Refurbishment of the Village Hall is continuing apace. The new kitchen is now fitted; toilets have been refurbished including the incorporation of disabled facilities; tables and chairs have been ordered; new curtains are in production and plans are in hand to construct a new entrance ramp to meet current standards for the disabled. The final tasks will be decorating and finishing of the hall floor.

Those of you attending the Frolesworth Parish Meeting on 27 March 2008 will already be aware of what I hope will be the final chapter on this matter:

1. Following the notice of withdrawal of the planning application I wrote to Mr Eddie Lovatt, the land owner, seeking his reassurance that Councillor David Freer would not be using the land for car boot sales or activities in support of car boot sales for any day(s) in the year i.e. under the "General Permitted Development Order".

2. I received a reply form Mr Lovatt on 27 March and this was conveyed to the Parish meeting the same evening. This read as follows: "Thank you for your letter of 21 March. There has been no discussion with David Freer regarding the further use of the field for Car Boot activities. It is therefore very probable the field this year will be used for agricultural & environmental purposes only.
However our Estate management is currently under review"

3. I have replied to Mr Lovatt thanking him on behalf of the Parish for this information and acknowledging his need to keep estate management under review.

4. The Standards Board for England have replied advising that they concur with the officers at Blaby District Council that the letter form David Freer to Councillors was 'near the borderline of acceptability but does not cross it'. This response was also conveyed to the Parish Meeting and a vote taken on whether to appeal the decision. There was a unanimous view NOT to appeal.

I hope this is the end of this matter and would like to thank all for your support in dealing with it and achieving a most satisfactory outcome.

Best wishes
David Caswell-Law

1. I have received (19 March 2008) notification from Blaby District Council that Councillor David Freer has withdrawn his application. Congratulations to everyone for a superb effort.

2. As referred to previously the applicant has 14 days permitted use per annum per site under "The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995" without planning permission. David Ball has now ploughed his field, but has left a 20 metre wide strip parallel with The Fosse Way for overspill car parking. Harborough District Council officers have advised that they believe the Highways Authority consultation response supported by the previous Planning Inspectorate ruling is sufficient grounds to prevent anyone exercising permitted development rights. I have therefore written to Blaby District Council giving them notice that we will seek to prevent permitted develoment use should the applicant proceed to use either of the two sites for car boot sales or activities in support of car boot sales.

3. I HOPE TO SEE YOU AT THE PARISH MEETING ON THURSDAY 27 MARCH 2008

An extraordinary meeting of the Parish Meeting was held on 5 February 2008 to consider an application submitted to Blaby District Council for re-location of the Croft Car Boot Sale to a field at the junction of Sharnford Road and the Fosse Way. Since the meeting over 40 objections to the application have been made to B.D.C. together with the attached response from the Parish Meeting.
The current situation is that the County Council Highways Authority have recommended refusal on highway safety grounds and the inadequacy of the local road network to carry the expected increased traffic levels. In addition the Chief Executive of B.D.C has been requested to consider the appropriateness of the level of lobbying made by the applicant, himself a District Councillor, to fellow District Councillors. The application is not now expected to go forward for consideration by the Development Control Committee until 27 March 2008. Information on this meeting will follow as soon as announced together with any further developments.

A very happy 2008 to all residents. Please let me have any matters of interest for publication on the website or any observations on items you would like to see as routine entries.

David Caswell-Law
Chairman

The absence of this sign was raised with the District Engineer in February this year and a reminder has been issued today.

Th County Council Highways Inspector has again been asked to remedy the overgrown pavement outside The White House.

7.30 pm in the Village Hall
Find out about the ILPH's work, including how you can join its urgent campaign to help 100,000 vulnerable horses in Europe.
Free entry and light refreshments. (Children may find some images disturbing. www.ilph.org)

7.30 pm in the Village Hall
All residents are welcome to attend a presentation by members of the Village Hall Committee who will provide an update on proposals for the refurbishment and upgrading of the hall. Details attached
This will be followed by a Parish Meeting; Agenda attached.

Should you fancy some exercise, why not ride or walk around the churches and chapels of the city and the county to raise money for our own church and the Historic Churches Trust. Geoff and Mary Agg will be participating by riding their tandem and would be grateful for any sponsorship. Their form will be available at the next Coffee Morning or you can ring Geoff and Mary on 202626. Are there any other volunteers?

A further meeting was held with Dr Darien Lott, Chairman of Trustees for Hollies Farm, together with the architect and agent for the development. This was very positive as the architect had addressed most of the issues raised at the previous meeting held on 16 April 2007. Notes of the meeting are attached and the submission of a new planning application is now awaited on which there will be a full opportunity for further observations to be submitted as appropriate.

A productive meeting was held with Dr Darien Lott, Chairman of Trustees for Hollies Farm, on 16 April 2007. Notes of the meeting are attached and a date is now awaited for a further meeting prior to a new planning application being made.

The Development and Control Team at Harborough District Council have advised that this planning application has been withdrawn. It is likely that the applicant is making revisions to the drawings prior to submitting a new application.
In the meantime a meeting is to be held with the Trustees of the farm on 16 April to exchange views on the proposed development.

At the Parish Meeting on 22 February there was considerable discussion on the planning application for development of the Hollies Farm site. The following attached observations have been submitted to Harborough District Council for their consideration.

A report has now been prepared (see attached) following the Community Speed Watch Project undertaken during the period 13 November to 15 December 2006. The report will be presented to the Parish Meeting on Thursday 22 February 2007.