Village hall installs hearing loop with district council support

A HEARING loop is being installed in Bicknoller Village Hall thanks to financial support from West Somerset Council.
The hall committee has received a grant of £649.35 from the council’s much-praised Rural Initiative Fund to help with the cost of the project, which totalled £865.80.
The loop will help local residents or visitors to the hall listen and take part in community events held in the hall.
The hall can accommodate up to 200 people and also has a committee room with a capacity of 50 people, and is used for a variety of activities including local dramatic productions, meetings of the Women’s Institute, the village flower show, table tennis, charity fund-raising events, and community group activities.
District council ward member, Councillor Barbara Child presented the cheque to hall secretary Mrs Mary Ter Braak.
Councillor Child said: “It gives me great pleasure to support and encourage the initiatives of my parishioners.
“This is yet another successful venture that benefits the community and is a good example of what the Rural Initiative Fund was designed to assist.”
The Rural Initiatives Fund makes available grants of up to £10,000 to help community groups start new initiatives which will benefit residents in rural areas of the district.
It is aimed at voluntary community organisations and parish and town councils, which can qualify for funding by helping the district authority meet its objective of ‘providing a good service to the community’.
More information about the fund is available from the council’s rural facilitator Angela Lamplough on 01984 63531 or email at alamplough@westsomerset.gov.uk.

• Our photograph shows (left to right) Kees ter Braak, Councillor Barbara Child, Clive Raisey, and Mrs Mary ter Braak.
  Photo submitted.

Lib Dem council power bid 'to be dropped by public demand'

WEST Somerset Council leader, Councillor Christine Lawrence, has expressed her confidence that Liberal Democrat plans to create a super-size council to run all local government services in the county would soon be dropped.
It follows a decision by the Department for Communities and Local Government to put the plans by Somerset County Council leader Councillor Cathy Bakewell out to consultation during the next three months to test how popular they were.
A recent public opinion poll conducted in Somerset by the national YouGov polling organisation showed opposition to the Lib Dem-run county council’s take-over bid at more than three-to-one against, with opposition particularly strong among women and older people.
Councillor Lawrence said: “It is not surprising that the Government decided to consult with the people about the county council’s plans, indeed I welcome consultation provided it is fair, impartial, and involves all sections of the community.
“The Government has made it clear that a mammoth, unitary authority can only proceed if it has popular support.
“Plainly, these proposals do not have public support.
“In addition to the opinion poll conducted by YouGov there have been no fewer than nine surveys of public opinion, including several run by local newspapers and a number involving parish councillors.
“Not one of them has indicated support for the county council’s plans.
“I am confident the Government will realise the county council’s plans for a vast bureaucracy centred on Taunton are not appropriate for West Somerset.”
All five district councils in Somerset would be abolished by the Lib Dems if the plan for a unitary authority was to go ahead.
An independent assessment of the plan has shown it would cost council taxpayers about £7 million, rather than saving money as claimed by Councillor Bakewell and her Lib Dems.
In April, the five district councils will begin a county-wide programme of events to ensure the public voice is properly heard during the consultation period and will begin the process of enhancing two-tier working to ensure the districts and the county authority work together effectively once the unitary scheme has been dropped.
Among parish councils in West Somerset opposed to the county unitary bid is Bicknoller, which is writing to the Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly to express its feelings and to show support instead for an enhanced two-tier option in which West Somerset would work more closely with neighbouring Taunton Deane and Sedgemoor districts.

From the slopes of the Quantocks to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro

WEST Somerset publican Pam Middlemast (pictured) is in training to become fit enough for the biggest challenge of her life, travelling from the Quantock Hills to climb the world’s highest free-standing mountain, the 5,685m Mount Kilimanjaro.
Pam, who runs the Bicknoller Inn, will travel to Tanzania in June to join 30 other people taking part in the hike to raise money for Scope, the charity for people with cerebral palsy.
To ensure she is fit enough for the adventure, Pam is running three times a week, practising yoga, and has invested in a cross-trainer to help build her strength and stamina.
She said: “I look forward to the trek with some sense of trepidation, but also with much excitement. I am sure this promises to be an experience of a lifetime.”
Pam’s first challenge, however, is to raise sponsorship money, which she has been doing through a number of events at the Bicknoller Inn, including a sponsored head shave, a table top sale, and a jazz night with ‘Gentle Jazz’.
Her husband, Paul, has agreed to have his legs waxed in public, and her yoga teacher, Tria, will be running a yoga lesson in Bicknoller Village Hall and giving all the proceeds to the cause.
Pam will also be giving a talk on Friday, March 23, in the village hall, on her experience of conservation in the Seychelles, which will be accompanied by a finger buffet and drinks.
She said: “I would like to thank everybody who has given me their help and support in raising money, and welcome any new ideas as we still have some way to go, as I have pledged to raise £3,000 for Scope.”
The trek to the summit Mount Kilimanjaro will take six days, with the route taking in cultivated farmland, lush jungle, alpine meadow, and, finally, barren lunar landscape.
Pam said: “An average day’s walking will be about seven hours, with the most challenging day being the day we will reach the summit. This day will start shortly after midnight and entail 14 hours’ walking.
“I am taking this challenge very seriously and know that I will have to be very fit if I am to succeed.”
Pam would like to hear from anybody willing to make a donation or help in organising a fund-raising event.
Readers of The Crier can sponsor Pam by visiting her fund-raising website at www.justgiving.com/pamm and clicking on ‘sponsor me now’, or contact her via her email at pam@bicknollerinn.co.uk, or by telephone on 01984 656234.
More information on events run by Scope is available on 0800 019 1200 or from www.scope.org.uk/adventures/.

Photo submitted.