Category: News

At the parish Council meeting on Thursday 4^th June the new Chair, Jackie Pyne, read out a statement concerning the recent drastic hedge cutting. The full version will be published in the council minutes in due course, but the gist of it is this:

In March the parish council warned the highways authority (Somerset County Council) that certain hedges would need cutting in Lower Road, near the school, as they were becoming a safety hazard. The Council said they would write to the landowner, Philip Colebatch.  That was the last they heard of it until the recent controversy blew up.

The  County Council visited, made an assessment and notified the landowner of the work needed to be done, supplying a plan and precise locations near the school, and warning about the birdlife. He was given a month to carry out the work. This was in April, so the work had to be done by the end of May.

Mr Colebatch ordered  work to be carried out, not just in Lower Road, but also Batchpool Lane and Marsh Lane, with the result that everyone can see.

The Parish Council  have informed the police wildlife crime unit that a potential offence against the  Wildlife Acts had been committed and asked them to investigate. Two other Horsington residents, acting independently, have also contacted the police.

Mrs Pyne emphasised that at no time had the parish Council requested  Mr Colebatch to cut any hedges.

A statement  by Mrs Colebatch was read out. In summary, it claimed that they did not wish to cut the hedges at this time, as they had a three-year cycle of hedge maintenance and management in place, and the hedge was due to be cut in September. However, they felt obliged to follow the instructions of the highways authority. They included Batchpool Lane on safety grounds, and Marsh Lane following several complaints.

The statement also claimed that the hedge had been inspected before trimming and that no nesting activity had been detected. It did not say by whom, although Mrs Colebatch is on record with  a reporter from ITV news that the inspection was carried out by an employee.

We leave readers to draw their own conclusions as to the likelihood of nesting not taking place in a hedgerow in May and whether the severe cutting was justified on safety grounds, and will not comment further until the results of the wildlife crimes unit investigation is known.

ITV Newsclip

In case anyone has not see this:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3110197

Also, watch ITV News tomorrow

Further news (if there is any) after tonight’s parish council meeting

 

Horsington’s Chris Bailward set off on Monday on the start of an 1800 –mile “Tour de France”. He will head east to the Alps to tackle the Col du Galibier and Mont Ventoux before heading for the Mediterranean coast and returning home by way of the Canal du Midi and various cycle trails and back roads.

Chris is undertaking this massive ride for fun – so he claims. He does have some previous form. Last year he cycled the 1,000-plus miles from Lands End to John o’Groats without telling anyone. This year he has decided to go public and  raise some money for charity. He has chosen the Disasters Emergency Committee, which supports relief work in Nepal and other disaster areas. You can support Chris by donating via his “Just Giving page”. Just click and donate.

Day 1 – to Portsmouth was accomplished in awful weather with numerous punctures and poor treatment by Brittany Ferries
Day 2 Ouistreham- Verneuil-sur-Avre. When last we heard, he was en route, against a strong headwind. Hopefully the weather and his luck will improve.

You can follow Chris’s progress on his blog.  and you can go there regularly by clicking on the link in our “Blogroll” on the right.

We are sure you will join us in wishing him the best of luck. We shall report his progress regularly.

Please donate!

It  seems Fleet Street is taking an interest in the Horsington hedge-cutting  mystery. A reporter from the Daily Mail has been rummaging around the lanes and has spoken to various people, including your editor. According to the reporter, it was the County Council who actioned it, acting on complaints about road safety.

If this is true, then more questions need to be answered:

Who initially complained?  Do they live in Horsington or outside?
Did the County Council inspect before ordering the work?
In whose opinion was it dangerous, and what is the test?
Why not simply trim on dangerous bends and road junctions?
Was the Parish Council consulted?
Who instructed the contractor?
Why was the cut so drastic?
Why everywhere? Marsh lane is signed as a “Byway” and has virtually no traffic on it apart from the school run. The vegetation might have encouraged the mothers to slow down.
Why was it not done in the winter?

Lord knows what the “Mail” will make of this.  They  really will have to  big it up to make this a National press story.

(See previous story and comments).

The published article

 

June Wood, Chairman of the Parish Council died on Saturday 9th May.
The Blog is sad to record the death of June Wood,  whose funeral took place in Horsington Church Wednesday 27 May. Despite criticising the council’s actions on several occasions, we recognise with thanks her outstanding contribution to the community in South Cheriton, where she lived, and Horsington.

Gill Elston, former chair of the village hall committee, who worked very closely with June, gave an appreciation of June’s life at the recent village Hall AGM.

This is what she said.

“”June Wood’s death signals the passing of an era. Perhaps there are not many left in South Cheriton and Horsington today who can appreciate the enormous influence she had on the villages, the improvements for which she was largely responsible, and the facilities she enabled to be built. It is doubtful that, without her drive, knowledge, contacts and passion for progress, there would ever have been a modernised and extended village hall, a proper school car park and other school extensions and a children’s playground. And these were only some of her many achievements.

A politician to her finger tips, for many years she represented our ward as an Independent county and district councillor, always topping the poll. People knew she was committed and genuinely involved in their local affairs and problems. She chaired, and effectively ran, the Parish Council nearly to the end of her life in spite of grappling with a chronic and disabling illness.

Always supported by her husband, Dick, who predeceased her, June was not always easy to deal with. She knew what she wanted, and would sometimes go to extraordinary lengths to get it. This produced both tremendous loyalty from some and disenchantment from others.

It is rare nowadays for anyone to care for, and contribute so much to, their environment and community. June will be sorely missed”

 

 

Forget Blatter. Forget the Horsington Hedges. What about the hundreds who have died in Qatar building the infrastructure for the next World Cup? 62 bodies per game so far!
Think about it before you next buy something from a FIFA sponsor.

The shocking migrant death toll (so far) in Qatar is way in excess of any other major recent sporting event…Watch more from Alex Thomson on Channel 4 News:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCc_raw8cgI
World opinion rebounds on Qatar sponsors

Superfast broadband, delivered by fibre-optic cables will be available in Horsington and South Cheriton early next year. The superfast signal will be delivered to a “cabinet”, and goes from there to each home by copper wire. This means that instead of the broadband signal coming all the way from Templecombe by copper wire, it will now come from the top of the village, by the junction with Stowell Lane.

Speed is good if you live near the top of the village, but deteriorates by a half less than a kilometre away. But even at 3km (1.86 miles) away, it is still better than the speed we receive now –just.

The graph shows the relationship between distance from the “cabinet” and superfast broadband speed you can expect. The red line shows the current average speed in the area. Distances in Km.

If you live further away and really must have a superfast connection, then the only realistic option at present is satellite broadband, according to Connecting Devon and Somerset.

This is not without its limitations though. For example, monthly data allowances tend to be lower, and the cost higher. You also need a mini satellite dish and a set top box.

On the positive side, most satellite providers do not use “up to” speeds, so if they state 20Mbps, that’s what you should get all the time, unless you exceed your monthly data allowance. And if you choose carefully, you should be able to give a short notice period when moving over to fibre optics.

We suspect the majority of outlying purely “domestic” users will not need satellite broadband. Whether it is worth those who live some distance from the “cabinet” paying extra for a slightly better signal remains to be seen.

https://www.europasat.com/

Our last post got an immediate response.

Brett Dorney reported that, according to the Connecting Devon and Somerset Programme, Horsington will go live with Superfast Broadband in January 2016. They point out that timescales may change, and there is no indication how far the broadband will reach. Marsh dwellers, be warned.

Eagle eyed John Macdonald, chairman of the village hall committee, thinks he’s spotted the “cabinet”. He reports,  “Wandering round town the other day, I enquired of the gents pulling wires down holes if this was the much vaunted fibre optics we had been waiting for? No such luck, These are the conduits for the fibre optics. At least it is a step in the right direction. And I notice they have been laid all the way down to Templecombe.

“There is a ‘cabinet’, in fact two, (look for a green box about a metre long by half a metre high) for Horsington itself on the main road by Horsington House Lodge opposite  the entrance to Stowell Lane. I would imagine there must be one somewhere in South Cheriton.” (We can’t find it -ED)

Thanks everyone. This is exactly what the Blog is for. Let us know what’s going on and we’ll report it. Ed