NEWS: protest update / bowls season / church services / election watch

News-in-brief  from Draycott-In-The-Moors in mid-April 2015 News of…:  candidates’ opinions to be published / deadline for Cresswell plans latest protest / revelations about the Reverend… / heat on the bowls green
(NB – There are also dozens of events in our locality – including the opening of the cricket season in Cresswell. Check out the Events page)

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Forecast of a hot summer. Sort of.

We’ve had an interesting email from Sue Stepek, the secretary of the local bowls club at Cresswell, which has just kicked off its season.  She is absolutely sure that we are in for a scorcher of a summer…
“…  a cousin of mine has a friend who knows someone with a connection to someone who has spoken to a man who has said that this summer will be an absolute dream for bowls players. Warm, sunny afternoons with just a hint of a balmy breeze. It will only rain at night, he says, so that the greens won’t suffer. What could be a better year to start playing bowls?…”
Sue is very rarely wrong, we admit – but what about the friend of her friend’s friend? Hmm.

Anyway… this could be your passport to a healthy activity.  The club’s membership is just £25 per year, which allows unlimited access to the green (on Blythe Business Park at Cresswell) through the season.
Another way to do it is to pay the other membership rate of £7.50 + £1 each time you play. Click here for details

What else would you be doing on a sunny afternoon? This would be a really good way to avoid the gardening…

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Place your questions now

Yes, we can’t avoid mentioning Election Day on May 7th.

As you know, we are in the Stone Parliamentary Constituency – and the local website for Stone & District is offering an interesting service.  It says it wants your questions about the issues, so that it can put them to the candidates. Click here to find out the details.
It’s also running a day by day look at how the candidates are doing.

One thing we didn’t know is that the Stone seat is the largest in Staffordshire, being predominantly rural, and covers Cheadle, Tean and Draycott in the Staffordshire Moorlands; Eccleshall, Gnosall and Blythe Bridge in Stafford Borough; and Madeley and Loggerheads in Newcastle-under-Lyme. No wonder it’s such a strange shape.
There are also lots of other facts about the Stone constituency on the BBC Election Website.

Meanwhile, we’ll be doing our best to keep you up with what’s happening with the Draycott-in-the-Moors Parish Council election.  We’ve already sent out letters to the candidates to ask them to outline a description of themselves and their abilities.
We’ll be publishing their replies on April 27th, in good time for the big day.

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Going to government

Another team of hard-working people are trying to get involved with government – but this is all about something completely different.

As we all know, the Staffordshire Moorlands District Council Planning Committee overturned the advice of its own experts and also sidelined the council’s own Core Strategy Plan – in order to approve an application to more than double the size of Cresswell’s housing and industry.

On behalf of residents, the VVSM local community action group appealed that decision; and the matter has now been referred to senior case-officers in the government’s Department of Communities.  The VVSM team have been working away furiously to meet the deadline set by the case-officers to submit major evidence.
You can read up on their progress, and find out how to help, by clicking here.

Some of the group have been out and about talking to people in other, nearby areas; and it’s nice to report that councils in both Hilderstone and Fulford are formally supporting the objections to the plan.

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Service(s) nearly as normal

There had been some concern that church services at Draycott St Margaret’s would have to be suspended because (as we reported last week), the rector Reverend David Bickersteth has now retired.
However, the church wardens have managed to organise cover and services will continue at the old church; Reverend Noreen Russell, though semi-retired herself, has stepped into the breach.
However – keep checking the church’s website for the actual times of services.

One thing that surprised us was to learn that David had previously been working in Yorkshire… except that… he hadn’t.  This was a mistake in a story written about the retirement in one of the local papers.  In fact, David and wife Gillian had been in Cumbria for the 26 years previous to their coming to Draycott.
Also – who knew that David’s father was Dean of Lichfield? … except that … he wasn’t.  David’s father was Chapter Clerk of Ripon Cathedral.

Glad to have cleared that up.

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