Wednesday 31 March 2010

Steamy!!

Take an icy cold changing room in the middle of winter. Throw in a couple of football teams after a hard fought game, and hose them down with steaming hot water. After they are de-mudded and scrubbed up, turf them out again, for the last one of them to turn off the light – and the ventilators – and watch the fuggy clouds condense on the thin, uninsulated, concrete block walls. That’s a recipe for disaster. And that’s what we have in the changing rooms on the Memorial ground.

That’s all going to change, though, as we are in the process of replacing the simple extractor fans with state-of-the-art heat recovery extractors. They don’t just extract the stale and muggy air from the rooms whilst they are occupied, but can sense the level of moisture content in the air, and switch the fans on to deal with it. They are designed to reduce condensation, and its after-effects – incipient damp patches causing mould and rot. It doesn’t smell nice, either.

The heat recovery extractors have been purchased from Kair, (tech details here) specialists in heating and ventilation equipment, as part of the maintenance programme for the Memorial Ground by Williton Parish Council who are Trustees of the ground. We are also looking to do some major refurbishment of the tractor shed over the next year, or to replace it altogether with a new one.

DC

Monday 29 March 2010

How well do you know Williton?

Get out much? In the village, that is! How well do you know your Parish?

To inaugurate the Parish Pump, we are running a little competition. I have taken snaps of 10 local features, and a small prize (plus a certain amount of instant fame!) will be offered to whoever can tell me where and what they are!

All you need to do is to download the two page PDF from this website – [Download Here] – fill it in, and then drop it off at Davies newsagents. If you experience problems downloading the file, you can pick up a printed copy from Davies Newsagents. Closing date will be the end of April.

The winner, if there is more than one correct entry, will be picked up out of a hat by Huw Davies. I believe he is a betting man, but don’t know if he is making a book out of it.

DC

The Parish Pump

I’m sorry for being so predictable, as that particular headline has probably been used in over 50% of the news sections of Parish Council websites. Can you think of a better, though? Whatever we put at the top, though, this is where we get to tell you what is happening in Williton Parish, and what the Parish Council is doing about it.

Not much, you might think, but in fact there are numerous decisions to be made, and actions taken on your behalf, much of which gets buried away in the Parish Council minutes – posted up on some draughty notice board throughout the Parish.

The Parish Pump will be posting regularly, keeping you up to date with the most important issues that are currently being discussed. Particularly relevant at this time, as we have numerous wholesale planning issues going through which are raising strong emotions around the Parish. EDF and the proposed supermarket are a couple of examples, and, of course, the Village Hall, another. Meetings are ongoing with regard to the former, and no planning application has yet been posted for the supermarket. We shall keep you up to date with what is happening.

The Parish Pump also gives you the opportunity to air you views, as well, allowing you to comment on each news item as it is posted. We are going to be a bit cautious to start with, and will moderate views as they are posted – not censoring your views, but to weed out postings with profane, intemperate or downright false information. If your views are posted in the spirit with which we intend you to use the site, you will get the chance to share them with others. If not – zilch!

This is not the first chance you will get to interact with Williton Parish Council. You could already make your views known to us, and request that certain issues be brought up in Full Council meetings – but that involved writing to us in the first place, and, in line with the ‘Standard Operating Procedures of Parish Councils’ you weren’t normally allowed to speak, as a member of the public, at Council Meetings except when formally invited. You’ll still have to write in to us if you want something raised at a Council Meeting, of course, but this website gives you the opportunity to open a ‘real-time’ dialogue with Councillors, and provide us with valuable input.

As unofficial editor of the Parish Pump, I promise to keep news items short and sweet, and would like to finish with just one request. At a time when Williton Parish Council is entering a new and more exciting phase – we have a vacancy for another Councillor. If you think you might like to join us, pop in to the Parish Council office adjacent to the Police Station, on a Monday or a Thursday, and pick up an application form from Jude or Janet.