Hello and welcome to the Summer Newsletter for Whashton Parish. Although the weather has perhaps not been as warm & dry as we would have wished, we hope you, your family, friends and neighbours are otherwise enjoying the Summer months. Hopefully you’ll find this latest Newsletter an interesting read, and please do send any feedback on the contents and suggestions for future issues.
1. Events – reports from Kathryn & Hazel
BBQ A very big thank you to everyone who attended the BBQ on Saturday 1st July. A special thanks to our grill masters Ian and Richard who slaved away tirelessly in a smoke cloud all afternoon and to Christine and Jonathan for allowing us to take much needed refuge in their garden in what was a very windy Whashton!
Below are a few of the photographs taken on the day. Make a note for next year's BBQ - Saturday 6th
July 2024.
Quiots
We're having a lovely time on a Thursday evening playing quiots, since we started on 11th May, making up our own rules and scoring! Sometimes we even run a bit of tennis or football alongside or even a game of hangman! It's really just an excuse for a get together so please come along 7-8.30 and join us until the nights get too dark to play. The photo shows play on a glorious summer evening.
Quiz Night
Kathryn, Hazel & Rob have kindly offered to organise a quiz for early in 2024, probably at Dalton & Gayles Village Hall; more details soon.
2. Biodiversity Projects – a report from Lizzie & Sally
For the time being all ecological & biodiversity initiatives within the Parish will come under the umbrella of the Barningham and Holmedale Community Nature Project lead by Lizzie and a small steering group.
The biodiversity plan for the Parish has been updated and discussed at the informal meeting on the 8thAugust. The final copy will go to the WPM in October before replacing the one currently on the website. The single focus for the plan going forward will be maintaining the areas currently designated. This will involve a few days throughout the year. If you are happy to be called upon to help with this please let us know and we’ll will put a small email group together of volunteers and send dates out for working party days.
Autumn jobs will include:
· close strimming and mowing of Bobby’s bank area and raking all excess grass off once the seeds have dropped, to help maintain the wildflower development.
· The siting of a bench in Bobby’s Bank area
· Checking and cleaning out of the bird boxes ready for autumn roost.
Thank you to those who have shared the success of the wildflower seeds we sent out across the Parish; hopefully you have enjoyed watching them develop and seeing what invertebrates they attracted. As you know Ravensworth Nurseries shut its doors for the last time Sunday 30th July; a sad announcement, since they’ve provided complimentary plants and shrubs for the Parish in recent times. We were fortunate to be called by Wendy to select some plants to help with regenerating Bobby’s Bank. We’re planning to make a circular bed around the cherry tree at the bottom of the Bank, for some of these.
A group of local volunteers and anglers have been trained in riverfly monitoring which is a good way to assess and monitor the health of our waterways. On a positive note, the monitoring carried out at the training session indicated a good and varied population of riverflies showing a promising recovery from the recent pollution event. Several sites have been identified and one is within our parish. If you would like to see the monitoring in action or to find out more, please email Lizzie at… wildwhashton@gmail.com
Don’t forget that we also have a Facebook page…. www.facebook.com/whashtonwildlife ….which is designed to share and appreciate the wonderful diversity of wildlife in our Parish.
3. Planning Applications
Planning applications for Whashton Farm, Rose Cottage, Hilltop and the Hack & Spade were all discussed
at the Parish Interim Meeting held on 8th August, and this was recorded in the Minutes of that Meeting.
All Parish Meeting minutes are available on our Parish Website…… www.whashtonparish.co.uk
4. 100 Club
The 100 Club continues to provide valuable income for the Parish and we still have some numbers available, and you can join at any time throughout the year, paying a proportional amount. To purchase a number for the monthly draw then please contact our Club organisers, to whom we give thanks for their unsung work:
Richard Osborne (rg.osborne777@gmail.com)
Richie Smith (rdspainting@btintenet.com)
2023 winners so far this year – well done and thank you for supporting the Parish :
January: 52 Matthew & Rachel Lawson, 25 Emma Smith, 46 Dirk Pittaway.
February: 57 Stephen Braithwaite, 27 Adi Mac, 80 Graham and Hazel Dickinson.
March: 52 Matthew & Rachel Lawson, 57 Steven Braithwaite, 20 Theresa Brown.
April: 71 Emma Smith, 50 Alison Pittaway, 36 Sue Amery.
May: 22 Cherry Mains, 67 Steven Waite, 45 Michael Guy.
June: 62 David & Jane Turnbull, 74 Sian Moore, 94 Theresa Brown.
July: 80 Graham & Hazel Dickinson, 6 Jenny Bernard, 35 David & Jane Turnbull.
August: 6 Jenny Bernard, 16 Richard Osborne, 97 Brian & Rachel Lawson.
September: THIS COULD BE YOU !
5. Parish Meeting Dates and Newsletters
The next Whashton Parish Meeting will be held on Wednesday 4th October starting at 19:00h in Ravensworth Village Hall, with the key item on the agenda of Finance & Budget Planning for 2024.
The Autumn Newsletter will be issued in November.
Dates for Parish Meetings and Newsletters for 2024 will be agreed at the WPM on 4th October.
Whashton Parish Website is available to all residents on www.whashtonparish.co.uk and we’re very grateful to Rachel Stirr and Sally Zaranko for maintaining this on behalf of the Parish.
6. Parish Clerk Vacancy
Whashton Parish Meeting has no Clerk and this should be of concern to all residents, since without that role being filled there is a risk that important matters such as planning applications, highways matters, liaison with North Yorkshire Council, etc could be significantly impacted. This affects all residents.
Please contact me if you are in interested in this very worthwhile role……YOUR PARISH NEEDS YOU!!
Ian Mains
Chair, Whashton Parish Meeting
17th August 2023
T: 07484-725377
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