Published 13 December 2015
Happy Christmas to all our parishioners from Kings Bromley Parish Council.
The tree was obtained from an anonymous donor and cut, transported and put up by Cllr. Pritchard and his team of helpers.
Electrician Geoff Sutton, although no longer a Kings Bromley resident put up the lights. Hearty thanks to all those that helped out!
Published 11 November 2015
A515 Weight Restriction
Parishioners may wish to know what has happened as a result of the petition for a weight restriction on the A515 which nearly all of you signed. Our supportive County Councillor, Martyn Tittley, had previously commissioned a report on the effects of a A515 weight restriction which he, and others, felt did not fully consider the impact of heavy vehicles on residents in Kings Bromley, Yoxall and Draycott. As a result a working group of the Staffordshire Prosperous Staffordshire Select Committee was set up to address the general issue of the impact of heavy goods/commercial vehicles on roads in Staffordshire. The case study of the impact of a weight restriction on the A515 was to be considered and evidence was to be taken from the affected communities, as well as all other interested parties. At the working group held on the 20th October, attended by Councillors Steve Brown and Allan Howard, Steve presented the case for the weight restriction based on the results of the petition and a document compiled and presented on behalf of Kings Bromley Parish Council. Other presentations were made by the Executive Head of Richard Crosse School, Paul Lovern, Yoxall Action Group and Yoxall and Draycott Parish Councils. The document and the minutes of the working party are available on the Parish website: www.kingsbromley.com. We attended a second meeting of the working group on 10th November for which we will soon have minutes. It is hoped that the working party will present its findings quickly and that a decision on the issue will be made by Staffordshire County Council Cabinet before Christmas. Parishioners will be kept informed.
Allan Howard, Chairman, Kings Bromley Parish Council
Published 2 September 2015
On Saturday 19th September at the Village Hall, 2:30- 4:30. Ivy Butcher and the Kings Bromley Historians will be launching their new publication ‘Hark Back’. This book consists of transcriptions of taped interviews that Ivy and David Butcher had around 1980 with surviving members of the Lane family and with various villagers. Their memories stretched back to before the First World War. The book provides a unique insight into life at the manor, before it was abandoned in the 1920s, and what it was like to live in a village before electric light and mains water and where horses and carts were more common than motors.
There will be an exhibition of photographs from the Historians’ archive which will illustrate extracts from the book. Ivy’s previous books and other Historian’s publications will also be available for purchase, including the recent ‘The Life and Times of Agnes, The Little Queen of Kings Bromley’. This tells the story of Agnes Lane, 1809-1885, within the context of the social history of the village and the nation. She had 14 children, of which 8 survived, and ‘reigned’ at a time when her class also ruled the country that ruled the world.
Teas and refreshments will be available
Published 14 August 2015
Kings Bromley wins Best Kept Village Again
Kings Bromley has won the Best Kept Village Competition, organised by the Community Council of
Staffordshire, for the Lichfield and Cannock Chase area. This is the fourth year in a row that we have won,
and we will retain the ‘totem pole’. The Parish Council sponsors and co-ordinates the effort, but our success
is due to the efforts of a large number of organisations and individuals. The Churchyard Team keep the church grounds immaculate; the Gardening Guild maintains the Village Hall surrounds, the War Memorial and the Jubilee Seat; the Horticultural Society maintains the Show Field; the trustees of the KB United Charities maintain the Alms Houses and gardens and the Richard Crosse School provide the posters which are displayed in the Village Hall by kind permission of the Village Hall Committee.
Thanks to the street reps who deliver the posters to each house in the village and keep an eye on litter, to all those who keep their front gardens so well and to a number of individuals who take it on themselves to pick up litter. Please put the BKV poster in your windows next year – only a small proportion of the delivered posters are displayed.
Allan Howard
Published 1 August 2015
Dear Mr Howard
I am writing to you from EM Highway Services. We manage and maintain motorways and trunk roads on behalf of Highways England (formerly the Highways Agency) within the West Midlands.
Thank you for your enquiry regarding A38 Roadworks on 30.7.15.
From Mon 03/08 to Mon 10/08, overnight only from 20:00 hrs excluding weekends, the southbound carriageway will be closed from the Barton junction (B5016) . Traffic will be diverted up the A38 Northbound to the A50 to travel West bound to the A515, then south to the A51 and A5192 at Lichfield to re-join the A38.
From Tues 11/08 until Mon 17/08 again overnight only excluding weekends, the southbound carriageway will be closed from Alrewas junction. Traffic will be diverted on the A513 West Bound to the A515 Southbound to the A51 and A5192 at Lichfield to re-join the A38.
On Tues 18/08 for I night only the Northbound carriageway will be closed from northbound at Alrewas, with the traffic diverted West along the A513, then North on the A515 then East on the A50 to Toyota Island.
To confirm, all works overnight from 20:00 hrs excluding weekends
I hope you find this response satisfactory; however, should you require further information, please contact the Highways England Information Line quoting the above HAIL reference number. Or call 0300 123 5000.
Published 21 July 2015
KB Parish Response to the Minerals Plan
In June 2011, in response to the ‘Gravel Group’ campaign to oppose plans to extract sand and gravel at the Wychnor North, Wychnor South, Alrewas West and Bancroft Farm sites, Catherine Raines, then Deputy Chief Executive of SCC wrote to campaign organiser Anne Anderson “… it is not possible for me to say that SCC will never support planning applications to extract sand and gravel from sites west of the A38 between Alrewas and Kings Bromley … However, I can say that we do not now support planning applications from these sites and I can say that we will not include sites west of the A38 between Alrewas and Kings Bromley in the MCS currently being prepared.”
Arguments about semantics aside, SCC has gone back on this commitment, those sites are in the ‘area of search’.
The SCC policy, as put forward in the ‘New Minerals Local Plan for Staffordshire 2015 to 2030’ is to excavate sand and gravel to the east of the A38 until such time as reserves are exhausted. Kings Bromley PC notes that plans are based on an annual rate of extraction of 5mtpy whereas we believe the current rate of extraction is only 3.9 mtpy. When reserves are exhausted east of the A38 consideration will be given to sites on the west of the A38 in the ‘area of search’.
We note that the ‘Gravel Group’ campaign in 2011 estimated that there was a landbank giving 27 years extraction at current rates if extension to existing sites were to be granted east of the A38. When, at some unspecified time in the future, planning applications are made west of the A38 the Minerals Plan states that they must conform to the environmental standards outlined in Policy 4. We have doubts about the ability of SCC to enforce on quarrying companies suitable standards of restoration of sites given that the worked out Manor Park quarry is essentially derelict and is an eyesore rather than an amenity which could be enjoyed by the community.
We also note that not enough consideration has been given to recycling as a means of reduction of the need for new quarrying.
Many places within the ‘area of search’ contains areas which would clearly, according to Policy 4, be ruled out. For instance those near the Orgreave gas pipelines and those contiguous to existing housing – to name but a few. The inclusion of the area directly north of Kings Bromley is a case in point. If this area continues to be included in the area of search, houses there would be effectively blighted.
Kings Bromley Parish Council look to the County Council to reaffirm Catherine Raines’ commitment.
If, at some time in the future, sites west of the A38 have to be considered in an area of search, we wish to have it confirmed that no sites close to existing housing are considered. We therefore wish to see SCC issue a modified ‘area of search’ which removes the area contiguous to the housing on the north of Kings Bromley which would be blighted by the current proposals. It is not necessary to perform a full environmental impact analysis for the entire area – that would clearly need to take place when detailed proposals for specific sites are being considered. However, the Council should be aware of the consternation it has caused by the policy of issuing a map of the area of search which does not conform to its own stated environmental policies.
Published 9 July 2015
One item that continually comes to the council attention is that of speeding vehicles through the village. It is a matter that the Parish Council takes seriously. We are informed that the local police are also taking a stance and that the camera van is in the village twice a month and that action is taken against offenders. The speedwatch initiative has been restarted and serious offenders are contacted by the police. We have made a request of SCC to try to obtain the numbers of these offenders. It is an offence to warn on-coming vehicles of the presence of the camera van and fines have been issued to those that break this law. Watch this space for updates.
Published 2 July 2015
Documents now in the public domain include;
1. Items of expenditure above £100 excluding vat-inc date incurred, summary of purpose, amount, and vat recoverable
2. End of year accounts as per annual return
3. Annual governance statement
4. Bank reconciliation statement
5. Internal audit report
6. List if Councillors and their responsibilities
7. Details of public land and building assets
8. Draft minutes of last meeting
9. Agenda 3 days before next meeting is due
Published 15 June 2015
Many parishioners are concerned by the flyer that they have received about the County Council’s Draft Mineral Plan, where it appears that Kings Bromley has been engulfed in a sea of pink. The new plan is, I believe, a considerable improvement on the previous plan which identified several sites west of the A38 for development. The Parish Council’s response to that was to urge the County Council to only consider sand and gravel extraction west of the A38 once all alternatives east of the A38 had been exhausted. This appears to be the strategy that has been adopted. The County Council is, however, keeping its options open by identifying the pink ‘area of search’ where future extraction may take place – subject to the environmental guidelines outlined in the plan. There is no date given for when the area of search will be searched – that depends on demand and capacity.
The issue will be debated at the next Parish Council meeting on 8th July, which all parishioners can of course, attend and at which we hope to have our District and County Councillors. Parishioners can speak at the beginning of Parish Council meetings, and also during the meeting at the discretion of the Chairman.It will be decided there how the Parish Council needs to respond to the new plan, and whether it will do so on its own or in conjunction with the other affected parishes – Alrewas, Fradley and Yoxall.
This note has been prepared by the Chairman of the Parish Council and contains his personal opinions. It does not represent the opinion or policy of the Kings Bromley Parish Council which, as stated, has yet to discuss the new plan.
Allan Howard, Chairman, Kings Bromley Parish Council.
Published 5 June 2015
Proceeds in aid of Village Hall restoration fund.
Published 14 May 2015
Cllr. Steve Brown is grateful to all those who helped collect the information, images and who signed the petition.
Published 22 April 2015
Contact him on 01543 472 931
Published 20 April 2015
Kings Bromley United Charity (Charity Number 1020119)
The Charity is an amalgamation of a number of bequests left in wills
or gifts given in people’s lifetime over the years. The Charity’s main
purpose now is to maintain three almshouses in Manor Road, Kings
Bromley, and supports the residents of these houses.
For further information, please contact Alison Howard, the Secretary
to the Trustees, on 01543 472720.
Published 20 April 2015
Any organisations wishing to update their details or add their meeting dates to the diary please get in touch with the Parish Clerk
Published 17 April 2015
When preparing for the Historians ten yearly Parish Boundary walk, held on Saturday 20th September last year, section leader Keith Day noticed that a bridge on the path Kings Bromley 9 – between Trent Bridge A515 going east towards Alrewas at OSGR 414476 316689 was dangerous and could only really take one person at a time. Kings Bromley Parish Council were informed and the Clerk contacted the head ranger at Staffordshire County Council. We have heard that the County Works Unit have replaced three stiles, two stile steps and repaired the bridge on this section of the path along the south bank of the Trent.
Published 2 April 2015
This is what SCC had to say
Staffordshire County Council recently received notification from Arriva confirming that they had taken a commercial decision to reduce the current Service 7 from 13th April 2015. Their decision was to implement a revised timetable for this service between Burton and Lichfield. The revised timetable results in a reduced daytime service to several of the villages on the route.
I am pleased to confirm that following negotiations between Midland Classic and Staffordshire County Council there will be an introduction of a new service, which will be named the 810. This new service will cover the reduction on the Arriva service, meaning a continuation of the service for the villages on this route. This new Service 810 will commence on 13th April 2015.
Published 30 March 2015
It’s that time again! Judging starts on the 1st of May, and continues on and off throughout the months of May, June & July. Street reps will be putting the posters for display in your front windows through your doors soon, if they have not already done so. Judges are keen on lack of litter, the tidiness of the public areas, the look of front gardens, the children’s posters in the village hall and the amount of advertising of the BKV that they see around the village.
Kings Bromley has won the district title four times in the last five years, and three times in succession. Lets put on a good display again this year. The judges are rotated, so we will have to impress a different set of judges this year. We will be having a tidy up starting at 11am on Sunday 26th April starting at the village hall: if you could help with picking up litter then, or at any other time, it would be appreciated.
Allan Howard
Published 4 March 2015
On October 15th, 1914, the Hall, then known as the Dean Lane Institute, was formally dedicated by the Bishop of Lichfield and opened by the Bishop of Rochester.
Tea and cakes were provided by the Village Hall Committee, while the Snooker Club and Historians provided displays on the one hundred year history of the club and the Hall.
It was through the efforts of the then vicar, the Rev. Chilwell, that the Institute was created so it was thought that a framed photograph of him should be on permanent display in the Hall. This was unveiled by Sue Hannam, chair of the Village Hall Committee after which Allan Howard, leader of the Historians, explained why this recognition of The Rev.Chilwell was appropriate at this time.
Published 4 March 2015
On Sunday 2nd November at a ceremony by the pinfold, Kings Bromley Parish Council was presented with a plaque to commemorate their winning the Staffordshire Community Council Lichfield and Cannock Chase District award for the Best Kept Village.
The Chair of the Judges, John Perry gave a speech commending Kings Bromley on its Community spirit. He also noted that because he had noticed that Kings Bromley had been in the competition for 50 years, he had decided to give all those villages in Staffordshire with such a ‘long service record’ an extra award.
Cllr. Steve Brown replied on behalf of the Parish Council, then John Leavesley handed over plaque to Cllr. Allan Howard, BKV organiser. This plaque will be attached to the ‘totem pole’, which will now have been a fixture on the pinfold for three years in a row.
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