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5/8/2024

Dordon's 19 Chairs!

It has been 76 years since Dordon Parish Council was created in 1948, with the first Council elected on 15th March of that year, and in that time there have been 19 chairs – some of them serving several times and over several years! Recently, a memorial board has been erected in the Village Hall, commemorating all those who have served as Chair of Dordon Parish Council, from the original chairman, Councillor J. C. Mitcheson, to Councillor B. J. L. Melia in the present day

This is a photograph of the first ever Dordon Parish Council, fresh from their first election on 15th March 1948. Clockwise, from top left: T J Griffin, E. Baker, W. Beasley, W. A. Brown (Vice Chair), E. Butler, E. Bond, J. C. Mitcheson (Chair), Mrs E. Lindsay

A boost for the Village Hall!

In addition to the new defibrillator, paid for thanks to donations raised by the staff and customers of the Mini Miner, the Village Hall facilities have also been enhanced by a revamp of the car park!

Discounted house sales on Pooley Lane Polesworth!

Please read this communication from Lagan Homes, via North Warwickshire Borough Council:

"Some time ago planning permission was granted for 40 dwellings on Pooley Lane Polesworth, this is nearing its first occupation. As part of this scheme there was a requirement for 40 percent of all properties to be affordable. This equates to 16 affordable properties, in this instance it has been agreed that these dwellings will by discounted market housing - 4 plots at 30% discount and 12 plots at 20% discount.
These are subject to local eligibility criteria which prioritises local people who live or work or have a local connection in these areas, but as is normal with such agreements, this will cascade out if no locals come forward.
This indicates the provision of “Discount Market Sale Units at 20% (plots 29-40) or 30% below market value (plots 25-28)”. The discounts here are up to £75K. Prices for 2 to 4 bedroom properties range from £175K (discounted from £250K) to £240K (discounted from £300K).

Any interested people should go to the showroom and speak to Annette or Barbara from Lagan homes and then they will need to liaise with the planning department to confirm eligibility.
Below is some more information about local connections.

Local connection with Parish

Currently live, or lived within the Polesworth Parish (includes Birchmoor and Warton) or Neighbouring (Austrey, Dordon or Grendon) and have done 6 out of last 12 months or for not less than 3 years out of last 5 years.
Close family member (parents, adult children, siblings and grandparents) who lives in Polesworth Parish (includes Birchmoor and Warton) or Neighbouring (Austrey, Dordon or Grendon) and have do for last 5 years or more (electoral reg or other evidence). Contact, commitment or dependency (letter)
Working in Polesworth Parish have permanent contract or self employment (includes Birchmoor and Warton) or Neighbouring (Austrey, Dordon or Grendon)
Special circumstance – special medical or support services which only available here.
Key worker – NHS Worker, Teacher, Armed Services previously, Police

Maximum household income cap of £80,000 applies to all discounted market sale houses
It cannot be a second home or buy to let."

The Village Hall has a defibrillator!

Thanks to kind donations from the staff and customers of the Mini Miner Public House, a potentially life-saving Defibrillator has been installed on the wall of Dordon Village Hall!

Dordon Parish Council's brand new flag!

This cheerful new flag will soon be flying above our village hall - watch this space for more information!

Celebrating 100 years of our village hall!

In 1923, Charles Hopkins Morris, owner of Birch Coppice Colliery gave Polesworth Parish Council (we were not a separate Parish until 1948) part of the land that was formerly brickworks to build a Village Hall on. The Miner’s Welfare Association gave £2,200 for the building.

This amazing photograph of the village hall shows what it looked like before the lower ceiling was added and the stage removed. In the early days it was heated by the two fireplaces you can see on the side.

1922 map showing the proposed village hall site (National Library of Scotland).

Time to get walking again!

At this time of year we start to think about the mud drying up and getting out to walk in the beautiful English Countryside again, but where to find new and interesting walks?

The "Walking in Warwickshire" website:
https://www.walkinginengland.co.uk/warwickshire
has hundreds of walks to download and print, free, it also has books of walks, details of all the walking groups in the county and much more. Whether you want to walk on your own or with a group all the information is there in one place.

John Harris (the custodian of the website) said ‘There is so much walking information on the web but it is difficult to find. Walking in Warwickshire (part of the Walking in England website) has brought it together in one place so whether you are walking from home, or away on holiday, you will be able to find a walk suitable for you’.

With walks from half a mile to twelve miles plus long, and a note of suitability for pushchairs and wheelchairs, everyone can find a walk to enjoy.

So home or away, check out the websites and get walking!
John Harris
www.walkinginengland.co.uk
[email protected]

Browns Lane - a new look!

Dordon Parish Council applied for Government funding through Locality to make improvements to the Browns Lane shopping area. As part of the consultation process for the Dordon Neighbourhood Plan it was evident that the community was rightly proud of its rich mining heritage and was keen to support improvement of the street scene at the junction of Browns Lane and New Street.
After careful consideration funding was requested through a Government Grant and the Parish Council was successful in securing enough money to purchase bespoke benches and a planter to make the area more attractive. Three trees were purchased as part of the "greening up" programme which is supported by the Parish Council. The specific trees were chosen for their suitability for urban street scenes and tolerance to all types of weather conditions. They are a native British variety. The trees Acer Campestre "Queen Elizabeth" are a fitting tribute and planted in the year of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee
Thanks must go to the owner of the land and his agent, upon which the street furniture has been sited, for their kind support in this process, Thanks also to the retailers and businesses in Browns Lane.
The spring bulbs which will appear in February and March were donated by Planters Garden Centre. Thanks also, and recognition of professional work carried out, to Ricky Lees Fabrications and Gavin Stait of Deluxe Home Improvements and Construction for a safe and speedy delivery of the project.

Do you have the time to volunteer with North Warwickshire Citizens Advice?

Warwickshire Libraries Home Delivery service

Warwickshire Libraries Home Delivery Service is a free library book delivery to Warwickshire residents who are unable to visit their local or mobile library due to ill health or infirmity. A volunteer calls once every four weeks with a selection of books based on customer preference. We can provide books in ordinary print, Large Print or stories on CD. This is a completely free service.

Dordon Parish Council's response to the proposed lorry park in the Straight Fields

Dordon Parish Council consultation responses to planning application PAP/2021/0663.

Dordon Parish Council fundamentally object to this application.

1.         LP4 Strategic Gap – The application is in direct contravention of NWBC Local Development Plan planning policy LP4, and the Draft Dordon Neighbourhood Plan which prioritises the protection of the Strategic Gap. (Pg 26)

2.        Adverse change from rural agricultural - The application site is a fundamentally important asset that sets the character of our community. Any development of this site will permanently change the character of Dordon, Birchmoor, and Polesworth from predominantly rural North Warwickshire Communities that are separated from Tamworth by open agricultural fields that are part of our local agricultural economy.   While the application site is not within the Green Belt, this development site serves a critically important purpose in its current open rural landscape of preventing urban sprawl and the joining of Polesworth, Birchmoor and Dordon residential communities with Tamworth.    In addition, the Draft Dordon Neighbourhood Plan seeks to ensure that:
a. Developments reflect the distinctive and rural character of Dordon Parish (Para 17. pg9)
b. That local wildlife sites within the Strategic Gap are protected (Pg 16)

3.        Adverse visual impact of the development – While Dordon Parish Council recognise this is an outline planning application, we do not believe that there will be any visual mitigation that can be built that will prevent the adverse visual amenity impact of this development site to the residents of Dordon, Birchmoor, and Polesworth.  Dordon Parish Council do not accept that the creation of tree planted earth bunds will mitigate this adverse impact; rather they will only serve to restrict the visual ‘openness’ of the site and further negatively impact on visual amenity. In addition, Community Objective 7 set out in the Draft Dordon Neighbourhood Plan to ensure that development on the west of the parish is limited to that which keeps the sense of openness. (Pg 14)

4.         Road Access and Traffic Generation - Dordon Parish Council have significant concerns about the capacity of the A5 and of Junction 10 M42 roundabout, to cope with the additional volumes of vehicular traffic that this development will generate. Our resident community already find it a significant challenge to negotiate junction 10 because of the speed of vehicles on the roundabout and particularly the rapid lane changing that HGVs do when positioning themselves on the roundabout. These HGV dwarf resident car and motorcycles. We are concerned that there is no additional capacity along the single carriageway section of the A5 from Dordon to Grendon which the parish council now consider dangerous.   Dordon Parish is also concerned that there is no safe provision for green commuting choices within the existing Birch Coppice and St Modwen development site. We consider that Junction 10 and the A5 are already too dangerous for cyclists to use and consider that the proposed development site further exasperates this problem. Dordon Parish council is aware that the A5 records more fatal and serious injury road accidents than any other roadway in North Warwickshire.

5.         Archaeology -   The development site encompasses the remains of Hall End Hall, a significant 16th Century structure which had an Elizabethan Garden.   Dordon Parish Council is aware that a recent topsoil survey identified two rectilinear features within the site. Should planning permission be granted we request that a planning condition requiring a full archeologic survey be discussed with Dordon Parish Council.

6.         Dordon Neighbourhood Plan Policy 1 Sustainable Development – The application is in contravention of Dordon Neighbourhood Plan Policy 1 (Pg 16) This outline proposal is not located so that it can make a positive contribution towards the achievement of sustainable development.   This application does not address the following policy matters:

Being of a scale, density, layout and design so that it integrates and is compatible with the character, appearance and amenity of that part of the Parish in which it is located as identified in Policy NPP4; and
Respecting the Strategic gap, identified Local Wildlife Sites and any other area designated for their nature conservation or priority habitat.
Conserving or enhancing biodiversity.
Incorporating into the scheme any natural or built features on the site that have heritage or nature conservation value where practicable.
Not increase the risk of flooding and reduces the risk where practicable.

7. Dordon Neighbourhood Plan Policy 4 Landscape Character – The application is in contravention of Dordon Neighbourhood Plan Policy 4 (Pg 28) This outline proposal does not make a positive contribution towards the landscape character. This application does not address the following matters;

As appropriate to their scale, nature and location, development proposals should be designed and arranged to take account of the landscape and topographical setting of the neighbourhood area and its urban environment and take into account the Key Views and Strategic gap which contribute to the distinctive character of the Parish. Development proposals should respect these important designations. Development proposals which would have an unacceptable impact on the designations will not be supported. In particular, they should be sympathetic to the dominance of Dordon village and the way in which the village is built on rising ground to the east of the Strategic gap and to the west of the Anker Valley.
Proposed development within the Strategic gap should take account of the way in which the designation contributes to the wider character of the neighbourhood area the separation between Dordon village and the M42. The layout, scale and boundary treatment of the proposed development within the Strategic gap should retain a sense of openness and allow a soft transition from the open countryside area as appropriate.
Where appropriate, development proposals should demonstrate the way in which they have taken account of the actions of the landscape and built features recommended for the Landscape Character Area in the NWBC landscape Character Assessment (Area 3 the Anker Valley – Land east of Dordon village and Area 5 Tamworth Fringe Uplands - Land west of Dordon village).
Quality and accessibility of the natural environment in Dordon Parish is highly valued by local residents. As appropriate to the scale, nature and location, development proposals across the neighbourhood area should demonstrate they are sympathetic to the landscape setting as defined in the Dordon Parish Design Guide.

8. Dordon Neighbourhood Plan Policy 6 Protecting and Enhancing Heritage Assets – The application is in contravention of Dordon Neighbourhood Plan Policy 6 (Pg 38) This outline proposal does not make a positive contribution towards the protection or enhancement of heritage assets.

New Youth Group in the Village Hall!

Warwickshire Road Safety partnership

Click here to read about this new road safety initiative!

The Launch of the Dordon Parish Council Community Grant Scheme!

The Dordon Parish Council Community Grant Scheme has been launched! Click here for details of this new scheme providing money for local community groups, and how to apply!