Earl Shilton Community Radio Group
Hilltop Radio is the brand name of the Earl Shilton Community Radio Group, a voluntary organisation with a focus on the community in and around the town of Earl Shilton in Leicestershire.
Our objectives are to develop and provide a media network, delivering information and awareness to a wide diversity of the local community.
To read more about Hilltop Radio click here to go to their website.
Earlshilton
The Earl Shilton Business Forum is delighted to announce their latest initiative in brightening up Earl Shilton Town Centre.
With the help of several local artists and very co-operative landlady, Karen Grewcock, the forum has renovated a former empty shop unit and converted it to a bright and cheerful art gallery where you can browse and buy fine art and other crafts made by local artists.
The 'Art in Earl Shilton' gallery now have their own website.
Earl Shiltonis affiliated to the Auto Cycle Union (A.C.U.)
The main aim of the club is to promote trials to suit young riders and beginners. The Club run numerous training days for every standard of rider from just started to expert.
The contact page is here.
Adverts
Do you want to sell your unwanted items? Are you looking for that special something? Maybe you would like swap your unused items for something you can use?
Sorry, no properties, cars or commercial ads.
To advertise for free in this column please email me with the details.
Items for Sale
Nothing at the moment.
Items wanted
Video Cassette or DVD
of Hinckley as it was years ago. Think it was produced locally.
Phone: 01455 846 587
Exchanges
Nothing at the moment.
At the Council meeting.
09 Mar 2011
. . . . This evening I went along to the Council Meeting mentioned in the last posting.
After the normal formalities; reading the minutes of the previous meeting, discussing the points raised and any other business the official council meeting closed, and the Mayor, Mr Roger Ellis, handed the chair to Roger Lomas.
Mr Lomas then produced the obligatory flip chart and went through the procedure of how to become a Town Councillor. I wont go into the details here because there are leaflets and nomination sheets available from the Council Office in the Methodist Hall if required. The office is open Monday - Thursday 8.30a.m to 1p.m, and Friday 8:30 am - 12:00 pm.
Roger Lomas concluded his talk and handed out information packs to the people who expressed an interest in becoming councillors.
At this point in the proceedings a few people seized the opportunity to tackle the Council members about one or two issues they felt strongly about. Notably the main concern was about the amount of dog-fæces in Wood Street Park, Hall Field Park and the surrounding jitties. It appears that dog owners are somewhat reluctant to pick up the disgusting mess their dogs leave.
Roger Lomas assured us that Earl Shilton DID have Neighbourhood Wardens. It is part of their job to watch out for the offending dogowners and deal with them, to which several people replied that they had never seen these so-called wardens. I confess that I have never seen or heard of them, so the next day I set out to find one of these persons.
I must admit that my search was fruitless, but I did get some pictures of a person letting his dogs run loose around the park doing their 'doings' in several places. The owner (arrowed in the bottom left pic) then whistled the dogs and left the park without making any attempt to clean up the mess.
A resident of Land Society Road wanted to know if anything would ever be done about the potholes in the road. Apparently they are now quite dangerous and need prompt attention. He added that the council seemed to have enough money to modernise the area in front of the Co-op and the Council Office, but nothing for his road.
Another bone of contention was the lack of public toilet facilities in the town, with seemingly nothing being done to rectify the matter in the near future. I covered this issue a while back just here.
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You can be a Councillor!
How to be a councillor in Earl Shilton, and it wont cost you anything.
If you had £1/4million to spend on recreation facilities and community support in the town, how would you spend it? Because that's the amount the Council has available.
Should we have new public toilets in the town? Take over responsibility for the jitties from the Borough Council?
How to attract new residents and visitors into the town to support our businesses and shops?Our Councillors influence decisions on all these things, and much more besides.
Earl Shilton Town Council is very financially viable and has the ability to influence the direction of growth of the town and its new facilities but it needs people who are focussed on the community and want to see a better, cleaner, safer town.
Growth.
Our town is growing fast, this last year has seen over one hundred new houses built and this rate of growth will increase over the next few years. This means many more families moving in and naturally needing more recreation grounds, open space and playgrounds and all the facilities that go with them such as litter bins and seats. They need good retail and business service provision and encouragement to come into town rather than go elsewhere.
Already the Council is a medium sized business turning over nearly quarter of a million pounds a year and this will increase with the growth of the town. Most of you will have seen the plans for the Earl Shilton Sustainable Urban Extension which fills the land up to the by-pass with housing and a new school and which also offers a redesign for the town centre.
Council elections.
The May 2011 Elections offer the opportunity for those who are interested in the community and who can contribute to the planning for the future of the town to stand as a councillor in one of four areas. Altogether we have fourteen councillors covering the different areas of the town and each of these posts will be available in May.
The councillors who join our Finance and General Committee decide how our budget is allocated and where to focus our expenditure to the best effect. Those in our Parks Committee are responsible for deciding the outlay for new playgrounds and facilities as well as running the cemetery.
As the amount of recreation grounds under the Councils control will quadruple over the next ten years councillors need to be focussed on providing for the new residents as well as the existing.
It doesn’t cost you anything to stand for election and the Earl Shilton Town Council staff will obtain the application forms for you and advise you how to complete them.
This election offers you a real opportunity to influence the growth of your town, the development of your community and improvement of your town centre.
More information is available on our website www.earlshilton-tc.gov.uk or call into the office - Methodist Hall, 21 Wood Street Earl Shilton, Tel: 01455 843386.
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Modernisation, or official vandalism?
14 Feb 2011
. . . . and this is how it looked last week.
Hands up anyone who can see what's missing. That's right, the trees. Even the tree by the war memorial that is always tastefully decorated at Christmas has been chopped down in the name of progress.
I don't really know what the idea behind all this destruction is. Is it that the trees are a nuisiance because of the leaves in the Autumn blowing about on the road? Or does someone on the Council hate trees? I know that whatever they are doing wouldn't be an improvement on the town centre. If this area is going to look like the rebuilt pavement fronting the Co-op carpark which is now devoid of the benches and trees then it will look featureless and bland except for the one day every month when there is a Farmers market, and the once-a-year street fair!
I haven't been able to get to the Council Office to see any drawings, if they are available to the public, because of the building work. I really feel that with no greenery and public toilets in the centre of town that all this redevelopment will destroy the character of Earl Shilton.
. . . . and the view last week.
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The Flu jab...Sorry, Anti-Flu jab.
30 Dec 2010
Sorry, Hinckley Times, but you are wrong. Well at least as far as our local doctors practice is concerned.
A lady friend of mine went along to the surgery last Friday and asked the receptionist if she could have the necessary anti-flu jab because she is 72, has a heart problem and lives alone. She was told in no uncertain terms that because she had missed the mass vaccinations of the local “oldies” last October they had used up all their allocation of vaccine. She was also told there had been notices in the waiting room prior to the event asking people who were vulnerable to put their name on the list.
Now Maud, (that’s not her real name), rarely visits the doctors because she claims that the ones she sees have a bad attitude towards the elderly, and to her in particular! She is also short sighted and claims that she never saw the notices, and no-one ever told her about the flu vaccinations.
The receptionist told her that they were trying to get extra doses but couldn’t say when, or if at all, they would be become available. She then put Mauds name onto what looked like a very long waiting list.
The point of this article is that the same thing happened to Maud this time last year, but the reason then that she missed the jab-days was because she was on a holiday cruise around the Med (sorry, I can’t spell ‘Mediterranean’). Her name was put on a list and she never heard any more about until last April when she phoned the surgery to enquire whether they had received extra supplies. She was told that no more vaccine was available, so she didn’t get her Swine Flu jab last year, and I’m willing to bet she will get the same answer this year.
I think it was about last May when I read on the news on the Internet that over 100,000 doses of the anti-flu vaccine had been destroyed because they were not wanted. Now, who is kidding who? Those doses must have cost quite a lot, and they are paid for by the taxpayer via the ‘Ministry of Certain Things’, and then destroyed because they said that they would not be viable for the following year! Haven’t they got deep-freeze facilities?
The directors of the pharmaceutical companies that made them must be laughing all the way to the bank!
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At your convenience. . .
10 Dec 2010
So, Earl Shilton Council, where are the new toilets you promised us?
You tore down the only pathetic public toilets we had under the pretext that they were in a state of disrepair, and being used by undesirable elements of our town for purposes other than relieving themselves.
Quite apart from removing the trees in the town centre; which incidentally had been sadly neglected by the Parks Department inasmuch the tree guards and bracers had cut into them and were choking them, for the purpose of creating space for a so-called Farmers Market, what are we going to do now if we need to use a toilet urgently?
There are no toilets in the Library, Co-op or any other shop in the town centre that are available to the general public. Granted that there are toilets in the local pubs and Elizabeths Café, but being for customers only you feel obliged to buy something before using them.
I’m one of the lucky ones. Being an old age pensioner I can use the toilets in Age Concern in Kings Walk on the pretext that I am attending the Centre for some activity or another. On Saturdays and Sundays the Age Concern centre is closed, so that avenue is closed even to the older generation on those days! They have a notice in the window that “there are NO public toilets in this building”, or words to that effect.
The Council says they want to attract shoppers to the town but they have taken away an essential service. If you arrive in a town you want to make yourself comfortable before spending some time there, but this won't happen now.
A member of the Council confirmed to me that public toilet facilities are available at the Lord Nelson public house without the necessity of buying a drink but I think they have forgotten to inform the new staff of this fact.
Where they closed and demolished the public toilets they should have put up a sign to inform people of the availability of alternative facilities, if there are any.
So I say again, when can the people of Earl Shilton expect the new Public Toilets you promised us?
Back to "At the Council meeting"
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2000 New Houses on your doorstep!
9 Oct 2010
Click on the map for a larger view
Yet more "Green Field" development plans
Persimmon Homes have recently lodged plans to develop at least 200 houses on the green fields between Thurlaston Lane, Mill Lane, Clickers Way and King Richards Hill.
If you feel strongly about this development which will inevitably affect the local environment then write to:
Mr S. Wood
Chief Planning Officer
Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council
Argents Mead
HINCKLEY, LE10 1BZ
eMail: planning@hinckley-bosworth.gov.uk
Valid reasons for objecting are:
- Danger from increased traffic
- Destruction of green fields
- Insufficient space at local schools
- Loss of wildlife habitat
- Existing lack of healthcare provision
- More unsold and unwanted properties
- Inadequate sewage infrastructure
UPDATE:
12 October 2010. It seems I was a bit previous with the news above! If you visit the Town Councils' page you will see an updated map showing a vast area of land between Earl Shilton and Clickers Way that has been staked out for further housing development.
"As part of the national plans to provide enough housing to the increasing population, Earl Shilton will be expanding by approximately 2000 houses. These will be sited in the land to the southeast between the town center and Clickers Way.
Click HERE to visit HBBC's planning policy page containing documentation for the extension."
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My other pages
| Homepage |
| My Blogpage |
| The 'Oak 'n Ash' tree |
| Ted Ortons Tall Tales |
| Romany Rye |
| Slideshow of France |
| Earl Shilton Bio |
| True things on the telly |
Please note:
This version of "Out and About in Earl Shilton" is still being developed. Please check back regularly as new features are constantly being added.
If you feel that your society, club or organisation should be included on this site please email me with the details.
You can make a comment about anything on this page. There is a feedback form at the bottom of the middle column.
- Keith.
Location
Local weather
Oak and Ash Tree
In Leicestershire, near to Earl Shilton, is a very special tree. It is in fact two trees that have bonded to-gether. Nothing unusual in that you might think, but these trees are two different species. One is an oak and the other is an ash [Read more]
Ted's Tall Tales.
Earl Shiltons premier storyteller.
From the trypewriter
of Ted Orton.
A page on which Ted relates some of the stories and legends of old Earl Shilton, including "A Requiem for two lambs", and "The Origin of Guinness" and how it all started. Fascinating reading! [See more]
About the "Stute"
The Social Institute was founded at the end of the 19th century to cater for the social needs of the young men of Earl Shilton. Reconstituted in 1977 as a charity, it now serves as a social centre for the whole village and the surrounding area.
Click on the image to go to the webpage or here for more details
Community House
Project
Working together
The Community House was developed through the Crime & Disorder Partnership. The project was launched in September 2001 with the initial funding coming from the Home Office, county and borough council.
The aim of the project is to work with local residents and youth, encouraging them to become involved in community projects and activities, helping to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour and by working together to encourage a sense of pride back into the area.
To read more about the Community House and to find out what is available there click here.