A site has been identified to the north of the Parish between the Greenacres site, Gartree and the village where it is proposed that 4 wind turbines could be built. A planning application for an anemometer, that will measure the wind speeds in the area, is currently being considered by Harborough District Council. Council have objected to the proposal on the grounds of visual intrusion and noise.
Energy 4All are working on behalf of the landowner and hope to create a local co-operative that will oversee the project which could provide a community fund that might benefit the local area as well as providing electricity to the national grid. Councillors are concerned at the speed at which the application is being considered and will attend the planning committee meeting on July 1st to express their concerns. Further consultation about the proposed project will be undertaken to give residents the opportunity to air their views.

The Council tried to find out whether an additional bus stop could be sited in the 'layby' near the Marston turn to help people from that village catch buses on Route 58 to Market Harborough or Lutterworth.

The bus company decided that turning into and out of the layby was a hazardous operation and the plan has been suspended.

From today, and for the next month, anyone driving through Lubenham at an excessive speed is likely to be reported to the police by villagers.

Further action will be taken because these villagers are our Speedwatch team.

They are now using handheld radar speed 'guns' instead of the board displaying motorists' speeds used at the earlier trial.

[The picture above, which is of Lubenham's Speedwatch team, is now used in all CSW's publicity, shows members of the Lubenham Speedwatch team in action in December 2006.]

Today the Clerk attended a meeting at Leicestershire Police HQ with representatives of 11 other communities considered to be particularly at risk from flooding.

A number of presentations were made by The Environment Agency, Police Parish Councils and there was input from the National Chairman of Neighbourhood Watch.

At its June meeting the Clerk will outline to Lubenham Parish Council suggestions made at the meeting which could be eminently adaptable in our community. Watch this space . . .

The Annual Parish Meeting took place in the Village Hall on Tuesday 20th May.

It had been well advertised both in the Newsletter and on all four parish notice boards - yet just 11 people turned up to hear the Council report on its achievements over the past 12 months.

The representatives of a number of village organisations reported on what they had been up to and what they planned to do in the coming year.

It was interesting to learn how a number of groups had co-operated with each other to put on joint events. Finding ways to do this is one of the essences of this yearly meeting.

Those who attended enjoyed the Council's hospitality: hot and cold drinks and snacks were freely available before and after the meeting.

But where were YOU?

During the last two days, beat officers from Harborough and Lutterworth Local
Policing Unit have been conducting operations against speeding drivers on
roads in some of our most rural areas.

Consultation with local communities has highlighted the fact that many of our residents have serious concerns over the speed of some drivers on rural roads across the district. Time and again neighbourhood policing surveys show that speeding vehicles are top of the list of our communities concerns.

PC 104 Rob Arthur (Beat Officer for the Fleckney area, part of the S16 beat)
and PC 2199 Henry Henderson (Broughton and Walton, the S14 beat) were out with speed monitoring equipment on Tuesday 15th and Wednesday 16th of April and between them they netted some significant results.

The Fleckney operation saw more than a dozen drivers issued with advice notices; two offenders were issued with £60 fines and had 3 penalty points added to their licences.

In Broughton Astley 35 vehicles were stopped at two separate locations. Seven were issued with fixed penalties of £60 and 3 points on their licences. It was noted that about 60% of the drivers stopped were Broughton Astley residents.

Interestingly the officers found that many of the speeding drivers were mums on the school run with young children in the cars with them. One man driving over the speed limit said he lived locally - and that he was one of the people who originally complained about speeding drivers in the first place!

Councillor Michael Smith, District Councillor for Fleckney said “The subject of speeding in Fleckney has been discussed at length at recent Parish Council meetings.” He added “I wholeheartedly support the work that our local beat officers are doing to reduce the speeds of drivers through our village.”

PC Henderson said, “We will be conducting similar operations in the future and the message is clear: don’t drive at excessive and illegal speeds. If you do we will catch you.”

[i]This is a message from Harborough and Lutterworth police in conjunction with the Harborough District Neighbourhood Watch Association.[/i]

Yesterday (Thursday 17th April 2008) Harborough police received information from Neighbourhood Watch members living in Husbands Bosworth that they had been visited by doorstep sales people selling dusters and allegedly claiming to be ex-offenders from a local young offenders' facility.

I have been in touch today with everal agencies including the young offenders' facility and I can state that they are unaware of any such scheme for ex-offenders.

It is well known that distraction burglars and other doorstep criminals will often carry out some form of reconnaissance in an area prior to carrying out any offences. This reconnaissance will often take the form of calling at the homes of elderly and vulnerable residents and trying to sell products on the
doorstep. As such Harborough police would like to know where and when these doorstep salespeople arrive on our patch. We would encourage all our members to report any such doorstep sales activity to the police by phoning 0116 222 2222.

Whilst we obviously cannot and will not state that all doorstep salespeople have criminal intentions, we are keen to ensure that we continue to receive good quality timely intelligence so that we can react accordingly to deploy appropriate police resources.

If you would like any further information on this or any other policing issue, please don't hesitate to contact me by phoning 0116 222 2222 extension 3875.

Your assistance is appreciated.

All Parish Councillors have agreed to ask drivers who park their vehicles on pavements not to do so.

Such parking can obstruct the view at busy junctions (alongside).

It can also make it impossible for people with pushchairs or wheelchairs to pass without stepping onto the road.

Parking on kerbs enables other traffic to speed past.

Parking in unauthorised places can also churn up the verges (as below) rendering them unsightly, muddy and difficult for pedestrians to negotiate.

Want to report a lorry driver for infringing the 7½-tonne limit along Foxton Road?

Think again if your experience is anything like the Clerk's.

Having taken the number of an articulated lorry taking a short cut from the A6 to the A4304 he contacted Harborough District Council and was told to ring Leicestershire Constabulary.

"You can't do it by phone!" he was told when he got through. "You have to go to a police station in person."

Being a dutiful Clerk he cycled into Harborough where he discovered the details he had phoned through were on the police computer there.

"So you're going to follow it up?" he asked in his simple way.

"Oh no!" replied the desk clerk. "You have to fill in a form!" And she handed him a 4-page A4 document.

"And it has to be posted to the address shown," she added.

Can you imagine our dear friends in Foxton Road going through this procedure every time they spot a heavy lorry passing and rattling their windows?

Of course not, even when they know the Clerk has obtained a small supply of the forms for them.

This matter is to be discussed at the next Parish Council meeting in May. What will happen next?

The Council has decided to do what it can to preserve a wartime pillbox just off Gallow Field Road.

(The picture here isn't of 'our' pillbox. Ours is in far worse shape and needs some help.)

One of the Councillors is contacting the Heritage Department to see what can be done. Watch this space!

Because of places like Foxton and Laughton Roads – see below –Lubenham is now a Permanent Speedwatch Community.

Twelve of the original volunteers who were trained to use the speed measuring equipment have said that they are still available and this means that we shall be able frequently to monitor the speed of vehicles passing through the village. From the end of May 2008 our volunteers will be on the streets over a four-week period this time using hand-held radar equipment.

Drivers caught exceeding the speed limit will be contacted by the police.

We are grateful to all the villagers who signed the petition to the County Speedwatch Co-ordinator: thanks to you we have gained this new status.

[See the article above for the story of Lubenham's Speedwatch]

A site meeting - with Mr David Marshall (Leicestershire Highways), four residents and the Clerk present - took place in January.

Mr Marshall gave reasons why a reduced speed limit, double white lines and 'Concealed Entrance' signs were not possible.

He has agreed to paint 'SLOW' signs on the road in each direction to see if this helps.

More than 75 people observed the annual Service of Remembrance at Lubenham's War Memorial on Sunday afternoon 11th November.

Police stopped traffic along the busy main road so that the two-minute silence could be properly observed. Wreaths were laid by Les Moore, Diana Cook, Pat Fox and Pc Andy Cooper.

Afterwards most people crossed over to the Coach and Horses to warm up with cake and a cup of tea served by Dawn and Andy, the landlord and his wife.