Thinking of becoming a Parish Councillor?

Have you ever thought about becoming a town or parish councillor? Would you like to find out more about the role?
Workshops will take place in the New Year in Alnwick, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Choppington and Hexham to provide information and advice. 
At each session county council and Northumberland Association of Local Councils officers and parish/town councillors will be attending to give presentations and advice.

Sessions will cover the following:
· What are parish and town councils?
· What powers and freedoms do they have?
· How do they relate to the County Council?
· How can you apply or stand to become a parish or town councillor?


The sessions will take place as follows:
· Monday 21 January 2013 - Council Chamber, Clayport Street, Alnwick
· Thursday 24 January 2013 - Prospect House, Hexham
· Monday 28 January 2013 – William Elder Building, Berwick-upon-Tweed 
· Wednesday 30 January 2013 - Jamieson Room, Choppington Social Welfare Centre, Scotland Gate, Choppington.


Light refreshments will be provided at 6pm before each workshop begins at 6.30pm. The sessions will be chaired by the area chairman for the area: Councillor Pat Scott in Alnwick and Berwick-upon-Tweed, Councillor Colin Horncastle in Hexham and Councillor Ian Swithenbank in Choppington. There will be opportunities to ask questions throughout each session.

Paddy Gascoigne, service manager for democratic services at Northumberland County Council said: “Councils depend on the energy, enthusiasm and the commitment of local people. It can be immensely rewarding joining your local council and you can really improve local life. If you would like to know more about becoming a town or parish councillor, I would urge you to get in touch.” 

If you are interested in attending, please telephone Mike Bird in democratic services on 01670 622616 or email demserv.ar@northumberland.gov.uk so that numbers for each event can be confirmed.

Parish News - November 2012

There will be no Parish Council meeting in December – the next one is scheduled for Thursday, January 17^th 2013 at 7.15pm in the Reading Room.

A problem has arisen in respect of the proposed parking bays behind the Church. This is due to not knowing whom the land belongs to! Northumberland County Council advise that it is not theirs, and it does not appear to belong to either the Church or the Parish Council. Further enquiries are therefore necessary.

Councillor Jordon has been busy planting throughout the village and we all hope that 2013 will be a much better year as regards the weather. Various other tidy up jobs have been undertaken too. The Action Plan in response to the Village Questionnaire is also updated on the website.

There will be Parish Council elections in May this year when all Councillors will be eligible for re-election. More news on this later as I expect the County Council will soon be sending me an awful lot of literature (mainly be email to save their costs but it still needs reading and/or printing).

Margaret Davenport
Clerk to Ovingham Parish Council

NCC Online Magazine

Northumberland County Council publish a free quarterly online magazine containing lots of information about what's happening in the county.

You can sign up for a copy by following this link:

www.northumberland.gov.uk/extra

New Notice Boards

Just today, the two parish council notice boards have been replaced with new ones. The old ones have served their time well but inevitably, age had got the better of them.
In readiness for the possible installation of a bench behind the church, this new one has been moved further to the right.

In this photo, Wil the joiner and his mate Matty put the finishing touches to the new one on Castle View.

Parish Council News - October 2012

Councillors agreed to fund the balance to improve the BMX track at the playing field. Councillor Holden reported that he has obtained grants for the bulk of the project. It is also hoped that the windows at the Pavilion can be replaced shortly.

It has been a long drawn out process to obtain views from the County Council regarding the possibility of having a seat by the bus stop at the Church. This is still ongoing and hopefully there will be news about this soon.

A dropped kerb has been placed by the Reading Room, allowing better access from the western approach, and this has been funded out of County Councillor Kelly’s budget. At the request of the Parish Council, he has also been liaising with the County Council looking into the possibility of parking bays behind the Church. The Parish Council are keen to preserve the historical element but would like the area tidied up and feel that parking bays could minimise access problems.  

At the time of writing this, it is very likely that there will be no meeting in December, which is always a busy time for most people. However, this cannot be confirmed for definite so do please check Notice Boards and the website nearer the time.

It has been a hectic year for the Council, as ever, and on their behalf, I wish you all a Happy Christmas and Best wishes for 2013.

Margaret Davenport
Clerk to Ovingham Parish Council

Country Park - Half Term Activities

Click on the image to find details of the activities on offer at the Riverside Park during half term.

Parking at the back of the Church

On Tuesday 23rd of October, we met on the North side of the Church to discuss the problems with vehicles that arise there. Paul Kelly (Northumberland County Counsellor) would like to channel some funds towards getting the parking in this area sorted out. He was there, along with a roads Engineer, three parish counsellors and a representative of the Church.

A new surface is badly needed. Apart from the obvious puddles that form, a lack of marked parking bays causes haphazard parking that blocks not just residents and visitor cars, but bin collections, ambulances and fire appliances. All these services have encountered problems...when a fire was started in a cottage in the Dene, the fire service were unable to get to it and it burned to the ground.

Unfortunately, this isn't an easy nut to crack. Further investigations are required to establish who actually owns the land. The parish council, the Church or the County Highways. Further complications arise from the foundations of old cottages that used to stand on the site. Currently the stones are at ground level and provide a nice historical feature that adds character to Ovingham and a link to the past. It would be a pity to loose these, but tarmac is costly and costs more when it has to be spread in and out of old stoneworks.

Further problems emerged...the length and width of a standard parking bay, plus the space needed to enter and exit, is far larger than the space available. The engineer will make detailed measurements and attempt to come up with a layout that fits, and leaves room for passing.

There will no doubt be more discussion on this subject at Parish meetings in the next few months.