Author: alpington-yelverton-admin

Most dog walkers are responsible and clean up after their dogs.  However, there are some who don’t do this and we all know how unpleasant it is to step into dog poop on a footpath or playing field.

South Norfolk District Council has recently passed a public space protection order that requires people in control of dogs to clean up after them and to restrict dogs from enclosed children’s play areas.  There is a fixed penalty of £100 for breaching this public space protection order.

Alpington with Yelverton Parish Council has always taken the issue of dog fouling seriously and provides plenty of dog waste bins around the Parish.  This costs a good deal of money, as not only does the Parish Council have to buy the bins, it also has to pay for the emptying of them. The cost for emptying and the dog waste bins this year was over £760.

The Parish Council has also erected numerous signs encouraging dog walkers to “bag it and bin it”, including some colourful ones designed last year by children from Alpington and Bergh Apton C of E VA Primary School.

So, as the signs say, if your dog pooped please pick it up, bag it and most importantly bin it either in one of the dog waste bins or your own waste bin at home.

As 2020 draws to a close it’s a good time to reflect on what has been achieved in Alpington and Yelverton during the year.   

Much of 2020 has been dominated by the Coronavirus pandemic – something that we couldn’t have envisaged in January and February when we were planning for the Annual Parish Meeting due to be held on 16th March.  That meeting had to be cancelled, but thanks to having our Community Emergency Plan already in place we were quickly able to activate the Plan and coordinate volunteers in the villages to assist residents who were self-isolating or shielding during lockdown with shopping and collection of prescriptions.

Despite the pandemic a number of projects sponsored by the Parish Council were completed.  The Village Play Area behind the Village Hall was refurbished and expanded and reopened in time for the summer holidays and is now able to be safely enjoyed by children in the villages.

Last month we reported on the progress with the Village Pond restoration project and since then a small group of volunteers cleared some dead trees from the central island and tidied up the vegetation on the banks.  

Thanks to all the rain we had in October the Pond is now almost completely full of water and looking good. 

Both these projects were managed by parish councillors and made possible with grants from the Community Benefit Fund which receives annual payments from the local Solar Farm.  

The Community Benefit Fund is administered by the Parish Council and local groups can apply for grants for projects and activities that benefit the community.  We will be letting this year’s applicants know whether they have been successful by the beginning of December.

If you have driven or walked by the Pond recently you would doubtless have seen the restored Yelverton Village Sign.  

The old sign was in a very poor condition and the Parish Council approached the local Men’s Shed to ask if they would help restore it.  In the end the sign had to be completely replaced and the gentlemen at the Men’s Shed did a fantastic job.

The Parish Council would like to thank all the volunteers who have helped out this year.  We wouldn’t be able to achieve our goals without them.

The Parish Council meets every two months and meetings are open to the public.  Due to coronavirus restrictions we have been holding virtual meetings via Zoom since July but the public are welcome to join in.

Agendas and meeting details are posted on the Community website and Village Noticeboards.  The next meeting will be on 4 January 2021 at 7.30pm.

We would like to wish you all a happy and safe Christmas and best wishes for 2021.

Alpington with Yelverton Parish Council 

https://alpingtonwithyelverton.com/about/parish-council/

As this extraordinary year draws to its close and the days are at their shortest, slow down a bit. Try to limit your gardening work to some tidying up, protecting any tender plants and ponds and helping the wildlife in your garden.

Feeding

Keep your bird feeders topped up with a variety of seeds, nuts and suet products and make water available.

Watering

Although it makes sense to water plants sparingly at this time of year, do make sure that container plants and pots in the greenhouse don’t dry out completely.

Protecting plants

Protect tender palms and tree ferns. Pack a few handfuls of straw into the crown, tie up the leaves or fronds, and then wrap the whole plant in horticultural fleece or hessian tying it off securely at the bottom. Don’t be tempted to use plastic sheeting or bubble wrap because on warm days, your plants will sweat and rot.

Indoors, keep your houseplants happy by moving them away from warm radiators and into a sunny, cool place where they will fare much better.

Protecting ponds

If very severe frosts are forecast, float a football on the water in concrete lined ponds. When the water freezes, the ball will absorb the ice pressure rather than cracking the concrete sides. Fish may suffocate if ice persists for long, so melt a hole by standing a metal pan on the surface filled with boiling water.

Do not break up thick ice as this could injure the fish or if the broken ice falls into the water, this will lower the water temperature further and negate the insulating effect of the frozen surface.

Relaxing and planning for 2021

If you can find some quiet time, sit somewhere warm and comfortable and read some of the gardening magazines and books you never found time to read earlier in the year and conjure up some wonderful plans for your garden in 2021!

Let’s all look forward to the best Christmas we can create this year and to those short Winter days getting longer from Monday 21st December.

Merry Christmas!

These tips were kindly contributed by local resident Cara MacColl

The parish council has arranged for a chipping machine to be brought to Garrick field on Friday 4th Dec from 8.30am, to clear up the piles of felled trees currently lying along the side of the field. So two things to note:

1. Please stay away from that end of the field while it is going on, for safety reasons.

2. If anyone can spare the time to help us out with feeding the wood into the chipper then please let us know you’ll be coming, which you can do through the contact form on the website. There’s a lot to get through but with a few volunteers we can get through it much more quickly.

Many thanks!

After ten years of valued service to the community, Kevin Gotts will be standing down from his role as Parish Councillor at the end of the year.  We would like to thank Kevin for all he has done for our community over this time.

This means that there is an opening for a Parish Councillor from January 2021.  This is an unpaid role.   If you are a resident of Alpington or Yelverton and are interested in serving your local community in this way, please contact the Parish Clerk at clerk.alpington@gmail.com for further information on the role of a parish councillor.  There is also some useful information on the Local Government Association’s website, www.local.gov.uk , if you search for the Councillor’s Role. You might also want to have an informal chat with one of the Parish Councillors about the role. Contact the clerk on the same email address above if you would like to be put in touch.

The next Parish Council meeting is at 7.30pm on Monday, 4th January 2021.  These meetings are open to residents and are currently being held virtually via Zoom due to Coronavirus restrictions.  The agenda and login information will be published on the website in advance of the meeting.

The Parish Council is seeking a new Parish Clerk to join the team in the New Year. The role would suit someone who is:

• organised and structured in their approach
• confident and professional
• experienced at dealing with enquiries and researching for information
• numerate and literate
• experienced in email, Word, Excel and Zoom

The Clerk’s role requires an average of 4 hours per week including 7 Council meetings per year which are held in the evenings. In recent months the Council meetings have been held using Zoom but at some point, we look forward to holding these in the Village Hall again.

Salary is based on £10 per hour plus allowances including home-working expenses, printing and mileage where travel is required. The Clerk will be required to use their own computer equipment and internet connection.

The Job Profile is available for inspection and a handover is planned with the current Clerk who is retiring from the post. Further training is available once the new Clerk is in post.

Applicants are requested to apply by email to clerk.alpington@gmail.com setting out their experience and stating why they would like to be considered for the role.

The closing date for applications is Monday 7th December 2020 and interviews will take place using Zoom or possibly in person if restrictions allow, during week commencing 14th December.

Please download the following PDF file for the full job description:

If you’re short of any groceries on Monday early evening, Jim’s mobile grocery store could be a convenient option. It makes multiple stops at various villages and locations throughout the week, but is at:

Alpington at 4.45pm
Yelverton at 5pm

You can ring on 07967 108986 to request a stop at your doorstep, or ring with an order and they will bring it to you. Or just listen out for the music playing and pop out to meet the van.

For more information see the flyer below, and click through to the Facebook page

https://facebook.com/Jims-Mobile-Grocery-Store-118260680043855

These tips were kindly contributed by local resident Cara MacColl:

Autumn is a busy time for gardeners, with all the clearing up of leaves and tidying up of flowerbeds and November will be the month where we start to feel the colder air temperatures and it is likely we will have the first Winter frosts.

Planting

Plant any bare-root trees and herbaceous shrubs throughout this month and plant your tulip bulbs in the ground or in pots. You can also create some colour throughout the Winter months by planting up tubs and baskets with evergreen perennials, ornamental grasses, winter pansies and polyanthus.

Protecting from winds and frost

Young trees over 1m high will need staking for support, especially in exposed locations.

November is a rainy and often windy month so protect larger roses from wind-rock by pruning them down by a third and protect any container plants in non frost proof pots with bubblewrap around them or moving them into a greenhouse or shed.

Garden furniture will also need protecting at this time of year, so cover any wooden tables, chairs or benches or move them undercover.

Lawns

November is the last chance to lay turf. If you are planning to lay a new lawn, try to undertake this task over a few frost-free days or when the soil isn’t waterlogged. If the weather is dry and mild you may be able to cut established lawns for the last time this month.

Digging

It’s a perfect time for digging over the vegetable patch or allotment, provided the ground  isn’t waterlogged. If you leave the soil in large clumps, the Winter frosts will break the soil down into a crumbly finish for you.

Tidying up

Continue clearing fallen leaves off your lawn, paths and driveways and putting them into black bin liners to rot down into leaf mulch to use next year.

To mark Remembrance Sunday, we wanted to share a few photos from around the village, taken by parish council member and local photographer Kevin Gotts.

At the church

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Church meadow

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If you have any similar photos you’d like to share with us, please contact us and we’ll be very happy to add them to this post.

Remembrance Sunday and the upcoming Armistice Day will of course be a bit different this year, but however you choose to remember, you won’t be alone in doing so.

Due to the government imposing a further lock-down, the Parish Council has made the decision to re-launch the villages Community Emergency Plan, as from Thursday 5 November.

The volunteers in Alpington and Yelverton, who helped and supported local residents earlier this year, are ready to offer help and support again. 

If you would like help with shopping, collecting medicines or just someone to chat to please contact your local volunteer.

If you have misplaced your introductory card which was sent out in March introducing them and giving their contact details, please ring either:

• Louise 01508 492599 – Emergency Plan Coordinator
• Sue 01508 491185 – Deputy Emergency Plan Coordinator

and we will forward your request to your local volunteer.

Hopefully this lock-down will not be as difficult as the first one and has the desired effect.

Thank you to our team of volunteers who work hard for our residents.