The Red Lion….the primary objective for the Parish Council, both last year and this year, was to secure a sustainable village pub within the Red Lion development. We are therefore delighted that the Red Lion is now open and that the parishioners are enjoying this new facility. Thanks were offered to Councillors Katie Chan and Denise Bryant who had worked so long and hard to facilitate this happy situation.

The Precept….is the tax that we all pay as a contribution to Thurgarton Parish through our Council Tax. Next year, 2019/20, after careful consideration of the budget for this year and next, it was decided to increase the precept by 15%. An average Band D property will now pay £27.64 for the year. The 15% increase was deemed necessary to assist with the cost of the Village Hall refurbishments and to add to the disposable income to be spent on the Parish.

Councillor Charles Day….resigned from the Parish Council after 8 years of service. Sincere thanks and appreciation were offered to Charles at the meeting.

Casual Vacancy….following the resignation there is now a casual vacancy to fill. Formal notice will be sent by separate email, however, if interested parties would like information about this post then please contact me.

New Clerk….is Lisa-Jayne Campbell who was voted in to this post at the PC meeting. Sincere thanks were offered to the retiring Clerk, Mike Elliott.

Village Hall….it was agreed that an asbestos survey costing £325 be undertaken. The interior refurbishments of the Village Hall being complete, the TCA are now planning the best way to refurbish the roof and the exterior cladding.

Date of Next Meeting…The next meeting of Thurgarton Parish Council will be on Thursday, 28th February at 7.30 pm at the Village Hall.

Tina Tsoukatos, Chair, Thurgarton Parish Council

Planning….allow me to clarify the process by which the PC review planning applications. Planning applications are not specified in the PC meeting agenda, this then allows the PC to review any open planning applications that have been issued by NSDC up to and including the day before the date of the PC meeting. Previously, when specific planning applications were included in the agenda, only those specified could be reviewed at a PC meeting. As the PC meeting agenda must be displayed 5 days prior to the meeting date those planning applications issued after the meeting notice publication were excluded and if their return dates were prior to the following planned PC meeting an extraordinary PC meeting had to take place, which had happened on many occasions, or permission sought from NSDC to delay the return date, which had happened on numerous occasions.  In order to avoid this issue a change was made to the PC procedures where all open applications published by NSDC on their website up to and including the day before the date of the meeting are reviewed at that PC meeting.

Clerk vacancy….the PC have received applications from 3 strong candidates and plan to interview these applicants week commencing 3^rdDec.

Village Autumn clean….took place on Saturday 3^rd November, thanks are extended to all of those parishioners who answered the call to come along and help to keep our village lovely. We cleared rubbish, cleaned signs and generally sprucing up the village. Thanks are extended to Forterra who cleared rubbish from their factory gates up to the A612.

Speeding….the PC have set-up a working party to look at the constant problem of speeding throughout the village. This working party consists of 6 parishioners, who kindly volunteered,  and the group has already met and started work.

Remembrance Sunday 2018….was a great success with around 100 parishioners attending a special service at Corner Croft to commemorate the end of WW1 and then joining the PC and the WI for hot soup, hot drinks and cakes. Thanks are extended to Aine Tsoukatos for making the soup. Thanks are extended to Jon Fryer for again setting up the poppies around the village.

Village web site….a new style web site has been implemented by our web master Darryl North, thanks are extended to Darryl for his continued good work for the village.

Thurgarton People donation – a £150 donation has been made to Thurgarton People for 2018/19 which will cover the cost of 1 x print run.

Date of Next Meeting…The next meeting of Thurgarton Parish Council will be on Thursday, 24th January at 7.30 pm at the Village Hall.

Tina Tsoukatos, Chair, Thurgarton Parish Council

On Sunday many Villagers gathered at Corner Croft for the annual Remembrance Day Service and to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War.

Clerk vacancy… we are still looking for a Parish Clerk, as due to additional information coming to light, the Parish Council were unable to confirm the position to a recent applicant. This is a paid part-time position, training can be provided as necessary so experience is not vital. Advertisements are being placed via local media and Facebook. It would of course be ideal if a Thurgarton parishioner took this position. Please contact me with any interest or queries regarding this position.

WW1 November 11 2018… all parishioners are invited to a special Memorial service to mark the 100 years anniversary of the end of the 1^st World War, the service is at Corner Croft and will commence at midday; and then on to the Village Hall where complimentary hot soup, hot drinks and cake with be served.

Village Autumn clean… will take place on Saturday 3^rd November, so please come along and help to keep our village lovely. We’ll be clearing rubbish, cleaning signs and generally sprucing up our village, meeting at the War Memorial at 10:30am.

Speeding… the Parish Council are setting up a working party of a few parishioners in order to take a detailed look at the speeding problem that we have within the village, and what our options are to address this problem. There are already 2 volunteers, if you would like to join them on this working party then please contact me.

Problem with your phone?… damage to cables under the Bleasby Crossings Railway line could be impacting on the quality of your land line. If you find that you have a noise issue on your land line then please advise your service provider ASAP i.e. BT, EE, Plusnet etc

Date of Next Meeting…The next meeting of Thurgarton Parish Council will be on Thursday, 22nd November at 7.30 pm at the Village Hall.

Tina Tsoukatos, Chair, Thurgarton Parish Council

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Guy Woolley took some great pictures of the Red Arrows flying above Thurgarton last Wednesday.

Village maintenance…a lot of work has been done throughout the village in July and much is planned for August to keep the village looking good.

Clerk vacancy… We are looking for a Parish Clerk, this is a paid part-time position. Training can be provided as necessary so experience is not vital. Advertisements are being placed via local media and Facebook. It would of course be ideal if a Thurgarton parishioner took this position. Please contact me with any interest or queries regarding this position.

WW1 November 11 2018…it was agreed to organise a special Memorial service to mark the 100 years anniversary of the end of the 1^st World War.

Date of Next Meeting…The next meeting of Thurgarton Parish Council will be on Thursday, 27th September at 7.30 pm at the Village Hall.

Tina Tsoukatos, Chair, Thurgarton Parish Council

Scouts Activity Centre, Hoveringham…Thurgarton Parish Councillors have recently met with the Scouts Association, along with Hoveringham PC, following the rejection of the Variation to Planning application and an Enforcement Notice being put in place by NSDC. These meetings have considered the 18 conditions of the original planning consent, the current situation where some of these conditions have not been met and the proposals being made by the Scouts Association to remedy these matters. In short both PC’s are concerned that the Activity Centre is a blight on the landscape as it stands, being too industrialised, and to achieve the objective of blending in to the countryside changes should be made to the main building, fencing, containers and parking. Following discussion at the PC meeting, and at the Hoveringham PC meeting earlier this week, a joint statement, from both Thurgarton and Hoveringham Parish Councils, will be sent to both the Scouts Association and NSDC.

Clerk vacancy… unfortunately our Parish Clerk has decided to reduce his workload and has resigned his position. We are therefore looking for a Clerk, this is a paid part-time position. Training can be provided as necessary so experience is not vital.

Strategy Meeting…will be held by the PC in the coming weeks to agree objectives for 2018/19 and to agree which focal areas each Councillor will take on. If you have any particular points that you would like to be addressed then please do let me know.

Red Ensign / More poppies…it was agreed to purchase a Red Ensign and to fly this on Merchant Navy Day, 3^rdSeptember, to help to raise public awareness of our island nation’s reliance on seafarers and shipping. It was also agreed to purchase another 20 poppies as 2018 will see special celebrations to mark 100 years anniversary of the end of the 1^st World War.

Date of Next Meeting…The next meeting of Thurgarton Parish Council will be on Thursday, 26th July at 7.30 pm at the Village Hall.

Tina Tsoukatos, Chair, Thurgarton Parish Council

Annual Parish Meeting

Chairman’s Report…detailed the Parish Council (PC) objectives for 2017/18 and how each of these items had been progressed. The full report can be found here.

Financial Report…main points were that we began the period with £13,759 in the bank and had an income of £10,316 during the year which included the precept of £6,050. The PC received £1,598 Community Infrastructure Levy from Newark & Sherwood District Council, total grants of £1,050 and £1,466 from the Inland Revenue which was a 3 year VAT claim. Payments during the year amounted to £8,335 which included £2,650 for the village entrances and £1,865 Clerk’s salary. A precept figure of £6,900 will be levied in 2018/19.

Visiting speakers:-

Kate Cressey…spoke about how their family are farming their land in Thurgarton to improve the environment by increasing the width of set-aside verges around the fields, mending existing hedges by planting hundreds of new hedge plants, planting new trees in Priory Wood and farming in a way that will increase the natural habitat for both creatures and birds. A new grain store has been built and new trees planted around it, the planting of wild flowers is planned next. Kate and family will move into Far Barn in July having refurbished this iconic local site and extended it by re-using stone from a previous family home. Kate holds a charity Christmas event each year, in conjunction with the vicar, to which all parishioners are invited.

Julian Benton…a publican with 3 local pubs talked about how he is working towards operating the Red Lion, assuming sufficient funds are made available by parishioners and other investors like himself. Anyone who would like to get a flavour of Julian’s pubs should visit either the Staunton Arms in Staunton-by-Dale, which he owns or The Earl of Chesterfield in Shelford which he manages for the village.

Thurgarton Parish Council Meeting

Strategy Meeting…will be held by the PC in the coming weeks to agree objectives for 2018/19 and to agree which focal areas each Councillor will take on. If you have any particular points that you would like to be addressed then please do let me know.

Village Spring clean…took place on Saturday 14^th April when 25 parishioners turned out to clear rubbish, clean signs and generally spruce up our village and keep it lovely. Staff from Forterra joined in and litter picked from their factory to the A612.

New data regulations… the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) come into place on May 25^th. This means that all data held by the Parish Council will be more highly regulated than before. To assist the PC with this change the appointment of Adrian Fretwell as Data Protection Officer (DPO) was approved at a cost of £150 for the year. Adrian has become DPO for many local PC’s. One of the necessary actions will be that all parishioners will be asked to opt in (again) to the village email service and to holding their personal details as part of the Thurgarton Emergency Plan.

Accounts for 2017/18…were approved. These details will be available on the village web site shortly.

Date of Next Meeting…The next meeting of Thurgarton Parish Council will be on Thursday, 28th June at 7.30 pm at the Village Hall.

Tina Tsoukatos, Chair, Thurgarton Parish Council