ORLETON PARISH COUNCIL – WHAT ARE WE DOING
What a start to the new Year! Apart from having to get over the excesses of the festive season; the British weather held up its tradition of always disappointing everyone! Apparently, in January, in over just two days, Shobdon weather station recorded the levels of rainfall we should have expected all month. No wonder Orleton, and most of Hereford, let alone the rest of the UK, suffered flooding. Let us all hope February gets a little less precipitation so we can all dry out!
Flooding – Land Drainage Volunteers
In January, for the first time in over four years, Millbrook Way seriously flooded – though no properties were affected internally. The major cause was surface water, from the already saturated fields, flooding the B4361 and then surging down Millbrook Way. The aftermath proved messy! A thick layer of silt, gavel and mud contaminated by sewage, made the carriageway and pavements extremely hazardous. Fortunately, Land Drainage Group volunteers, Adrian Beaumont and Cllr David Lane, cleared one side of the road in the early hours of 3rd January to allow traffic to pass safely and coned-off the rest.
Lobbying from Orleton Parish Council and County Councillor Dan Hurcomb, ensured Millbrook Way was cleared by council contractors Balfour Beattie. This was followed up by a road sweeper to clear the remaining debris.
Kings Road also flooded. Cllr Lane responded to reports of surcharging from the sewers adjacent to the Severn Trent pumping station, taking photographs for evidence and enabling the Clerk and Chairman to report the matter to the Environment Agency and Severn Trent. This is not a new occurrence and highlights, yet again, the inadequacy of the sewage system which has remained largely unchanged since the 1960s. We shall be taking this issue further, particularly with the prospect of further pressure being applied to develop more land within the village for housing.
Parish Council Precept
It’s that time of year when the Parish Council has to put together its budget for the next financial year. By the time you read this, it will have been scrutinised by the Parish Council and fed in to the Herefordshire totals. It will be included in the Council Tax bill arriving on your doorstep in March 2024, and at a time when inflation is still eating away at family finance. This is why keeping down costs remains so important to us and why it was therefore disappointing to note that the Village Hall increased our room hire rate by an inflation busting 25%. It is difficult to see how this can justified, especially when the financial impact will fall so directly on the shoulders of the local community in their council tax bills.
Planning Application for a Traveller’s site in Orleton
As you may already know an application has been made to construct a permanent Traveller’s site on land adjacent to Orchard Farm, Comberton. The Parish Council held a meeting on 12 January 2024, where we sought public comments, both in support or in opposition, for the site. It was well attended with some 70 people present, including County Councillors and chairmen from both Brimfield and Richard’s Castle parish councils. Comments from the meeting will now be considered as part of Orleton Parish Council’s submission, after their meeting to decide on the application on 18 January 2024. Full details regarding both the decision and submission to Hereford Council Planning Department can be found on our website.
Adopt a Footpath Working Group
On Sat 16th December Mark Wetton, Barbara Gittings, David Lane, and Martin Bradford the Parish Footpaths Officer, installed a new galvanised kissing gate on north side of Apperley Recreation Ground. They were joined by Mike Goodwin, chairman of Herefordshire Ramblers who gave invaluable help.
On Mon 18th December urgent safety work was undertaken by Dave Robbins, Barbara Gittings, Chris Cadman and Martin Bradford. This included making safe the church kissing gate stile, the Millbrook Close footbridge and the galvanised kissing gate next to the stream in the recreation field. The ground was also levelled at the church stile prior to gravel being laid. Gravel was also laid on the tunnel lane kissing gate steps and chicken wire secured across the deck of Millbrook Close footbridge following reports of a fall due to algae.
Adopt a Footpath Working Group volunteers also received First Aid training in December, together with Land Drainage Volunteers, and First Aid kit purchased by Orleton Parish Council was presented to AFWG on 16th December.
The dilapidated stile on footpath leading from the B4361 up to Ashley Moor Manor and Green Lane was repaired by Martin Bradford and David Lane on Sat 6th Jan and the two footpath finger-posts restored.
Martin Bradford has successfully negotiated with Herefordshire Council /Hoople that, from early December 2023, all footpath stiles, posts, and treated wood for Public Rights of Way work will be provided free of charge to Orleton Parish Council as long as our footpath maintenance volunteers in our Adopt a Footpath Work Group (AFWG) are doing the work.
Our thanks go out to Martin and the volunteers for their excellent and dedicated work.
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Colin Mitchell
Chairman