needed as the Speed Watch now had no members from Haslington Parish. PC Moore reported that in Weston this had proved to be invaluable in cutting down the speed of vehicles through the village.  He urgently needs volunteers to make the Speed Watch up and running again.  Anyone interested in getting involved in this should contact PC Moore at Crewe Police Station.

Councillor D Farrall

He also reported on the speed watch in Primrose Avenue and also the Dingle and surprisingly there were very few vehicles exceeding the speed limit and those that were only approximately 5 miles over the limit. 

 It had been reported that a man had been trying to tempt children into his car.  This had happened in Winterley and Sandbach and parishioners were asked to be vigilant on this as it is a very concerning issue. 

The Police Liaison meeting held in March at the Crewe Road Primary School had a very disappointing turn out.  In fact the only people to attend were PC Moore, Community Police Support Ainsley Threadgold and Councillor John Hammond.  Although it had been widely advertised it did not seem people were interested in this type of meeting and the issue of continuing would be taken after the next session later in the year.

 It was reported that unfortunately Cheshire East Council are unable to continue to make a financial contribution to the Britain in Bloom Group  and there will be no grant payments moving forward.

Information on outdoor activities in Cheshire East can be accessed on www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/rangers and booklets can also be obtained for Food for Thought.

Comment was passed that manure spreading seemed to be taking place a Friday afternoon and the putrid smell was lasting over the weekend thus preventing outdoor leisure in the garden.  Is this an issue other parishioners have a problem with?

This was the last meeting of the current Parish Council and new councilors would take up their places after the elections that were taking place in May.

Councillor D Farrall

A parishioner had expressed concern that the Travellers may again come to Haslington and councillors promised to keep a close eye on the situation although they had no knowledge of them re-visiting at this moment in time.  Parish Council had received a letter from Cheshire East who had been told by the Police that the events were in the main very positive.  Councillors disagreed with this statement and asked the Clerk to write to the Police informing of the actions of some of the travellers that had caused distress to residents.

It was decided that Haslington and Winterley would again enter the North West in Bloom separately once more.

The Gutterscroft Playing Field is now being inspected professionally

on a monthly basis to ensure all the play equipment is in good working order.

Councillor Wood brought the matter of a vacancy for treasurer of the Yoxall Trust Committee but he had asked Councillor Casey to take this on and was quite sure of a positive response.  Councillor Joan White had been treasurer for a great number of years but now felt that she was not able to carry this job on.  The Yoxall Trust was set up a good many years ago to help the poor of Haslington, Winterley and Wheelock.

The Chairman raised the issue of surveying that had taken place in the Parish of Crewe Green with the intention of planning permission being granted for residential housing.  The Clerk was asked to write to the Crewe Green Parish Council to invite them to a meeting with Haslington Parish Council to discuss this issue. There were concerns that no notification had been given to Haslington as a neighbouring parish as it was thought development in this area would have a detrimental effect on both parishes.

Councillor D Farrall

There had been drinking on the Gutterscroft playing field and consequently a large amount of broken glass had been removed.  Although drinking on the playing field is against the law, this law seems to be flouted regularly.  When the culprits have finished the bottle of beer they seem to think it a good idea to smash the bottle against the swings.  Although PC Nick Moore was on annual leave the Clerk was asked to notify the police of the above incidents.

The purchase of the area of land at the rear of Shelburne Drive was nearing completion and a number of open spaces which were the responsibility of Cheshire East were in all probability to be passed onto Haslington Parish Council.

There seemed to be confusion about the green bin collection as new calendars relating to the dates for collection had not been distributed.  Apparently the collection is every six weeks but there is a budget proposal in May to combine the green paper bin with the grey recyclable rubbish bin thus making the grey bin the one to be used and the green bin defunct.

The census for 2011 is to be held on 27 March and forms will be sent out to residents in time for completion on that date and to be returned by 6 April.  The forms can be accessed and completed on line and more information about this will be forthcoming.

It has been agreed that the Sandbach School buses coming back through Haslington will be stopping near to the entrance of Ashley Meadows thus alleviating the danger to pupils caused by the lack of pavement from Cartwright Road to Ashley Meadows.

Discussion took place on how to take the Parish Plan forward and it was suggested that the original committee reconvene and ask a willing volunteer to co-ordinate a Steering Committee.

Because of the recent work by Open Reach the entrance to the Gutterscroft was inaccessible for the refuse wagon for the black bin collection and a number of residents had not had their waste bins emptied.  The Gutterscoft Centre had arranged to take their bins to the tip but Councillor Hammond said that he would report this to Cheshire East and ask them to empty the bins that had been left.

It was reported that some of the dog bins were in need of repair and this was to be addressed.

Councillor Mrs D Farrell