Whiteparish is an attractive small to medium-sized village centred on the A27, in South-East Wilts; surrounded by farming country and woodland; and near to the border with Hampshire. Population is about 1500, and the nearest towns/cities are Romsey, Salisbury, and Southampton. Click here for more about the locality, and here for more about Whiteparish's history.

Nowadays many villagers work in the nearby towns or further afield (commuting to London or to Bristol, for example). However, there are also several local employers within the village; and quite a few one-person businesses. Click here for a list of local businesses.

We have a church (C of E); a village shop/Post Office; a go-ahead primary school; a flourishing and forward-thinking medical practice; a village hall; a filling station (at least we used to—it's currently a car sales business); many village clubs, societies, and organisations; sports clubs; and a large recreation ground with a childrens' playground and facilities for tennis, football and cricket. Last, but definitely not least, there are three pubs.

SELECTED NEWS ITEMS

MEMORIAL GROUND TRUST UPDATE.
For the highlights of the recent meeting of the Memorial Ground Trust, held on 30th April 2012, click here.

MEMORIAL CENTRE UPDATE.
The 4th of May saw the first focus group working for the Memorial Centre project hold their first meeting. For more information, and some photos of the good folk taking part (kindly sent to us by Linda Palmer), click here.

PRINCE PHILIP DROPS IN ON FIRST RESPONDERS.



During the visit of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh to Salisbury, on 1st May, the royal couple toured a number of community area displays laid on in the Cathedral Close, and the Duke met some of the Whiteparish First Responders in the Southern Wiltshire Community Area section. Later the royal party left the Cathedral Close (see photo) via the High Street on their way to the station, with enthusiastic crowds lining the whole route.

Protocol prevented the First Responders taking any photos of the Duke of Edinburgh visiting their display, but for some other shots taken on the day, see the First Responders' page by clicking here.

MEMORIAL CENTRE/DRAFT CONTRACTOR CRITERIA. The two local trusts (Memorial Ground Trust and Village Hall Trust) who have joined forces to work on the Memorial Centre project, held their first joint meeting on April 4th. (For a diagram showing the structure and "staffing" of the working groups for the new project, click here.) To go to the Memorial Centre page on the website, click here.

Local businesses who might be interested in tendering for the work are encouraged to look at the draft list of criteria that has been drawn up for selecting contractors who will be invited to tender; click here for more details.

NEW YOUTH GROUP OPENS. The new Whiteparish Youth Group opened its doors for the first time on official opening day: 13th April 2012. You may well have seen the nice photo of the event that appeared in the Salisbury Journal and the Romsey Advertiser in the following week, but Suzanne Rendell has kindly sent us two more photos taken on the opening evening. To see the photos, and a little more about the Youth Group, click here.

BROWNIES HAVE FUN PAINTING EASTER EGGS. We've added a new mini-gallery of photos showing the 1st Landford Brownies at Easter 2012 who hung their delicately painted eggs on a tree. They each painted an egg with colourful nail polishes, and Russell Sach came along to photograph them all. (Thanks to Russell for taking them, and to Chris Ellis for sending them.) To see the photos, click here.

OPENING NIGHT FOR NEW YOUTH GROUP. Whiteparish's new Youth Group will be having an opening night in the Villlage Hall on Friday 13th April, from 7.00 pm to 10.00 pm, for Year 7-to-10s who live in the village to see the club and "join up to join in". Annual membership is just £10. Current Whiteparish Year 6s are also invited to come along, enjoy the evening, and sign up for their start date in July.

REPORT OF MEMORIAL CENTRE PUBLIC MEETING, 20 MARCH. Linda Palmer has kindly sent a fuller report of the recent Public Meeting in the Village Hall. To see it/download it as a pdf file, click here. (Yes, we have a link to the same thing in the panel above, but we didn't want anyone to miss it !)

ANNUAL PARISH MEETING. The Annual Parish Meeting (APM) was held in the Village Hall on 1st March, immediately followed by a regular Parish Council meeting. As usual a number of topics were discussed at both meetings but two items that caught the eye were these. (1) The Fete Committee are really short both of committee members and volunteers. They need more support, so if you're interersted in helping please get in touch with the committee. And (2) no person or organisation had come forward with regard to possible Jubilee celebrations in the village, so at the time of the APM nothing had been planned. For the full notes from the APM, click here. For the full notes from the regular PC meeting that followed, click here.

MEMORIAL GROUND AWARD FROM SPORT ENGLAND. Sue King writes that Sport England announced officially on 21 March that Whiteparish has been awarded a legacy status for the Memorial ground as part of the Diamond Jubillee celebrations and the MGT have got £35880 for the new cricket square—this includes one years' maintenance money. Sheila Campbell has quotes which make her confident that, together with some R2 money, we have enough for the new square. Great news - particularly in the same week as the vote for the new centre!

AND, ALAS, SOME MEMORIAL GROUND VANDALISM. A sad point from the report of the 19th March meeting of the Memorial Ground Trust (MGT): "Trustees were very sad to discover the Air skier equipment has been damaged beyond repair. PLEASE LET SHEILA CAMPBELL KNOW IF YOU SEE ANYTHING UNTOWARD ON THE GROUND – HELP US TO KEEP OUR EQUIPMENT SAFE FOR THE ENJOYMENT OF ALL. The items we provide cost hundreds of pounds and this mindless vandalism saddened us all." For the rest of the meeting highlights, click here.

Tennis Coaching on the MUGA. Tennis coaching starts again after Easter on the MUGA (Multi-Use Games Area, on the Memorial Ground). Early booking is essential. First sessions are on Sat 21 April at 2pm and 3pm and will continue until July with a break at half term. To book contact James Kirkpatrick on 07748 483639 or info@puretennis.co.uk; or contact Sheila Campbell on 01794 884837 or spcam48@btinternet.com. James will also do private adult or childrens’ coaching if you contact him.

MUGA membership is still available in various packages. Annual membership can be as little as £30. For info click here or visit the shop. The MUGA is available free of charge for one evening per week for an adult tennis club. If you are interested let Sheila Campbell know which nights you are available.

The Memorial Ground Trust is always interested in new ideas for the use of the grounds or equipment – contact Sheila Campbell if you have any thoughts.

SUCCESSFUL SWAB MEETING. Tom Bray of the Southern Wiltshire Area Board has written to say that the Community Planning Event held in Downton on 6th March went well, with a "fantastic turnout" of 70 people. For more information about the subjects discussed and the actions identified, click here. The next SWAB meeting will be at Morgan's Vale Village Hall at 7.00pm on 5th April.

Apparently SWAB works closely with the Charities Information Bureau, whose website you can see by clicking here. The Bureau can help with advice on other, non-SWAB, sources of funding for local projects. So if you're trying to drum up funding for a local project, it might be worthwhile getting in touch with them.

PANTO PHOTO GALLERY NOW ON WEBSITE. There's a full set of photos of "Red Riding Hood" in the website's Galleries section now, taken at the Friday evening show. To see them, click here. There's at least one shot from every scene, and at least one shot for each combination of cast members within a scene. We're also hoping to add a few "out-takes" to the site soon.

LATER START TIME FOR 19 MARCH MGT MEETING. Please note that the regular meeting of the Memorial Ground Trust (MGT) on the evening of Monday 19th March in the Fountain Inn will start at 8.30 pm, not at 7.30 pm as previously stated.

VERY ENJOYABLE "RED RIDING HOOD" FROM PEPPERBOX PLAYERS



Red Riding Hood (Izzy Ashworth) and Robin Hood (Mike Coulished) join the rest of the cast onstage at the end of the show

2012's panto from the Pepperbox Players was great fun, as usual. There was a very enthusiastic audience for the Friday performance on 10th February (which we went to)—and we're sure the Saturday shows were just as well received. Strong performances from all concerned, whether "old stagers" or relatively new to the company (and it was nice to see Jimmy Goodland back on the boards). Our apologies for the delay in getting a set of photos up on the website's galleries section. We're working on them, and hope to have them on the site "real soon now" (ahem . . .)

RASH OF LOCAL THEFTS FROM VEHICLES. PC Henry Clissold writes to warn us that within 72 hours, very recently, there were six separate thefts or attempted thefts from motor vehicles in the Southern Wiltshire NPT area. A number of these involved the theft of handbags or sat-navs left in plain sight in the vehicle.

He asks that we please follow this simple timely advice:

• Don't leave anything on display, even an old coat or plastic bag can be tempting for a thief.
• Don't leave property in your glove box, leave it empty and open.
• Remove your stereo if possible.
• Lock the doors and windows of your car no matter where or how long you are leaving it for.

Don't make it easy for the thieves!!!

SWAB COMMUNITY PLANNING EVENT.. The Southern Wiltshire Area Board (SWAB) is hosting a special Community Planning Event on 6 March 2012 (7pm) at Downton's Trafalgar School where statistics about the area will be discussed. Interested residents are urged to come along and take part in the debate about how the area board should tackle these issues. This really important special event will present interesting Statistics about the area for consideration alongside our Community Plan 2010—15.

The initial presentation, from Maggie Rae, Director for Public Health and Public Protection, will cover Health and wellbeing, Economy, Children and young people, Community safety, Housing, Transport, Environment, and Resilient communities. This will be followed by the debate, with the meeting scheduled to close soon after 8.50 pm.

If you want to attend, you need to notify the organisers; either email Tom Bray by clicking here, or use the short online booking form. To view the Joint Strategic Assessment for our area, which contains many of the statistics that will emerge during Maggie Rae's presentation, click here.

Finally, for an interesting Google map showing the locations of SWAB grants made since 2009, click here.

FIRST RESPONDER NEWS. Latest news from the Whiteparish Community First Responder group includes the fact that they attended as many as 101 incidents during the past year, news of the proposed community access defibrillator, and photos from a trip to the Air Ambulance facility at Devizes. For the full report, click here.

WHITEPARISH ALL SAINTS' CHURCHYARD. The PCC wishes to give notice that work will be carried out to the North East area of the graveyard during the early part of 2012 to level and re- seed a number of graves.

A few of the existing headstones are tilting and need to be made safe as they could be a hazard to those who visit or tend graves.
This exercise will also enable the area to be kept mowed and tidy, especially if they are not visited and cared for regularly.

If you have any concerns or require further information, please contact
Ros Claydon Tel: 884 500 or Jane Legat Tel: 884 600.

WHITEPARISH MULTI USE GAMES AREA (MUGA). We are lucky to have such a wonderful resource in the village. Do come and use it. Application forms for membership are available on this website (click here to go to the MUGA page, where there's a link for downloading the form); and in the village shop.

Annual membership lasts for a year from receiving your membership card. If you have any questions about membership or other comments about the memorial ground, contact spcam48@btinternet.com.

EXTRA MEMORIAL GROUND TRUST MEETING. The Memorial Ground Trust are holding an extra meeting at 7.30 pm in the Fountain Inn on 13th February, to discuss the documents etc for the proposed merger of the Village Hall and Memorial Ground Trust charities. For the agenda, click here.

MEMORIAL CENTRE PLANNING APPLICATION. The amended planning application for the new Memorial Centre is currently with the Wiltshire Council planning dept. The public consultation period for this application ends on 23rd February 2012, with a decision expected before 13 March. Villagers who wish to view the application or to submit comments on it can do so online on the Wiltshire Council website by clicking here.

BROWNIES ACTIVITIES. To judge from the past year's review just received from "Little Owl", our local Brownies had another very full and interesting programme in 2011. To read all about it, click here.

PARISH COUNCIL NEWS. The Parish Council meeting held on 19th January 2012 covered gritting of the A27/Common Road junction, progress on the mooted new youth club, a rights-of-way survey (see also next item) and more. For details, click here.

The next Parish Council meeting will be the Annual Parish Meeting, to be held at 7.30 pm in the Village Hall as usual on 1st March.

FOOTPATHS MAP. We are pleased to have recently added a very useful rights-of-way map, provided by the Parish Council, to the website. This shows footpaths, byways, bridle-ways, etc within the parish, plus some of the footpaths etc of other adjoining parishes where they run near our parish boundary. To go to the new footpaths page, where there are download links for the map, click here.

Hopefully the map will be interesting to villagers wanting to get better acquainted with "deepest Whiteparish" and anyone else interested in exploring the village and surroundings.

NEXT SWAB MEETING. The next meeting of the Southern Wiltshire Area Board will be held at 7.00 pm on Thursday 2nd February in Winterslow Village Hall. There are several interesting items on the agenda, including "What should the Area Board be doing in 2012/2013", Fortnightly Waste Collections, and the allocation of SIDs (Speed Indicator Devices for temporary installation in villages). For the full agenda, and instructions for getting to the venue, click here.

PARISH COUNCIL NEWS. It seems the Parish Council are considering adopting a telephone box! For more on this and the other topics discussed at the 8th December 2011 meeting, click here.

WASTE & RECYCLING COLLECTIONS DURING CHRISTMAS PERIOD. For household waste and recycling bins, only one collection date has been rescheduled over the Christmas/New Year period: the collections that would "normally" have happened on Friday 30th December will be made on Saturday 31st December. Similarly there is just one rescheduling for garden waste: the collection that would otherwise have happened on Wednesday 28th December will be made on Thursday 29th December. (If you're lucky enough to live where your garden waste is collected, that is !)

LOCAL CRIME IN NOVEMBER. To judge from the latest bulletin from the local Neighbourhood Policing Team, November 2011 was a relatively quiet month for crime in Whiteparish. (Though we have to remember that not all categories of crimes are listed in these regular reports.) Plenty going on elsewhere, though, including three successive thefts of fuel from aircraft at Old Sarum aerodrome (haven't seen that category before), and a Royal Mail postbox and a wheelie bin nicked in Landford (??) To see the full report, click here.

MEMORIAL GROUND TRUST NEWS. For the highlights report of the MGT meeting held on 21st November, and for the hire fees and membership fees applicable from 1st February 2012, click here.

SWAB NEWS. The December meeting of the Southern Wiltshire Area Board will be at held in Trafalgar School, Downton, at 7.00 pm on Thursday 15th December 2011. Among the items being discussed is an application from the Whiteparish Community First Responders (CFRs) for funding assistance for a publicly accessible defibrillator for the village. Out of interest, applications from Whiteparish seem to have been very rare. SWAB have prepared an interesting google map showing the locations of projects where funding help has been granted, and although there are apparently loads of approved projects in Alderbury, Landford, and Downton (and quite a few elsewhere), Whiteparish has had just two. So if you are involved with a community project that needs funding, it might be worthwhile to try applying to SWAB. To see the map, click here.

To see the agenda for the December 15th SWAB meeting, which includes links to various supporting documents, click here.

PARISH COUNCIL NEWS. To see notes from the meeting held on 10th November 2011, when quite a range of topics were discussed including a proposal from the Whiteparish First Responders (CFRs) for a public access defribillator for the village, plans for setting up a youth club, and a "red gateway" on the A27, click here.

LOCAL CRIME IN OCTOBER. Two burglaries in Whiteparish last month, unfortunately, plus what seems to be the most recent in a series of thefts here of copper wiring from transformer poles. To see the full list from the Alderbury & Laverstock Policing Team, click here.

PARISH COUNCIL NEWS. Malcolm Adams is a new co-opted member of the Parish Council, with responsibilities for Environment and Transport. For a full list of Councillors, their responsibilities, and Parish Council meeting dates until the end of 2012, click here to see the Parish Council page. For notes from the September meeting, click here.

PUMPKIN AND HALLOWEEN FANCY DRESS PHOTOS. Many thanks again to Keith Hobbs for the nice photos of the Garden Club's annual Pumpkin and Halloween Fancy Dress Competitions, held on October 27th, which we've added to the website Galleries section. To see them, click here.

2011 FIREWORKS SPECTACULAR. The Annual Fireworks Display (sponsored and staged by Pains Fireworks for the benefit of All Saints School) will be held on Saturday 12th November on the Memorial Ground (reserve date for bad weather: Friday 18th). Gates open at 6.15 pm, and the display itself starts at 7.00 pm. Advance tickets will be available from the School Office and the Village Shop until 12.00 on the day of the display: adult £3.50, children 4—16 £2.50, under 4s free, family tickets (2 adults + 2 children or 1 adult + 3 children) £10.00. On the night an adult ticket is £5.00, children £3.00 each; no family tickets will be available on the gates.

There will be a barbecue, refreshments, tea, coffee, beer and mulled wine on sale, sith fairgound rides for younger children. It's always a terrific show so do try to come and support the school! However, for insurance reasons the organisers (All Saints Primary School PTA) ask that you don't bring sparklers to this event. And remember the fireworks code: keep all pets indoors. If there are any updates to the arrangements, they will be included on the PTA's Facebook page which you can access by clicking here.

COMMENDATION FOR WENDY. Unfortunately, Wendy Hedley has been forced by ill health to retire from her position as coordinator of Whiteparish Community First Responders. On 12th October, Great Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust Locality Director, Paul Birkett-Wendes and Community Response Manager Julia Doel presented Wendy with a Commendation from the Service’s Chief Officer. All members of Whiteparish Responders were present at the ceremony, along with Wendy's daughter Lara and son-in-law Lee.

COMMUNITY FIRST RESPONDERS. Whiteparish Community First Responders (CFR) Group are looking into the possibility of using donated funds to install a community access defibrillator at a central point in the village. For more on this and the rest of the September news from the CFRs, click here.

NEW NON-EMERGENCY NUMBER FOR WILTS POLICE. Wiltshire Police has changed its non-emergency number to 101. The 101 number is being introduced nationally in phases and on 19 September it was launched across forces in the South West, including Wiltshire. Although 999 is a well recognised number to report emergencies, the 2010 British Crime Survey found that only half of the public knew which number to call if they wanted to speak to their local police about policing, non-urgent crime and anti-social behaviour. For more on the background to this change, click here.

LOCAL CRIME. The September 2011 Crime list from the Alderbury and Laverstock police team (covering crimes in August), shows more crimes listed for Whiteparish than for any of the other local communities, which is an unwelcome change. For more details, click here. (Sorry that some of the information in the bulletin is a bit out of date now; we're trying to catch up after a holiday.)

SWAB NEWS. The October meeting of the Southern Wiltshire Area Board will be at held in Pitton Village Hall at 7.00 pm on Thursday 6th October 2011, when Concillor Jane Scott, OBE, the Leader oof Wiltshire Council, will be giving a short presentation and then taking questions. To see more on this and other items covered in the latest SWAB Newsletter, click here. (The link will take you to the new SWAB online discussion forum, which also includes the newsletter.)

DOGS ON THE MEMORIAL GROUND—AND WHAT THEY LEAVE BEHIND. The Memorial Ground Trustees are concerned that some dog-owners are ignoring the notices warning that dogs are not allowed on the Memorial Ground (see longer message above and/or on the MGT page), and the trustees emphasise the health and safety implications. For other Memorial Ground news noted from the trustees' 12th September meeting, click here.

PARISH COUNCIL NEWS. The Parish Council Notes for the meeting on 18th August 2011 contain several items of interest, including the latest state of play in trying to get the surface of Dean Lane improved. For more on this, and othet items covered, click here.

FLOWER & HOBBIES SHOW. As already mentioned, we hope to be able to publish a list of prizewinners soon, but in the meantime there's a selection of photos in the Galleries section. To see them, click here.

RESCHEDULED WASTE COLLECTION. The Household Waste Collection that would normally have taken place on Friday 2nd September is rescheduled to Saturday 3rd September due to the August Bank Holiday.

FLOWER & HOBBIES SHOW. The annual Flower aand Hobbies Show organised by the Garden Club took place on Saturday 27th August, and seemed to be pretty well-attended. A list of prizewinners, and some photos, will be added to the website soon.

NEXT LOCAL SWAB MEETING The August 25th meeting of the South Wilts Area Board (SWAB) will be held in Alderbury Village Hall at 7.00 pm. Among the items discussed will be the new recycling collection arrangements that will start in March 2012, and a presentation from Wiltshire Council's Cabinet Member for Public Health and Protection Services, Cllr Keith Humphries.

Also on the subject of SWAB, they are currently conducting a survey about Area Board activities. If you'd like to contribute to this, the survey closes on Friday 12th August, and you can complete it by clicking here.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON THE 2011 FETE. This year’s committee held the usual “round up “ meeting to take stock of the events. We were extremely pleased to be able to agree two very large cheques be issued to the school and the church for £4,400 each. This leaves a small working balance for next year’s committee to pay deposits in the autumn for the loos etc.

We are very conscious that generous sponsorship helps us cover our major expenses and letters have gone to those donors, not all of whom live in our village. It was particularly nice to see some different things this year and our grateful thanks go to two local small businesses, El Visage (Karen Gunning) for the nail decorating and Oakley Build and Design (Trevor Oakley) who procured the dunk tank at his own expense and generously donated the proceeds.

Comments were received about there not being a tractor heading the fancy dress procession this year. This was because The New Forest Plonkers expressed a wish not to ride around the village. However we acknowledge that the general feeling is that people feel safer when a tractor leads the way, so some arrangement will no doubt be made to include the use of one next summer.

Please put a note in your diaries that the next village fete will be on 16 June, 2012 and the autumn inaugural fete meeting will be on Thursday 6 October.
Sue King

JULY PARISH COUNCIL MEETING. The notes from the Parish Council meeting held on 7th July include the good news about the first round of the "Best-Kept Village" competition (see elsewhere) and the fact that there is currently a vacancy for a parish councillor. For the full notes, click here.

MORE ON THE 2011 FETE. Sue King of the Fete Committee has written to say that this year the Fete and other Whiteparish Week activities raised a magnificent £8800 to be shared between the church and the school!! Well done to all involved! For the whole of Sue's report, including a breakdown prepared by treasurer Langdon Nichols, click here.

MEMORIAL GROUND TRUST AGM. The MGT's Annual General Meeting, followed by a regular business meeting, was held on 20th June 2011. For the meeting notes, which include the names of officers and trustees for the coming year, click here.

WHITEPARISH WEEK HORSE SHOW. Now that the Horse Show hosted by Brympton Riding Stables is becoming a regular feature of Whiteparish Week, it was disappointing this year that rain prevented it being held on Sunday 12th June as originally scheduled. Never mind, it was put back a week and quite a good turnout enjoyed the rescheduled event on Sunday 19th June, 2011. There was even some sunshine ! For some pictures, click here.

FETE AND CARNIVAL. For the nth year running, the sun shone on fete day, though unfortunately some of the other Whiteparish Week events were affected by rain. We hope to have more material about the fete and other events in due course, but in the meantime, to see photos of the fete, click here. And for some excellent photos of some of the participants in the carnival parade, by Salisbury Journal chief photographer Roger Elliott, see p22 of the June 16th issue of the Journal.

IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM FIRST RESPONDERS. In the report of their Open Evenings (23 May, 2011), the Whiteparish First Responder Group ask all residents as follows: "Please ensure that house name and numbers are visible from the road, and that all foliage is cut back so it can be seen clearly. Precious minutes can be saved if the team and ambulance crews can find the house quickly, which may mean the difference between life and death." For more about the Open Evening, click here.

LOCAL CRIMES DURING MAY. The local crime reports for May 2011 from the neighbourhood policing team show most of the crime hereabouts to have been in Landford and Laverstock, with Whiteparish getting off fairly lightly. For details, click here.

MGT AGM SCHEDULED FOR 20th June. The 2011 Annual General Meeting of the Memorial Ground Trust will be held in the Pavilion at 8.00 pm on Monday 20th June, immediately followed by a special meeting to elect officers for the coming year and to conduct the business of the trust. To see the AGM notice and agenda, click here.

FIRST RESPONDERS. The Whiteparish Community First Responders have been chosen as one of the three groups for the Green token scheme at Waitrose, Romsey, during June 2011; so if you're a Waitrose customer, please drop your token into the First Responders "bin" this month. Any funds raised will go towards the 24/7 defibrillator access scheme for Whiteparish, and we understand that you can use tokens from the Salisbury Waitrose in the Romsey branch.. We now have a First Responder page on the website, which we'll hopefully add to over the next few months: click here.

PARISH COUNCIL NEWS. The report of the 26th May Parish Council meeting includes an updated list of Parish Councillor responsibilities, so if you want to know which Parish Councillor(s) to contact about particular problems, or anything else discussed at the meeting, click here. Not everybody knows this, but the Parish Council page also has links to a collection of PC meeting reports going back to 2005—to access these, click here.

WHITEPARISH WEEK EVENTS PROGRAMME. For anyone who didn't get or see the programme provided with the June issue of Steeple & Street, the same info is available on the website's Fete page by clicking here. If you want a print-friendly (pdf) version, click here.

MUGA AND MEMORIAL GROUND HIRE. Please note that the Memorial Ground Trust have revised the hire fees for the Memorial Ground and for the Multi-User Games Area (MUGA) within it. For details, click here.

SWAB NEWS. The latest bi-monthly newsletter from the South Wiltshire Area Board includes some results from a survey about which issues local residents feel are important, and which of them SWAB should be concentrating on. There are also reminders about applying for community awards, and several other stories. The May newsletter hasn't found its way onto Wiltshire Council's website yet, but you can read it by clicking here.

JUST A FEW DAYS LEFT . . . to complete the Wiltshire Council survey for Rural Broadband users (that's us). The last day for completing and submitting this important online survey is 3rd June. For details, see the panel further down the page.

IT'S VERY NEARLY FETE TIME AGAIN. The Fete Committee and stallholders had their final meeting on May 5th, and everyone's getting ready for the Fete on June 11th and the other scheduled events during Whiteparish Week. Don't forget to mark your diary, and let's hope for good weather ! The committee have put together a sort of Q&A for volunteers, donors, and people who want to take part in the various activities, which you can view by clicking here.

MGT COMMITTEE MEETING, 16 MAY 2011. For the highlights of the most recent meeting of the Memorial Ground Trust, held in their "summer venue" of the Pavilion, click here.

LOCAL CRIME IN APRIL. The summary of crimes in local villages recently received from PC Henry Clissold shows quite an outbreak of vandalism in our near neighbours Alderbury and Clarendon, but happily a fairly quiet month in Whiteparish which included two instances of bicycle pump theft (why ? !). For the whole list, click here, but remember that some categories of crimes involving issues of confidentiality are intentionally omitted from these summaries.

ROYAL WEDDING TEA PARTY. On the afternoon of 29th April, to mark the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, 153 children plus some grown-ups enjoyed a celebration tea party on the Memorial Ground, and received souvenir mugs. Sue King, one of the volunteer organisers, describes it as "A wonderful afternoon". For more on this, click here. For a small gallery of photos, click here.

PARISH COUNCIL NEWS. Among the items in the notes of the latest Parich Council meeting (14th April 2011) are the appointment of a new co-opted councillor, a reminder that Whiteparish has been entered into the 2011 Best Kept Village competition (so please do your bit and help keep the village tidy and well groomed!), and news of tennis coaching, to start on 21st May. For more on these and the other subjects discussed, click here.

MORE ABOUT BROADBAND. Sorry, we do keep banging on about this, but getting faster broadband in Whiteparish is so important for the village . . . Here's a notice from Wiltshire Council about the questionnaire they're running as an early part of their scheme to improve broadband performance in rural areas like ours. Please use the link below and complete the questionnaire, if you haven't already done so. Whiteparish needs to tell the council loud and clear that we don't want our village left behind!

MORE ON THE CUP FINAL (see last item). Whiteparish won 3-1 !

WHITEPARISH IN CUP FINAL. Well, not THAT Cup Final, but A Cup Final . . . On Good Friday, Whiteparish Football Club play Alderbury in the final of the Norman Court Cup, at Downton, so Good Luck to our local team ! Kick-off is at 11.00 am. Why not go along and support them?

BROADBAND NEWS: An Important Questionnaire. According to the Salisbury Journal, 14th April 2011, Wiltshire Council is aiming to invest £10 million in projects which, with extra funding from government grants and industry, should make superfast broadband available to up to 95% of premises in the county by 2015. For more information on the Wiltshire Council website, click here. From 26th April, there will be an internet questionnaire on that same link—please complete the questionnaire and help to reinforce the need for faster broadband in Whiteparish.

SWAB NEWS. The Southern Wiltshire Area Board have invited residents to participate in an online survey about how they should spend about £40,000 that's available for projects in this area. The deadline is midnight on April 24th, so if you want to take part, click here, soon! The next SWAB meeting in these parts is on Wednesday 20th April, at Winterslow Village Hall, with a 6.30 pm start. The meeting is billed as being about "Big Society and Localism". For more details, click here.

LOCAL CRIMES IN MARCH 2011. According to the latest list of local crimes from PC Clissold, there was only one reported crime in Whiteparish during March, though there seems to have been a bit of an outbreak in Alderbury. For more details, including some information about merging of the two local police teams based at Alderbury, click here. A police surgery is scheduled for 20th April 2011 at Whiteparish Village Store.

BANK HOLIDAY WASTE & RECYCLING ARRANGEMENTS On Good Friday (22nd April), the waste and recycling collections will take place as normal. After that, collections that would otherwise have happened on Fridays are rescheduled as follows:
Friday 29th April (royal wedding): collection rescheduled to Saturday 30th April.
Friday 6th May: collection rescheduled to Saturday 7th May.
Friday 3rd June: collection rescheduled to Saturday 4th June.

ALTAR GUILD NEEDLEWORK DISPLAYED. At a Thanksgiving Service during March, some beautiful examples of the work of the Altar Guild were displayed in All Saints Church as tribute to the late Mrs Edna Fenwick, who had masterminded the production of most of the items shown. Dawn and Langdon Nichols forwarded us some photos, taken by Dr Peter Claydon, so thanks to all concerned. To view the photos, click here.

ROYAL WEDDING PARTY UPDATE. Plans are coming together nicely for the Royal Wedding Party, planned to be held on the Memorial Ground at 3.30pm on Friday 29 April.

This will be free to anyone in the village who would like to join in – young and old alike. The Parish Council, the Village Hall committee and the Memorial Ground Trust are supporting the event. Several kind folk have been in touch with offers of providing the food needed and I’m sure there will be enough hands around at the time to help serve!

If you would like to dress up on the day, then please do so to add to the fun – but remember we shall only be in the Village hall if it’s raining – so thermals might be needed!
There might be a prize for the best outfit and the prettiest wedding hat!
The children whose names were supplied by 25 March will be presented with a memento of the day.

If you have offered help, you will be contacted before the event. If you would still like to offer, then please contact:
Sue King – Secretary to the Memorial Ground Trus, 884374t

MEMORIAL GROUND TRUST MEETING, 21 MARCH 2011. For notes of the meeting, click here

FETE DATE NOT FAR OFF NOW . . . In just a couple of months (and a bit) it"ll be Whiteparish Week again, culminating in the Fete on 11th June. The notes from the March meeting of the Fete Committee, have important info about how to book a craft/sales table; also pleas for gazebos, and for all stallholders to come to the next meeting on 5th May. For more details, click here.

PARISH COUNCIL: Annual Parish Meeting. The Annual Parish Meeting was held on 3rd March in the Village Hall, where each councillor gave an overview of the past year's activities on their area of responsibility. For notes of this meeting, click here. The Annual Parish Meeting was immediately followed by a regular Parish Council meeting; for the notes of the regular meeting, click here.

VISITING OWLS. Many thanks to Keith Hobbs for sending us some photos of Chrissie Harper's talk to the Garden Club's February meeting, all about owls (with some real ones on hand—literally !). To view Keith's photos, click here.

ROYAL WEDDING 2011. The Memorial Ground Trustees invite the use of this village facility to hold a tea party and games on Friday 29 April at 3.30pm to celebrate the Royal wedding. The Village hall will be the alternative venue should the weather be inclement.

The Parish Council have offered to support this occasion, which will likely translate into a memento for each child attending. A decision will be made after 25 March as to whether this event takes place, dependent on the number of people showing an interest.

Please put your child’s name in the book in the village shop or let the school know. I should also be grateful to receive names from anyone who would be prepared to help with offers of sandwiches, cakes etc. This could be a village event to remember !!!!
Sue King – Secretary to the Memorial Ground Trust; 884374

2011 PANTO PHOTOS. "The Canterbury Tales", presented on February 10th—12th by the Pepperbox Players, was the usual hilarious romp from our talented local troupe! We went on the Friday, and everyone in the close-to-packed Village Hall had a great time. For a bit more info and the list of cast members, click here. For some photos in the website's Galleries section, click here.

2010 PUMPKIN-FEST PICS. Photos of the Garden Club's Halloween Pumpkin and Fancy Dress Competition, from 28th October 2010, have just reached the galleries section. Many thanks to Keith Hobbs for supplying them. (And apologies for the delay; they apparently dropped into a hole in cyberspace, back in November, somewhere on their way to the website . . . To view them, click here.

2011 FETE—MORE VOLUNTEERS (AND TUG-OF-WAR-ERS) NEEDED. The fete committee are urgently seeking some volunteers to run or help with some of the planned activities for the fete itself and the preceding Friday night Hog Roast etc. If you'd like to help run the bar or be a marshal on the Friday night, or sell ice cream, or enter a team in a Tug of War competition, do get in touch with the committee. For more about this, and the notes of the most recent committee meeting, click here!

MGT NOTES; NEW HIRE CHARGES. The notes from the January 31st Meeting of the Memorial Ground Trust are now available on the MGT page, where you can also find the hire charges for Memorial Ground (and MUGA) facilities for the 2011/12 financial year. For details, click here.

POLICE NEWS AND CRIME REPORTS. The latest Neighbourhood Policing Newsletter forwarded to us by PC Henry Clissold includes items on FlyTipping and apparent success in combatting antisocial behaviour in Alderbury. Perhaps there's some connection between that and the fact that in the January crime list included in the same newsletter, Alderbury had no reported crimes whereas unfortunately Whiteparish suffered several thefts from vehicles and premises and one case of criminal damage. For more on these, click here, but note that some categories of crimes (crimes of violence or domestic disputes, for example), are omitted from these local lists for confidentiality reasons.

CANTERBURY TALES Panto


Don't miss the Pepperbox Players' latest production "The Canterbury Tales", running at the village hall between Thursday 10th Feb and Saturday 12th Feb (when there's a 2.30 pm matinee as well as the 7.30 pm evening performance). Tickets were selling fast, but if you hurry there might be some left—available from the Village Shop or on the night (if not sold out) for £5 per adult, £3 for children and concessions. (Many thanks to Simon Walworth for the photo above, taken at a dress rehearsal.)

3rd FEBRUARY: SWAB MEETING. The next meeting of the Southern Wiltshire Area Board (SWAB) will be held at 7.00 pm on Thursday 3rd February 2011, in Winterslow Village Hall (so fairly local for us), and all residents are invited. Included in the agenda are:

- Parish Councils' Emergency Planning - Community Resilience
- Face to Face - Customer Access to Council Services
- Partner Updates – including a Police Authority update, Youth Service update
- Local Issues
- Street Light Switch Off Proposal
- Usual items including Community Issues, Updates from Partners and Parish Councils, and Community Area Grants.

For the full agenda, click here.

PARISH COUNCIL NEWS. Following the sad news of the death of that very active and hard-working Councillor Dave Boakes, there is a vacancy on the Parish Council. For a combined report of the Parish Council meetings of 16th December 2010 and 20th January 2011, click here.

BROWNIE NEWS. "Little Owl" has sent a very interesting account of the local Brownie Troop's activities during 2010—it sounds like they had an exciting and very varied programme. For details, click here.

CRIME OVER CHRISTMAS. The latest list of crimes for our locality shows several burglaries in Whiteparish (and in neighbouring Landford) during the Christmas 2010 period, though nothing was reported for West Dean or the Grimsteads. If you want to know more about police priorities in our area, need crime prevention advice, or would like to raise any other concerns, the local police hold regular Police Surgeries/Consultations in nearby villages. For dates and places, and the rest of the latest crime bulletin; click here.

FASTER BROADBAND FOR WHITEPARISH CAMPAIGN. A huge thank-you to all those who surfed to BT's "race to infinity" website as we approached the end of last year, and registered their interest in getting faster broadband from the Whiteparish Exchange. According to BT's stated rules, if we could get about 550 votes (75% of the number of subscribers here), BT would get in touch with the village to discuss ways of improving broadband performance.

Well, the number of votes cast wasn't anywhere near that, unfortunately, but bearing in mind that not many people knew about the BT "race" until it was publicised locally, and leaflets were only distributed round the village over the Xmas holiday when a lot of people were away, the 160 or so votes wasn't too bad a result. (Don't know the exact total, but vote 156 was cast at 4.20 pm on New Year's Eve!) Hopefully it will have been enough to convince BT that there is quite a bit of interest here in improved broadband, even if the votes were short of the percentage they stipulated (which many commentators believe was much too difficult a hurdle for most small rural exchanges to jump).

We plan to include a new Broadband section in the website soon, to summarise the technologies that BT is supposed to be using to upgrade internet connections in most of the UK, and to consider the possibliities for Whiteparish, and what next steps the village might take to try to move things along.

MORE ON THE NOVEMBER FIREWORKS. We've heard that through a lot of hard work on the part of All Saints School PTA and other volunteers, and in particular through the generosity of Pains Fireworks for staging the show, last November's display and associated attractions netted a magnificent £5,076.87 for school funds. Congratulations to all concerned !

PTA QUIZ. 16 teams gathered in the Village Hall on the evening of Saturday 11th December for an evening of good-humoured but competitive general-knowledge quizzery, organized by the All Saints School PTA, as a fund-raiser for the school. Winners were the oddly named "Beat the Bishops" (or something like that). For more, click here. For some photos, click here.

WEBSITE USAGE. Villagers and other readers might be interested to know a little about the numbers of people visiting this website. In an average week, there are maybe 1400 or 1500 so-called "sessions" with the site, but not all of these are human visitors! Typically five or six hundred of them are robots, which trawl the worldwide web gathering statistics and other information for a whole host of purposes. Once we discount the robots, we are left with typical figures of seven or eight hundred human visitors in a week.

Those are average figures, and there can be big variations. For example, for some reason, the third week in December 2010 was a bonanza one with about 1500 human visitors, as far as we can tell.

What areas of the site get the most visitors? By far the most popular seem to be the pages about tithe data derived from the 1842 tithe map. We guess that these must be people from outside the village whose family trees include ancestors from the village, but we have no way of knowing for sure what visitors' motivations were. After these pages, other well-visited areas are the home page (not surprisingly), news and events, the school, church services, and the businesses list.

WILTSHIRE POLICE AUTHORITY Consultation. Clare Woods, Internal Communications Officer at the Wiltshire Police Authority, writes as follows to tell us about " . . . a consultation taking place by Wiltshire Police Authority about future plans of policing in Wiltshire, in line with the requirement to save up to £15 million over the next four years due to cuts in funding.

We are asking members of the public to read about these plans and to give their views via a short questionnaire, accessible via the Wiltshire Police Authority website homepage www.wiltshire-pa.gov.uk. Please note, the questionnaire will close on 9 February 2011.

We would very much appreciate your support in this important consultation exercise about the future of policing in Wiltshire."

NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH AND CRIME BULLETINS The December 2010 issue of the Neighbourhood Watch Bulletin contains some useful information about keeping children safe (from sex offenders) and about Wiltshire Police's Christmas drink and drug drive campaign for 2010. For more on these, click here. For the summary of local crimes during November (seemed pretty quiet), click here.

Reports from MEMORIAL GROUND TRUST and 2011 FETE COMMITTEE. For the report of the Memorial Ground Trust meeting held on 22 November 2010, click here. For the report of the 2nd December 2010 meeting of the 2011 Fete Steering Committee, click here.

CHRISTMAS/NEW YEAR WASTE & RECYCLING . The waste and recycling collections for the village will take place on Christmas Eve (Friday 24th December) and New Year's Eve (Friday 31st December). None of the collections are rescheduled this year.

2010 FIREWORKS. We unfortunately had to miss this year's show, but we gather that it truly was "spectacular" and enjoyed by all. More news of attendance, takings, etc to come, but in the meantime for some photos (kindly contributed by Robert Hill), click here.

MEMORIAL CENTRE "SLOT" AT PARISH COUNCIL MEETINGS. In the report of the Parish Council's 4th November meeting, the council announced that from now on the new Memorial Centre will be discussed towards the beginning of each council meeting. The council want to encourage members of the public to attend and will be pleased to listen to their opinions. For more on this, and the other topics discussed at the same meeting, click here.

PCSO BILL PARR . PC Henry Clissold writes to share the news that Police Community Support Officer Bill Parr, who has worked with him as a valued member of the police team at Alderbury for several years now, is moving on. For more on this, and forthcoming local Police Surgeries, and the latest Crime Report summary covering the month of October 2010, click here.

ANNUAL FIREWORKS SPECTACULAR. The annual Fireworks Display, staged by courtesy of Messrs Pains Fireworks, and in aid of All Saints School and PTA, is scheduled for Saturday 13th November (with a reserve date of Friday 19th in case of unsuitable weather). Gates open at 6.15 pm on the Memorial Ground, and the Display itself starts at 7.00 pm. There will be a barbecue, refreshments, beer and mulled wine on sale, with fairground rides for younger children. Tickets can be bought from the school office, or from the village shop until 12.00 on the day of the display. Advance ticket prices are £3.50 per adult; £2.50 per child ((4 to 16); family tickets (2 adults, 2 children) £10.00); children under 4 are free. On the night, adults are £5.00 each; children are £3.00; but there will be no family tickets on sale at the gate.

It's always truly a "SPECTACULAR" display—don't miss it!

JUNIOR SWAB . . . The South West Area Board is working on piloting a children's board. In SWAB's latest newsletter, Chairman Richard Britton writes: "At our last Area Board I was able to report on the progress being made towards establishing a Youth Area Board. I am proud that the Southern Wiltshire Area Board is pioneering this proposal to involve our young people in the affairs of the Community Area – especially in view of the large number of important schools in our ‘patch’. On behalf of the Board I would like to pay tribute to the work of our Community Area Manager in pushing this idea forward. Tom, together with Emma Procter, has arranged for a workshop for 46 children between the ages of 4 and 16 to be held on 5 November in order to explore what sort of issues they would want to raise at an Area Board. We hope to hold the first formal Youth Area Board on 14 February but have yet to decide on its content and format. Hopefully we shall get a steer on this from the workshop event. This is a really important development which, if successful, can be rolled out across the County."

To view the whole newsletter, which contains a lot of useful information and links, click here.

HORSEWATCH. PC Henry Clissold has forwarded us the latest Horsewatch bulletin from the Wiltshire Police Rural Crimes unit, which includes info about the National Equestrian Crime Database (NECD), and how to get a reduced subscription to it (this reduction is only available until October 30th, unfortunately). To view, click here.

FETE ALREADY? OK, we're heading for the depths of winter—but it's not too soon to be thinking about next summer, and in particular about the Fete and the other events that will make up Whiteparish Week for 2011. The first steering meeting was held in the Fountain Inn on 25 October, and the new committee are hoping to get more "names to attach to jobs", and volunteer marshals to help on Bands Night. For the committee's first report, click here.

PARISH COUNCIL VACANCY. For more details of the vacancy arising from Peter Mallinson's resignation from the Parish Council, and other matters discussed at the meeting on 30th September, click here.

LOCAL CRIME UP IN SEPTEMBER 2010. Unfortunately crime seems to be on the rise again in Whiteparish, to judge by the latest list forwarded by PC Clissold. For the listing of crimes here and in neighbouring villages, together with a schedule of local police surgeries where you can discuss police priorities and get crime prevention advice, click here.

SWAB MEETING IN PITTON, 14 OCTOBER 2010 Whiteparish residents are invited to the next meeting of the South West Area Board, which will be held in Pitton Village Hall at 7.00 pm on Thursday 14 October 2010 (light refreshments available from 6.30 pm). For a full agenda, click here.

TEMPORARY ROAD CLOSURES IN WEST DEAN IN NOVEMBER Between 2345 hrs on Wednesday 10th November and 0515 hrs on Thursday 11th November, and again for the same hours on the following night, a stretch of the C323 will be closed in the centre of West Dean. The section concerned is from the junction between Moody's Hill/Rectory Hill and East Dean Rd, extending about 130 metres north-east towards the level crossing. This is to allow essential track maintenance at the level crossing site. To see the closure notice, click here.

NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH BULLETIN & LOCAL CRIME REPORTS FOR AUGUST. The latest bulletin from the Alderbury police team includes some interesting stats about crime county-wide, and about county residents' perceptions of those crimes, together with the welcome news that crime in the year to March 2010 had fallen, for the second successive year, by 7%. For more details, click here for the bulletin; click here for the local crimes list.

MINERALS EXTRACTION SITES: DEADLINE FOR COMMENTS EXTENDED. The latest date for comments on Wiltshire Council's Minerals Site Options Report has been extended to October 31st 2010, and the Whiteparish Preservation Group are concerned that as many residents as possible send in their views. A useful leaflet on how you can have your say was distributed with the October edition of Steeple and Street, listing a lot of problems that the Preservation Group had found with the proposals outlined in the options document. For more information, or a copy of the Preservation Group's leaflet, or assistance, contact the group chairman: Ivor Ellis, on 884868, or email him at ivor.ellis[at symbol]gmail.com.

2010 FLOWER & HOBBIES SHOW PHOTOS. Keith Hobbs has kindly sent us a very nice set of photos taken at the show (held on Saturday 28th August). To view them, click here.

2010 FLOWER & HOBBIES SHOW RESULTS. To find out who won the cups, shields, and medals at this year's show, click here.

PARISH COUNCIL NEWS. The Parish Council meeting on 12th August covered the usual wide range of topics, including speeding in the village, sand extraction, and vandalism of the pond rails. For more on these and other items discussed, click here.

HISTORY GROUP PROGRAMME FOR 2010/2011. Looks like the Whiteparish History Group, who meet on the third Thursday every month from September to April (in the Kings Head at 7.30 pm) have another cracking programme of talks lined up for the coming few months, on topics ranging from the History of Punch & Judy to the Admiralty Depot at Dean. For the full programme on the History Group page, click here.

AREA BOARD MEETING at ALDERBURY. Sorry folks, we've been away for a few days, so am a bit late putting this on the site. Still, in case you'd like to attend even at this short notice, there's a meeting of the Southern Wiltshire Area Board at 7.00 pm on Thursday 19th August, at 7.00 pm, in Alderbury Village Hall. Light refreshments will be available from 6.30 pm. Agenda items include:
- Neighbourhood Policing Team Update
- Update on Parish Plans and the Role for the Area Board
- Caring Villages - Voluntary and Community Sector support in our area
- Library Service Review
- Waste Consultation
- Community Asset Transfer
- Local Issues
- Community Grants including Performance Reward Grants.
For a fuller version of the agenda, click here.

"PARISH NEWSLETTER". This doesn’t refer to our parish newsletter, but to a newsletter put out by Wiltshire Council covering topics they think will be of interest to local parish councils—and website visitors may find it of interest, too. To see a sample copy, click here. To see other newsletters in the same series, on the Wiltshire council website, click here.

2010 FETE UPDATE. Thanks to this year's very successful events during Fete week, All Saints Church and the Village School benefited to the tune of £3250 each, leaving enough in the kitty to pay deposits etc needed for next year. Well done and "Thank You" to all who supported the 2010 events.

FLOWER & HOBBIES SHOW SOON. The Garden Club's 2010 Flower & Hobbies Show will be on Saturday 28th August in the Village Hall. The show itself opens at 2.30 pm, but the club will be accepting exhibits between 8.30 am and 10.45 am on show day. Entry forms will be available at the Village Hall on the previous evening (Friday 27th) between 6.00 pm and 7.00 pm. For handicraft, art, and children's classes, click here.

LOCAL CRIME REPORTS FOR JULY. The latest crime summary from the Alderbury police team suggest it was a relatively quiet month locally, with only one crime listed for Whiteparish. (Though that's not much consolation, of course, for anyone unlucky enough to be a victim.) For more details, click here.

August Bank Holiday: WASTE AND RECYCLING COLLECTIONS Due to the Bank Holiday on Monday 30th August, the waste and recycling collections that would normally have taken place on Friday 3rd September will be made on Saturday 4th September.

8th JULY PC NOTES. The Parish Council Notes for their 8th July 2010 meeting contain (as ever) several interesting pieces of news, including a Village Tidy-Up Day planned for 14th August, and a plea for land suitable for allotments in the village. There's more about both these items in the notice above, but for the full meeting notes document, click here.

MEMORIAL GROUND TRUST AGM. The MGT AGM was held in the King's Head on 12 July. For notes of the meeting, and for meeting dates for the 12-month to the next AGM, click here.

COMMENTS REQUESTED ON NEW COMMUNITY PLAN. Tom Bray, the Southern Wiltshire Community Area Manager, writes as follows:
Dear All,
I write to introduce you to the Southern Wiltshire Draft Community Plan for 2010 - 2015 (attached). A steering group made up of people from across the community area have put this together. We would like to hear your views on the document by no later that 10 September 2010. As always, if you have any questions please get in touch.
Kind regards, Tom

To view the draft plan, click here. To visit the Southern Area Board Web Page, with more info, click here. (Tom's email address, for comments or questions, is at the top of the draft plan.)

BURGLARY PREVENTION, AND DISTRACTION BURGLARIES. The June 2010 Neighbourhood Watch Bulletin from PC Henry Clissold includes advice about how to help prevent burglaries and so-called "distraction burglaries". It seems that these bulletins are going to be produced on a three-monthly basis from now on, but that local crime summaries will continue to be made available monthly. So, for the June Neighbourhood Watch Bulletin, click here. For the June Crime Summary, click here. And for the July Crime Summary, click here!

2010 WHITEPARISH WEEK. This year the two new events (a Quiz Night and a Horse Show) were both evidently very successful, as were the Band Night/Hog Roast and other events in the week leading up to Saturday's Carnival and Fete. For many years now we've been really lucky with the weather for the Fete, and Saturday 19th June 2010 extended this run by another year, being dry and occasionally sunny. However, a strong and not especially warm breeze may have kept some visitors away (it wasn't exactly "flaming June"). Takings on some attractions were apparently a little down on 2009; but thanks to some cost savings this year, the overall profit for All Saints School and Church is estimated to be similar to last year. As always, everyone who came seemed to enjoy it. For a report from the Fete Committee, including a breakdown of takings from the treasurer, and prizewinners for the various events, click here. For some photographs, click here.

PARISH COUNCIL AGM. The Parish Council AGM was held on 20th May, and included a report from Vice Chair John LeQuesne on his findings regarding a "Gypsy and Traveller Site Allocations Development Plan" document received from Wiltshire Council. To read more on this and the other items discussed, as well as notes from the special meeting held on 5th May, click here.

MEMORIAL GROUND NEWS. At the Memorial Ground Trust meeting held on 18th May 2010, members voted in favour of supporting the proposed new community building. For more on this, and the other items discussed, click here.

The Annual General Meeting of the trust will be held on Monday 12 July 2010, in the pavilion. Members of the public are welcome to attend, and the meeting will begin at 8.00 pm.

TAMPERED CREDIT CARD SCAM. The May 2010 Neighbourhood Watch Bulletin from PC Henry Clissold includes advice about a recent spate of credit card fraud in the county, involving cards whose magnetic strips have been tampered with. Also, Wiltshire Police have come out well in a recent comprehansive quality assessment by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary, being rated as excellent at reducing crime, good at policing, and offering value for money to the public. For details of these and other stories, click here. For the summary of local crime in our area during April 2010, click here.

Late May Bank Holiday: WASTE AND RECYCLING COLLECTIONS Due to the Bank Holiday on Monday May 31st, the waste and recycling collections that would normally have taken place on Friday 4th June will be made on Saturday 5th June.

PETERSFINGER PARK & RIDE. The new Park and Ride facility at Petersfinger will open on Tuesday 1st June, and will be free for the first five days. After this, all-day parking and use of the buses to and from Salisbury city centre will cost £2.50. However, anyone who parks there and cycles into the city can park for free.

More information about the Petersfinger P & R will eventually be available at www.wiltshire.gov.uk/parkandride, though at the time of writing it's not there yet. In the meantime, to see timetable and other information, click here; for a promotional leaflet, click here; and for info on cycle training courses to be held in Salisbury, aimed at helping adults who lack confidence or don't have basic riding skills, click here!

GENERAL ELECTION. Just in case you hadn't noticed, there's an election scheduled for Thursday 6th May! Our polling station will be the Village Hall, as usual, which will be open for voting between 7.00 am and 10.00 pm. Don't forget to vote!

Whiteparish Football Club: Final league positions for 2009/2010. Both the Saturday and Sunday teams finished 5th in their respective divisions: the Salisbury & District Football League Division 1 (Saturday); and the Salisbury & District Football League Division 1 (Sunday). Stats for the season were as follows:

To see full results for the season (or most of them, anyway), click here.

Goodbye to Anita as Parish Clerk. At the 15th April 2010 Parish Council Meeting, Mrs Anita Boakes received hearty thanks and a gift and flowers from from the Councillors for her work as Parish Clerk over the last 10 years. (The Chairman noted that Parish Council funds were not used for this.) Anita's replacement is Niccola Cooper, whose contact details are in the latest Parish Council Notes, along with summaries of the other topics discussed. For details, click here.

QUIZ NIGHT FOR FETE WEEK. This year Whiteparish Week (leading up to the Fete) will include a Quiz Night starting at 7.30 pm on Tuesday 15th June, in the Village Hall. For more details of this, and other news from the 2010 Fete Committee, click here.

MOST CRIME DOWN IN OUR AREA. The April 2010 Neighbourhood Watch Bulletin from PC Henry Clissold includes the welcome news that overall crime figures in the South Wiltshire Community Area (includes us) are down by 13.8%, although both domestic burglaries and pedal cycle thefts have increased. For details, click here.

MEMORIAL GROUND HIRE CHARGES. The Memorial Ground Trust page includes notes from the two most recent meetings of the management committee, including the 2010 charges for hiring the MUGA and the main ground. For details, click here.

2010 FETE ART COMPETITION OPEN TO ADULTS. For the latest news from the fete committee, click here.

Parish Council Supports Village Shop Plannning Application. At the extra meeting held on 16th February, the PC voted to support planning application S/2010/53 for a new shop and post office premises, etc. The latest Parish Council notes also include news of the appointment of a new Parish Clerk, a request for ideas for a Parish Council logo, and the possibility of creating a car park opposite the school. For more on these and other items discussed, click here.

EASTER & EARLY MAY BANK HOLIDAY COLLECTIONS. The waste and recycling collection arrangements for the forthcoming bank holidays will be as follows. The same arrangements apply to normal household waste, plastic, card, and garden waste (where applicable), and to black boxes.

Stats About Our Area. Two interesting documents have been brought to our attention, each containing statistical info about how we in the South Wilts area compare to other areas of the county.

One was compiled in support of a health-oriented strategic needs assessment, showing how we stack up against the other areas in terms of age groups/gender, "deprivation", life expectancy, teenage pregnancy rates, etc etc. It seems we have the highest alcohol consumption, but the lowest percentage of smokers. It also shows up some surprises about other areas: for example, why should Mere have the longest life expectancy for males, but the shortest for females? Probably best not to speculate ! To see the whole document, click here.

The other document, Southern Wiltshire Area Profile, contains more general stats about population, vehicle ownership, crime, benefit claimants, and education, and can be viewed by clicking here.

The March 2010 Neighbourhood Watch Bulletin. The latest bulletin from PC Henry Clissold reminds us that on icy mornings (and we haven't seen the last of them yet) the whole swept area of your windscreen must be clear of ice, or you are committing an offence. There is also news of illegal deer shooting close to us, in Hamptworth, and the usual local crime summary. For more detail, click here.

Fete Planning Progress. For the latest on planning for this year's village fete, click here.

Rural Broadband Survey. If, like us, you're two miles of motheaten copper wire away from the Whiteparish Exchange and you get rock-bottom broadband speeds—or if you're closer to the exchange but still think your broadband speed is unsatisfactory—it may be in your interests to take part in a rural broadband survey being conducted by Wilts Council. The closing date for taking part is 31st March, but it only takes two or three minutes so why not click here and do it straight away?! Unfortunately the survey doesn't seem to cater for people who can't get broadband at all, but one way round it might be to enter upload and download speeds of zero, or whatever your dialup connection can manage.

SW Community Area Small Grants. The South Wilts Community Area Grant Scheme board has introduced a final opportunity to bid for small grants before the end ot this financial year, because they still have £3,531 to disburse. However, applications may not be considered unless they are received by 12 noon on 23 February. If you want to find out more about the scheme, click here. Other Area Board-related links that may be of interest are their Just a Minute newsletter and the SWAB website home page.

ALADDIN (IN)SANE . . .


Uh oh—looks like Aladdin's for the chop . . . .

. . . but of course he wasn't really. Just one of the scenes from the Pepperbox Players' terrific staging of their 2010 pantomime Aladdin in the Village Hall on the 4th, 5th, and 6th of February. For more about the panto, click here. For lots of photos, click here.

The February 2010 Neighbourhood Watch Bulletin, from PC Henry Clissold includes some useful tips on safeguarding vehicles against opportunist thieves, and the monthly crime reports from hereabouts. For more detail, click here.

Brownie Newz. "Little Owl" has sent us the latest activity report from the local Brownie troop, covering happenings in 2009 and looking ahead to some events being planned. For details, click here.

Parish Council Meeting Report, 21st January 2010. The latest Parish Council report includes two invitations to villagers: the Council are asking for villagers' views before end-Feb on a proposal that 30 mph stickers are obtained for fixing to wheelie bins within the 30 mph limit; also villagers are encouraged to attend the 4th March annual Parish Meeting where electors can raise any village matter. For more on these and other items covered, including a warning about unlicensed hawkers (hmm...), click here.

Memorial Ground Trust.  For notes from the MGT Management Meeting held on 18 January 2010, click here.

The January 2010 Farmwatch Bulletin, from the local police Rural Crimes Team, reviews recent rural and farming-related crime in the area—it seems a spate of thefts of Landrover Defenders continued beyond the Christmas period. The bulletin also includes advice on various ways of marking equipment to help protect against theft, or facilitate recovery after theft. For more details, click here.

IT MUST (really) BE WINTER . . .



We don't often get much snow here nowadays, but last winter and this one have been exceptions, with another reasonable snowfall on 5th/6th Jan this year. Nothing like the 40cm originally forecast, but enough to provide a lot of fun, and maybe there's more to come. In the photos: two snowmen that caught our eye in Cowesfield, and some serious snowball-rolling on the Memorial Ground.

The January 2010 Neighbourhood Watch Bulletin, forwarded by PC Henry Clissold, provides some tips on security marking your new presents ! For more details, click here.

Parish Council Meeting Report, 10th December 2009. The latest Parish Council report includes news of a new co-opted member of the council (Mrs Anne Baker), and action the council is taking about the A27 being flooded recently at Brickworth and in Cowesfield. The Southern Wilts Community Area Youth Development Co-ordinator will be attending the next meeting on 21 January, and the council encourages young people to come to the meeting and give their views on what's needed in Whiteparish. For more on these, and the other topics discussed, click here.

Agenda for SWAB Meeting on 17th December. The agenda for the South Wilts Area Board meeting to be held in Whiteparish Village Hall on 17 December includes the following items for discussion:
- Disposal of Wiltshire Council Assets - Coombe Bissett Chalk Pit
- Community Plan Steering Group and Issues Update
- Getting your opinions on Wiltshire Council’s spending in 2010/11
- Youth Provision and Involvement
- Spotlight Session: Wiltshire Police Presentation
In this important presentation Inspector David McMullin will explain some operational and organisational aspects of policing in south Wiltshire.
- Community Area Grants.

If you're interested in any of these, or if you just want to find out more about SWAB, doors open at 6.30 pm, and the meeting starts at 7.00.

The December 2009 Neighbourhood Watch Bulletin, forwarded by PC Henry Clissold mentions the suspicion that horses and ponies in the district are being earmarked (with a small plait in their manes) for possible theft later. (The Salisbury Journal has covered the same story.) The bulletin summarises some precautions that owners can take to guard against theft of horses and ponies. Happily the regular reports of crimes in the area don't include any in Whiteparish, but there is quite an outbreak not far away in Laverstock/Ford. On a similar theme, PC Clissold has forwarded a bulletin from the Wiltshire Rural Crime Team which gives some interesting insights into the rural team's current activities and priorities county-wide. For the Neighbourhood Watch bulletin, click here. For the Farm Watch/Rural Crimes bulletin, click here.

Refuse/Recycling collection for 2009/2010 Christmas and New Year Holiday. The arrangements are slightly more complicated than for previous bank holidays, with collections rescheduled as follows. (Note: most if not all households in Whiteparish are due one black-box collection during the period, which has been set for 4 January. The other rescheduled black box dates shown are for the benefit of any households on a different collection rota. )

Then back to normal. The above dates are copied from the WCC website; for more information, including recycling of Christmas trees, wrapping paper, etc, click here.

Memorial Ground Trust.  For notes from the MGT Management Meeting held on 23 November 2009, in the Pavilion, click here.

Southern Wiltshire Area Board (SWAB) to meet in Whiteparish.  The next meeting of the Southern Wiltshire Area Board (SWAB for short)—see also earlier item on the same subject, down the page—is scheduled for 17th December 2009, and will take place in Whiteparish Village Hall. Doors open at 6.30 pm for a 7.00 pm start. So if you want to find out more about this new local government initiative, or if you have points to raise, make a note in your diary. To see the SWAB home page, click here.

If you're still a bit vague about the role of area boards, you won't be alone! But Councillor Richard Britton, the chairman of SWAB, is aware of this problem and recently distributed a message on the subject, basically indicating that the board themselves are still feeling their way. To see Councillor Britton's message, click here.

The October 2009 Neighbourhood Watch Bulletin, forwarded by PC Henry Clissold includes news of attacks on cats in Alderbury, a useful summary of the restrictions on using by-ways, and the regular reports of crimes both in Whiteparish and neighbouring parishes. For details, click here.

Parish Council Meeting Report, 22nd October 2009. The latest Parish Council report includes news of the affordable houses project in Newton Lane, which will apparently be finished ahead of schedule. All the houses have been allocated, and will be going to people with strong Whiteparish connections. For more on this, and the other topics discussed, click here.

2010 Fete and Carnival. The date for next year's Fete has been set for Saturday 19th June, with the theme of "Storytime", and as usual there will be other activities during the preceding week—more news of these later. For more information, including names and contact numbers of the organising committee, click here.

2009 Fireworks Display. This year's display, in aid of Whiteparish All Saints Primary School and kindly sponsored by Pains Fireworks, will be held on Saturday 14th November on the Memorial Ground, as usual. Gates open at 6.15 pm, and the display itself starts at 7.00 pm. There will be refreshments (including a barbecue) and drinks available; and fairground rides for younger children. If you buy your tickets in advance from the village shop or school office, they are £3.50 per adult, £2.50 per child (4—16) and under-fours are free, or a family ticket is £10. If you pay at the gate, it's £5 per adult and £3.00 per child. (In the event of wet weather, the alternate date is Friday 20th November.)

Goodbye to Steve Worpole
It seemed like the end of an era when we heard that Steve Worpole was leaving the village. In his 20 years or so as landlord of the Fountain, Steve made many friends locally, and we were glad to catch him at the Kings Head on a recent Friday evening, shortly before he upped sticks. He's bought a 50-ft narrowboat and is embarking on what he calls his belated "Gap Year", starting at Northampton on the canal system and heading north. He hasn't got any firm plans, except that he hopes to meet up in Chester for a meal with a friend who's travelling, also by canal, from Ely, setting off at about the same time. Seems there's a good curry restaurant in Chester . . .

Steve was a very good friend and supporter of Whiteparish School for a long time, and a good sport. We remember once coming across him trudging back from a school fete towards the Fountain, many years ago, covered with the evil-smelling concoction he'd just been gunked with to raise school funds. Many in the village will miss him, and we wish him well in his travels and for the future.

FLOWER SHOW AND HARVEST FESTIVAL PHOTOS. Two new flower-related photo galleries have been added to the website: one for the Flower and Hobbies Show at the end of August '09 (click here) and the other for some photos of the beautiful flower arrangements prepared by members of the Altar Guild for this year's Harvest Festival(click here). Many thanks to Dawn and Langdon Nichols for sending the latter—and apologies for the delay in getting them onto the website. (Have been a bit busy with other stuff.)

The October 2009 Neighbourhood Watch Bulletin, forwarded by PC Henry Clissold includes news of a spate of thefts in Whiteparish during September, a telephone scam to look out for, and organisational changes at Alderbury Police Station. For details, click here.

Parish Council Meeting Report, 17th September 2009. The latest Parish Council report includes items on the new Community Building, Trickey's Paddock, and the welcome news that the Whiteparish First Responders Group have been granted £1000 for the purchase of a new kit, including a defibrillator. For more on these, and the other topics discussed, click here.

Memorial Ground Trust Management Committee. To see notes from the September Meeting, click here.

10 SEPTEMBER NEWSFLASH: RECENT HOUSE THEFTS LOCALLY. PC Henry Clissold writes: "Within the last 72 hours the Alderbury & Laverstock area has been hit by two dwelling burglaries; on both occasions the occupants have been away. Can I please urge all residents to check properties that are currently vacant while residents are away, and keep an extra cautious eye on them.

I can think of nothing worse than returning from holiday to a burgled house, let's prevent this happening to anyone else. Many thanks for your cooperation, please tell everyone!!!"

For more local policing news, to see the latest Neighbourhood Watch bulletin, click here.

VILLAGE DESIGN STATEMENT: What is it? What's Happening? For anyone who has seen or heard references to a Whiteparish Village Design Statement, or noticed that some Parish Councillors have "VDS" in their list of responsibilities on the Parish Council page, and wondered what it's all about, here's how you can find out. The Steering Group for the Whiteparish VDS have started their own website, with information about how the Whiteparish VDS will be compiled, who's on the Steering Group, and how to join in an online discussion about it. All residents of the parish of Whiteparish are welcome to contribute. To find out more, you can go to the Steering Group website by clicking here.

On the other hand, if you only want a rough idea of what a VDS is, and what it's intended to achieve, there's also a token page on the subject on this website; click here.

Parish Council Meeting Report, 6th August 2009. The latest Parish Council report includes items on Parish Clerk Anita Boakes' plan to retire in 2010 and the need for a replacement, the good news that "Preliminary reports on bat and newt surveys show there will not be a problem with bats or newts" (which is bound to be good news re the proposed new community building . . . ), and the latest on Tricky's Paddock. For more on these, and the other topics discussed, click here.

Refuse/Recycling collection for August 31 '09 Bank Holiday. Collection as normal on Friday 28th August, but the collections that would otherwise take place on the following Friday (4th September) will be made on Saturday 5th September. Then back to normal.

New way of involving local people in council decisions .  We recently received information about the launch of the Southern Wiltshire Area Board (SWAB for short)—one of 18 area boards that have been set up throughout Wiltshire. Apparently their purpose is to ensure that Wiltshire Council involves local people in decisions and to bring together the key partners operating in the area to ensure the right sort of services are being delivered to suit local communities. SWAB covers the "Southern Wiltshire Community area", which includes not just Whiteparish but the parishes of Alderbury, Britford, Clarendon Park, Coombe Bissett, Downton, Firsdown, Grimstead, Landford, Laverstock, Ford and Old Sarum, Odstock, Pitton and Farley, Redlynch, West Dean, and Winterslow. The board is made up of elected councillors; parish councils; a cabinet member from Wiltshire Council; senior reps from the police, fire and rescue; NHS; and ideally community groups and businesses. Because this is potentially an important new layer in the local government picture, we've set up a new page in the "Amenities" section of the website. To read more and find some links, click here.

Flower & Hobbies Show Coming Soon.  The Whiteparish Garden Club's annual Flower and Hobbies Show will be on August 29th, in the Village Hall, and the club are looking forward to welcoming exhibitors. For more information, including the Handicraft and Art classes on the schedule, click here.

Ever thought about being a Special Constable? As described in the August 2009 Neighbourhood Watch Bulletin from PC Henry Clissold, Wiltshire police are currently seeking recruits to join the Special Constabulary. For more details of this, and local crimes in our area (unfortunately including some in Whiteparish last month), click here.

Two Forthcoming Meetings about Tricky's Paddock.  Parish Clerk Anita Boakes asked us to include the following notice about two planning-related meetings to take place in August 2009.

Potholes, Community Building, and Temporary Closure of Newton Lane. These were among the matters raised during the "public statement/question time" section of the Parish Council meeting on 25th June 2009. For more about these, and other topics discussed during the remainder of the meeting, click here.

Police Warning about Crime that can Follow Handbag Thefts. In the latest Neighbourhood Watch Bulletin, PC Henry Clissold includes a warning of a recent kind of scam; for details of this, and local crimes in our area (though happily none listed for Whiteparish last month), click here.

NOTE FROM PARISH COUNCIL
It has come to the notice of your Parish Council that Wiltshire Council is shortly to publish documents relating to the Local Development Framework Core Strategy and the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment.

At this moment in time, the Parish Council has no knowledge of either document’s contents.

Since publication about these matters last year caused concern in the village, please be assured that as and when the Parish Council receive information updates, you will be kept fully informed.

Trevor King
Parish Council Chairman

2009 Fete Raises Over £7000! Sue King writes with good news from the Fete Committee: "I am very pleased to report, on behalf of this year's committee, that the grand sum of £7000 will be shared between the school and the church !!!" For the full report (and a rather less pleasing piece of news about the 2009 event), click here.

2009 HogRoast/Bands Night and Fete as enjoyable as ever. Thanks to a lot of hard work by all those who helped (much of it "behind the scenes"), 2009's Bands Night on 12th June, and the Fete and Carnival the following day, were great fun, with attendances seeming to be at least at the same level as previous years. Funds raised are shared between All Saints Church and School, and we will publish the final figures when we have them. In the meantime, you can find more about both events by clicking here, and photographs of the Carnival and Fete by clicking here

Police Concern about Recent Whiteparish Crime Incidents. In the latest Neighbourhood Watch Bulletin, PC Henry Clissold writes of his concern about worrying incidents at a Whiteparish location, including theft, criminal damage, and harassment, and asks for any information that may help the officers investigating these offences. The bulletin also summarises other recent crime in Whiteparish and nearby villages. For more information, click here.

Name for Affordable Houses Project. As reported in the minutes of the 2009 Parish Council AGM (see below), the council has thanked all those who suggested names for the development. The one chosen is "Witchell Way", to honour the memory of the late Joan Witchell, who did so much for our community both in her nursing role and in many other ways.

Parish Council AGM, 7th May 2009. Chairman Trevor King and Vice-Chairman John Le Quesne were re-elected unopposed, and representatives on Parish Council committees and outside bodies were elected. For a full report of the AGM and the regular meeting agenda which followed, click here. The current council, with new committee roles and contact information, can be found on the Parish Council page by clicking here.

Refuse/Recycling collection for Late May Bank Holiday. Collection as normal on Friday 22nd May, but the collections that would otherwise take place on the following Friday (29th May) will be made on Saturday 30th May. Then back to normal.

Police Newsflash. PC Henry Clissold has written to warn of suspicious behaviour observed very recently in a neighbouring village: " . . . (on) 13th May into 14th May a young male was seen in the Alderbury village dressed in dark clothing attempting to gain access to a house, this attempt was unsuccessful, no damage was caused and no items stolen. Can I please reiterate the need for security minded vigilance. This attempt failed as the property and all vehicles on the drive were secured." PC Clissold has also sent the latest Neighbourhood Watch Bulletin which includes April 09 figures for some categories of crime in the locality, which you can read by clicking here.

SUNDAY FOOTIE SIDE TOP BY A MILE. Whiteparish's Sunday Football team were decisive winners of Division 2 of the Salisbury and District Sunday League, a more-than-comfortable 13 points clear of runners-up West Harnham. Congratulations to them. For the results for Saturday and Sunday sides, click here.

Refuse/Recycling collection for Spring Bank Holiday. Collection as normal on Friday 1st May, but the collections that would otherwise take place on the following Friday (8th May) will be made on Saturday 9th May. Then back to normal.

Police Advice for for householders. Now that the spring weather is here, the Wilts Police want have sent us some good advice on making your house and belongings safer from theft by taking a few simple precautions. For details, click here.

CONGRATULATIONS . . . to Whiteparish's Sunday Football team, who are storming home in Division 2 of the Salisbury and District Sunday League. As of the end of March, they had 12 wins from 12 league matches and, with a lead of 9 points over nearest rivals West Harnham and just two league matches to go, they must be set to top the division. They have two home matches left on the Memorial Ground on 12th and 26th April—why not turn out and support them? For the (almost) complete results to date for both the Saturday and Sunday sides, click here.

EASTER BANK HOLIDAY: Refuse & Recycling Arrangements. Friday collections will take place as normal on Good Friday (10th April). However, the collection that would normally have been made on Friday 17th will actually be done on Saturday 18th April. Then back to normal.

Spring Is Here !

Clocks go forward at midnight on Saturday 28th March, and it's officially Spring (even if it doesn't feel much like it). So here are a couple of seasonal photos to brighten up the page: a foal (little girl) about a week old, snapped in a neighbour's field in mid-March, and the usual wonderful display of daffodils in All Saints churchyard at around the same time.

Parish Council. The Annual Parish Meeting was hald on the 19th March 2009, immediately followed by the regular Parish Council meeting. For reports of both, click here.

Also, as reported under in the Salisbury Journal (March 19, 2009), Parish Council chairman Trevor King was cleared of any misconduct after a lengthy investigation by Salisbury District Council's standard's committee into allegations that he had abused his position. Mr King was reported as commenting: "It has been a very unpleasant experience and I am obviously very pleased with the outcome. I have been a parish councillor for 20 years and this just makes me more determined than ever to carry on." For the full story on the Journal's website, click here.

Neighbourhood Watch Bulletin, Feb 2009. PC Henry Clissold has sent an interesting recent bulletin, covering neighbourhood policing priorities, local crime reports by parish, and an alert about a spate of burglaries in South Wiltshire, with advice on some measures you can take to protect property. For more information, click here.

"VAMPIRE" a Great Success. The photo shows just some of the very happy cast (not to mention the equally happy audience!) at the finale of the Pepperbox Players' 2009 panto: "The Vampire Bites Back". For more, click here. For more photos, click here.

PARISH COUNCIL ELECTION. The results of the election held on Thursday 12th February to fill the three vacancies on the Parish Council were as follows.

344 ballot papers were issued with one rejected. With an electorate of 1167, the turnout was therefore 29.48%.

Notice from Wiltshire Council. The Parish Council has received a notice of consultation by Wiltshire Council (the new unitary authority) on the first stage of its Local Development Framework (LDF). Mrs Anita Boakes (Parish Clerk) explains: "It is only a scoping report (ie. stating which topics are being included rather than deciding anything)." The public are not being invited to comment at this stage but the notice is available via the website to keep villagers aware of what is happening. If people do have comments at this stage, they can be made to the Parish Clerk. For more information, click here.

PARISH COUNCIL. The SDC elections team have issued a list of candidates for the election of three Whiteparish parish councillors, which is to be held on 12 February —to view it, click here. To view the the notes of the Parish Council meeting held on the 11th December 2008, click here.

Police Advice for dogowners. Following a request from the Parish Council, PC Henry Clissold has written with some of the legal implications of dog-walking. For details, click here.

WHITEPARISH MEMORIAL CENTRE Planning Comments Update. Dave Boakes, Project Team Chairman, has sent us the confirmed addresses and reference number for comments about the planning application referred to just below. Note that the closing date for public comments is 12th February 2009. For the other details, click here (the new details are appended under the original notice).

Police Advice for AFTER Christmas! PC Henry Clissold and PCSO Bill Parr have written with some good suggestions for looking after all those presents we received a week or two back. For details, click here.

ARCHIVED HOME PAGE ITEMS

By late 2009 the home page had grown to a ridiculous length (because we'd simply been adding to it for five years). So there is now a separate archive page for older material, which you can view by clicking here.

Forthcoming News and Events:

Click here for our Forthcoming News and Events list, or see the diary sections for individual organisations. To suggest an event to be featured on the website, email us at events@whiteparish.co.uk.

If you want to find out more about Whiteparish and what's going on here, whether you live within the village or elsewhere, we hope that this website will be useful and informative. If you find any errors or have any suggestions for improvements, please let us know by emailing us at comments@whiteparish.co.uk.