There are still a few tickets left for the Burns Night Supper, which now includes live traditional Scottish music and dancing – details below.

In this issue:
  1. Burns Night Supper, Saturday 26th January
  2. Bulb Teas
  3. St James’ Church Urgently Needs You!
  4. Parish Council Report
  5. Bystander Archives
  6. Candidates Seminars
  7. Building Better Opportunities Project
  8. Planning Applications
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1. Burns Night Supper, Saturday 26th January

A final reminder that the Burns Night Supper takes place this Saturday, 26th January, at 7.30pm in Birlingham Village Hall. The evening features live traditional Scottish music and dancing!

Join friends and neighbours to enjoy a great night out. Take part in the piping in of the haggis and enjoy a traditional Burns Night supper with all the nips and tatties trimmings you can eat.

A few tickets at £10pp are still available from June Barke, The Clock House. A pay bar will be available. Full details and booking form can be found at www.birlingham.org/docs/burns_night_2019_2.pdf.

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2. Bulb Teas

Caryl Mills writes:
Bulb Teas will be held each weekend in February starting on Saturday 2nd February in the Village Hall from 11.00am to 4.00 pm. The Bulb Sunday Service will be held on 17th February at 3.00pm.

If you are able to help by donating homemade cakes or serving teas and coffees, your assistance would be really welcome. It is good fun and a time to meet old friends and make new ones. We also need some strong arms to help put out the tables and chairs at 10.00am on Saturdays and put them away after 4.00pm on Sundays. Cheaper than going to the gym!

We also have tables for craft and homemade items, so if you would like to sell anything then we may be able to support you.

If you are able to help or have any queries, then please contact Caryl Mills: caryl-mills@hotmail.co.uk, 01386 751748 or 07766 657666.

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3. St James’ Church Urgently Needs You!

Revd Claire Lording writes:
Everything we do at church is a team effort but we need people to be part of the team. Some people have particular roles which ensure the smooth day to day running of the church. Churchwardens have a particular leadership role and without them it becomes difficult for us to legally operate as a parish church. Both Ann Maxwell and Ali Hastings are stepping down as Churchwardens at the Annual Meeting on 2nd April and we don’t seem to have any natural successors. Can you help? It is expected that a churchwarden will come regularly to church to share in its life and worship.

We also need some help with our finance. After John Hill died Neil Eldred came forward to be our Treasurer and to keep the books in good order. However, the day-to-day banking has been ably handled by Ann Maxwell. As she is standing down as Churchwarden this will no longer be possible. What we are looking for is a Treasurer’s Assistant who is able to handle all the day-to-day aspects of the Treasurer’s role including banking and dealing with correspondence.

There is also always room for more people to join the PCC.

If you think you can help in any way, or want to know more about what’s involved, please contact Ann, Ali or me. Thank you, Claire (vicar.pershoreabbey@gmail.com, 01386 552071).

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4. Parish Council Report

Ian Yates writes:
At the Parish Council meeting on 16th January various matters were discussed:

  • New Homes Bonus (NHB). This scheme was introduced by the government in 2011 and was designed to ensure the economic benefits of housing growth are returned to the communities in which the growth takes place. Birlingham has had very little housing development and so the value of our NHB is relatively small. However it has been used in the past to fund improvements at Birlingham Village Hall, the Cricket Club and provide a new marquee for the Flower and Produce Show and other village activities. The government has now decided to replace this scheme with a new Community Legacy Grant Scheme and any unused NHB money will be lost if proposals are not submitted by 18th March 2019. So time was spent at the meeting discussing various projects that might qualify for NHB funding (see below). However villagers are invited to contact the Clerk if they have proposals they would like to have considered.
  • Millennium Bench. This is the circular bench that surrounds the plane tree on the village green opposite the lych-gate. It has been mentioned at previous Parish Council meetings that the bench is now damaging the plane tree by cutting into the trunk and roots and having had the tree surveyed by a tree surgeon, the recommendation is that the bench be removed. As the bench is popular with villagers and walkers it is hoped that it can be reassembled and re-sited on the village green. However, due to the slope on the green, an area will need to be levelled and finished with stone. Details were discussed at the meeting and if there are no objections from villagers it was proposed that we submit an application for NHB funding as a contribution towards the cost.
  • War Memorial. As mentioned in the Parish Council November minutes, a booklet has been published in commemoration of WW1 titled Birlingham in the Great War of 1914-1918 Lest We Forget. Part of the original research by Chris Reynard for a Bystander article revealed that Frederick Quarrell, a villager who died in the war, is not on the Birlingham memorial or on any other war memorial. The Parish Council fully supports the inclusion of his name on the war memorial and will ask Chris Reynard to project lead and submit an application for NHB funding as a contribution towards the cost.
  • Flooding at Berwick Lane. The Clerk has received a letter from a resident who is concerned about water leaking from the bank at the side of Berwick Lane and pooling in his driveway. He has attempted to resolve the issue with the Highways Authority and Severn Trent but without success. The Parish Council agreed to make enquiries to see if the problem can be addressed.
  • Drainage. The work on Phase 1 (centre) and Phase 2 (Upper End) of the drainage system to reduce flooding is now complete and the Parish Council thanked the Clerk for all her efforts in ensuring that this work was carried out with the minimum of disruption.
  • Litter Pick. The annual litter pick will be held on Saturday 23rd March. Meet on the village green at 10:00am. All villagers are encouraged to come and join in for an hour and so help keep the village tidy.
  • Elections. You will be pleased to hear that this has nothing to do with Brexit! There will be local council elections in May and anyone interested in serving on the Parish Council is invited to apply. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday 3rd April. More details to follow. (See below for details of candidates’ seminars.)
Full minutes of the Parish Council meeting will be available in due course.

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5. Bystander Archives

Thanks to the efforts of Daphne Hill, the Jubilee Committee now has a complete set of Bystander issues, dating back to Autumn 1982. As a way of preserving these old copies and making them more widely available, the Bystander Team has decided to publish one edition a month on the Birlingham website.

Although printing quality has changed over the years, the style of the more recent Bystanders is not dissimilar to that envisaged 36 years ago. The first edition begins with ‘The View-Point of a Bystander’ and there are reports on the Flower & Produce Show and a cricket match, a wedding and an obituary, and several other more general articles, such as one on gun collecting by Walter Clode. Items that have not survived through to the modern Bystander include a quiz, a crossword and a letter to the editor (which questioned the purpose of Birlingham Gentlemen’s Club). For some of us, the early 1980s don’t seem that far away, yet a read of issue 1, produced in the days before personal computers, let alone the internet and smartphones, makes it feel like a bygone age.

The first, slightly dishevelled edition of the Bystander is now available at www.birlingham.org/village/bystander/bystander001.pdf.

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6. Candidates Seminars

Wychavon District Council are holding seminars for anyone interested in standing for either the District Council or Parish Council when elections are held this May. These sessions will provide useful information and will cover the nomination process. The District Council seminar is on Tuesday 26th February and the one for Parish Councils is on Thursday 28th February. Both seminars will be held in Pershore Civic Centre, beginning at 6.15pm.

More information on the seminars can be viewed at www.birlingham.org/docs/candidates_seminar_2019.pdf. The timetable of proceedings for the elections is at www.birlingham.org/docs/statatory_timetable_2019.pdf. Anyone planning to attend either seminar should let Elaine Dicks know in advance, either by email at elections@wychavon.gov.uk or by phone on 01386 565437.

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7. Building Better Opportunities Project

Deborah Matthews of Rooftop Housing Group writes:
My name is Debbie and I am one of four job coaches employed by Rooftop Housing Group. We are funded by the Big Lottery Fund and the European Social Fund. As part of the Building Better Opportunities project we help people in our community realise their value and support them in a way tailored to their individual needs to help them into work, education or training.

I am writing to you today to ask for your assistance in making sure we reach as many people as we can in our community. They do not need to be Rooftop Housing Association tenants, this is open to the whole community in Worcestershire. As we are fully funded there is no charge, the only requirement is that they are of working age and unemployed with the right to work in the UK. We help people with CV writing, job search skills, and interview practice. However, we offer so much more than that. We are a friendly ear to listen to their problems, we offer support in attending appointments, we can point them in the right direction for money advice or to expert help for challenges that they may be facing.

If you know of anyone that could benefit from this project or that may know someone who could benefit, please pass on our details.

For further information please look at the website https://www.fusionworcs.co.uk/projects/bbo/. We are also on social media and can be found at https://www.facebook.com/FusionWorcs or https://twitter.com/FusionWorcs. If you have any questions, please email Deborah.Matthews@rooftopgroup.org and please let people know about this service.

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8. Planning Applications

The following planning application has been received by the Parish Council:

  • Hills Cottage, Upper End: Demolition of storey single rear extension, partial demolition of a single storey. Refurbishment and remodelling internally. (Case No. 18/02445). Awaiting decision by Wychavon District Council. (Consultation period ends on 7th February.) Full details can be viewed on the Wychavon DC website at https://plan.wychavon.gov.uk/plandisp.aspx?recno=98547. There is an associated Listed Building Consent application (Case No. 18/02446 – consultation period ends on 8th February), which can be viewed on the Wychavon DC website at https://plan.wychavon.gov.uk/plandisp.aspx?recno=98548.
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