Chatbox

Nigel, thanks for the link. What a load of largely unenforcable red tape. I suspect there are many "blind eyes" in HMRC or Trading Standards over this.
Nick, the answer to your question is (I think) here buried in the rules:
"You can use rebated fuel for electricity generation and to heat premises that are not used for commercial purposes."

On loan for one day on 19th March, for a private lunch party (which will incidentally also be a 'Christening' of the new extension of the Audlem Methodist Church) I wonder if anyone has a flip-chart, smallish black-board, notice board or similar that I could borrow to display a seating plan ? Thanks.

Thanks David, but I didn't mean to imply that the drone was being flown irresponsibly. I understand that they can be flown up to 400 feet high and I have no way of knowing what altitude this one was, probably quite legal though. My concern is with the potential issue of shared airspace over the village.

Well said Wes. I have the feeling a car park on Turnpike field will be something of a white elephant as car owners will still park outside the Co-op and on the Windmill Fields estate as both are nearer to the village centre. When the road was resurfaced some months ago and the Chairman of the Parish Council opened the field I never saw more than 3 cars using the field and if they were entering the village from the Whitchurch/Market Drayton they had no other alternative.

As ratepayers we are providing toilets for visitors and I don't think it is a Parish Council responsibility to provide additional car parking for visitors as surely this should be a responsibility of Cheshire East. It's not surprising we have one of the highest precepts when the Parish takes on financial commitments which should be funded by the unitary authority.

Good to see that having long left the EU people still like to blame it for government policy they don't like. Meanwhile the British Chamber of Commerce reports that Brexit is said by 71% of businesses to be hampering business.

So , for the original question and from the government site.... Quote ... Fully rebated kerosene is unaffected by these changes and can be used for all heating uses.

So for heating oil nothing changes

Hi Peter,

I'm not sure if there is a form to submit to RAF Shawbury before drones are flown in the area, but these are the details to report drones that are flown irresponsibly. RAF Shawbury Operations on 01939 250351 Extension 7163.

It is also well worth noting that the pilots from the base do use the A525 as a visual reference point when flying to areas like Whixall Moss or the Coole Lane area, and from personal experience, there are a number of Confined Area locations in the vicinity too (where they hover only a few feet from the ground)

From 1st April there are changes to the rules over the use of red diesel. Plant and machinery that were able to use it will not be able to from 1st April, unless they are being used for agricultural use of fur maintaining a golf course, so things like diggers, mowers etc used elsewhere will have to use white diesel.

See the link.
Unless I am mistaken then there will be changes from April.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-rebated-fuels-entitlement-from-1-april-2022/check-when-rebated-fuel-can-be-used

On Tuesday afternoon approaching four o'clock, I noticed a large drone complete with flashing strobe light over Salford side of the village. It seemed to be flying high and was visible for 10 minutes or more. Whilst it was still in our vicinity one of the Shawbury helicopters flew past, fast and low, just to the south of us and from my position appeared to be lower than the drone. Food for thought.

As the Shawbury squadron regularly have periods when they overfly our village, is there any requirement for local drone fliers to give Shawbury advance notice of their activities?

I saw somewhere that the ongoing problem is that they are not being permitted access to the adjacent farmland to effect whatever repairs they need to complete. Hard to see what they can do in the circumstances – I assume they'll have to take the matter through the courts, although I would have thought that public authorities have some sort of statutory right of access in these circumstances.

It's very public spirited of Mrs T to reply, although I don't recall directing my post to her specifically, and I'm not sure what official role she plays in inviting me to source quotes. Unfortunately the points made seem a little non-sequitur. My post was primarily following others alarmed at the near five-fold increase in the estimated cost of provision of car parking and offering different ideas. This is a very significant change upon what people voted for and hence my support for a rethink – that could result in many ways forward. I'm not alone in this thinking.
As to some of the points – who said anything about ID cards? Precept payers all have council tax bills – present that at the door. And it's possible to issue a referendum using council tax details, it's been done before. The main thing is that there should be a substantial body of support before a spending proposal goes ahead, not an assumption that lack of interest signifies approval. Alternatively, maybe those 180 or so voting so keen on it all should just form a trust and fund it themselves?
Whether neighbouring parishes are interested or not is a red herring – they're not paying for it. The parish precept is a substantial ask already for those on a basic state pension – not everyone has a generous occupational pension. If their residents want to take advantage of services here let them make a contribution.
All the stuff about the Brexit vote and HS2 etc are simply false analogies and I really don't see how any of that fits it, except to say I think voter turnout in the referendum was over 70%. And how does massive cost overruns in other projects somehow justify this? Bizarre.
I actually have a lot of sympathy for Parish Councillors – I think a lot of people enthusiastically sign up only to find it ain't so simple when they actually hold the responsibility and which I suspect partly explains the big turnover and constant vacancies.

For Info – The road is closed from longhill lane / windmill lane ( triangle ) towards Hankelow from 26 /2 for 5 days

Nothing changes

Nick
I'm pleased to say you're at least partially wrong, and hopefully totally wrong!
I don't know about heating oil, but the rules for red diesel stay the same as they are now. You're right that there was a planned change in April this year. This was forced on us by the usual EU interference (that'll get scrubbed as polotical by the editor!), but HMRC have scrapped the change for red diesel. Boats use red diesel, so us narrowboat owners are really pleased HMRC had the sense to scrap the change. Yippee!!
It would have caused massive cost increases across the boating industry, raising little extra revenue for HMRC, but would have kept the Brussels bureaucrats happy.
As to heating oil, I simply don't know.

A lot of traffic lights & some of your money back when you sell them at the end. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SRL-traffic-lights-portable-battery-radio-light-towable-/265524114213?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l6249&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0 in

On 1/04/2022 red diesel will only be able to be used on farm machines, does anyone know what will happen about HEATING oils.

Shrops Cc have confirmed from an FOI request that the temporary lights at Adderley have run up a bill of £41,000 so far. And the meter is still running. That's approx £1140 per month.

Just wondered whether allowing allotments on the field would be a good idea
It seems to me that a lot of residents would be very interested in having one
Just a thought

I will try to answer Mr Lechey's points as best I can.
Who was voting? As often is the case those who could be bothered or who were exercised enough to go to the OPEN meeting.
As to the question of control the Parish Council does not have the means to issue identity cards or police the meeting. Quite often it is hard enough to raise people's interest. Even on such a topic. It is no surprise that there would be interest from neighboring parishes, Audlem is a hub large village, we have the school, surgery , pharmacy and public hall , annexe and a variety of shops.
As to the vote being a minority vote and therefore not a mandate that has not held back our leaving the EU. Similarly the leave campaign used overestimates of benefits accruing etc. as well as lies. I heard no untruths or misleading statements in the meeting. I have yet to hear of any project that has not escalated in price, HS2 to name one, along with NHS computer systems. Yes HS2 has been slightly rethought at more cost .
I am unsure what you mean by having a rethink, start the whole project from scratch? Erase the hours of effort put in freely by volunteers?
As to people from outwith the Parish boundaries benefitting from free parking surely many of them come to use village services , amenities and shops.? Heaven forbid a non Parish child should come to use the playground .
Putting barriers up and parking meters is not a trivial exercise, or free of cost implications. If however you can help with the field or source a cheaper quote please do.

The ongoing activity at Corbrook is concerning. Due to the unreasonable noise and working hours perhaps the CEC environmental health office could help with and abatement notice ? As the spoil seems to be being tipped for reward, the Environment Agency may wish to be assured that the consent to discharge permits are in place, that analyses of the spoil are in order and waste transfer notes are available. The road conditions..... are dangerous. I hope no one suffers due to this.

Christina, the ready solution to the poor drainage and resulting highway surface degradation is to enable drainage by repairing the existing drains, maintaining the silt traps and ensuring that the road surface is higher than the gullies. CE Highways seem to think that they can get water to flow uphill and also have the equally laughable notion that standing water on a road surface creates no problems either for the road's structure or for those attempting to use the road.

Agricultural vehicles have not increased in their width for decades, in fact many larger machines such as combines have decreased in width due the increasing utilisation of tracks which also reduce ground pressure resulting in less damage to soil structure.

Thanks Norman for pointing out that there have been flooding problems on the A529 at Corbrook for over 14 years. This seems to be problem without a ready solution, and the objectors to this Retrospective Planning Application for a better access road to the field here are pointing this out . This existing danger is made even worse by the Heavy Lorry traffic which has been using this access since October 2021. This has involved in excess of 1000 x 20 ton tipper truck movements of soil and rubble since October, making the road even more muddy and slippery , to say nothing of the danger of lorries turning in and out here. Some days have seen continuous streams of trucks carrying soil both in and out. If this application is granted there will be a road created for long term ability to carry on with this. Note that the lorries have so far come from the Nantwich direction, but the other direction through Audlem could be next.
This is such a serious issue that the Planning Response deadline has been extended now to 6th March.
Ref 22/0111N on the Cheshire East Planning Website. For further information please see the objections received so far, and add your voice.

The Union flag should not be flown from the Church only on certain special occasions
The St Georges cross should be flying from the Church with the diocese of Cheshire emblem in one of the sections of the flag