Don't forget to visit the 'What's On' page for details of Parish events.

The latest news on the proposed Community Speed Watch initiative.

More and more people are making use of their Community Forum to try and improve local services and raise issues of local concern.
- Residents in Birstall were unhappy that the swimming pool in Longslade Community College was no longer going to be open to the public outside school hours. Discussion at the local Area Forum meeting resulted in the College working directly with local users to find ways the pool can remain open.
- Following the Government’s shortlisting of ‘Pennbury’ as a potential Eco-town, the ‘Have your Say’ meetings in Kibworth and Tugby were the first opportunity for residents in the surrounding area to find out how the District and County Council were planning to respond to this challenge.
- At the Blaby South Community Forum residents and Parish Councillors from Sapcote, Sharnford, Stoney Stanton and surrounding villages expressed their concerns about the volume and speed of Heavy Goods Vehicles travelling through their villages. In response officers promised to look into a range of measures to reduce the impact of traffic and improve road safety in the short term, while explaining how they were looking to provide longer-term solutions.

Community Forums give you the opportunity to discuss local issues with your local Parish, District and County Councillors and representatives from the Police and the Health Service. There are 27 Community Forums across they county. To find out more about forum meetings in your local area, please visit www.leicestershireforums.org

Contact: Derk van der Wardt, 0116 3057581

Click the link to view information about the annual meeting of the Leicestershire & Rutland Primary Care Trust. Members of the public are welcome to attend.

Click the link to read or download the press release from Leicestershire Police about the anti-speeding campaign across the county.

A Neighbourhood Watch Group is to be established for Somerby. Cllr. Lesley Walker is co-ordinating the new scheme for Somerby. Considerable interest has also been expressed in this new project and several Parishioners have committed their support. For further details contact Lesley Walker on 454802

Our local Police Office PC Martin Taylor will be attending the next meeting of the Parish Council. PC Taylor will tell us about the new local policing arrangements as well as giving an update on local crime issues. All Parishioners are welcome to attend and there will be an opportunity to comment and ask questions. The meeting will be held at Pickwell & Leesthorpe Village hall starting at 7.30pm.

The Parish Council is a democratically elected tier of local government granted powers by government to raise money through taxation and to spend public money for the benefit of Parishioners. The Parish Council plays an active part in local life and the elected members give their time freely. Councillors are continually seeking ways to improve communication and involvement with Parishioners.
The Parish Council is now looking to establish clearly identified objectives to achieve over the next two years or so and is seeking comments and input from Parishioners. Please let us know your views. If there a particular project the Council should be looking at or is there a major problem that needs a long-term solution? You can write or email via the parish clerk who take the matter forward for consideration by Council. We look forward to hearing from you.

The Leicestershire and Rutland primary care trust are undertaking a consultation to assist in planning local community health services for the next 10 years. A copy of the consultation document may be downloaded from
www.lcrpct.nhs.uk or you can phone 0116 295 7626 to request a copy.

The consultation period runs from June until 5th October 2008. The Parish Council will be considering the document prior to making a formal response before the end of the consultation period.

Your feedback is welcome either directly or via the Parish Council.

Somerby shop has featured again on ITV regional news. The cameras arrived on 16th June to report on the new 'Outreach' post office service. A number of local people were interviewed during the visit. Christine and Richard have requested that a further morning session be provided to cater for customers requiring service later in the week.

Leicestershire Police Authority is holding its next full meeting at Force HQ, Enderby, Leicester, on Monday 23 June 2008 starting at 2.00 p.m.

Items on the agenda include a report from the Chief Constable on the performance of the Constabulary and how efficiency savings will be made over the forthcoming year.
The Authority will hear an account of how the service will be governed to ensure it is doing the right things in the right way, in an open and timely manner.
The Treasurer will
present the Annual Statement of Accounts which outlines how the Police budget was spent during 2007/08. The Chief Executive of the Authority will provide an update of collaborative working with Partners across the East Midlands. To see more information relating to this meeting visit www.leics-pa.police.uk/news-and-events/authority-meetings/
At each quarterly Authority meeting members of the public may ask questions on any police authority business. Questions must be submitted in advance.
Byron Rhodes, Chairman of the Police Authority, said:
“The Authority is keen to ensure that people have an opportunity to raise any matters regarding Police Authority business. Providing people with this opportunity to ask questions at Police Authority meetings is just one way of doing this.
Authority members also attend a number of consultation events throughout the year to meet people and obtain their views on what they want from policing in their area.”
He added:
“We really are keen to take any questions. However they must relate to Police Authority business, rather than operational matters of the Constabulary.
People
can submit their question by writing to the Chief Executive or by speaking to him over the telephone – it could not be easier. We have set aside 20 minutes at each of our main meetings to consider questions from the public and we hope to see a positive response.”
Questions from the public must be submitted to the Chief Executive no later than midday on Thursday 19 June. The Chief Executive can be contacted by telephone on 0116 229 8980 or by e-mail: police.authority@leicestershire.pnn.police.uk

A big thank you to all who helped, supported and donated prizes and items for sale at the spring fair. Thanks to your generosity we raised £730.In addition donations of £300 were received for the Air Ambulance Appeal.

The investigation into local housing needs has now been completed by the Rural Housing Enabler on behalf of the Parish Council. A copy of the report can be downloaded from the Affordable Rural Housing page.Click the link above to go straight there.

BT have informed us that they are planning to remove the phone box at the top of the High Street next to no.94. This is because of low usage.
Any parishioners wishing to comment on this matter should contact the Parish Clerk by 5th June.

JOHN SCOTT EARNSHAW
15th March1943 – 4th April 2008

John was born in Lancaster of Yorkshire parents! Educated in Ingleton (West Yorkshire) before attending Lancaster Technical College then Catering College in Blackpool where he qualified as a Food Technologist. Whilst still a teenager he was made a Freeman of the City of Lancaster.

He showed early signs of his future railway involvement, as a member of Lancaster Boys Model Railway Club, later working for BR as a Porter / Lampman at High Bentham Station.

John met Kay in 1964 whilst working at a bakery in Morecambe. They started married life in 1966 moving to a house in Carlisle. Subsequent career moves took the family to Ellesmere Port, where Anita and Ralph were born. Later moves took him away from the food industry for a while, managing horticultural machinery manufacturers and warehouse complexes. He returned to the food trade as Personal Assistant to the Managing Director of Pukka Pies in Leicestershire which lead to the family settling in Somerby.

John was a very active Parish Councillor and represented the Council on a number of outside organisations including The Leicestershire and Rutland Association of Local Councils, The Leicestershire County Council Rural Transport Committee. He also had a national involvement in the development of Cemetery Safety standards. John’s efforts locally were rewarded in 2006 when he and Kay were invited to a garden party at Buckingham Palace.

When John was diagnosed with prostate cancer in December 1999 he was obliged to retire due to ill health. Subsequently he found things to occupy him, including becoming the Patient Representative on the Cancer Forum within the NHS in The Midlands for 7 years. John also worked as a Volunteer Operator for the Melton Mowbray CCTV scheme. John and Kay also became the inaugural members of the Melton and Rutland Cancer Group.

John and Kay moved from Somerby to Peterborough during the summer of 2007, Quality of life deteriorated suddenly in October 2007 and he was hospitalised for some weeks before being released to be nursed at home where he died. John leaves his wife Kay, children Anita, Ralph and Garath, grandchildren Tegan, Nayana, Lilly and Amber. John’s mother who is 88 lives in Burrough on the Hill.