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Lawley & Overdale Parish Council

ANNUAL REPORT

2007

Chair, Cllr. Pauline Picken

"We are now in our last year of Quality Parish Status and we continue to work in partnership with Telford & Wrekin Council to make improvements around the parish.

I am sure you will have noticed that we have refurbished all of the bus shelters with anti vandal material which we hope will keep them looking tidy for a long time. We have also provided more dog litter bins.

Each year we spend about £40,000 on street lighting maintenance but £11,000, around 25% of this is allocated to vandal damage. This is a substantial amount which could be better spent in the parish. So, if you see anyone causing such damage in the parish please let one of us know or contact Sharon.

Alternatively if you see Becky our CSO who now tours the parish on her new bicycle you can tell her. Becky reports any problems raised with her to the appropriate authorities and will be pleased to deal with any of your concerns.

We are still waiting to hear if our application to register land off Milners Lane, Dawley Bank as a Village Green will be successful and as far as we know there have been no objections. We are expecting an announcement in the near future; let's hope we get the outcome that we are hoping for.

We have also submitted an application to formerly register Lawley Village Green which was given to the people of Lawley in 1990. We want to ensure that this land remains undeveloped.

The Lawley Urban Extension, or Ironstone as it is being called, has been started and this is going to make a huge difference to our rural landscape. Many trees have been felled to make way for new development and we have been assured that another five thousand will be planted over the life of the development.

We have been involved in the detailed plans outlining the primary infrastructure works and we will continue to keep abreast of all ongoing development proposals.

We were pleased to hear that, at long last, Lawley Stores was to be re-opened but after a major refurbishment and a lot of hard work to provide a service to the community, lack of support has meant that sadly the business was unsustainable.

The Post Office has been closed for many months now and it is most unlikely it will re-open. The parish council has done all it can to urge the Post Office to keep the Lawley branch open but due to poor local demand its viability was insufficient for the Post Office to re-open the branch.

The Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Act 2006 gives parish councils specific powers to tackle climate change and encourages us to inform you, our local community about how you can help take care of our environment.

Our last two newsletters have focused on these issues and we as a parish council are making sure that we keep up to date with new technology. We also hope that you do your bit.

In conclusion I would like to thank my fellow councillors for all of the time and effort they put into being a parish councillor and for the support they have given me as Chair.

And, I couldn't end without thanking our excellent clerk, Sharon Clayton for all her time and commitment to our parish and for the support she gives to all of us."

The above report was given by the Chair, Cllr. Pauline Picken at the Annual Parish Meeting of Lawley & Overdale which was held at Lawley Community Centre, Lawley, Telford on Tuesday 17th April 2007.