March 2015 Villager - Normandy Parish Council

THE VILLAGER
PUBLISHED BY NORMANDY PARISH COUNCIL
ISSUE 52
MARCH 2015
PARISH COUNCIL PRECEPT
You will shortly be receiving your
new Council Tax Bills for the
upcoming year.
When you do,
you will see that the Parish Council
precept
has
increased
substantially. The reason for this is
that the Parish Council have finally
obtained grants to carry out some
improvements to Manor Fruit Farm
and Normandy Common and have
to match the spending. The grant
monies have to be spent in this
upcoming year and there is no
‘wriggle room’.
The good news is that we have not
increased the precept in each of
the years since this Parish Council
was elected by you in May 2011. It
was in the following year that we
actually managed to reduce the
precept by £1600 to £85,000 at
which it has remained ever since.
Of that £28,000 represents the
repayments taken out to cover the
original loan of £400,000 to put in
the basic roads and car parks and
lighting at Manor Fruit Farm. I hope
you will agree that we have
managed your money well.
The additional funds will be used to
fund these grant aided projects: Trim Trail, Peace garden/Nuttery both on Manor Fruit Farm and on
Normandy Common to replace the
swings and provide CCTV to assist
us to deal with increasing fly
tipping and vandalism. We are also
carrying out other works to assist
with flood relief and providing more
dog fouling bins.
Peta Malthouse. Chairman
OUR PLANS FOR MANOR FRUIT
FARM (PHASE 2)
NORMANDY’S SUCCESS STORY
I hope you are delighted to hear
that we successfully applied to
have the whole of Manor Fruit
Farm declared a ‘Field in Trust’ as
part of Her Majesty’s Jubilee
Celebration. The legal documents
have yet to be drawn up but the
effect of this is that the land will be
used only for Sport and Leisure in
perpetuity, i.e. forever.
Normandy Parish Council took on
a very long lease of this land as a
means
of
preventing
its
development for housing back in
the
1990’s.
There
are
commitments in the lease to further
develop the land with a ‘Traditional
Orchard’
(now
Peace
Garden/Nuttery),
Trim
Trail,
football pitches, both senior and
junior and the provision of
changing
rooms
that
were
originally to be built on the side of
the Village Hall.
Parish Clerk – Lt Col Leslie G A Clarke
 H: 01483 811108 M: 07710 230379 or Email: normandyparishcouncil@btconnect.com
Website: http://www.surreycommunity.info/normandypc
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We intend to move Normandy FC
to Manor Fruit Farm who will share
part of their pitch with the Guildford
Mavericks, a baseball team. Both
organisations plan to develop
youth teams. We have also invited
the Ladies Rounders Club to join
us in our efforts to raise funds
mainly by way of sports grants to
prepare the grounds and build a
new pavilion. These are our new
Development Partners.
We need your input and there will
be a number of events and
meetings arranged, but the first
and most important, is our Sports
Day on May 16th. News about this
event can be found below and
updating news will be on the
website at
www.normandyparishcouncil.co.uk.
*FLYMO MINITRIM*
UNWANTED GIFT, USED ONCE.
COMPLETE WITH INSTRUCTIONS.
IDEAL FOR TRIMMING SMALL LAWN.
£15
RING ANN - EVE 01483 232477
SPORTS FUN DAY - 16TH MAY
Football Pitch/Green Gym
MAKE A NOTE ON YOUR
CALENDAR
At the launch of the green gym you
may remember the competitions
we held involving outdoor table
tennis and the street snooker
game. We are staging the same
activities this year and have invited
our new partners the Guildford
Mavericks Baseball and Softball
Club, Normandy Football Club and
the Normandy Rounders Club to
also run some other competitions.
THERE WILL BE PRIZES!
There will be ‘Walk up Softball’
which will involve adults and
children in 10 minute innings. You
can stay or be substituted at each
inning. There will be separate
competitions throughout the event,
for instance a ‘Home Run Derby’
and
a
‘Pitching
Speed
Competition’. You will have an
opportunity to sample softball
which can be used as an
introduction to baseball. These
events will be run by Guildford
Mavericks and if you are interested
please do go to their website at
www.guildfordmavericks.co.uk.
The Football Club will give you the
opportunity to hone your skills and
participate in some competitions
and the Rounders Club will also be
there to stage some events. There
will be a full range of refreshments;
burgers, tea and cakes and a glass
or two of beer to slake your thirst
after your efforts. We also hope to
have a few stalls selling their
wares. The fun starts at 12 noon
and will go on till about 4pm.
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Council. Needless to say all
Villagers are more than welcome to
attend.
In its two year existence the Flood
the Forum has resolved a number
of smaller flooding problems in the
Village and has acquired £15K for
a management study for the
resolution of flooding throughout of
the whole of the Normandy area.
More long term flooding problems
will of course take longer to be
resolved not least due to the
financial restrictions and costs but
progress is being made.
NORMANDY FLOOD FORUM
The Forum meets once every six
months and is jointly chaired by
Jonathan Lord our MP and
Councillor
Peta
Malthouse
Chairman of Normandy Parish
Council.
The next meeting of the Flood
Forum will be on Friday 20 March
2015 at 1220 hours at Emmanuel
Church but check the Parish
Council’s website nearer the time
for confirmation of the actual venue
for the meeting, it may change.
CANINE PARTNERS
Canine Partners is looking for
volunteers to take on the early
training of a puppy, which will one
day go on to transform the life of
someone with a physical disability.
The Forum includes members of
Surrey County Council (SCC),
Guildford Borough Council (GBC),
Thames Water, our SCC and GBC
Councillors
and
of
course
members of Normandy Parish
The Surrey Canine Partners puppy
training satellite is looking for
volunteers to train pups from
around eight weeks until they are a
year old. The puppy parents will
also need to be able to attend
weekly
puppy
classes.
Reasonable travel expenses will be
covered and puppy food, toys,
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equipment, all veterinary costs and
training is provided. The Canine
Partner assistance dogs will then
go onto advance training before
being carefully matched to an
applicant’s needs and lifestyle, no
matter how challenging. The dogs
are trained to help with everyday
tasks such as opening and shutting
doors, unloading the washing
machine, picking up dropped
items, pressing buttons and
switches and getting help in an
emergency.
For
further
information
on
becoming a puppy parent email
surrey@caninepartners.org.uk, call
01730
816017
or
visit
www.caninepartners.org.uk/surreylocal
(SARG).
The talk gave an introduction to all
six native British reptile species, of
which all live in Surrey. Each of
the native species (Adder, grass
snake, smooth snake, slow worm,
common lizard and sand lizard)
and their ecology was explored
further. A non-native lizard, the
common wall lizard from Europe
was also talked about. The talk
also looked at reptile habitats and
the threats to those habitats and
the reptiles. The talk finished with
a look at how to help native reptiles
through conservation including
wildlife gardening. A selection of
shed reptile skins (sloughs) were
on display.
If you want to find out more about
Britain's reptiles then look at the
SARG
website
www.surreyarg.org.uk and you can also send
your reptile sightings to Danial
Winchester
via
fnwildlife@gmail.com.
FRIENDS
OF
NORMANDY
WILDLIFE
On 17th February,
Friends
of
Normandy Wildlife
hosted
a
presentation on Britain's reptiles by
Danial Winchester. Danial is
Ecology Services Manager at
Surrey
Wildlife
Trust
and
Amphibians Officer at Surrey
Amphibian and Reptile Group
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Friends of Normandy Wildlife
welcome everyone to their Wildlife
Talks about our local fauna and
flora at 7.00 pm on the 3rd
Tuesday of the month at Normandy
Therapy Gardens and have the
following
2015
Spring
talks
planned:
Tuesday 17 March - Amphibians –
‘Leapers and Creepers’ the
ecology of Amphibians;
Tuesday 21 April - Orchids, making
a map for Normandy;
Bank Holiday Monday 4th May – St
Mark’s Church fete showing wildlife
photo’s taken in the village. We
would love to hear about the
wildlife you have seen in your
garden or around the village or we
may be able to help identify what
you have seen.
Saturday 23rd May – Heathland
bird walk starting from Normandy
Cricket Ground details to be
advertised on village noticeboards
before the event or contact us at
fnwildlife@gmail.com.
VILLAGE FETE 2015
Our fantastic annual Village Fete
this year will be on Monday 31st
August at Manor Fruit Farm. If you
can spare some time to help with
the Fete, either before, during or
after, please do contact the Parish
Clerk.
We would appreciate
anything you could do to help.
More details of the Fete in the next
Villager.
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services listed below, please
contact Enquiries Direct on 01483
543599 or email them on
libraries@surreycc.gov.uk.
Library Direct Friends and Family If you have a friend, neighbour or
relative who is able to take out
books on your behalf, we can
register you at your local library for
a Library Direct Friends and Family
card. This will allow your friend,
neighbour or relative to borrow up
to 20 books (or 12 audio books) for
you for up to nine weeks at a time.
LIBRARY DIRECT SERVICES
A new scheme has been
introduced by Surrey County
Council offering a range of library
services to senior residents, mainly
those unable to get to a library. If
you are interested in any of the
Library Direct Home Service - if no
one is available to borrow books on
your behalf, the Library Direct
Home Service can help. We
provide friendly volunteers checked
by the Disclosure and Barring
Service (DBS) to deliver books to
those that are unable to get into a
library
themselves. We
can
arrange for books and audio
material to be brought to you on a
regular basis by a volunteer. Our
volunteers will select books and
audio books based on your
recommendations,
favourite
authors and reading preferences.
We have a good selection of books
in large print as well as standard
print. We stock a large range of
talking tapes and CDs which can
be played on a standard machine.
If you are interested in registering
for
this
service,
please
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contact Enquiries Direct who will
be able to register you over the
phone or alternatively send the
forms out to you. We also accept
clients from residents living in
sheltered accommodation.
Library
Direct
Community
Transport - We operate a
community transport bus service to
the libraries in the boroughs of
Guildford and Woking to take
readers directly to the library. A
yearly registration fee paid to the
community transport provider may
apply, however the Library Service
will cover your journey costs to the
libraries.
Please
email
libraries@surreycc.gov.uk
for
further details.
Normandy Village Hall
Manor Fruit Farm, Glaziers Lane, Normandy,
GU3 2DE
Provides two halls and an upstairs meeting
room in a beautifully maintained modern
building with ample parking.
DOG FOULING
Please can the Parish Council
remind all dog walkers that dogs
are not allowed to foul anywhere in
either of the children’s play areas.
We are sad to report that there is
still dog fouling in the Children’s
Play Area near the Normandy
Tennis Courts. Dog fouling notices
are installed in this area reminding
people not to let their dogs foul in
these areas. We would like to
thank all of those responsible
owners who do pick up after their
dog.
However there are still faeces
being seen on pavements and in
the play areas, which means it is
still a problem and a potential
danger. Not only is dog faeces
disgusting and harmful to the
natural environment but it is also
extremely dangerous if a child
accidently comes in contact with it.
Please do not leave dog faeces on
the grass or footpaths.
The main hall can cater for functions up to 150
people with a large stage also available.
The small hall can cater for functions up to 60
people.
Both halls have fully stocked kitchens for use
with them.
The meeting room is set up for meetings or
small activities up to 40 people and have
access to the small kitchen downstairs.
For further information visit our website –
www.normandyvillagehall.org.uk
or contact our bookings secretary preferably by
email – bookings@normandyvillagehall.org.uk
or by phoning 07793541606
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WOULD YOU LIKE TO ADVERTISE
IN NORMANDY’S “THE
VILLAGER”?
**********************
If you are a local Normandy business
and would like to advertise in The
Villager, please contact Leslie Clarke
on 01483 811108 or email
normandyparishcouncil@btconnect.com.
THE VILLAGER GOES OUT IN
MARCH, JUNE, SEPTEMBER &
DECEMBER AND COSTS TO
ADVERTISE PER YEAR ARE £50.
Editor: Anna Beuden
 01483 811055 or Email: anna.beuden@akonsulting.co.uk
Website: http://www.surreycommunity.info/normandypc Printed by: St Marks Church, Wyke
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