Welcome to the November round up of village news.
Autumn Litter Pick – Sunday 5th November
Please join us for the Autumn Litter Pick to help clear the litter from around the village. As usual, we will meet at 2:30pm in the upper Recreation ground car park, near the Village Hall. We will provide safety guidance, allocate routes, and supply high-viz jackets, litter pickers and bags for collecting the litter if needed. In line with safety guidance, you MUST wear gloves. If you have a specific route that you like to do, please email the details to the Parish Clerk in advance at lytchettmatravers@dorset-aptc.gov.uk.
Working Group updates: This month we are looking at the Village Environment working group (VEWG)
As you know, some of the projects that the Parish Council is trying to push through, such as trying to help sort the school crossing issues seen on Wareham Road, need the cooperation and agreement of Dorset Council, and end up with frustratingly extended timetables. Because of this, our Highway’s working group has been specifically set up to try and lobby the council and maintain pressure wherever we can.
By contrast, the Village Environment Working Group (VEWG) tackles projects that are generally within the Parish Council’s control. These focus on requests and ideas that can improve the appearance of the village or add small but beneficial infrastructure changes. The VEWG have several tasks on their list at the moment which include:
- Plans to improve the entrance to the Recreation Ground at Hannams Close. This will include rebuilding the bund to be a more permanent structure, improving the planting and adding a dedicated area for the bins that need to be placed there.
- Over by the Sports Pavilion we will be providing new storage containers between the Sports Pavilion and the Scout Hut. These will be used to house the goalposts when not being used and provide more general storage for those that use the buildings and the designs will also improve the front access to the premises. The ideas also include the construction of two outdoor table tennis areas which will add to the growing number of activities that are available up on the Rec.
- At Rocket Park the WG will be organising for the annual layer of additional bark chippings to be applied to try and counter the muddy ground. We know this may feel like a temporary solution, but, even over a ten-year timeframe, repeating this every year, will not be as expensive as paying for a fully weatherproofed surface.
- Village walks are important and therefore a further project is to de-bramble and improve the condition of the grassy verge alongside Huntick Road from Selby’s Yard to Jubilee Walk to make that stretch of the walk more useable so they do not need to walk on the road.
- In addition, we want to encourage more use of the Lytchett Astro (or Multi Use Games Area – MUGA) which is situated next to Lytchett Matravers Primary School. PE lessons are often taken on the MUGA, but it would be good to see if we can find a way for it to provide additional parking and a drop-off zone for the school.
If you have any ideas that you think could be looked at by the VEWG, or would be interested in joining them, please do get in touch.
Village Meeting Wednesday, November 8th at 6pm
Just a quick reminder. We will be holding a consultation meeting on Wednesday, November 8th at 6pm in the Blanchard Room of the Village Hall, to hear from anyone and everyone who has any ideas for the Summer 2024 event, including suggestions and offers for activities that we can include.
Please pop the date and time into your diary and come along, even if only for a few minutes, to let us know, or email us with your thoughts and ideas at lytchettmatravers@dorset-aptc.gov.uk.
As previously announced, we are also planning to join in with the national celebrations around the 80th anniversary of D-Day on the evening of June 6th 2024, with a community event and beacon lighting up on the Rec.
Internet Update
You may have seen posters around the village from Wessex Internet. They are currently busy laying new infrastructure points around the village and should be in a position to start connecting properties up by the end of this year.
Council Vacancies
We are looking for a new councillor. If you are interested in volunteering to join the team, helping to improve the village or representing a specific issue, please get in touch.
We are also currently advertising for a new Parish Clerk, the details of which can be found in the vacancies section of the DAPTC website. Please email us at lytchettmatravers@dorset-aptc.gov.uk if you are interested in either role.
Upcoming meetings
This month’s Parish Council meetings will be on the 8th and 29th of November, at 7pm. Agendas and meeting minutes are available online and will be sent to you automatically if you have registered for our emails and newsletter on the LMPC website. If you would like a copy of the report pack, please email the Parish Clerk who will send them through to you.
The December meetings will be on the 13th & 20th to accommodate Christmas.
Alf Bush,
Chair, Lytchett Matravers Parish Council
For further information please visit our website at: https://lytchettmatraverspc.org/ or, the Parish Clerk via lytchettmatravers@dorset-aptc.gov.uk or our new mobile number- 07596-885667.