Previous items from the Parish News page.

New Project Launched by VASA - The Magnificent Mentors

We have recruited six (at present – more to come) very highly qualified volunteers to mentor new business projects. They are people with extensive experience of starting new businesses and then developing their success for the long term.

Skills and experience include raising finance, marketing, entrepreneurship (including for manufacturing) and all aspects of business start up for the smallest to very large companies.

Our initial use of them will be for an Open Day to be held probably mid-late November 2010 when, just like many of you will have done when taking valuables to be assessed by experts, individuals, community groups and those considering a significant business investment will be able to come along and meet with them and privately discuss and have evaluated the opportunity they are considering.

This is support for any of the following:

• Any individual who wants to start up their own business in probably any sector, ‘employing' just their own talents
• Any individual who wants to develop a business which will offer several employment opportunities, and is likely to include their investing significantly in the proposed business
• Any Community Group – which may include close partners to you as a Parish Council – who are considering a Community (Social) Enterprise opportunity for your village or town, a Community Enterprise being provision of a service for public purpose – a business which invests surpluses back into its activities for the benefit of its community.

This is an invaluable opportunity for any of the above to have access to this sort of mentoring.

Read Poster here
Visit VASA website here

Vote for faster Broadband for Harbury

British Telecom have launched their Infinity Broadband upgrade program, with the intention of replacing as many old broadband exchanges using copper wire with the new fibre optic technology where it is economic.

Over the next five years BT is rolling out superfast fibre optic broadband across the UK. If you're not on the announced roll out plan The Race to Infinity gives you the opportunity to fast track your area to get BT Infinity next.

The five areas with the largest percentage of votes by December 31st 2010 will win the chance to bring superfast broadband to their area. BT will also donate £5,000 of computer equipment to a local community project.

Faster broadband brings advantages for residents, and perhaps more importantly, businesses with faster more reliable access to services such as video conferencing. Fast broadband benefits everyone not just Technology companies and Geeks.

Let as many people as you can know about this and encourage them to register. The more people that register the better your chance of pushing our community either up or on to the list for upgrading.

One vote per address. You must be paying line rental to BT, even if your existing broadband is through another supplier. Race ends midnight 31st December 2010

Click on Race to Infinity or go to www.racetoinfinity.bt.com to register.

Harbury welcomes local homes for local people

Work is underway on an innovative community-led housing development for local people in Harbury.

The 22 home scheme, including two, three and four bedroom houses and bungalows, is being built by Linfoot Country Homes in partnership with Warwickshire Rural Housing Association (WRHA), under the Stratford District Council Local Choice initiative.

13 of the properties will be available for affordable rent, while the remaining nine will be for sale, initially to local buyers only. The development is scheduled for completion in early to mid 2011 and is aimed at meeting the needs of the local community.

Work officially started on the site in Bush Heath Lane on 17 June 2010 when the ground was ceremonially broken.

The 13 rented properties will be owned and managed by WRHA, a specialist provider of affordable homes in rural areas, and only people with a local connection to the village will be eligible to move into them.

The nine local market houses will be offered for sale by Linfoot Country Homes, a Warwickshire based housebuilder specialising in individual housing in rural areas. For a period of 12 weeks from coming onto the market, these can only be purchased by buyers with a local connection to the village, to satisfy local demand first.

The criteria for a local connection includes having been born in the parish, having lived or worked in the parish for at least 12 months, having previously been a resident for at least three years or having close family members living in the parish. The same criteria apply when people sell their home.

The homes will all be built to level three of the Government's Code for Sustainable Homes and will include energy efficient air source heating technology. The development also incorporates sustainable drainage systems.

WRHA and Linfoot Country Homes have been working in partnership with Warwickshire Rural Community Council, which carried out a survey into housing needs in the area and ensured members of the local community were fully consulted throughout.

The development is also supported by Harbury Parish Council. Stratford-on-Avon District Council, has provided grant funding alongside the Homes and Communities Agency, the national housing and regeneration agency for England. Derrick Dyas, chairman of Warwickshire Rural Housing Association, said: "This development will contribute significantly towards our aim of providing 500 affordable new homes within the county. This aim can only be achieved through positive partnerships, as in this case, with local district and parish councils."

Linfoot Country Homes development director Claire Linfoot McLean added: "The aim of the scheme is to ensure an adequate supply of housing for people who may not otherwise be able to remain in the village. Its purpose is to ensure the community continues to thrive and to prevent families from being forced to move away."

Councillor Valerie Hobbs, Stratford-on-Avon District Council's Portfolio Holder for Revenues and Housing, added: "This scheme will make a tangible contribution to meeting the needs of local people in Harbury. Two interesting features of this ‘Local Choice' scheme are that it is being built on a site first identified in the Harbury Parish Plan and that it forms an integral part of an overall scheme including market housing reserved for local people. This is a further demonstration of the district council's commitment to working in partnership with local communities to help them address their own housing needs."

Outline consent has been granted for a further 29 homes should local housing demand remain at its current level.

Harbury Pre-School is 'Outstanding'

Harbury Pre-School's latest Ofsted report has classed them as 'oustanding' in every area assessed and they are celebrating this fantastic achievement!

The staff and children of Harbury Pre-School have had a wonderful start to 2010 following an Ofsted inspection in early January. The result of the inspection was that the Pre-School has been rated as outstanding in all areas, placing it in the top 9% of childcare providers in England, a wonderful achievement.

Harbury Cemetary - Assessment

The memorials in Harbury Cemetery will be inspected as part of the ongoing assessment of maintenance in the cemetery during the months of March and April 2010.

The assessment will carried out with regard to the sensitive nature of the site and all the previously staked memorials will be re-tested under the new 'lighter touch' regulations which may result in some of them having the stakes removed subject to further monitoring.

Anyone with any queries or concerns regarding a memorial should contact the Parish Clerk. All enquiries will be treated in confidence.

Bush Heath Lane Development Consultation

Below you can read a summary of the public consultation event held on 21 May 2009 regarding the proposed development of 22 new homes in Bush Heath Lane, Harbury. It is a report by Phil Ward, Rural Housing Enabler, Rural Community Council.

Public Consultation Summary, June 2009

Village SOS: BIG and BBC Join Forces to Inspire UK Rural Revival

Rural villages in the West Midlands that have a great idea for a new local business venture that will help to regenerate their community are being invited to apply to Village SOS - a new funding scheme being launched this week by the Big Lottery Fund in partnership with BBC One.

Village SOS will award funding to six rural village communities to help them start up new businesses that will breathe new life into their area, create new jobs and improve the quality of life for local people. The scheme is also searching for enterprising and visionary individuals to become 'Village Champions' and work with the successful villages to help them achieve their ambitions of starting a successful rural business.

The journey of the six successful villages and their Village Champions will be documented by BBC One for a major prime time series in winter 2010.

Read full information here

Applying for a Grant from the Parish Council

Harbury Parish Council makes a number of grants per year to local groups. Grants are subject to the Council's budget. The grant critieria are as follows:

• The grant should be for the benefit of a local group or organisation. The definition of 'local' is that most of the group's activities should take place within the Parish and/or be for the benefit of residents of the Parish.
• Applicants should apply to the Council in writing stating what the grant is to be used for and giving approximate costs and/or quotations. It is acceptable to e-mail this information and it is preferable for all applicants to include an e-mail contact address in their letter. It is usual for groups to have a specific project in mind when applying for a grant.
• The grant should usually be applied for before the project is completed.
• All correspondence for grants should be received by the Council no later than one full calendar week before the date of the next meeting. A full list of Council meeting dates can be obtained from this website.

For further details or to submit an application please contact the Parish Clerk.