New Model

Residents may have noticed Parish Council Lengthsman, Malc Hayes, in proud possession of his shiny new litter cart.

Lancashire County Council awarded Chorley Council funding for four segregated hand carts to help raise waste and recycling performance and the Parish Council was successful with a bid for a cart.

The Parish Council employees have been recycling waste as a matter of course for several years now so no changes to collection methods were needed and the new cart came at a time when the old one was badly in need of replacement.

The Parish Council would like to thank both Lancashire County Council and Chorley Council for providing the new cart and we hope Malc gets hours of enjoyment from his new toy!

Council Tax Down!

The Parish Council’s budget for the next financial year shows a 5.1% reduction in the cost of the Parish Precept to residents .

In view of the current financial climate the Parish Council wanted to make sure the burden on council tax payers will not increase this year. Careful budgeting and prudent financial management has allowed the reduction without affecting the services currently provided by the Council.

These services include the Village Caretaker, who looks after the Recreation Fields, play areas and other open spaces, and attends to minor repairs to council property, the Village Lengthsman, who picks litter from the major routes and estate roads. The Council is also responsible for the ongoing maintenance of the Recreation Fields and Changing Rooms, the Drapers Avenue Play Area and Skate Park, the Millennium Green, Hawthorns Play Area and the Village Green. Mowing of the entrance to The Hawthorns is also carried out by the Parish Council. The Council also provides the Christmas Tree and lights, lighting for the path between Drapers Avenue and Richmond Road, wayside seats, emptying of dog waste bins and the relevant public and employers liability insurance cover.

The reduction means that the cost of the Parish Precept to residents is now virtually the same as it was in 2003 - something the Parish Council is extremely proud of.

At last the Millennium Green is finalised....

At long last the Parish Council has taken over responsibility for the Millennium Green. Preliminary discussions began in December 2006 and the timescale since then has been largely as a result of negotiations with Natural England regarding the terms of an original grant for the improvements to the Green.

Following these lengthy negotiations some conditions under which the Council may have had to repay the original grant or replace original structures which have either disappeared or fallen into disrepair have been removed and the Council appointed sole trustee of the Eccleston Millennium Green Trust.

The original grant conditions limit what can be done on the Green so it is the general intention to simply retain it as an area of public open space, for the enjoyment of residents and to safeguard it from being built on at a future date. The Committee responsible will be looking at the area to prioritise the work which is needed to bring it up to scratch.

The Parish Council would like to thank the former Millennium Green Trustees for all their efforts in the past, without them the village may not have this facility to enjoy .

Sid's Smiling!

The Speed Indicator Device (SID) is now fully operational in the Village. Data from the various sites is collected and analysed by the Parish Council and our local Police, who will use it to target further enforcement action.

Up to now we have been pleasantly surprised to find that over 85% of vehicles travelling northbound on The Green and 75% travelling southbound and entering the village on Towngate were within the speed limit, with only 2% travelling above 36mph.

On the downside we had 2 vehicles travelling in excess of 61mph along The Green, one at around 1.00am on a Sunday morning and another, staggeringly, at around 5.00pm on a Saturday.

The SID also collects vehicle numbers and on two deployments on Towngate it recorded well in excess of 3000 vehicles travelling south along Towngate peaking, one Friday, at 3817.

The budding Lewis Hamilton’s among us should note that the device is deliberately set to NOT display speeds in excess of 45mph, even though they are recorded. This is to prevent mindless individuals attempting to set some sort of ’record’ for speeding.

Council Tax Reduction

At the January meeting the Council set the budgets for the forthcoming financial year. The Parish Precept, which is collected via resident’s council tax bills, was set at £43,240, representing a reduction of almost 2% in the amount payable by residents.

Given the current financial climate the Councillors felt they should assist residents wherever possible so, by careful budgeting and prudent financial management, the Council has been able to avoid an increase in the portion of residents council tax bills, payable for the precept.

The local services provided by the Parish Council, funded from the Parish Precept, include the Village Caretaker, who looks after the Recreation Fields, play areas and other open spaces, and attends to minor repairs to council property and the Village Lengthsman, who picks litter from the major routes and estate roads. The Council is also responsible for the ongoing maintenance of the Recreation Fields and Changing Rooms, the Drapers Avenue Play Area and Skate Park, the Hawthorns Play Area, the Village Green. Mowing of the Recreation Fields, Millennium Green and the entrance to The Hawthorns, the Christmas Tree and lights, wayside seats, emptying of dog waste bins and the relevant insurance cover are all also provided by the Parish Council.

PARISH CHAMPION GRANT TO CUT SPEEDING IN ECCLESTON

Eccleston Parish Council is buying a new device to cut speeding traffic in the village with the help of funding from Lancashire County Council.

The device, called a speed indicator device (SID), will be used to warn motorists exceeding speed limits that they are driving too fast.

Featuring a large LED display, the SID will flash the speed of the vehicle and greet motorists keeping to the speed limit with a smiley face, while speeding motorists will see a frowning face.

The SID is a portable device that will be moved between various roads across the village including The Green, Doctor's Lane, Bradley Lane and Banister Green.

As well as warning drivers of the speed limit, the SID also keeps a record of traffic speeds at specific times of the day to help the County Council determine whether any further action is needed to protect drivers and pedestrians in the area.

County Councillor Mike Otter, Champion for Parishes, provided £785 towards the cost, with the remainder of the funding for the £2,785 device coming from the Parish Council.

Mike said: "Local people living in Eccleston have highlighted speeding traffic as one of their main concerns, so the parish council has been working with the county council to tackle this issue. "There are 30mph limits on many roads in Eccleston. However, many drivers ignore them and we hope the speed indicator will encourage them to watch their speed.

"Eccleston Parish Council does a superb job improving the village and making a difference to the lives of the community and we're pleased to support them with schemes like this."

Alan Platt, Clerk to Eccleston Parish Council, said: " T he Parish Council would like to thank County Councillor Otter for his generous donation, which will, hopefully, help make Eccleston's roads safer.

As with many villages in the area, speeding traffic is an issue here and local residents have raised concerns with the Parish Council. We decided a speed indicator would help to tackle this problem and we've been working with Lancashire County Council to identify sites where it can be located.

"We also obtained a substantial discount on the initial purchase price by ordering it in tandem with another SID for Euxton Parish Council."

Dept of Transport figures indicate vehicle activated signs prevent more accidents that the static fixed speed (GATSO - type) cameras.